Ductwork

[Chief]

As promised, here are a few pics of the ductwork we had replaced, and I'm still looking for pics of what it was replaced with..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Home%20Improvements/duct2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Home%20Improvements/duct7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Home%20Improvements/duct5.jpg

You can see how loust the connections were, and the large amount of bare sheet metal on the transition pieces. The old ducting was also laying on the ground and was badly deteriorated in several spots. I cut out the floor in my wife's closet at the end of the house, and we used that 4' by 5' hole to access the crawlspace. We were able to quickly get all of the debris out, and provide excellent access for the contractors to install the new.

Amd while we were tearing out the ducting, we also removed the old deteriorated R-19 3 1/2 inch insulation under the floors, and filled the entire 8" space with R-30 fiberglass batts. After ripout, and after the new insulation went in.. We also spent an additional $100 to have the insulators put down a new plastic vapor barrier first. That nice clean, dry plastic made the insulation installation go very smoothly. You can see that they did a nice job of lacing everything up, including covering all of the waterpipes. Everything was already insulated with grey pipe insulation, but now it has a layer of fiberglass over it too. The water stays much hotter in the back of the house now...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Home%20Improvements/crawl3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Home%20Improvements/insulation3.jpg

And here's wat 1500 sq ft of bundled insulation looks like. These bales open like those biscuits you pop the can open to make....they literally explode out of the plastic, and it's cool to see...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v645/SeniorChieftain/Home%20Improvements/newinsulation.jpg

I hired my 2 nephews to do the ripout, put them in protective suits and face masks, and they tore all of the old stuff out in about a day and a half. I rented a big dumpster and we disposed of it all.

[Waterbuffalo]

Nice hard work! Now that sounds like an opportunity.

Looks good Chief..

[karma]

Nice job Chief!! I'm betting you that this will return in many folds come winter time.

[Chief]

We figure it cut about $50 bucks a month off the average heating/cooling bill.

Of course, this was all done under a permit, and the reassessment notice arrived before the city even signed of the completion notice...

No kidding...

[karma]

Never ending battle of digging in one's pocket for up keeping your property? :'(

[Chief]

yep. We added on to the house several year previously, and they hit us for a reassessment based on the increase in square footage. Perfectly reasonable and customary.

But when we had to rip out the entire old system and replace it completely, under a permit because the contractor wouldn't start without one, that's a different matter. We spent twenty grand for insulation and the new AC, and the County hit us with a $135 Grand increase for out efforts. That fifty bucks we knocked off the bill from the County electric company, was recouped by the County in Spades with the resulting tax increasevia the Assessor's office....

Buyer beware...

[Waterbuffalo]

So they catch you if you try to save, the catch you another.. How wonderful..

Now where did I put that Iron Maiden LP to take to karma's house to play for her neighbor with the loud bus... hmm Maybe I gave it to the neighbor for a free-the-neighbor removal project.