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Was wonder where "attic smell" was coming from...

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kaizen099

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hi, so I was wondering where the occasional "attic smell" was coming from occasionally when I walked by my AH closet. So I attempted to take a picture behind the main plenum (AH) and lo and behold the duct contractor left a huge opening directly into my attic. It gets better. Yesterday I noticed the FASSON tape had condensation on it, so I am guessing that if when the attic is actively venting it is pushing humidity through this opening and causing condensation on the tape (Humidity topped out at 84%). Obviously mold doesn't have time to grow since we all know when the AC turns on it immediately sucks the humidity inside the closet. Luckily I have access to the wall behind this area, so I will be opening this wall and sealing this huge opening into my attic. I am letting the duct contractor know because they should know better. See link to YouTube for video. I need to fix this ASAP. Thanks again for all of your assistance.

https://youtu.be/_bWJzW5BclA
 

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Discussion starter · #2 ·
Hi everyone, yes I am replying to my own post. This is what my life has come down too, so basically this is a rant. The company that installed my ducts do duct installation as their main task. I sent a message to the owner of the company letting them know that they should have told me to have a drywall contractor seal up the air handler closet before they did the installation of the main plenum. I am just disappointed when one hires a licensed contractor that specifically does duct installations and they didn’t suggest sealing the plenum to avoid this issue. Who can you trust nowadays? I see their Instagram photos and they even have a posting that’s states “make sure your plenum is sealed tight” I also saw some more pictures of ductwork on their instagram page and I saw that they used mastic to seal the flex duct to the boxes and they didn’t do that on my job, they only used FASSON tape. It’s like the pictures on their instagram page do not match the work they did for me. It’s just disappointing. The work has 1 year warranty so hopefully they step up and correct this issue. Thanks for reading.
 
#3 ·
The pictures you posted don’t show ductwork connections, just the outer insulation.

Are you saying the fittings are not sealed with mastic?

It sucks when a contractor doesn’t explain something like open attic space. I always explain I do not repair drywall, unless a mistake happens. When opening walls for exploratory work is needed, I do not fix, I always let the customer know to hire someone for the repairs. I do this BEFORE I open up the wall…
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
vstech said:
The pictures you posted don’t show ductwork connections, just the outer insulation.

Are you saying the fittings are not sealed with mastic?

It sucks when a contractor doesn’t explain something like open attic space. I always explain I do not repair drywall, unless a mistake happens. When opening walls for exploratory work is needed, I do not fix, I always let the customer know to hire someone for the repairs. I do this BEFORE I open up the wall…
Click to expand...
Hi thank you for the reply, the pictures are behind the main plenum of the air handler closet, that open wall has access to air flow from the attic, instead of contractor telling me to first close this opening behind the air handler that leads into the attic they just installed the main plenum and left this wall open, so while the air conditioner is operating it has access to air flow from the attic (moisture and air). So basically the air handler closet / main vertical plenum is not sealed to only allow air from conditioned space to be conditioned by the air handler. While the attic is “venting” moisture and hot air is being pushed through the gaps between the main vertical plenum and ceiling including that huge opening in the wall behind the main vertical plenum. This open wall behind the air handler is now being cooled since it’s opened to the conditioned space. It’s been 7 months already and for some odd reason I looked into this now since I was cleaning the floor under the the air handler and noticed the “attic smell” and warm moist air being pushed through that gap between the main vertical plenum and ceiling. So if they refuse to remove the air handler so I can call a drywall contractor to repair the walls properly and seal the air handler closet then the dry wall contractor has to seal by opening the walls behind the air handler which is in the kitchen. I do see some mold growth on that open wall so now that might be another issue unfortunately. Thanks again for your time.
 
#7 ·
From what little I could see in the video the only part I see not covered with sheet rock was wall stud, not ceiling joist. If it is only wall stud then the top plate should seal out attic air unless there is a hole through the top plate for a wire or piping. If that is the case it would be easy to seal from the attic, just locate and caulk it. It also looked like there was a black iron pipe behind the unit which would not let sheet rock go on that wall.
 
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Discussion starter · #8 ·
Thanks for the reply, I highly doubt duct contractor will remove air handler to properly seal this closet from the interior of the closet itself. So I am going to have drywall contractor come to see if it could be sealed from exterior walls (the walls on the opposite side of that air handler closet) by opening the wall up and trying to seal those gaps heading into the attic. Attic space is extremely tight. I myself cannot access that area. While the attic is "actively" venting you can feel the warm humid air push through these gaps. It is causing some minor sweating and it seems like there is some very mild green mold growing on the left side wall next to the vertical plenum. There is no black iron pipe behind in that wall. What the duct contractor should've done was pause work and told me to call a drywall contractor to properly seal that closet, then continue with main vertical plenum installation. Instead, they just ripped out the old vertical plenum and installed the new one without telling me to properly seal the air handler closet.
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
Update, so the company got back to me. Their plan is to seal the perimeter of the vertical plenum from the attic side. I feel this would be a solution as it would stop air intrusion from the attic. What do you think? Thanks.
 
#10 ·
sounds like a solution assuming they can get to it all.
 
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#11 ·
kaizen099 said:
Update, so the company got back to me. Their plan is to seal the perimeter of the vertical plenum from the attic side. I feel this would be a solution as it would stop air intrusion from the attic. What do you think? Thanks.
Click to expand...
That’s the supply. If anything it makes the closet positive.
 
#13 ·
kaizen099 said:
Hi, what does "makes the closet positive mean"? Is this good? Thanks.
Click to expand...
It means the closet is under positive pressure so it would blow air air of the closet, not suck it in from the attic.
 
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kaizen099
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