Exhaust Fan Repair and Installation in Whitby
Exhaust Fan Repair in Whitby is the rooftop half of commercial kitchen exhaust maintenance: the upblast fan that draws smoke and grease vapour off the cook line and discharges it above the roof. When a belt glazes, a bearing runs dry or the motor stalls, the hood below stops capturing. Whitby Hood Cleaning inspects the fan on its curb, quotes repair or replacement in writing within 24 hours, fits hinge kits so the housing opens at every cleaning, and installs grease containment so the drain never empties onto the roof membrane. Kitchens in Whitby, Brooklin, Port Perry and Uxbridge are booked overnight or between services.
What sits on a Whitby restaurant roof: fan anatomy and the parts that wear
Motor, belt and pulleys. Most fans above Whitby cook lines are belt driven: a motor outside the airstream turns the blower wheel through a belt on two pulleys. The belt stretches, hardens and sheds a ring of black dust around the curb, the first sign the drive is slipping.
Bearings. The wheel shaft turns on two sealed bearings. Once their grease is gone the fan squeals on start-up, then hums, then seizes, taking the motor with it.
Wheel and housing. Every gram of grease the system exhausts passes through the wheel. Coated unevenly, it runs out of balance, shakes the housing and works the fasteners loose.
Curb, wind band and drain. The fan bolts to a metal curb in the roof. The wind band keeps the discharge pointing upward. A drain at the housing base lets condensed grease out, and where it empties is the containment question below.
Repair vs replace: how the decision is made on a Whitby roof
The inspection asks one question first: are the curb, housing and shaft still sound. If yes, the fan is repaired. If not, a new fan goes on the curb, or a new curb goes in with it.
| Symptom found on the roof | Repair vs replace | What the job involves |
|---|---|---|
| Belt dust on the roof, weak draw at the hood | Repair | Belt replaced, pulleys checked for glazing and alignment, tension reset. |
| Squeal at start-up, housing hot to the touch | Repair | Both bearings replaced on the existing shaft, wheel degreased and balanced. |
| Housing rusted through, wheel bent or cracked | Replace | New fan matched to the hood airflow, mounted on the existing curb if it is sound. |
| Curb rotten, fasteners spinning in place | Replace fan and curb | New curb and fan installed together, with a roofer booked for the membrane tie-in. |
Where to find exhaust fan hinge kit installation near me in Whitby
Exhaust fan hinge kit installation in Whitby is done by Whitby Hood Cleaning during a scheduled cleaning visit, so the inside of the fan is cleaned at every visit afterward instead of wiped on the outside and signed off.
A fan bolted flat to its curb cannot be opened. Reaching the wheel means shutting off the disconnect, unbolting the base and lifting the whole unit clear of the curb. On a Thickson Road plaza roof at three in the morning, with a second kitchen still to do, that is the step that gets skipped. The paperwork still gets signed. The wheel keeps loading.
A hinge kit bolts between the fan base and the curb. The fan tips back on it, a restraint cable holds it open in wind, and the wheel is in reach. Older fans on Dundas Street and Brock Street roofs are not always a standard base pattern, so the inspection records the flange and curb dimensions before the kit is ordered. The canopy side of the same visit is on the hood cleaning services page, and the duct between hood and fan is on the kitchen exhaust cleaning page.
Rooftop grease containment in Whitby: the roof membrane and the landlord
Rooftop grease containment is a tray fitted beneath the fan drain, filled with absorbent media, that catches condensed grease before it reaches the roof surface.
The drain at the base of a fan housing has to empty somewhere. Without a containment unit it empties onto the roof, and grease attacks the single-ply membrane on most Whitby plaza roofs: it softens the sheet, lifts the seams and gets through at the curb flashing.
Who carries the liability. Most commercial leases put roof damage caused by a tenant's equipment on the tenant. A landlord whose roofer reports a grease-damaged membrane around an exhaust curb bills the repair back to the restaurant, and the same report can void the roof warranty for the whole building. Property managers on Dundas Street and Thickson Road now write containment into leases for that reason. A tray with its media changed and photographed at every visit is the tenant's evidence of reasonable care, and Whitby Hood Cleaning services it during each hood cleaning visit.
Top-rated exhaust fan installation in Whitby: what to look for
Exhaust fan installation in Whitby is matched to the hood, not to the fan that came off: a replacement is sized to the airflow the canopy and the cooking beneath it require, under the standard explained on the NFPA 96 page.
A sound installation includes six things: a fan sized to the hood, a square and sealed curb, a hinge kit fitted at the same time, a containment tray under the drain, a wind band, and a disconnect within reach. A fan that will not start is an urgent call, because a kitchen with no exhaust cannot cook: a tripped disconnect is fixed on the spot, a capacitor, motor or belt on the same visit, and a seized bearing is the case the table above is written for. The kitchens this applies to are on the who we serve page, and the roofs are on the areas served page.
How much does kitchen exhaust fan repair cost in Whitby in 2026?
Exhaust fan repair, replacement, hinge kits and rooftop containment in Whitby are quoted per job by Whitby Hood Cleaning after a rooftop inspection, with every part listed and the written quote back within 24 hours. For scale, a hood cleaning visit runs from $385 per visit for a single-hood kitchen up to ten feet and from $725 per visit for a multi-hood kitchen of two to four canopies.
The variables are fan size and drive type, the condition of the curb and fasteners, and whether a roofer is needed for a membrane tie-in. The services page matches a symptom to the right page, and the line beneath the hood is on the commercial kitchen cleaning page.
Next step: call 289-274-0423 or request a written quote. One photograph of the fan on its curb is enough to identify the drive type and the likely hinge kit.
Exhaust fan repair in Whitby: frequently asked questions
Can the kitchen keep cooking while the exhaust fan is down?
A cook line with no working exhaust fan has no capture at the hood, so smoke and grease vapour go into the kitchen. Whitby Fire and Emergency Services, Scugog Fire and Emergency Services and the Uxbridge Fire Department all treat a dead fan as a reason to stop cooking.
Is the exhaust fan the tenant's cost or the landlord's?
The lease answers that. Most Whitby commercial leases put the fan with the tenant and the curb and membrane with the landlord, so the quote carries the fan work and the curb work on separate lines.
Does a new fan have to be the same make as the old one?
A replacement fan has to match the airflow the hood needs and the curb it sits on, not the brand that came off. An undersized original is replaced with a correctly sized unit.
What does a ring of black dust around the curb mean?
Black dust around the fan is belt material wearing off against a glazed or misaligned pulley. A new belt and a pulley alignment fix it on the same visit.
Does a hinge kit need its own roof visit?
Hinge kits and containment trays are normally fitted during a scheduled hood cleaning visit, because the crew is already on the roof with the fan open. Landlord approval for work on the curb is the step most likely to delay it.