“We had the hood cleaned” can mean two very different things. One is a canopy wipe and a filter swap that leaves the duct — where fires actually start — untouched. The other is what NFPA 96 describes: the entire exhaust path, hood to rooftop fan, cleaned to bare metal, with documentation. Here’s the second one, so you know what you’re buying.
We’re a local referral service for commercial kitchens. Call or send the form and we’ll connect you with a trained, insured kitchen exhaust cleaning company serving Lexington — one that cleans the full system to NFPA 96 and leaves you the documentation your fire inspector and insurer expect. No charge for the referral.
Hood and canopy: interior surfaces, plenum, grease troughs and cups, cleaned to bare metal. Filters: removed, degreased or replaced, reinstalled correctly — missing or upside-down baffle filters are a common citation. Ductwork: the whole run, horizontal and vertical, scraped and washed to bare metal — this is the fire path, and the part a wipe-down skips entirely. Rooftop fan: fan blades, housing, and hinge kit cleaned; grease containment checked; fan hinged (or hinge kit recommended) so it can be cleaned properly next time.
Long or bending duct runs can’t be reached from either end. The standard calls for access panels at intervals and at changes of direction so the duct can actually be cleaned. A competent company installs missing panels (and tells you why); a cheap quote that never mentions panels is a quote for cleaning the parts of the duct it can reach.
NFPA 96 requires each inspection and cleaning to be documented: the company name, the service date, the areas cleaned, the areas not cleaned and why, technician training/certification information, and a signed certification of the work — kept on your premises, available to the fire inspector on request. Add before-and-after photos of the duct and fan, and a dated service sticker on the hood. That package is your compliance file, your inspection answer, and your insurance record all at once.
No mention of the duct or the rooftop fan. No before/after photos offered. No sticker or written report. A price that’s a fraction of every other bid. “Certification” that turns out to be a laminated card with no training behind it. Any one of these is worth a question; two is worth another bidder.
We’re a local referral service for commercial kitchens. Call or send the form and we’ll connect you with a trained, insured kitchen exhaust cleaning company serving Lexington — one that cleans the full system to NFPA 96 and leaves you the documentation your fire inspector and insurer expect. No charge for the referral.
Lexington Hood Cleaning — Connecting Lexington restaurants and commercial kitchens with trained, insured kitchen exhaust cleaning companies.
Serving Lexington, Nicholasville, Georgetown, Versailles, Winchester, Richmond, Frankfort, and Central Kentucky.
NFPA 96 Cleaning Schedule · What a Compliant Cleaning Includes · Fire Inspection Prep · Cost · Institutional Kitchens · Fire Code Resources · Privacy Policy
Call: (859) 470-8930
Information on this site is general guidance on NFPA 96 and commercial kitchen exhaust maintenance, not a compliance determination for your specific kitchen — your local fire authority makes that call. Lexington Hood Cleaning is a referral service and does not itself perform exhaust cleaning, inspection, or certification.