replace Flex duct from below ceiling

2743 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by walt1122, Jul 4, 2009

walt1122

Discussion Starter · Jul 2, 2009

Hi, builder didn't follow my request to keep ceiling height in the garage at 10 feet by allowing the HVAC contractor to install the flex duct below the ceiling and then the builder box'ed it in and covered with sheetrock right down the center of the entire garage. Well I'm now at about 8 feet and can just barely fit my Kobota with its rollover cage into the garage. Had planned on having a place for shelving etc., etc. The garage is really not what I wanted and I'm looking for ways to fix it without costing me my left lung. The HVAC contractor offered to run sheet metal ducts that would be only 5 inches deep and 20 something wide. I have an apartment on the second floor where we live so some kind of duct work in necessary. I have a heat pump to handle our heat and air conditioning needs. The price to change out what I have with what the HVAC contractor offered is just too much to spend right now and I was just thinking about it today and... Well that is why I'm here. I have an open span across the garage thanks to the engineered lumber that spans the 24 food deep garage. The engineered joists are about 16 inches tall and I was wondering how much I can cut out of the center plywood sections and possibly run duct through them. Yeah I know they should have used trusses and I could have run the ducts easily thru them. well I asked for that and got this. So here I am. And any all suggestion would be appreciated.

thanks

Walt

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30yrhvactech

· #2 · Jul 2, 2009

I wouldn't cut anything out of them. The engineered joists are that dimension for a reason. You may end up the floor or the roof on top of your Kobota.

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rusty baker

· #3 · Jul 2, 2009

I'm having to replace all my flex duct. It's about 10 years old and it's crumbling.

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walt1122

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 2, 2009

Hi 30yrhvactech, I know you are allowed to cut out for plumbing and electric, etc. I just don't know how much is acceptable. I know there is a National Code that specifies how much you can take out of dimensional lumber but I don't know about engineered.

thanks

Walt

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beenthere

· #5 · Jul 2, 2009

Check to see what your building code will allow.

You don't want your tenants sueing you later and lose your house do you.

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walt1122

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 3, 2009

Hi beenthere, get this, in this part of Tennessee we don't need no stinking Codes. Don't have code officers and don't have inspectors for buildings. All they check is the electric and septic. Other than that anything goes. But I don't plan on doing anything stupid. I demanded Code or better from our builder. I tried to watch as best I could the construction of this building. living 800 miles away in New Jersey made it hard. We have some real horror stories of screw-ups happening when we weren't here and although we asked our builder to keep us informed and to keep the project on track he proved incapable of doing it. What a joke! Glad we elected to build the garage with apartment above first and not do the main house until we move down here. So in the case of the ducts I had told the builder Not to do anything with the heating system till he got me some specs. from the HVAC guy. I couldn't get them to do a Schedule J to prove why they wanted to put this big expensive two stage heatpump in or get any duct CFM calculations. We come down here on our next scheduled visit and the HVAC techs have just finished installing all the ducts and have the unit mostly in. Ask the builder what is going on and he says the HVAC guy had some free time and the builder gave him the go ahead. Been a nightmare. Ask for cathedral ceilings as per the plan and am told they didn't build the roof trusses strion enough so I have to have flat ceilings to carry the weight. Earlier in the construction the sight for the garage was on a small mound so i said to the builder can you please cut down 18 incher to two feet for the footings so the garage isn't so high. Says sure, we put it in writing and sure enough on the next visit down we see that they put the footing directly on top of the soil and built up. Yes my garage floor, thank God they hadn't poured it yet was set to be five blocks high up off of the ground. I ask him what is going on and he says they found rock. I look in the area next to the footing and find no rock. I use a pinch bar and find no rock. Look in the massive pit created by the walls and see no rock. Best I can figure is my builder just told his excavator friend to build him a foundation and the guy did. Had to have them remove a couple of rows of block at my expense so the garage was lower. Still going to tons and tons of dirt at tne garage doors so we can get the car in. Talked to the builder about putting steel in the floor for strength. Promised he would. Instead of rebar or wire mesh in the bottom he used fiberglass concrete and put one long piece of rebar on top of the block row by the doorway entrance. Almost forgot, specifically asked for a broom finish because they love to do a slick concrete floor around here. As you would expect the floor is perfectly smooth and is slippery when wet except for the spot where the concrete has a major crack running through it and is slowly separating! Oh how I love a professional job. I have a million of these stories. I can honestly say that nothing and i mean nothing he touched or one of his buddy's did was done properly.

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beenthere

· #7 · Jul 3, 2009

Hope you canned him after the garage was done.

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walt1122

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jul 4, 2009

yeah, he is gone and now i'm stuck here fixing up his mess. good thing was, we were pay as you go so I got rid of hom when the place was closed in and weather tight. If we had gone turn-key as he wanted I would really be screwed.

Walt

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