[docholiday]

Contact Carrier and get one of there factory dealers to go through the entire system. You’re going to have to pay for this service. Give there recommendations to your attorney and let him deal with it. I hope there’s still $ in escrow.

Carrier did not do this, an independant contractor, hired by the customer did it. no sense dragging the factory into this.

 

[gus99]

Why can't the joints just be wrarpped with the proper tape? Leave the old tape there and just wrap over it. Other than it's adhesive failing what other problems will it cause?
Honestly the scope of work outlined by your new contractor seems a bit overkill. I won't argue it's the not correct fix but that old tape is not made from asbetos after all. I don't see why it has to be removed as long as the new tape can attach to the duct outer skin and th emetal boot.

 

[pecmsg]

Doc

I said Contact Carrier and get one of there factory dealers to go through the entire system. You’re going to have to pay for this service. Give there recommendations to your attorney and let him deal with it.

I agree Carrier didn’t do the install they never do but there still going to cover the warranty parts correct, and just might be interested who is installing or at least selling there equipment/name.
I think we can all agree this is by far one of the worst duct installs posted here in a while, and I doubt the original contractor will ever correct it to any decent standard, if at all. With that said at least have a Carrier Factory authorized company inspect and make the legal recommendations. Its there name on the cover.

 

[aircooled53]

Texas:Mechanical Codes City of Fort Worth
Code requires to seal inter liner with tape, mastic, then tie-strap, then pull insualtion and vapor barrier over and tie-strap then approved tape outer barrier (red#) on tape.

All wyes must be wrapped with insulation and taped with approved (red#)tape.

All joints at plenums and transitions must have mastic or approved sealant to prevent air loss.

 

[rsmith46]

That all needs to be torn out and redone. Sorry to say but thats what you get when permits aren't pulled and inspections done.

 

[Steve Wiggins]

Its really not as bad as it looks. The cloth tape was used to seal the vapor barrier NOT the duct where the air seal is needed. I see metal tape and mechanical fasteners in those locations.

If your vapor barrier is not sealed its really not that big of a violation. I would be more worried about the air flow than the tape.

This HO is:

1. Not pleasable & too picky
2. Too cheap to hire commissioning
3. Will end up getting mastic smeared everywhere so when he finally realizes the duct sizes are wrong it will be HELL to correct.

 

[jfp94610]

Its been about 5 weeks since I informed the general contractor of the problem. I had a licensed HVAC contractor take a look at the problem and he said 3 days to bring it to code.

The contractor would like the sub to come in to repair the problem but I have zero confidence in him. This isn't the first problem with the system. First was incorrect wiring to the controller and the second was he wasn't able to install the furnace. Three guys over two days couldn't figure it out so I hired an authorize dealer and he installed it in a few hours. The guy is a licensed plumber, not an HVAC contractor.

My contractor said that since the HVAC system passed the city final inspection, the problem isn't his. I believe the city inspector never looked at the duct work since the ducts are in a crawl space. The HVAC system was less that 5% of a total house remodel I had done (one year effort).

Stay tuned.

 

[dec]

I go with ....who cares. This guy is never going to be satisfied anyway. It may not have been the greatest job but when you have no clue to the spacifics ..... what do you expect.

At what was charged the contractor may just owe it sealed right. Most of the codes dont require quality, They just require certain ways its done as far as sealed, hung, insullated and a few other things.

I hate giving opinions on someone elses work being a lot of times its being done for some guy that was a cheap a$$ and told the contractor to do it as cheap as possible and that he didnt care what it looked like.

Ok then ya get him in here after it has been in a year and everyone here eggs him on that he needs to go after the guy. Now you take the guy not willing to pay what it was worth and he thinks he payed for the best system available.

you take a look at it, he doesnt want the other guy back. The new guys have now taken it to spending how long messing with the wiring ???????? Thats funny what else have they reworked ?? Sounds like your redoing everything being now you think you can back charge for it.

Anyone in here that would be paying for someone else to change there work to whatever a new shop thought it should be. Hell why not have them add on multi zone dampers , that would work even better.


ok enough for me ..... I wasted enough time on a post no one really know the facts on.




