How hood cleaning is done
Scheduled kitchen exhaust cleaning for restaurants, schools, hotels, and institutional kitchens. Covers the complete system required by NFPA 96: hood, filters, the full duct run, and the rooftop fan, cleaned to bare metal and documented.
Scope
What the job includes
Filters and hood plenum
Baffle filters pulled and run through a hot caustic soak or pressure wash, then the plenum and grease trough behind them scraped and washed to bare metal.
Full horizontal and vertical duct
The duct run cleaned through access panels along its length. This is the part most commonly skipped, and it is where grease accumulates thickest and burns hottest.
Rooftop exhaust fan
Fan hinged back or lifted off, housing, blades, and fan curb scraped and washed. Grease drains directly into a containment box that also gets serviced.
Access panel installation
Where the duct has no openings, panels are cut and fitted so the run can be reached and inspected. A duct with no access cannot legally be certified as cleaned.
Documentation and certification
Dated service report listing areas cleaned and any areas found inaccessible, before and after photographs, and a compliance sticker affixed to the hood.
Kitchen protection and cleanup
Cooking equipment tented in plastic, floors protected, and wash water captured. Cleanup and degreasing of the surrounding area is part of the job, not an extra.
Sequence
Step by step
Pre-clean inspection
The crew checks grease depth, locates access panels, notes any inaccessible sections, and photographs the starting condition. Inaccessible areas must be recorded on the report, not quietly ignored.
Kitchen protection
Cooking surfaces, prep tables, and floors are tented and covered, and a wash water catch is set under the hood. This happens before any chemical is sprayed.
Chemical and pressure wash
Hot caustic degreaser applied and given dwell time, then hot pressure washing from the fan down through the duct into the hood so grease travels one direction.
Fan and containment service
Rooftop fan cleaned in place or lifted, blades and housing washed, fan belt condition checked, and the grease containment box emptied or replaced.
Polish, reassemble, and cleanup
Filters reinstalled, stainless polished, protection removed, and the kitchen returned to service condition. The roof gets checked for runoff so grease does not sit on the membrane.
Report and sticker
Service report, before and after photos, and a dated compliance sticker on the hood showing the service date and next due date. Keep these where an inspector can be handed them.
Preparation
What to do before the crew arrives
Doing these first shortens the job and usually the invoice.
- Break down and wipe the cookline, and pull sheet pans and small wares out of the hood area before the crew arrives.
- Shut down and cool fryers and griddles several hours ahead, since hot equipment cannot be tented or washed around.
- Confirm roof access, and have keys, ladders, or a hatch code ready so the crew is not waiting on a manager.
- Pull the last service report and sticker date so the crew knows what was found and what was inaccessible last time.
- Note any duct sections that run above ceilings or through tenant spaces, since access there has to be arranged in advance.
- Check with the property insurer for a documentation format they require, and pass that to the cleaner before the visit.
Questions about the work
How often does a restaurant hood need to be cleaned?
NFPA 96 sets it by cooking volume. Solid fuel cooking such as wood or charcoal is monthly. High-volume operations like 24-hour kitchens, charbroiling, and wok cooking are quarterly. Moderate-volume kitchens, which covers most sit-down restaurants, are semiannual. Low-volume operations such as churches, seasonal businesses, and senior centers are annual. Local fire codes can be stricter, never looser.
What does complete system hood cleaning include?
Filters, the hood plenum and grease trough, the entire duct run reachable through access panels, the exhaust fan housing and blades, and the rooftop grease containment. Everything reachable gets cleaned to bare metal. Anything that cannot be reached has to be listed as inaccessible on the service report, which is itself a flag that access panels are needed.
How much does commercial hood cleaning cost?
Published 2026 figures put a single standard hood around $400 to $800, two to four hoods around $800 to $1,500, and large multi-hood systems roughly $1,500 to $2,500 per visit. Food trucks and very small single hoods run about $200 to $500. A first cleaning on a system that has been neglected costs more than these ranges because of the extra labor.
Does my kitchen have to close for hood cleaning?
The cookline does. Most crews work overnight or between service periods, and a typical single-hood restaurant takes roughly three to five hours including setup and cleanup. Equipment has to be cool, so fryers and griddles need several hours of downtime beforehand. Larger systems and first-time cleanings on heavy grease run longer.
What happens if I fail a fire inspection on the hood?
Outcomes range from a correction notice with a deadline to a citation, and in serious cases an order to stop cooking until the system is cleaned. The larger exposure is insurance: carriers commonly require documented cleaning at code frequency, and a grease fire in a system with no service records is the kind of claim that gets contested.
What is the sticker they put on the hood?
A dated service label showing when the system was cleaned, who cleaned it, and when the next service is due. Inspectors look for it first. It is not a substitute for the full service report and photos, which show what was actually cleaned and whether any section was found inaccessible, so keep both on file.
Can my staff clean the hood instead of hiring a service?
Staff should wipe hood surfaces and wash filters regularly, and that reduces grease reaching the duct. It does not meet the code requirement. NFPA 96 cleaning covers the duct run and fan, requires hot pressure washing and often roof work, and has to be documented by the party that performed it. Daily staff cleaning and scheduled certified cleaning are different things.
Why does the crew want to install access panels?
Duct that cannot be opened cannot be cleaned or inspected, and older systems were often built with no openings along horizontal runs. Panels are cut and fitted so the run can be reached, typically around $100 to $250 each. Refusing them leaves permanently uncleaned sections that show up as inaccessible on every future report.
Ready for a quote?
What this site is
Amarillo Kitchen Exhaust is a referral site, not a contractor. We do not hold a license, own a truck, or send a crew. We research hood cleaning pricing and practice, publish what we find, and hand your request to the local company we work with in Amarillo.
That company quotes, schedules, and stands behind its own work, and it contracts with you directly. We do not mark up the price, and you pay us nothing.