Frequently Ask Question
Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning is a recession proof business because all restaurants across the country MUST clean their exhaust hood system periodically, 1-12 times a year or the grease from the cooking builds up so much that it becomes a fire hazard to the restaurant. Thus, fire inspectors throughout the USA and Canada will inspect all commercial kitchen exhaust hood systems to make sure that they are NFPA Compliant and cleaned prior to the grease build up. As long as, restaurants cook food, this industry will always exist whether the economy is slow or thriving.
Not only is Restaurant Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning a recession proof business and required by ALL restaurants but also the cleaner has to be a certified entity! This means that restaurants will always want your service because they can't clean it themselves! The other great thing is that it's typically done at night after 10 pm when the restaurant closes. Thus, it can be a great part time or full-time business. And it's a business you can operate from your home, van or trailer without the need of an office or many employees.
You can do Restaurant Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning part time or full time! Most cleaning are done at night when restaurants close and take about 3-4 hour for an average cleaning. Two people can either clean 1 job a night in about 4 hours or clean 2 jobs per night...that would-be full-time work!
Restaurant Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning is not simply pressure washing like most people think, but fire prevention. Cooking always gives off grease laden vapors that get pulled up by the exhaust hood system in a restaurant kitchen and the fan pulls these flammable grease vapors right out of the kitchen. If that exhaust system is not cleaned regularly by a trained, qualified and certified entity as per NFPA Code 96, the restaurant would catch on fire...and it's not, if it will catch on fire, but when! Fire marshals, insurance companies and restaurant owners throughout the United States and Canada abide by NFPA Code 96 standards for how to clean commercial kitchen exhaust hood systems.
Unfortunately, not anyone can clean a Restaurant Kitchen Exhaust Hood system. Restaurant owners can't even clean it. It must be done according to NFPA Code 96 standards which specify that it must be done by a trained, qualified and certified person acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction. This kind of work cannot be done by hand or with small tools and ordinary chemicals…It requires specific tools and equipment and strong chemicals, otherwise that work will not be done right; you can set off the fire suppression system or also not be able to clean the vertical and horizontal ducts of most hood systems. You have to be trained and certified and understand the NFPA Code 96 in order to be sure that there are no fire hazards.
Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning is enforced by fire inspectors and fire marshals from a city and state levels. But it's also enforced by restaurant owners, and the property managers that have restaurants as tenants. They will all require seeing the Certificate or Performance and the paperwork and the JSR/ job service report that the work was done to NFPA code standards.
Restaurant/ Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning is primarily done after the restaurant is closed, so around 9 or 10 PM. Sometimes they are closed on Mondays, which means you can clean it during the day! Typically, cleanings are done in the night on: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday night. Restaurants do not like cleanings on Friday or Saturday nights which is their busiest days!
An average Restaurant Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning takes about 3 to 4 hours a night to clean, and typically by a crew of 2 people. Each crew should be able to clean 2 jobs per night. In the beginning it may take you 5 hours until you get used to cleaning together and then it shortens to about 3 hours for an average cleaning.
Restaurant Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleanings starts at $500 - $600 or more for an average cleaning and goes up as the exhaust hood gets longer or more complex with the vertical and horizontal ducts and fans it has and what type of volume of cooking, they do. According to NFPA Code 96, the exhaust hood system needs to be inspected and/or cleaned either monthly, quarterly, twice a year or once a year. It all depends on the type of cooking, the type of restaurant and the volume of grease it produces.
You need 3 major things to do a thorough restaurant commercial kitchen exhaust hood cleaning job. You need at least a 4,000 psi, 3.9 GPM hot water pressure washer, small hand tools and spin jet along with and a strong professional degreasing chemical like our Grease Eater. You can start off with a state of the art 4,000 psi hot water pressure washer like the kind we sell on our MFS website (https://www.exhausthoodcleaningschool.com/shop/hood-cleaning/pressure-washer). You will receive a complete list of tools and equipment after you register as an MFS student. This does not include however a vehicle or trailer to hold and transport your tools and equipment. A 14' box trailer with a side door and a ramp door can run about $3,500 and we have a company we work with that will give you great prices. We also have a 3rd party equipment leasing company that can help you get financing for all your tools and equipment and trailer. Just call our office at +1 844-537-5685 (Toll-Free) and we can help you.
We highly recommend you use a strong but safe degreaser like our private label the "Grease Eater" or “Grease Eater Ninja”, which you can find on our MFS shopping website athttps://www.exhausthoodcleaningschool.com/shop/hood-cleaning/hood-degreaser-5-gal-pail
We believe that you can start your own Restaurant Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning company for a little under $10,000 and that is with all the tools, equipment, trailer, starter chemical and everything ready to clean. With that said, please see what we wrote above where you can also start with a cold-water pressure washer or even with a garden hose, if you had a really low budget to work with. It may take you a lot longer to clean the job, but it can be done!!
We believe that you can start your own Restaurant Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning company for a little under $5,000 and that is with a cold-water pressure washer that you can hook up to the hot water of the restaurant, your small hand tools and chemical and a small trailer. With that said, if you had a really low budget to work with of under $1,000, you can start cleaning with just a garden hose and by hooking it up to the hot water of the restaurant. It may take you a lot longer to clean the job, but it can be done!! Again, it will not be your ideal way to clean and it will take you a lot longer and a lot of hand scrubbing, but it can be done until you grow your company.
You can absolutely start your Restaurant Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning company from your home and out of your garage and van or trailer until you grow to have a lot of clients and crews cleaning for you.
