Cleaned last month, grease still dripping from the hood
Only the hood was done. Grease running back down means the duct above it was not touched, which is also the part the fire code cares about most.
Kitchen Equipment
Restaurant hood cleaning
Hood cleaning is a fire code obligation with a paper trail, not a housekeeping task. Grease accumulating in the hood, the duct run and the exhaust fan is the fuel for the most common serious fire in a commercial kitchen, so the fire code sets an inspection frequency by cooking volume and type, and the cleaner leaves a dated certificate and a sticker. Work covers the hood, the filters, the full duct run to the roof, and the fan itself, which is the part cheap cleaners skip.
Enter your ZIP to see the businesses listed for this trade nearest to your site, with their phone numbers.
- Free to searchno account, nothing to submit
- Public registersevery listing names its source
- License numberswhere the state publishes one
- Directyou call the business yourself
- Our estimate
- $350-$2,200
- Time on site
- 3-8 hrs
- Fault patterns covered
- 2
- Businesses listed
- None yet
What restaurant hood cleaning costs
Most of these jobs land near $650. The full spread runs $350 to $2,200, and the gap between those two ends is diagnosis against replacement rather than one business being dearer than another.
What moves it: how much of the job is parts, whether the fault is found in the first hour or the third, access to the equipment, and the hour of the day you call. We never speak to the businesses listed here, so there is no rate card behind any of this. It is our own band for the category, and there is no regional index: the figure does not change with your metro.
| How soon you need it | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled visitBooked in advance, no urgency multiplier applied | $650 | $350 to $2,200 |
| Same dayOur band multiplied by 1.12 | $730 | $390 to $2,465 |
| Emergency calloutOur band multiplied by 1.35 | $880 | $475 to $2,970 |
Our estimate from national cost bands, not a quote from any business. Every row is the same band with the urgency multiplier the site applies everywhere else, so this table can never contradict the headline number. Ask for a written price before the work starts.
Who is licensed to do this work
No California classification covers this work, which is the honest answer rather than a gap in our data. The state licenses the supply behind a machine, the gas line, the exhaust duct, the refrigeration circuit and the electrical feed, and it does not license the machine. So there is no register row to read and no license number to print, and a page that offered you a plumber for it would be inventing the match.
Which trade covers which machineBefore you pay for a callout
Two minutes of checks that sometimes end the problem
We would rather you did not need a callout at all. These are the checks that end the most calls for this fault.
Try a quick fix first
Some issues resolve without a truck roll. Two minutes now can save the callout.
- 1
Ask specifically whether the price includes the full duct run and the roof fan, or only the hood and filters. That is the difference between a real clean and a cosmetic one, and it is where quoted prices diverge most.
- 2
Get the dated certificate and the sticker. That is what the fire inspector looks for, and a clean with no paperwork is a clean you cannot prove.
- 3
Take before and after photographs inside the duct. Reputable cleaners provide them without being asked.
- 4
Check your last certificate for the interval. The fire code sets frequency by what you cook, and a solid fuel or high-volume fryer kitchen is on a much shorter cycle than a light cooking operation.
What the visit actually includes
- Hood, plenum and filter cleaning to bare metal
- Full accessible duct run cleaned rather than only the hood
- Exhaust fan removed, cleaned and refitted with the belt checked
- Wash down and protection of the kitchen below
- Dated certificate and sticker for the fire inspector
Diagnosis
How hood cleaning faults usually present
Written from how these faults actually present on a working premises, not from a manual.
Fan left uncleaned on the roof
A common omission because it needs roof access. A greased-up fan loses airflow, which makes the kitchen hot and the hood ineffective, and it is where a lot of the fire load sits.
Listed for this trade
Businesses listed for hood cleaning
Read from public license registers, so there is no ranking here and no distance: this page has no location to measure from. Enter your ZIP to sort by who is nearest to your site.
No listings for hood cleaning yet
We have not imported a license register that covers this trade yet. When one lands the businesses appear here, and each listing carries the license number, the authority that issued it and a link back to the register entry.
By location
Restaurant hood cleaning near you
Local pages show which businesses are listed for that metro, how far out they sit, and the local conditions that drive demand.
Counted from the businesses we have imported for each metro center inside a 25 mile radius, and counting only those whose own license classification names this trade. General contractors licensed widely enough to take it on and subcontract it are excluded here, and still appear in a search. A metro reads “none yet” until we load a register that covers this trade there.
All coverage areasQuestions owners ask
Hood cleaning FAQs
Short, specific answers. If yours is not here, ask the business you call before you agree to the visit.
Why does this search return nothing?
Hood cleaning is not a licensed contractor trade in California, so nobody appears on the state register for it. This site only lists what the registers actually publish. Look for a cleaner certified under the national kitchen exhaust standard, and ask your fire inspector who they see doing it properly.
How often does it have to be done?
The fire code sets the interval by cooking type and volume, from monthly for solid fuel and high-volume frying down to annually for light cooking. Your local fire authority is the one who enforces it and they will tell you which band you are in.
Is this the same as fixing the fan?
No. Cleaning is unlicensed. Repairing or replacing the exhaust fan, the ductwork or the makeup air unit is C-20 and C-43 work in California, and those contractors are listed here under hood and exhaust repair.
Related work
Often booked in the same visit
Batching jobs into one mobilization is the cheapest way to buy this kind of work.
FryerFryers that will not light, will not hold temperature, or trip the high limit.from $190Range and ovenBurners that will not light, uneven ovens, failed thermostats and deck oven faults.from $190Dish machineMachines not filling, not draining, not sanitizing, or failing the temperature check.from $200Hood and exhaustWeak extraction, dead roof fans, smoke in the kitchen and makeup air problems.from $260
Kitchen Equipment
Everything else in kitchen equipment
Read next
How to check a California contractor license before you hire
Three minutes on the state's own lookup, what the result does and does not prove, and the two questions to ask on the phone.
7 min read
Walk-in cooler not getting cold: what to check first
Five checks that take ten minutes, plus the three readings a refrigeration tech needs before loading the truck.
7 min read
The two rooftop HVAC visits a year that pay for themselves
A spring cooling check and a fall heating check cost $340 to $700, and they are what stand between you and a $9,000 unit replacement.
6 min read
Ready when you are
Need hood cleaning sorted?
Search your ZIP to see the businesses listed for this trade nearest to your site, with the license numbers and phone numbers we hold, then call them yourself.
- Cost to search
- Free
- Account needed
- None
- Who you call
- The business