Exhaust Fan Repair and Installation in Pickering
Exhaust Fan Repair in Pickering is the rooftop half of keeping a commercial kitchen exhaust system moving air: the upblast fan on its curb, the belt and pulleys, the bearings, the motor and the drain at the base of the housing. Pickering Hood Cleaning inspects the fan where it sits, quotes a repair or a replacement per job in writing within 24 hours, fits hinge kits so the housing opens at every future visit, and installs grease containment so the drain never empties onto the roof. Kitchens in Pickering and Ajax are booked overnight or between services, and every job closes with before-and-after photographs.
Inside a rooftop exhaust fan: what wears out, and in what order
Belt and pulleys. Most fans on the plaza roofs along Kingston Road and Bayly Street are belt driven. The belt stretches, glazes and throws a ring of black dust around the curb, and a slipping belt means the hood below is capturing less than the line needs.
Bearings on the wheel shaft. Dry bearings squeal on the morning start, hum through service, then seize and stall the motor.
Motor and capacitor. A motor that trips its overload has usually been dragged there by a bad belt or a dry bearing, so the inspection checks the drive before it condemns the motor.
Wheel and housing. Every gram of grease the hood captures passes through the wheel. Buildup on one side throws the balance, vibration loosens the fasteners, and the 0.078 inch limit applies to the housing as firmly as to the canopy.
Curb and drain. The fan bolts to a curb through the roof deck, and a drain at the base of the housing lets liquefied grease out. Where that drain empties is the containment question below.
Repair vs replace: how the call is made on a Pickering or Ajax roof
The inspection asks one question: are the shaft, the housing and the curb still sound. If yes, the fan is repaired.
| What the roof shows | Repair vs replace | The work on the quote |
|---|---|---|
| Belt dust around the curb, weak capture at the hood | Repair | New belt, pulleys checked for glazing and alignment, tension set. |
| Squeal on start, hum through service | Repair | Bearings replaced on the existing shaft, wheel cleaned and balanced. |
| Wheel cracked or housing rusted through | Replace | New fan matched to the hood airflow, set on the existing curb once the curb passes inspection. |
| Curb rotten, fasteners spinning in place | Replace fan and curb | Curb rebuilt with the fan, roofer brought in for the flashing, one quote for both. |
Where to find exhaust fan hinge kit installation near me in Pickering
A hinge kit is the difference between a fan that gets cleaned inside and a fan that gets wiped on the outside and photographed from the ladder.
A bolted fan has to be unwired, unbolted from the curb and lifted clear before anyone can reach the wheel or the inside of the housing. On a plaza roof at three in the morning, that lift is the step that gets skipped: the outside gets a wipe, the certificate gets a signature, and the wheel keeps loading. Pickering Hood Cleaning fits a hinge base and a restraint cable so the fan tips back in under a minute, holds open against the wind off Frenchman's Bay, and closes without a tool.
Older fans along Kingston Road and Liverpool Road are rarely a standard base, so the inspection records the flange and the curb dimensions before the kit is ordered. It goes on during a scheduled cleaning visit. The canopy side of that visit is described on the hood cleaning page, and the duct between hood and fan on the kitchen exhaust cleaning page.
Rooftop grease containment in Pickering and Ajax: the membrane and the lease
Grease that leaves the fan drain has two places to go: into a containment unit or onto the roof.
Rooftop grease containment is a catch tray under the fan drain, filled with an absorbent pad that holds condensed grease before it reaches the roofing. Most plaza roofs in Pickering and Ajax are single-ply membrane, and grease softens it. A greasy halo around an exhaust curb is the usual reason a leak appears on the ceiling above a cook line.
The lease decides who pays, and most commercial leases in the two towns place the exhaust equipment and its grease with the tenant. A landlord whose roofer traces a membrane failure to the kitchen curb bills the tenant. A containment unit with its pad changed and photographed at every visit is the tenant's evidence that the grease was managed.
Exhaust fan installation in Pickering for a new build or a Seaton plaza unit
Exhaust fan installation is the part of a fit-out that decides whether the hood below it will ever capture properly.
New restaurant space is opening in Seaton north of Taunton Road and in the plazas along Brock Road and Whites Road, and a tenant inherits whatever fan the last tenant left on the curb. The fan has to match the airflow the new hood needs, and a charbroiler and fryer bank draws far more than a soup and sandwich counter. Pickering Hood Cleaning sizes the fan to the hood, sets it on a curb that is sound or rebuilt, and fits the hinge kit and containment on day one.
On a landlord-owned roof the property manager has to sign off on curb work and membrane penetrations, and that approval is the slowest step, so it is requested first. The airflow a hood needs, and the standard behind it, are explained on the NFPA 96 page.
How much does exhaust fan repair cost in Pickering in 2026?
Exhaust fan repair in Pickering is quoted per job after a rooftop inspection, with each part listed on a written quote that arrives within 24 hours. For scale, a scheduled hood cleaning visit runs from $385 for a single hood and from $725 for a multi-hood kitchen, and hinge kits and containment are usually fitted during one of those visits.
The variables are fan size, belt or direct drive, the state of the curb and fasteners, and whether the motor, capacitor or disconnect need attention while the housing is open. A replacement with a new curb brings in a roofer for the flashing. Proof of WSIB coverage and liability insurance goes out with the quote, because the property manager will ask. The services hub matches a symptom to the right page, and the who we serve page covers what each kind of kitchen needs from the paperwork.
Next step: call 289-278-7261 or request a written quote. A phone photo of the fan on its curb is enough to identify the drive type and the likely hinge kit before anyone goes up.
Exhaust fan repair in Pickering: frequently asked questions
Can the line keep cooking while the rooftop fan is out?
No. Without the fan there is no capture at the hood, so smoke, heat and grease vapour stay in the kitchen. Pickering Fire Services and Ajax Fire and Emergency Services both treat a line with no working exhaust as a reason to stop cooking, so a dead fan is booked as an urgent call.
Is the fan the tenant's problem or the landlord's?
The lease answers that. Most Pickering and Ajax commercial leases put the fan, its drive and its grease with the tenant, and the curb, flashing and membrane with the landlord. The quote separates the two so each side sees its own line.
What size of replacement fan does a kitchen need?
The size that delivers the airflow the hood requires and fits the curb it sits on. Brand is irrelevant. An undersized original is replaced with a correctly sized unit.
Why is there black dust in a ring around the fan?
Belt wear. A belt running over a glazed or misaligned pulley sheds rubber in a ring around the curb. Left alone, the belt snaps and the kitchen loses its exhaust mid-service.
Is the hinge kit a separate roof call-out?
Normally not. Hinge kits and containment go on during a scheduled cleaning visit while the crew already has the fan open. The landlord's sign-off for hardware on the curb is the one thing that can delay it, so that request goes out with the quote.