Evaporator coil, drain pan and blower cleaning in Marietta, for the musty smell when the AC starts, the coil that ices over, and the system that runs all afternoon without catching up.
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Six boxes, about thirty seconds. You pick when to be called back, and that is when the phone rings.
Or call (943) 271-6154The evaporator coil is the coldest, wettest part of a home's air conditioning. In Marietta it spends most of the year sweating, because its job is to pull water out of humid Georgia air. Dust that slips past the filter lands on that wet surface and stays. Over a few summers it mats into a layer that chokes airflow, holds moisture and feeds the growth that people smell for the first minute after the system starts. Cleaning the coil, the drain pan under it and the blower that pushes air across it is often the job that actually fixes what a homeowner thought was a duct problem.
University of Georgia Extension's guidance on preventing mold advises keeping indoor relative humidity below 60 percent, and ideally between 30 and 50. It lists air conditioning flaws, including an oversized unit, duct leaks, dirty coils and condensation, among the sources of excess moisture in a house. A dirty coil removes less water, the house feels clammy even at the set temperature, and the extra moisture settles into everything. The same guidance recommends running the fan on auto, not on, because a fan left running blows air across a wet coil after the compressor stops and puts that water back into the house.
A musty or damp-sock smell when the air starts. Ice on the refrigerant line or the coil itself. Water in the secondary pan under an attic air handler, or a float switch shutting the system down. Weak airflow even with a clean filter. A system that runs through a July afternoon and never reaches the thermostat setting. Any of those points at the coil and blower before the ducts.
Panels come off the air handler or the coil cabinet above the furnace. The coil faces are treated with a coil cleaner and rinsed at low pressure, so the thin aluminum fins are not bent flat. The primary drain pan is cleaned, and the condensate line is flushed so water leaves the way it should instead of backing up. The blower wheel comes out or is cleaned in place, because its curved blades collect a surprising load of dust and it is often the dirtiest part of the system. The cabinet is wiped down and the panels are sealed back. Some badly matted coils need to come out of the cabinet for a full cleaning, which is a bigger job and is priced separately before it starts.
Many upstairs systems around Marietta have the air handler in the attic, which means a clogged condensate line can put water through a bedroom ceiling. A secondary pan and a float switch are there to catch that, and both get checked on a coil visit. If the secondary pan already holds water, the primary drain has a problem that needs fixing now.
Fogging a sanitizer through the ducts gets sold hard on coil and mold calls. The EPA notes that no chemical biocide is currently registered for use inside internally insulated duct systems, and that research has not shown these products to be effective in duct cleaning. Growth on a coil comes back if the coil keeps getting wet and dirty. The fix is a clean coil, a draining pan, a sealed return and controlled humidity. UGA's guidance puts it plainly: finding and fixing the causes of excess moisture is one of the best ways to prevent mold growth.
Atlanta price lists treat an air handler, blower and coil cleaning as a modest addition when it is done with a duct cleaning, and sanitizer fogging as a separate line that should only appear with a documented reason. The pricing page shows both bands with their sources.
Evaporator Coil and Air Handler Cleaning in Marietta. Call (943) 271-6154 and a technician is dispatched with the parts on the truck. You get the price before the work starts.
Call (943) 271-6154On Saturday 29 March 2025 Atlanta Allergy & Asthma recorded a pollen count of 14,801 grains per cubic meter of air, shattering the previous record of 9,368 set in March 2012. Any count above 1,500 is classed as extreme. Trees were the main source, after a warm February with no hard freeze brought an early bloom and a warm, dry March intensified it. The count is taken from a rooftop sampler and read under a microscope.
Why it matters: Pollen gets into a house through doors, windows and any return duct that pulls air from the attic or crawlspace. A filter that fits its slot catches most of it; a leaky return or a loose filter lets it reach the supply runs. Cleaning in the middle of a season like that is wasted money. Fix the filter and the leaks, then clean after the counts fall.
Source: atlantanewsfirst.com
Georgia's state energy code took effect on 1 January 2011, and duct and envelope tightness (DET) verification became mandatory on new homes from 30 June 2011. A newly installed duct system must be tested if any part of it, or the air handler, sits outside the building envelope, in an unconditioned attic or crawlspace. As first written, the rules also required an existing system to pass the same test if more than half of it was modified, and required mastic on new or modified ductwork. Under Georgia's amendments to the 2015 IECC the duct leakage target is 6 CFM per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area, and testing must be done by a certified DET verifier such as a HERS rater or BPI analyst.
Why it matters: A Marietta house built before mid-2011 was never held to a duct leakage test, and its attic and crawlspace returns often pull dust, insulation fibers and humid air straight into the system. Cleaning those ducts without sealing them buys a few clean months, and the leak is usually the better use of the money.
Sources: southface.org · southface.org
University of Georgia Extension Circular 1047-1, Preventing Mold in Your Home (fully reviewed 1 March 2023), advises keeping indoor relative humidity below 60 percent and ideally between 30 and 50 percent. It lists air conditioning system flaws, naming an oversized unit, duct leaks, dirty coils and condensation, among the sources of excess moisture in a house, and recommends sealing leaks in HVAC ducts and the return plenum and running a well maintained, right-sized air conditioner with the fan on auto.
Why it matters: In a humid Georgia summer the indoor coil sits cold and wet for months, and that is where musty smells and growth usually start, not in the duct runs. A fan left on 'on' re-wets the house with water from the coil. The coil, the drain pan and the leaks deserve attention before anyone sells a duct sanitizer.
Source: fieldreport.caes.uga.edu
The City of Marietta lists five National Register historic districts: Atlanta-Frasier Street, Church-Cherokee Street, Northwest Marietta, Washington Avenue and Whitlock Avenue, and in August 2013 part of Kennesaw Avenue became the city's first locally designated historic district. The Whitlock Avenue district, listed in 1989, covers 82 acres and 101 contributing buildings dating from before the Civil War into the 1930s. The Northwest Marietta district, listed in 1975, takes in about 230 acres of houses built roughly from the 1840s to the 1890s.
Why it matters: Almost none of those houses were built with forced air or central cooling. Most of their ductwork was added later, threaded through crawlspaces, closets and attics around plaster walls and old framing, and it is often a patchwork of metal and flexible duct of different ages. A cleaning there starts with finding where the runs actually go.
Sources: mariettaga.gov · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org
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