Roof job finally done.. warning I posted a book

[praha99]

We were moving units for the roofer so they could reroof .. at the same time we had to re-route all the line sets, electrical, 24v etc.. 40 year old building, it was a mess. Everything was under 2 feet of tar, and while we were working the roofers were pouring tar all around us. At the beginning we had to be covered up from head to toe; something in the paper they were using being like a chemical burn if left on the skin and exposed to sun.

This started beginning of June.. then the heat hit, imagine 60 older folks in this 5 story condo on my ass about getting the units hooked back up.
I had to deal with the Association,Roofer, Management company, and 60 owners!
At the same time trying to keep up with the roofer redoing the stacks, trying to keep all lines clearly marked as not to confuse them since tracing them would be very hard. It took 2 men 3 hours to redo one stack there were 12! I had to personally braze each connection because the roffer would then cover all teh connections up before we had a chance to test em.
Hundreths of connections but at the end only two leaks and no mismatched wiring or lines WHEW!!!

we sold 30 new air and 15 furnaces so that`s probably the only reason it was worth it.
I must have run up and down those 5 flights and all thru teh building about 100 times!
At teh beginning people were difficult since we had to go to each unit and turn off power.. they wanted seperate appointments and such what a pain!
At the end the ball was in my corner .. meaning you want AC you`ll be home at such and such time.
It was the Associations idea to do this during middle of summer but I took all the slack.
At one point an elderly gentelman (90+) was taken away by ambulance.. I decided it was in my best interest to offer portable a/cs (for a fee) so noone would die and sue us.

Anyway I`m so glad its OVER!!!

Several times the roofers would quit due to heat and we would continue to work.. must have been 120* on that roof!
My wife bought me a 10x10 pop up.. it saved my life!




Before:












after cleaning up the mess:

[bwalley]

What kind of line is that in the 2nd picture?

[praha99]

Every disconnect was in this shape.. falling apart completely rusted





All this was done before we could test for leaks:




After:

[bwalley]

The condensing units look like they are too close to each other.

[praha99]

HA I knew someone would say that. Always with the negativity lol I love it!.

Well Bwalley unless you have some levitating units theres nothing I can do about that , platform were sized for 1970 sized units
It is what it is, it`ll be fine.

[bwalley]

HA I knew someone would say that. Always with the negativity lol I love it!.

Well Bwalley unless you have some levitating units theres nothing I can do about that , platform were sized for 1970 sized units
It is what it is, it`ll be fine.

Not being negative, just pointing out a fact.

You could use a prefabricated aluminum stand, like a R.M Enterprises RDCA-80.

Attach the legs to the deck, install picth pans around the legs, attach the condensing unit to the stand with 4 2" 16 gage straps.

I am renovating a building built in 1966 and this is how I am attaching the Condensing units to the roof for the split systems and I have to cut the roof and install curbs for the package units.

This is rated to 120 MPH wind loads.

We have to keep 30" between our condensing units.

[praha99]

I can tell you right now theres no way in hell the roofer or the Association would ever allow me to attach anything like that to the roof.

[steelersfan1]

HA I knew someone would say that. Always with the negativity lol I love it!.

Well Bwalley unless you have some levitating units theres nothing I can do about that , platform were sized for 1970 sized units
It is what it is, it`ll be fine.

They might be close, but it looks to me like everything is servicable.

Those before pics look like an absolute disaster. The early part of that job sounds like hell on earth to me. I hope you and your crew made some good money because it looks like you guys did a ton a work. In my opinion you did a really nice job, everything looks really clean!!

[bwalley]

I can tell you right now theres no way in hell the roofer or the Association would ever allow me to attach anything like that to the roof.

We have a lot more issues with wind and rain in Florida than you guys do in Indiana, we don't have snow loads though.

What is wrong with the way we attach our condensing units to the roof?

We can't just set the condensing units or package units on a roof and hope they stay there, we have to secure them to the roof.

[bwalley]

They might be close, but it looks to me like everything is servicable.

Those before pics look like an absolute disaster. The early part of that job sounds like hell on earth to me. I hope you and your crew made some good money because it looks like you guys did a ton a work. In my opinion you did a really nice job, everything looks really clean!!

I doubt American Standard would agree that they are installed correctly.

I don't know what kind of mechanical code you have in Indiana, but all of the units would have been red tagged in Tampa.

I agree they had quite a mess to deal with.

[ascj]

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like the disconnects are mounted to the electrical compartment covers on the units you replaced?

[praha99]

I don't know what kind of mechanical code you have in Indiana, but all of the units would have been red tagged in Tampa.
.

No red tagging in Illinois. Units are 100% serviceable. Lets see some pics of your 1966 building. I need to learn how to do things correctly

[RyanHughes]

This was a difficult job. The after pictures look great. While there may be some technical differences regarding required distance between units, you did what you could. If you had more space, I'm sure you would have given them a little more breathing room on two sides of the coil. And I think you're right--should be fine. I'm sure you checked all the pressures out, and I'm sure you've seen worse. This is from a HO's perspective. I'd be happy.

Was it challenging to repair the 2 leaks after the roofers were finished?

[Lash]

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like the disconnects are mounted to the electrical compartment covers on the units you replaced?

Thats what I was thinking.

[Senior Tech]

Not bad...I just don't care for the metal tape or blue tape....but in a pinch I would use purple tape

[duckman373]

Big improvement. Why pull out discos on a comm job?

[bwalley]

No red tagging in Illinois. Units are 100% serviceable. Lets see some pics of your 1966 building. I need to learn how to do things correctly

Does Illinois have a mechanical code or at least want the manufacturers guidelines followed on the installation of equipment?

Does Illinois even inspect jobs like this?

I wouldn't install the condensers that close even if the mechanical inspector said it was OK, because American Standard doesn't want them that close together.

When I get the building finished, I will post some pictures, I am doing more than just the mechanical on the job I am doing a complete level III renovation/addition, so far I have pulled about 21 permits for this job and it does not include the subs permits like the roofer and the electrician.

We have had about 15-20 inspections so far and no red tags or correction notices, the building inspector has asked for more details to be added to the plans and the plumbing inspector eliminated a dry vent at 1st floor rough in, even though it was on the plans.

[yorktek37]

The condensing units look like they are too close to each other.

Not only that I would have supported the linesets and I dont think having J-boxes unsupported in the middle of the sealtight is legal according to NEC Code. Hell of a difference though.

[vmc1161]

HA I knew someone would say that. Always with the negativity lol I love it!.

Well Bwalley unless you have some levitating units theres nothing I can do about that , platform were sized for 1970 sized units
It is what it is, it`ll be fine.

Bwally was asking what I was thinking, your response shows you may be thin skinned. You posted on the wall of pride, you should expect some feed back. So, here comes some feed back ... you are wearing sneakers, that's a big no-no here, you have pipes that apparently do levitate as there is no support for them. The disconnects are mounted on the service panels, some stretched tight, the refrigerant lines are not straight and there are a lot of lazy bends. What is with the metal tape, I see a bunch of guys here do that, to me it looks terrible. This is just me, if I was doing the job I would have wood on hand to enlarge the platforms so I had more room, after all they are re-roofing and could roof a bigger platform no problem. Work under those conditions is tough, so some stuff gets not done the way you would like and that sucks. I have been on similar jobs and know it is frustrating, to much mess, to many guys, not enough time, budget constraints, to hot, to cold, to many boss’s. At the end it is done and they are running OK so all is well.


.

[flyrfan]

LOL at the metal tape liquid line support!

IMO, the minimum would have been wire ties.

How come some units have filter driers and some don't?

Like others have said....you left it in better shape than you got it.