new construction photos- need comments

[40861]

I am having my dream house built in New England. I was wondering what you experts think of the new instllation in the rough stage. I hired a general contractor with a good reputation and was wondering if everything looks good. This it the attic portion of a hydro system.I will accept all comments.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/40861/Dsc00284.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/40861/Dsc00286.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/40861/Dsc00287.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/40861/Dsc00290.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/40861/Dsc00295.jpg

[BaldLoonie]

Yea, does look good. Wrapped metal instead of ductboard & flex. Air handler is hung, not sitting on the deck. The stack in the wall with high & low openings? Returns or supplies?

[40861]

The duct in the wall I beleive are returns they told me. I have supplies in the ceiling about 5' from the gable end walls in this bonus room above the garage.This room has about 10 ceiling height.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/40861/Dsc00293.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/40861/Dsc00292.jpg

[docholiday]

Looks like someone pays attention to detail. Im not a big fan of running flex when steel would do but if its sized properly it shouldnt be a big problem. Nice looking water lines and drainage. you might see if he can install a cleanable trap (I forget the name at this late hour). Im sure someone willp say it here soon.

I saw that too on the (Im hoping its a return). Loos like the low wall is a little high but whos to judge that? I suppose thats one way of doing it. Hey if a sofa goes there, at least it will still work through the top.

Do your service guy a favor and have the catwalk installed so he can get around the unit without clibing over it (will crush ducts).

[dennis_ru]

I'm not a pro, but i did install a metal ducts a little bit, i think it needs a rubber boot around a plenum to prevent unwanted noise/vibration, and i think isn't good to run flex ducts on long runs. (this is just mine opinion)

[contactor]

Do you have a reason it is not? Youve gone to this trouble.Open up, say whats on your mind.Why do you ask?

[berad]

Looks good, but if the plenums aren't insulated on the interior they should wrap them like they did the duct. Don't count on the insulators to cover them and if your getting blow in done the unit would pretty much be covered in cellulose before the plenums were covered adequately. The easiest way to tell if the plenums are insulated on the interior is to look for the dimples from the pins that hold in the insulation. If they just glued them in they should have pins or the adhesive will come loose and the insulation will plug up the duct work.

[40861]

I saw the inside of the plenums when they dropped the unit off before installation.I saw what looked like nails with clips holding a black type of insulation inside.
As far as a cat walk goes the attic will have blown in insulation. There is a sheet of plywood raised right in front of the unit. A set of pull down stairs are going to be installed next to the unit. (Next to my jacket in one photo.
The contractor told me there will be no noise. The unit and duct are suspended.
I will mention about the trap clean out.
Is the flexible duct going to be a problem? He tells me he does alot of these systems and said I won't hear it run.

[Jultzya]

You answered a couple of questions, one being is the plenum insulated? Which you stated it is.

The cleanout tee has been mentioned already. That's no biggie, but would be nice for maintenance.

If the flex is straight, tight, and sized correctly, it shouldn't be an issue.

The install and home looks wonderful, and that says a lot coming from this group!!!!!!!! :cool:

Just make sure that the flex doesn't get trampled while they insulate the attic!

[tinknocker service tech]

nice to see a class act once in a while
looks like a great job
good luck with your home

[duct dr]

Nice job, but you may want to insulate the primary drain. Don't know if it's code in New England or not but the last thig you want is for that thing to start sweating in the heat of summer. Good way to ruin a pretty ceiling.

[mark beiser]

Looks good. I like to hang my flex duct every 4-5 feet, but what they did there looks like there isn't enough sag between the hangers to cause any problems.
The air changes directions enough time to isolate from any noise from the blower, and the flex duct will isolate from mechanical vibrations, so you shouldn't get any objectionable noise if the ductwork is sized properly to keep the air velocities below 600 fpm.

I like the way systems with trunk lines look, you never see them down here though. Its all radial duct systems with flex duct here. Works the same if it is sized properly, just doesn't look even 1/4 as good.

[Shophound]

Even the framing in that house looks crisp.

Nice to see something being built right for a change. Including the HVAC.

Hey Mark, I love your sig line! :D


Join RSES or DIE!

[mark beiser]

Woah, I didn't even look at the framing. It looks like someone actually cut the ends of everything square and installed them square.

I don't think the, so called, "carpenters" down here even know what a square is.
The $2,000,000 house we did the HVAC in recently looked like it had been framed by a high school construction education class. Fortunatly the PollySteel exterior walls should keep it from actually falling down in a stiff wind.

[Shophound]

Back when I was about to frame my woodworking shop, I went and walked through some new houses going up nearby to get a bearing on things. Well, I learned more on how NOT to do things than anything! A neighbor of mine who at the time was a framer by trade came over to help me set the roof rafters after I had all the walls up. We first pulled a diagonal to see how square the entire structure was and found it a quarter inch off.

Me, having not been exposed to the realities of blow and go tract house framing, fretted if a quarter inch off was bad.

He looked at me, his eyes narrowing, and said, "Are you kidding? I've gone back on houses that were framed FIVE INCHES out of square!"

