Exhaust Fan Repair and Installation in Sarnia
Exhaust Fan Repair is the rooftop side of kitchen fire safety: fixing or replacing the upblast fan that pulls grease-laden air out of your hood. Sarnia Hood Cleaning replaces worn belts, dry bearings and failing motors, swaps a fan whose housing is finished, fits hinge kits so the fan tips open for cleaning, and installs grease containment so the drain stops soaking your roof. The fan is inspected on its curb, whether it sits above a London Road plaza, a downtown Christina Street restaurant or a Grand Bend patio kitchen. You get a written quote within 24 hours.
How a rooftop upblast fan fails: belts, bearings, motor and curb
Belts. A belt-drive fan loses grip as the belt stretches and glazes. You notice weaker draw at the hood first, then black rubber flecks scattered around the fan on the roof.
Bearings. The wheel shaft turns on two bearings. Once their lubricant cooks off, the fan squeals when it starts on a cold morning, then growls under load, then locks.
Motor. A motor that overheats, trips the breaker or hums without spinning is close to failure. The disconnect switch and wiring get checked at the same time.
Curb. The fan bolts to a raised curb flashed into the roof deck. Years of vibration work the fasteners loose, and grease breaks down the flashing. A soft curb turns a fan call into a roofing call.
Repair vs replace: what the rooftop inspection decides
If the curb, housing and shaft are sound, the fan gets repaired. If one of them is gone, you are pricing a new fan.
| Symptom on the roof | Repair vs replace | Typical work |
|---|---|---|
| Smoke hangs at the hood, rubber flecks by the curb | Repair | Belt replaced, pulleys lined up and checked for wear, tension set. |
| Shriek on start-up, bearing block hot to the touch | Repair | New bearings on the original shaft, wheel degreased so it spins true. |
| Motor trips the breaker or hums and stalls | Repair | Motor replaced and matched to the existing drive, wiring and disconnect checked. |
| Housing corroded through, wheel blades cracked | Replace | New fan sized to your hood, mounted on the existing curb if it holds. |
| Curb spongy, bolts pulling from the deck | Replace fan and curb | Both replaced together, with your roofer handling the membrane seal. |
Exhaust fan hinge kit: why a bolted-down fan never gets cleaned inside
An exhaust fan hinge kit is a set of steel hinge plates and a hold-open restraint mounted between the fan base and the curb, so the whole fan swings back on one edge and stays open for cleaning.
Without a hinge, the fan sits flat and bolted. Getting to the wheel means disconnecting the motor, removing every bolt, lifting a heavy housing aside and putting it all back. On an icy plaza roof by a Highway 402 exit at 3 a.m., that is the job that quietly gets skipped. The outside of the fan looks wiped, the wheel stays caked, and your fan ends up the greasiest part of the system.
With a hinge kit fitted, the fan swings open in seconds. A cable or strut holds it up, the wiring stays connected, and the wheel and housing are scraped and washed on the roof. Every cleaning visit can reach the fan, which is what the certificate needs to say it covers.
How fitting works. The inspection measures the fan base, the curb, the drive type and which side has clearance to swing. A matching kit is ordered. On the install day the fan is unbolted once, the hinge plates go between the base flange and the curb, the restraint is attached, and the fan is lowered and run. Older fans are not always a stock size, so nothing is ordered before the base is measured.
The canopy side of the job is on the hood cleaning services page, and the duct between the hood and this fan is on the kitchen exhaust cleaning page.
Rooftop grease containment: protecting the membrane and the lease
Rooftop grease containment is a catch tray mounted at the fan drain spout and packed with absorbent media, so grease that condenses in the fan is trapped before it reaches the roof.
An uncontained fan drips. Condensed grease runs down the housing, collects at the base of the curb and spreads across the roof. Most flat commercial roofs in Sarnia plazas use a single-ply membrane, and grease softens it. The dark stain around the curb often ends as a leak over your cook line.
The bill for that leak usually goes to the restaurant. A typical plaza lease makes the tenant answer for damage its equipment does to the building, so a landlord whose roofer photographs a grease-soaked membrane sends the repair to the kitchen, and the roof warranty can be voided on the same finding. A containment tray with its media changed and photographed each visit is your record that you took reasonable care. That record matters most in a shared building, such as a downtown block on Front Street, where one roof sits over several tenants.
Exhaust fan repair in Sarnia in 2026: lake wind, ice and freeze-thaw on a Lake Huron roof
A rooftop fan near the Lake Huron shore takes wind, ice and repeated freeze-thaw cycles every winter, and each one shortens its working life.
Wind off the lake shakes the fan on its curb and works the bolts loose. Cold turns the grease in the housing and drain spout stiff, so a fan that drained freely in October can back up by January. Meltwater gets into flashing cracks that grease opened, freezes overnight and pries them wider. Ice can also build on the fan lid and hinge, which is one more reason to open and inspect a fan on a Bright's Grove, Point Edward or Grand Bend roof in late fall and again after the spring thaw. Towns on the route are listed on the areas served page.
Best exhaust fan installation in Sarnia for a new cooking line
Exhaust fan installation starts with the hood and the appliances under it, not with whatever fan the previous tenant left behind.
An undersized fan leaves smoke rolling across the line. An oversized one drags heated air out of your dining room in January. The fan is set on a new or existing curb, wired, and fitted with a hinge kit and containment tray in the same visit, so it never goes into service bolted shut. Common cases are a pub adding a fryer bank, a clubhouse grill expanding for the season, or a pizzeria putting in a wood-fired oven. Solid-fuel cooking falls under a monthly inspection interval in NFPA 96, so that fan needs to open every month. The full interval schedule is on the NFPA 96 guide.
How much does exhaust fan repair cost in Sarnia in 2026?
Exhaust fan repair, replacement, hinge kits and rooftop grease containment are quoted per job after inspection or walk-through, and the written quote comes back within 24 hours. For comparison, a scheduled hood cleaning runs from $585 per visit for a single-hood kitchen up to ten feet.
The number depends on fan size, drive type, how hard the roof is to reach, and whether the curb is sound. Curb work involves your roofer and shows as a separate line. Proof of WSIB coverage and liability insurance reaches you before anyone climbs. The other services are on the services page, and kitchen types are on the who we serve page.
Next step: call 226-799-4732 or request a written quote. Send a phone photo of the fan on its curb if you can reach the roof, because it shows the drive type and the hinge kit size.
Exhaust fan repair in Sarnia: frequently asked questions
What should I do if the exhaust fan stops during service?
A kitchen exhaust fan that stops leaves the hood with no draw, so smoke and grease vapour fill the kitchen. Shut down the appliances under the hood and call 226-799-4732 for an urgent visit.
Does the restaurant or the landlord pay for a rooftop fan in a plaza?
The lease decides who pays. Many plaza leases assign the fan to the tenant and the roof membrane to the landlord, so read the equipment and roof clauses before you book.
Will a hinge kit fit an older exhaust fan?
An exhaust fan hinge kit fits most upblast fans, older ones included, as long as the base flange and curb are solid. The base is measured on the roof before a kit is ordered.
Does a replacement fan have to be the same brand as the old one?
A replacement exhaust fan has to match the airflow your hood needs and the curb it mounts on. The brand of the old fan does not matter.
Can hinge kits and containment go on during a cleaning visit?
Hinge kits and rooftop grease containment are usually fitted during a scheduled cleaning visit, overnight or between services, because the crew is already on the roof.