[Edited by dec on 10-03-2006 at 07:04 PM]

 

[simpleman]

I once asked a bigtime contractor in my area that does nothing but new homes how he address the issue of poorly
design distribution system and the complaint that came with them.

His answer....He heldup two fingers about two inches away
from each other and said, the builder only gives me this much to work with.

 

[jfp94610]

Did some investigation with our state code and national standards and found the following issues with my duct system:

- None of the duct system complies with California Title 24 2005 Building Energy Efficiency Standards

o Joints and seams of duct systems and their components were sealed with cloth back rubber adhesive duct tapes

o Drawbands were not used with the flexible ducts

o Section of the duct system are on resting on bare earth

- None of the duct system complies with “ADC Flexible Duct Performance & Installation Standards, 4th Edition”

o Sag of some ducts is greater than ¼ inch per foot

o Areas of the duct system have the radius at centerline less than one duct diameter

o Internal core penetration was repaired with cloth back rubber adhesive duct tapes

 

[Pschneid]

The system

I'm curious . . . . How well does the system heat and cool? How comfortable are your temp, humidity, and noise levels?
Is the crawl space below ground level? Is the crawl space insulated? Does the crawl space have a vapor barrier on the ground? Is the crawl space conditioned ie: heated and cooled?

 

[jfp94610]

I only have a heating sytem. No AC. The crawl space is bare earth covered by plastic sheeting. There is no heating/cooling specifically for the crawl space. The space has vents to provide air flow. The joists above, flooring, have insulation. Noise isn't a problem. My Carrier furnace is located in the basement. Heating my house is erratic given the installed system doesn't have any dampers. Some rooms have great air flow whereas other just a trickle.

 

[Pschneid]

Basement and crawl space

It's difficult getting a good idea about the entire house floor plan from what you've posted. I think though, that the cloth tape issue is the least of your problems.
What are the vents in the crawl space? Are they part of the heating system or do they let outside air into the crawl space?
Get some dampers in the ductwork so you can balance the supply to each room.
And then . . . . uhhhh . . . . Carrier! Good equipment!

 

[jfp94610]

The crawl space vents are for ventilation. I live in a three story house on a hillside. You enter the front door that's level to the street and then you have living space above and below (both accessed via stairs). The partial basement and crawl space are below the bottom level. The duct system goes through the crawl space, not the basement, to the various vents. The branch is in the crawl space.

My general contractor is bring over another person to review the duct system to repair/replace all the problems. Will add dampers to correct the air flow.

 

[dougfamous]

Just another whiner who went cheap and got what he paid for.

Oh well. If the city inspector said it was OK, then you're S.O.L. The HVAC doesn't have to do squat for you.

 

[hvac hero]

Just another whiner who went cheap and got what he paid for.

Oh well. If the city inspector said it was OK, then you're S.O.L. The HVAC doesn't have to do squat for you.

Whats the point of being an ass to this guy Doug? He's already stated that he was dealing with a general contractor & the general used a sub. This man hasnt said anything to make any of us believe he was going as cheap as possible. I think all of us hvac contractors know that a general contractor can give a great presentation to a homeowner & then after the sale is made, he wants everything done as cheap as possible.

 

[jfp94610]

The HVAC work was part of a general remodel. The pricing wasn't broken out separately for the HVAC. Trust me, the pricing of the remodel wasn't cheap. All the work was first rate except for this part; hence, my frustration.

I don't know if I'm SOL or not. Its about integrity of the general contractor to fix something that's not right.

I think this is a good point to sign off.

Thank you,

John

[Edited by jfp94610 on 10-04-2006 at 06:55 PM]

 

[dan123]

Doug and others who are blaming the HO for shi$$y sub work, what is your problem? If you cant/wont do a job properly for the price then you as a contractor have no business making the bid. Going cheaper by not zoning or using less expensive equipment does not authorize a crap installation. Also next time you purchase something I hope you do not shop around for a competive deal because if you do then you also deserve crap by your logic.