Whole-home duct cleaning
Dryer vent cleaning
Camera inspection
Sanitizing & deodorizingWhole-system duct and dryer vent check with before-and-after photos - you see exactly what came out of your vents
That "$99 whole-house special" is a bait ad - the real number appears once they are in your hallway, or the "clean" is a shop-vac at the register. We photograph the inside of your ducts before and after instead.
Aprilaire Register & Grille Cleaning: The San Antonio Owner’s Guide
Aprilaire register and grille cleaning in San Antonio typically runs $12 to $28 per register when done as part of a full duct cleaning, and we stock the brushes, fin combs, and replacement hardware to match Aprilaire’s stamped-face and curved-blade grilles on the truck. Most homeowners call us after noticing one register that’s pulled away from the drywall, a grille that won’t sit flush anymore, or discoloration that won’t wipe off with a damp cloth. You’ll know it’s time when the register in the hallway looks ten years older than the one in the guest room, or when a grille snaps a mounting tab and suddenly the whole vent shifts every time someone walks past it.
Which Aprilaire Models This Applies To
Aprilaire doesn’t manufacture a single “register & grille” line – the registers on an Aprilaire system are usually stamped-face or curved-blade steel grilles sized to the duct opening, and the Aprilaire side of the equation is the filter cabinet or media housing the register serves. What matters for compatibility is the duct opening dimensions and the grille’s depth profile, because Aprilaire media cabinets sit closer to the return plenum than some other brands. In San Antonio homes we work on, the common sizes are 4×10, 6×10, 4×12, and 6×12 floor or wall registers, with the 6×12 curved-blade style appearing most often on the return side near an Aprilaire 5000 or 213 media cabinet.
Here’s the gotcha that surprises people: the original grille may be a builder-grade stamped steel unit that was installed with the home, not an Aprilaire-branded part at all. Aprilaire’s name is on the cabinet, but the register itself often came from the HVAC contractor’s supply truck. That means the decision isn’t OEM Aprilaire versus aftermarket – it’s whether to replace builder-grade stamped steel with a heavier, better-finished grille that won’t warp in San Antonio’s summer heat. Stamped steel grilles, particularly the thin ones common in tract homes around Stone Oak and Alamo Ranch, will flex and pop out of the drywall opening when the house settles or when a kid steps on a floor register one too many times. A heavier 20-gauge steel grille or an aluminum curved-blade unit holds its shape far longer.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your Aprilaire Register & Grille Cleaning Is Failing
- The grille won’t sit flush against the wall or floor. The mounting tabs are bent or the drywall opening has worn loose around the screws. On floor registers, the frame itself bends under foot traffic, and once it’s banana-shaped, no amount of tightening brings it back.
- Visible rust or corrosion on the grille face. San Antonio’s humidity makes this common in bathrooms and laundry rooms. Once the powder coat is scratched, moisture gets under the finish and starts eating the steel. A rusted grille can’t be cleaned back to new.
- Paint or finish is chipping in flakes. Builders often spray registers with the wall paint. That paint wasn’t meant to hold on metal, and after a few years it sheds. You’ll see flakes around the register base, especially where the grille meets the drywall.
- The damper lever behind the register is seized or missing. Older stamped-steel registers used a small sliding lever to open or close the damper blades. These break off or seize from dust and humidity, and without a working damper you lose airflow control in that room.
- Whistling or noisy airflow through one specific register. A grille with bent fins or a partially closed damper gets turbulent. The sound is a high-pitched rush that changes pitch when you move the lever. Sometimes it’s the grille itself, sometimes the duct connection behind the register.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
Register and grille replacement in San Antonio runs $18 to $45 per unit installed, depending on the grille material and size. Stamped steel replacements fall at the lower end. Heavier-gauge steel or aluminum curved-blade units with better finish run toward the higher end. That’s the installed price – the grille itself, the labor, proper screw placement into the duct boot, and making sure the damper operates smoothly before we leave.
When we clean and service registers as part of a full duct cleaning, the price per register is lower because we’re already in the house with the tools out. The 365-Day Done Right Promise applies here too: if a grille we installed pops loose or a damper we serviced seizes within a year, we come back and make it right. As Paul Adeyemi likes to say before a single tool comes off the truck: we tell you exactly what we’re doing, and exactly what it costs – before we start.
See the difference
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After
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AfterDIY or Call Us?
Cleaning a register is straightforward: vacuum the face, wipe it down, check for bent fins. Replacing one is also doable for a careful homeowner with the right size grille and a screwdriver. Where DIY goes wrong is when the grille is bent and you bend it back – the metal’s fatigued, and it’ll pop loose again in a month. It also goes wrong when the replacement grille doesn’t match the duct opening depth and the damper binds against the boot. If the grille is beyond surface cleaning, or if the drywall around the opening is damaged, call us at (903) 354-8393 and we’ll bring the right unit and set it correctly the first time.
FAQs
Builder-grade stamped steel grilles last 5 to 10 years before warping, rust, or paint failure makes them worth replacing, especially in humid rooms or high-traffic floor locations. Heavier 20-gauge steel or aluminum grilles will often outlast the HVAC system itself. The San Antonio climate shortens the lifespan of thin steel – humidity drives rust, and heat cycling warps the metal. Call (903) 354-8393 for an honest assessment of whether yours are worth cleaning or due for replacement.
Surface scratches can be touched up, and loose mounting screws can be re-seated with anchors, but once a grille is bent out of shape or rusted through, repair isn’t worth the effort. The metal has lost its structural memory, and you’ll be fighting it forever. Replacement is less expensive than it sounds: $18 to $45 installed.
A single register replacement takes 15 to 20 minutes once we’re in the home. A whole-home register swap during a duct cleaning adds an hour or less to the job. We’ll walk through every vent location with you before work starts, same as we do on every visit, so you know exactly what’s being replaced and why.
Yes – we carry common San Antonio sizes in both stamped steel and heavier-gauge options, along with the proper screws, anchors, and damper hardware. If your home needs a specialty size or finish, we’ll source it and schedule the install. As an independent service provider, we work with parts from Aprilaire, Lennox, Trane, Carrier, Honeywell, and Guardsman, so we match what’s already in your home rather than forcing a brand you don’t need.
Ready to Get Your Registers Straightened Out?
If your registers are warped, rusted, or just look tired, call Morton’s Air Duct San Antonio at (903) 354-8393. We’ll give you a straight price before any work starts, protect your floors with shoe covers and drop cloths on every visit, and leave you with a photo of the clean-up before we go. Live person answers, 24/7.
Written by Paul Adeyemi, Owner, Mortons Air Duct San Antonio, serving San Antonio and nearby areas.