The MFS Trade School is one of the best kitchen exhaust hood cleaning schools in the USA and Canada. It offers both an online self-study course that you can take from the comfort of your own home and at your own pace watching 30 pre-recorded videos taken right from an actual 4-day course, or come to any of our monthly 3-day hands-on trainings done in Orlando Florida! The MFS Trade School will teach you the NFPA Code as it pertains to kitchen exhaust hood cleaning as well as estimating, marketing, how to find work, how to bid on school contracts over $100,000 and much more. You will also learn how to offer restaurants related services such as cooking oil filtration and waste oil collection, which are all part of the training and all our courses! See videos and demos on our website.
MFS Trade School offers comprehensive training, and 2 certifications for "Kitchen Exhaust Hood Cleaning" and "Kitchen Exhaust Hood Inspection" as per NFPA Code 96 guidelines. This course is offered both via online and as a 3-day hands on course in Orlando Florida. We have been cleaning exhaust hood systems for over 20 years and still continue to clean hoods in our area. Our head instructor started out as a private licensed fire inspector and all our assistant instructors are either employees or have their own exhaust hood cleaning business. Our Certification courses will give you multiple revenue streams and make you super competitive.
1. We are experts in the field of commercial kitchen exhaust hood cleaning with a solid fire inspector background.
2. We have hundreds of 5 Star Google Reviews from satisfied students across the USA and Canada.
3. You will receive a Nationwide certification for i) Commercial kitchen exhaust hood cleaning Technician and ii) Commercial kitchen exhaust hood cleaning inspector.
4. We will teach you how to become a public entity contractor and bid on yearly Exhaust hood cleaning school contracts going out to bid and how to find them. Once you are a bonded contractor you will be able to bid on other public entity bids which range from $25,000 to $500,000 in hood cleaning and pressure washing. THIS IS WHERE THE BIG MONEY IS AT!
5. We will fill out a public entity school bid in class so you can understand the entire process of public entity bidding.
6. We will teach you the NFPA Code for exhaust hood cleaning so you can understand it and be able to use it to get work and beat your competition.
7. We will give you classroom and hands on training, teach you marketing, estimating, understanding the codes.
8. We have a professional 4,000 SF facility in Sanford, Florida with 2 fully functioning exhaust hood systems that you will receive hands on training until you can clean with confidence, then we will go out and clean a real commercial kitchen exhaust hood system, go on the roof, attic space and check access panels, lube fan, install grease pads, clean make up air filters, clean stove top grates and more!
9. We will teach you how to talk to restaurant owners so you can win jobs.
10. We will teach you various ways to estimate and give digital inspections.
11. We will give you all the forms you will need to copy and use for your business.
12. We will teach you about access panels, hinge kits, grease pads, make up air cleaning, fan maintenance and more.
13. We will teach you how NOT to trip the fire suppression system when working which can kill your career & reputation.
14. We will teach you how to clean the entire exhaust hood system safely and all vertical and horizontal ducts without endangering your life or your health when using chemicals.
15. We will teach you how to clean using our proprietary funneling method without getting a drop of water or chemical on the restaurant floors.
16. We will teach you about installing hinge kits on fans, changing grease pads and lubing fans & changing fan belts.
17. We will teach where to buy your tools and equipment so you don't pay more than what you have to.
18. We have our own safe & proprietary brand name of cleaning chemical that is one of the safest and best cleaning chemicals in the industry that you will love.19. You will have access to ALL the tools and chemicals needed for your business from ourMFS Shopon our website.
20. Get unlimited phone support for up to 1 year after your training! When you finish our class, you will be family!!! Call us any time you have any questions and we will be happy to help you and answer them.
21. At the end of the class, you will take your test and receive your certification and be able to start cleaning hoods the very next day. Re-certification is offered every year at a low $300 to MFS students only.
22. We are very competitive and affordable compared to other certification schools with lower rates for multiple students from the same company.
23. We have great references and video reviews of hundreds of students that have taken our class!
Yes, we absolutely teach marketing and estimating as well as give all our students a one-year unlimited phone support with any questions they have at any time!
What makes our school different than any other school in the country is that we teach you more than just exhaust hood cleaning for the same price as your hood cleaning and certification. This is because we believe the more services you offer to the same restaurant, which we call bundling, the higher your chances to make money while helping you rise above your competition. We also provide you with unlimited support for the first year after your training! Once you become an MFS student, we will stay by your side as your free consultant with unlimited phone support to help you with everything you need to grow your business. Please see this link which shows more details on how we are vastly different than any other hood cleaning school in the country!
No, we don't help you find work, or give you work, but we will show you many ways to get leads which then you have to close! All these are considered extra services that we offer for a fee to you to get leads; publications and reports that show new restaurants, reports that show schools that put out yearly contracts, help with creation of your website, Google PPC advertising, SEO for your website and much more!!
1. The students enrolling for this certification program are required to take our Online Certification Test after they finish studying our training manual & videos. Upon scoring a grade of 70 or above, the student will be mailed their certification via Post (USPS).
2. Passing is guaranteed even if you have to take the test multiple times until you pass, and there is no additional cost to take the test as many times as needed.
3. Online Test is scheduled over Zoom Video Call by our In-house proctor. Our proctor will help you through the whole test session.
4. Online Test consists of 50 Multiple Choice Test questions. Each question carries 2 points. To pass the test, you have to score a minimum of 70 points.
1. For Offline registration, please call our Office (Mon – Fri) at +1 844-537-5685 (Toll-Free) between 9.00 AM to 5.00 PM.
2. For Online registration, visit our online registration page at: Register
Annual Recertification Fee : $300
Our Certification is valid for 1-year. We encourage our students to stay connected with us through annual recertification. Recertification has many advantages.
1. We update our Training Manual & Videos with new information & updated code changes throughout the year.
2. You get free job leads from private entities via our sister website 'www.MFStrustedPros.com'.
3.You get promotions & discounts on tools, equipment & additional courses to grow your business throughtout the year.