I just stood there in disbelief, before that really cool feeling from hearing someone else confirm and praise your work set in. :cool:

To the owner of this house: beauty is far more than skin deep. If your house has good bones, it will show ten times more in the finish. Straight, crisp walls and ceilings, cabinets that sit flush, door frames that aren't out of whack, etc. Looks like where you are there's still some guys that know true carpentry!

[dash]

Very nice workmanship,hopefully the design work was to the same standard,if it is you'll have a great system.

[Panama]

Be sure to get the duct system leak tested with a Minneapolis Duct Blaster or by some other acceptable method.

Are there returns, jumper ducts, or transfer grilles for each bedroom?

[pecmsg]

So far so good. Someone is doing the right thing. If that unit is going to be used during construction have extra filters installed at returns and in the cabinet. Check these yourself. Have been on to many calls after job is compleated where coli is plugged with dust paper paint etc. Good luck with your new home.

[bluetooth751]

Looks good.

Different than what we see and do here.

I don't think they are finished but I would like to see the emergency drain trapped and filled with a nonevaporating fluid like mineral oil.

From experience those prefabricatied P traps clog up frequently. I prefer to make my own or by a trap with a clean out on it.

Must have been expensive with all that rectangle duct.

[billva]

have the contractor install an E-Z trap. this has a removable float switch which will shut down the system in the event of a clog. they also have a clear trap and a brush so any debris that settles in the trap can be seen and removed.

another safety device is a float switch for the emergency drain pan, wired in series with the e-z-trap.

as for the trap in the emergency pan drain, i've never heard of that and am curious to see its purpose.

good luck, looks good.

[airman1]

good job ... we cant test it only see it ... one suggestion ... do not let duct touch each other or anything else ... will sweat

[Toolpusher]

A nice clean install sent to crap by flex duct.
I guess it's easy to focus on a few good things when you short change the runs.

Sorry it's a good looking job, I just hate flex.
I'd run round pipe and sleeve insulate it.

Have them put an emergancy float switch in the black drain pan.

That could save a ceiling in a couple of yrs.

[bluetooth751]

Originally posted by billva
have the contractor install an E-Z trap. this has a removable float switch which will shut down the system in the event of a clog. they also have a clear trap and a brush so any debris that settles in the trap can be seen and removed.

another safety device is a float switch for the emergency drain pan, wired in series with the e-z-trap.

as for the trap in the emergency pan drain, i've never heard of that and am curious to see its purpose.

good luck, looks good. The trap is not installed on the emergency pan. I'm sorry I did not make that statement clear.

The trap would be installed on the secondary drain from the evaporator coil pan.

The purpose is to prevent the unit from filling with water in the event of a primary drain clog. Priming the trap with a nonevaporating liquid keeps the air-handler from sucking hot humid air from the attic space. Also a trap should be used on the secondary also because both the primary and secondary drains are under negative pressure.

Water alone in the trap will evaporate quickly. Anti-freeze, transmission fluid, or any light weight oil can be used to prime the secondary trap.

[40861]

Thanks for all the opinions guys. I will stop by the jobsite today and see if is around.I asked him yesturday about the sizing and he went to his truck and pulled out some paper work with my Lot # on it. It doesn't mean much to me but he says it is sized according to the biggest load which is air conditioning.
I also asked him about leak testing the system. He tells me that all the joints are sealed. If I want to leak test it I am more then welcome to pay for someone to come in and do it.
Is it customary for the installing contractor to leak test his ducts on new construction?
It seems some here think he did a good job and others don't.
This can get very confusing.
The general contractor and his subs do seem to have a good reputation around here.
Thanks to all that have replied.

[docholiday]

If he sealed the ducts, do your self a favor at this point and dont mess with the leakage test. He hasnt skimped on anything yet so your well ahead.

[amickracing]

I agree, don't worry about the leak check. He's sealed the joints.. there might be a very small ammount of leakage but it's nothing to worry about.

I've only seen a handfull of jobs leak checked, and they were high pressure commercial jobs and it was required by the engineer. God them tests suck lol

About the quality of that job. There's always going to be room for improvement in any job. I'd say you definately have gotten a very good install though.

[chillbilly]

Terrible install! Just kidding:)
Looks really nice. A clear trap with a cleanout installed inside a galvanized drain pan would be better.
Nice install.

[Lifer]

Here in my area insulation can't be crushed by straping and if it has been then a additional layer of insulation is required.
All primary drains above a ceiling in to be insulated. I would also have a tee and cap on the p trap for clean out.
The flex duct installation directions that come in the box of flex duct states that straping it to be no longer that every 5' and not to permit more than 1" of sag between straps. Also straping the flex duct on the outer sleeve crushes the insulation and can cause it to sweat and tape can come off then duct becomes loose.
Plastic drain pan these get brittle over years of hot attic temperatures. They also might want to install a float switch in the aux. drain pan.

[mayguy]

Looks great!

Only thing I'd do is bring up the high return higer.. It seems to be in the middle??

Odd to see see both high/low return?