An HVAC pro and his crew were in my basement all day today. We are starting to finish our basement and need to move the furnace/blower and hot water heater. This HVAC guy was recommended by the main contractor doing our basement whom I know well and (otherwise) trust.
What they were supposed to do was:
* move the furnace/blower about 6 feet along the main trunk line -- from one side of the upstairs (and only) return duct to the other side of it.
* move the hot water heater about 10 feet.
* install trays under both hot water heater and furnace.
* re route the refrigerant line (?) that goes to the a/c unit outside.
I should have known something was wrong when I go down there at 10:15 and one guy is emptying the hot water heater into a bucket and walking over to the floor drain outside the exterior door to pour the hot water heater water down the drain. I have a 75 gallon heater. Disgusted, I fetch a hose from the garage for them to use instead for which they are grateful.
Periodically I go down to the basement to check on their progress and when the HVAC unit was moved I discussed with them where a wall would be, I marked the floor with blue tape as to where the wall would be and explained how all the HVAC equipment should be inside that future wall.
Since it was a 11pm they had to leave and said they will come back Monday to finish. Here is what they left me with:
1) one of the new hot water pipes has a leak at a connection that they did. Until they come back on monday to fix it, they dealt with this by draping a paper towel over the leak and directing the water dripping from the paper towel into a bucket.
2) they weren't able to connect the return duct, so for now the air handler draws air in from the basement from an open duct on the furnace. And the furnace flue/chimney wasn't connected yet either so that just blows out air when the a/c is on (I didn't know the AC mode would blow air up the flue).
3) probably the main reason that they didn't finish the return duct work was that they didn't switch the sides of the furnace that draw the return air. I realized later, after I saw how they were proposing to run the return that by leaving the return on the same side of the furnace, the duct will now have to cross back over the furnace to get to the return register in the wall upstairs. I explained this to them, but they since they had already done the supply duct work, they weren't keen to redo that to move the furnace over another foot to have the return duct on the other side.
4) I asked that they put pans under the water heater and the furnace. But the pan under the water heater is barely big enough to hold the water heater itself with no extra room beyond the edge of the pan and so the safety valve drain thing drains outside of the pan.
5) Most oddly, at the conclusion of the day, the main guy rings my front door bell to tell me that they are done for the night and will be back on Monday (rather than come up from the basement as he had done throughout the day -- almost like he didn't want me to go down to the basement). I ask him to confirm that the water heater and a/c are working. He says yes, but that the breaker on the furnance is off and I should turn that on to run the a/c. I suggest that we do that now together. We go down and flip the breaker and the blower comes on and the air is cold. But since the flue and the return duct work is not yet done and air is blowing out of the flue outlet and air is sucking in from the open return duct, I decide I'd rather not run the a/c and try to turn it off at the thermostat -- but it doesn't seem to go off. It seems that they had it off at the breaker b/c that's the only way to turn it off b/c something in the wiring is screwy.
So they say they will be back on Monday to fix it. And since they want to get paid the rest of the money, they probably will show up. But should I let them? Any one of these glitches would give me pause, but the whole combination makes me think that there are probably other screwups that I just haven't noticed yet.
By the way, if anyone knows a good HVAC pro in Loudoun Co. Virginia, please PM me.
What they were supposed to do was:
* move the furnace/blower about 6 feet along the main trunk line -- from one side of the upstairs (and only) return duct to the other side of it.
* move the hot water heater about 10 feet.
* install trays under both hot water heater and furnace.
* re route the refrigerant line (?) that goes to the a/c unit outside.
I should have known something was wrong when I go down there at 10:15 and one guy is emptying the hot water heater into a bucket and walking over to the floor drain outside the exterior door to pour the hot water heater water down the drain. I have a 75 gallon heater. Disgusted, I fetch a hose from the garage for them to use instead for which they are grateful.
Periodically I go down to the basement to check on their progress and when the HVAC unit was moved I discussed with them where a wall would be, I marked the floor with blue tape as to where the wall would be and explained how all the HVAC equipment should be inside that future wall.
Since it was a 11pm they had to leave and said they will come back Monday to finish. Here is what they left me with:
1) one of the new hot water pipes has a leak at a connection that they did. Until they come back on monday to fix it, they dealt with this by draping a paper towel over the leak and directing the water dripping from the paper towel into a bucket.
2) they weren't able to connect the return duct, so for now the air handler draws air in from the basement from an open duct on the furnace. And the furnace flue/chimney wasn't connected yet either so that just blows out air when the a/c is on (I didn't know the AC mode would blow air up the flue).
3) probably the main reason that they didn't finish the return duct work was that they didn't switch the sides of the furnace that draw the return air. I realized later, after I saw how they were proposing to run the return that by leaving the return on the same side of the furnace, the duct will now have to cross back over the furnace to get to the return register in the wall upstairs. I explained this to them, but they since they had already done the supply duct work, they weren't keen to redo that to move the furnace over another foot to have the return duct on the other side.
4) I asked that they put pans under the water heater and the furnace. But the pan under the water heater is barely big enough to hold the water heater itself with no extra room beyond the edge of the pan and so the safety valve drain thing drains outside of the pan.
5) Most oddly, at the conclusion of the day, the main guy rings my front door bell to tell me that they are done for the night and will be back on Monday (rather than come up from the basement as he had done throughout the day -- almost like he didn't want me to go down to the basement). I ask him to confirm that the water heater and a/c are working. He says yes, but that the breaker on the furnance is off and I should turn that on to run the a/c. I suggest that we do that now together. We go down and flip the breaker and the blower comes on and the air is cold. But since the flue and the return duct work is not yet done and air is blowing out of the flue outlet and air is sucking in from the open return duct, I decide I'd rather not run the a/c and try to turn it off at the thermostat -- but it doesn't seem to go off. It seems that they had it off at the breaker b/c that's the only way to turn it off b/c something in the wiring is screwy.
So they say they will be back on Monday to fix it. And since they want to get paid the rest of the money, they probably will show up. But should I let them? Any one of these glitches would give me pause, but the whole combination makes me think that there are probably other screwups that I just haven't noticed yet.
By the way, if anyone knows a good HVAC pro in Loudoun Co. Virginia, please PM me.
