Ductwork Replacement Cost in 2026
Replacing the ductwork in a typical home costs about $3,000 to $12,000, and a 2,000 square foot house commonly lands between $7,000 and $12,000. Priced by length, full replacement runs roughly $25 to $55 per linear foot installed, including removal of the old ducts. Ductwork is quoted separately from equipment and is not included in any of our system price ranges.
What these figures cover
Removal and disposal of old ducts, new trunk and branch runs, connections, sealing and labor. Not included: asbestos abatement, structural or drywall repair beyond normal patching, or new registers in rooms that never had them.
Cost by scope
| Job | Typical installed cost |
|---|---|
| Repair or reseal a few runs | $200–800 |
| Replace one floor or one trunk line | $1,500–4,000 |
| Whole-home replacement, 1,500 to 2,500 sq ft | $4,000–12,000 |
| Per linear foot, replacement | $25–55 |
| Per linear foot, new install only | About $15–20 |
Replacement costs more per foot than new installation because removal, disposal and working around a finished house add labor. Material is a smaller share than people expect: flexible duct costs a few dollars per foot and sheet metal roughly $7 to $13 per foot before labor.
Flexible or sheet metal
Most systems use rigid sheet metal for the main trunks and insulated flexible duct for the branches to each room. Flexible duct is cheaper and quicker to install but loses airflow if it is crushed, kinked or run too long. Rigid metal costs more and lasts longer. A quote that uses flexible duct everywhere is not automatically wrong, but ask how the runs will be supported and kept straight.
Do you actually need new ducts?
Often not. Sealing leaky joints and adding insulation can recover most of the lost performance for a fraction of the cost of replacement. Replacement makes sense when:
- Ducts are physically damaged, crushed, disconnected or contaminated.
- Ducts are badly undersized for the new equipment, which is common when moving to a heat pump or variable speed system.
- Old duct wrap contains asbestos and must be removed anyway.
- The layout leaves some rooms with almost no airflow.
A duct leakage test and a load calculation together tell you which situation you are in. If a contractor recommends full replacement without testing, ask what the test would show.
Insulation and sealing
Ducts that run through an unconditioned attic or crawlspace lose heat in winter and gain it in summer. Sealing the joints with mastic or approved foil tape and insulating those runs is one of the cheapest efficiency improvements available, often a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars depending on access. It is worth doing before sizing a new system, because a leaky duct system makes a house look like it needs more capacity than it does.
Asbestos in older homes
Homes built before about 1980 may have asbestos in duct wrap, tape or insulation. Disturbing it requires a licensed abatement contractor and adds cost. If your home is that age, ask whether the quote assumes abatement or excludes it.
Replace ducts with the equipment, or separately?
If the ducts need work and the system is near the end of its life, doing both at once usually saves money: one crew, one permit, and ducts sized for the new equipment. Putting a new high efficiency system on leaky, undersized ducts wastes part of what you paid for. Our heat pump, air conditioning and heating guides all assume existing ducts are sound, so add duct work separately if yours are not.
Check a quote
Price sources: published 2026 duct replacement pricing from This Old House, Fixr, SoFi and contractor cost calculators, restated to installed cost including removal. Planning ranges, not quotes. Last reviewed October 2026.