I'm actually working on a custom duct job right now that I drew inspiration from old style ductwork. It's all custom 6" tall duct with graduated takeoffs and full radius 90s for take offs. I am cheating a little for time and money sake and transitioning to round pipe for the runs but it was a necessary evil since it's basically charity work for my in-laws. There will be pictures in the near future of that one.
I find it very difficult to price out larger jobs for all custom ductwork. My pace varies, generally I consider myself pretty quick at fabrication but some days, not so much. If you priced it out to, any suggestions?
I did a job at an old farm house a few years ago, original duct, all graduated, ran from one end of the basement to the other. They were adding an addition on to the far end of the house. Because of better insulation and tighter construction the equipment was sized right yet for the house. The duct was big enough to handle the air needed but because it was graduated at each takeoff It didn't matter how far I went back it wasn't big enough to extend into the addition. So I had to rip out all this beautiful duct work. I should have taken a picture of it.
As far as pricing it? That's always tough. I know about how long it takes to build each fitting. I have a Ductmaster to stamp out the straight lengths of duct, so I know about how long that takes to stamp, bend and hammer. And if everything is pretty clean, few obstructions, etc. I can hang pretty fast. So that is just a matter of guesstimating time on. The problem I have is knowing how much time it takes on the prep work so you have everything in line to hang. Like if you use the joist as return {I know, bad news}, putting up the panning, sealing the joist space, headers, opening the top of the duct, etc. Those little thing seem to take more time than the actual hanging. Back when I had a helper I could easily keep them running doing the prep work trying to stay ahead of me hanging.
On this job I didn't figure enough time because I had not figured on having to work around as much stuff as I did. That's the fun of remodels, you never know exactly what you will run into.
D:
