People come up with all kinds of ways to make a small house bigger or appear bigger by knocking out walls, building additions, using different paint colors, turning the attic into a living space or cathedral ceilings.
When taking on a task such as extending a home out or up you have to consider a few things. Whether or not you need to make changes to the plumbing, electric and/or HVAC should be part of the planning stages and not something you "realize" or consider when the project is already underway. This is referred to as the 6 P's: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
Recently I performed an inspection and saw a modification to the roof system to extend the ceiling height. It wasn't the cleanest looking drywall job but I have to say it was nice to see in this little house and likely a selling point. Of course as a home inspector I have to look past aesthetics and focus on functionality and proper building practices. As soon as I walked into the home I could see a downdraft furnace, not uncommon with slab construction was installed in the hallway.
Working my way into a bedroom I saw heat vents were missing where they are typically installed, under or over windows. The carpeting was new so I figured they just forgot to cut the opening out but nope, there were no heat registers in any of the rooms. The only two vents I saw were actually right outside of the furnace room and were cut outs to the drywall with vents installed, not even connected to the furnace. To top it off, the return was also installed on the same wall just above the vents. So not only do the rooms lack a heat supply but the only two available vents are being recirculated right back up into the furnace.
My guess is when the ceiling was raised up they didn't consider the fact that those flexible insulated supply lines up in the attic are there for a reason. Taking them out means they need to run another way to each room. Unfortunately the floor is concrete making it a little harder than just running the ducts in the floor. the attic is limited to a few inches so I don't know how they will get the lines up there. This was of curse a concern to the buyer and something that will require the advice, and quote, from a HVAC contractor.
Comments(4)