Meet the Jacksonville Team Behind Bellows Air Duct & Vent Co. of Jacksonville
We’re the crew that shows up at your door in Jacksonville with Rotobrush gear in the van and a camera in hand. Every one of us answers to the same standard: inspect before you touch, show the homeowner what you found, and leave the ducts cleaner than you found them. No shortcuts, no ghosting, no surprises on the bill. That’s not a poster on the wall. It’s how we work every house, from Arlington to Mandarin.
Our People
Gene Whitmore, Owner
Gene started Bellows Air Duct & Vent Co. of Jacksonville in 1984, back when most homeowners in Duval County didn’t know their ducts could be cleaned at all. He named the company for the oldest air-moving tool there is because he figured the basics matter more than the buzzwords. Forty-two years later, he’s still on jobs when a camera inspection turns up something unusual, still answers the phone himself some nights, and still stamps every invoice with the 90-Day Done Right Promise. Gene’s the one who instituted the no-bait-pricing rule after watching a competitor quote $49 on a coupon and charge $800 at the door. He’ll tell you the worst thing he’s ever pulled from a duct system was a full family of palmetto bugs in a San Marco crawl space, and that story usually does more to convince people to schedule cleaning than any brochure.
Marcus T., Lead Technician
Marcus has been running cleanings for Bellows since 2012, which means he’s crawled through attics in July when the Jacksonville humidity hits 95% and the asphalt shingles above him are radiating 140 degrees. He’s NADCA-certified and specializes in the older galvanized ductwork you still find in Riverside and Springfield bungalows, where seams have separated and fiberglass lining has degraded. Marcus carries a borescope with a 12-foot cable because he’s found that showing a homeowner a live feed of mold in their trunk line converts a skeptic faster than any sales pitch. Off the clock, he restores vintage motorcycles and applies the same patience to both jobs: take it apart, see what’s actually wrong, fix it right.
Darlene K., Senior Installer & Duct Repair Specialist
Darlene joined us in 2016 after eight years in commercial HVAC, and she’s the one we call when a job turns from cleaning into actual repair. She’s certified in Aeroseal duct sealing and has sealed more than 400 systems in Jacksonville, including a 1950s ranch in Ortega where the original sheet metal was so porous the homeowner was effectively cooling their crawl space. Darlene keeps a notebook of every oddball configuration she’s encountered, which comes in handy when you’re trying to access ducts behind a lathe-and-plaster wall in Avondale. She lives in Neptune Beach, surfs before dawn when the swell’s up, and will absolutely notice if your return grille is installed upside down.
James R., Service Coordinator
James is the live voice that answers when you call (866) 995-4721 at 10 PM on a Saturday because your dryer vent is backing up and your laundry room smells like a campfire. He’s been with Bellows since 2019, and he schedules every job with a realistic window, not a fantasy. James knows which technician lives closest to Ponte Vedra, which one won’t fit in a crawl space under three feet, and which neighborhoods in Northside have the access issues. He grew up in Jacksonville, graduated from Terry Parker High, and still coaches youth baseball at Arlington Little League. If he puts you on hold, it’s because he’s pulling up your service history to give Marcus or Darlene the full picture before they arrive.
Elena V., Apprentice Technician
Elena started with us in 2023 after completing her HVAC certificate at Florida State College at Jacksonville, and she’s already logged more camera inspections than some techs do in five years. She assists on every job type, but she’s taken particular ownership of our dryer vent cleaning route because she’s methodical about checking exterior termination points, which is where most companies stop and we keep going. Elena grew up in a household where her grandmother’s asthma meant air quality wasn’t abstract, it was personal. She asks more questions than she answers right now, which is exactly what you want from someone who’s going to be running her own van inside two years. She lives in San Jose and is slowly restoring a 1986 Toyota pickup in her driveway.
One Standard, Every Job
Every technician on this page works under the same guarantee Gene wrote in 1984 and still enforces today. The 90-Day Done Right Promise means if something’s not right, we come back. No paperwork to dig up, no argument about whether it was in the fine print. We camera-inspect before and after every cleaning because a visual record beats a verbal promise. We disclose pricing before a single tool is lifted because the number on the phone should be the number on the invoice. And when we say we’ll be there, James coordinates it, Marcus or Darlene or Elena executes it, and Gene stands behind it. That’s how it’s worked for 42 years in Jacksonville. That’s how it’ll keep working.
Written by Gene Whitmore, Owner at Bellows Air Duct & Vent Co. of Jacksonville, serving Jacksonville since 2012.