Maintaining and cleaning your exhaust hood is something that you can do on your own, however there are times throughout the year that it is highly recommended to hire a professional hood cleaning company to come in a deep clean the exhaust hood system. In some smaller areas of the country there are likely only one or two companies in the local area, but in larger cities there could be dozens of different cleaning companies. So what type of questions should you ask these hood cleaning companies to be sure you’re choose the right service provider? Here is a list of common questions which should give you a good feel of whether the cleaner is right for the job.

First off - ask about their schooling and accretions. Confirm that the company has been professionally trained and certified, and feel free to ask how familiar they are with the NFPA-96 guidelines. Other common questions to ask include how long they’ve been in business / cleaning hoods, if their employees are credentialed, and if not, how they train their employees. 

Be sure to enquire about their licensing, bond, and liability insurance. While a company may be totally legit, accidents do happen. Find out whether the company is properly insured to cover any physical or monetary damage that may arise from an accident. Better safe than sorry.

Like stated in the first set of questions you should ask for the company’s knowledge of NFPA-96. These are the standard guidelines to preventing fires and make sure that the company is up to date on potential fire risks, fire codes, preventative measures, and other aspects of fire safety. 

Most kitchen appliances inside of a commercial kitchen are going to be metal. Because of this you should make sure that the cleaning company is capable of a true deep clean of your current hood system as well as their methods of cleaning to bare metal. 

Does the company follow proper cleaning conduct and procedures? For instance - ask what their perp work for the cleaning involves. Generally, it would include sending a lead tech to meet with the restaurant owner ahead of time to review the job, taking pre-cleaning photos, plastic wrapping equipment, and applying degreasing foam. Does the company use equipment that properly works in your kitchen and will it truly clean the equipment as well? Are the chemicals that the company uses safe to use and legal? While the job will be performed in the kitchen does the company have a protocol in place to protect the rest of the restaurant or commercial kitchen space? 

Does the company guarantee their work? If so, what does the guarantee cover? Be sure to double check what their minimum guarantee is and find out what the company’s guarantees on safety and professional conduct are. 

Finally, make sure that the company provides thorough reports at the end of the cleaning. This should generally include the before / after pictures of the cleaned equipment, details of what was cleaned and what chemicals were used, etc. You want to be sure it’s as thorough as possible to ensure that the company did a proper and deep clean of your kitchen equipment / exhaust hood system. 

HoodMart provides our customers with a wide range of exhaust hood systems - from Compensating (Short Cycle) to Perforated Supply Plenum PSP - as well as all exhaust hood accessories such as hood filters, canopy hood lights, and curbs. If you still have questions regarding the purchase of your hood system, please feel free to contact one of our experts today by calling us at 1.800.715.1014 or by contacting us through our live chat system.