Exhaust Hood Cleaning in Brampton
A full exhaust system clean is the hood, the duct and the rooftop fan handled in one visit, under one certificate. Brampton Hood Cleaning Pros runs the same nine step sequence on every one of them, whether the kitchen is a single-hood cafe on Main Street North or a four-canopy banquet line off Airport Road, because a skipped step is how grease gets certified instead of removed. This page is about the visit itself: what the crew does, in what order, and what is left behind when they go.
The nine step sequence
The order matters as much as the work. Doing these out of sequence is what turns a clean into a mess somebody else has to fix.
- Protect the kitchen. Equipment, counters and floors under the hood are sheeted in plastic and drop cloths, and a runoff funnel is rigged under the canopy so degreaser and grease drain into containment rather than onto the line.
- Isolate power and gas. Fans are locked off and appliance power and pilots under the work area are shut down before any water or chemical appears.
- Pull the filters. Baffle filters come out first and go straight into a soak tank, which is the only way the backs of the baffles ever get clean.
- Open the access panels. Duct panels are removed and the interior is inspected and photographed before anything is applied, so the before-condition is on record rather than described afterwards.
- Apply degreaser and let it work. Food-area-rated degreaser goes onto the plenum, canopy interior, troughs and duct surfaces and is given dwell time to break the grease bond. Skipping the dwell smears grease rather than releasing it.
- Hot-water wash and scrape. Softened grease is washed out under controlled hot water into the containment, and hardened deposits are scraped and re-treated until metal shows. This is where an overdue system takes its extra time.
- The roof. The exhaust fan is hinged back on its curb, both faces of the blades and the inside of the housing are cleaned, and the discharge area is checked for grease that has already reached the membrane.
- Reassemble and restore. Filters are rinsed and reseated, cups and troughs rehung, access panels refitted, containment struck, surrounding surfaces wiped, waste grease and wash water removed from site, and gas and power restored exactly as found.
- Document. After-photographs are matched to the before-photographs, the certificate is signed and dated, and a dated service sticker goes on the hood for the next inspector who walks in.
Visits run overnight, early morning, or between events, and the containment is down before the first prep cook arrives.
A proper clean vs a quick wipe: how to tell which one you paid for
Both leave a shiny canopy. Only one of them changes the fuel load.
| Check | Documented full clean | Surface wipe |
|---|---|---|
| Filters | Removed and soaked, backs cleaned, reseated or flagged for replacement. | Scrubbed in place, faces only. |
| Plenum | Opened, degreased and photographed. | Not reached. |
| Duct | Access panels opened, interior photographed before and after. | An arm's length past the collar, if that. |
| Roof fan | Hinged back, both blade faces and the housing cleaned. | Left alone. |
| Evidence | Photo report of every surface plus a dated certificate naming the standard. | An invoice. |
| Duration | A full overnight visit for a single-hood kitchen. | An hour or two. |
Pricing for the full system starts at $385 per visit for a single-hood kitchen and $725 for a multi-hood line, quoted in writing after the free walk-through. A quote that comes in far under those numbers is usually quoting the second column.
What the documentation package contains
The cleaning protects the kitchen. The paperwork protects the business.
Every visit closes with four items. A signed certificate of performance naming the published NFPA 96 standard, dated, and itemised by canopy where there is more than one. A before-and-after photograph of every cleaned surface, including the plenum and the duct interior at each access point, which is the part that proves the concealed work happened. A dated service sticker on the hood, so an inspector standing in the kitchen sees the last service date without opening a file. And proof of WSIB coverage and liability insurance, which is supplied before the crew arrives rather than produced afterwards.
Where the walk-through or the visit finds something outside this scope, such as a missing access panel, a seized fan hinge, corroded filters or grease already on the roof membrane, it goes into the report as a named finding rather than being cleaned around silently. The Ontario Fire Code and commercial insurers use NFPA 96 as the technical baseline, and a report that hides a limitation is worth less than one that states it.
Questions about the visit
How long does a full system clean take?
A single-hood kitchen with a short duct run is normally one overnight visit. Multi-hood lines, long or shared risers and difficult roof access take longer, which is established on the walk-through and written into the quote rather than discovered at 2am. No visit is left half done with containment still hanging.
Does the kitchen need to be empty?
The cook line does. Brampton Hood Cleaning Pros works after last service or before opening precisely so the room is clear, and sheeting protects everything that cannot be moved. Staff do not need to be present, though someone with keys and alarm access has to be reachable.
What chemicals are used around food surfaces?
Food-area-rated caustic degreasers intended for commercial kitchen use, applied under containment and fully rinsed. All surfaces are wiped down and restored before the crew leaves, and the after-photographs record the state the kitchen was left in.
Can you do the hood now and the duct later?
Yes, and it is sometimes the right call on budget. It changes what the certificate says: a hood-only visit is certified as a hood-only visit, never as a system clean. The ductwork page covers what gets deferred and what that means for airflow and risk.
What happens if the system is far worse than expected?
It is photographed and the quote reflects it before the booking, which is the reason the free walk-through exists. A badly overdue system needs longer dwell time and more passes, and that is priced honestly up front. What does not happen is a surprise line on the invoice.