Columbus Ohio real estate

"Our air conditioning doesn't blow very hard." How often have I heard this!

"Well, it blows hard in two rooms. In the rest it's very weak. We'd like you to try to figure out why."

This time it was over the phone when someone scheduled a new-construction warranty inspection.

And they were right. On the middle level, the main living space, two rooms blew air at nearly 700 cubic feet per minute. That would be pretty high. The rest had various air flows, but all weak, in the 100-200cfm range. The basement was similarly weak.  Ideally 400-600cfm is a good air flow.

So we went downstairs. Off the HVAC unit was a main service duct which blew the conditioned air toward the middle of the basement family room. Through the entirety of the ceiling space was a 6' wide bulkhead. That obviously housed the main HVAC trunk, off of which were attached all of the 90 degree runs servicing each of the HVAC registers in the basement and main levels.

   So I had a look with the thermal camera!

This is the ceiling under where the main service duct runs inside the cavity between the furnace room and the central trunk.  The left image is where it exits the furnace room and the right where it connects to the bulkhead.

The lavender, blue and purple indicate cooler temperatures.

The coolest temp shown is 55.5F.  So inside that cavity it must be a bit cooler than that! 

What's going on?  Either there is a tear in the duct, one of those round, flexible, glorified slinky ducts, or it has come loose where it connects to the central trunk.

Obviously a lot of air is being pumped into the cavity and all of it is NOT blowing into that central trunk!  Some air is obviously pushed around the house, but not a lot.

And why were those two rooms serviced with such a powerful air flow?

Looking at the unit, there were two individual, smaller ducts run directly to those rooms.  Because of their place in the house, it was more efficient to do it that way than to go back to them from the central trunk.

MYSTERY SOLVED!  Now the builder has definitive proof that there is a problem which can only be addressed by removing drywall and reconnecting or repairing the tear in the duct.

I did run into an interesting thing though!

When viewing the air conditioning unit in the basement, and where the main trunk exits the appliance, I saw this!

Mosby!  Waving as usual.

I havent' seen him in a while.  I wonder, was he fooling with that duct?

Was he the gremlin that disconnected that duct from the trunk?

We won't know probably.  But it's indisputable that he was there.  He's a pip!

My recommendation:  one or two year warranty inspections are essential!  And beware.  Some builders do their one year at 11 months, and two year at 22 months!  YOU MUST PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOUR CONTRACT SAYS!  If you miss your window, you miss your opportunity.  And warranty inspections usually reveal lots of things that the builder should do.

 

 

 

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC

Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia

www.jaymarinspect.com

Apparently the roof was leaking.  So two things were done to "solve" the problem.  A new layer of shingles was laid over the first (not always the best solution).  And instead of placing flashing where it was needed, a few tubes of caulking were expended to stop any leaking! 

Note:  CAULKING IS NOT FLASHING!

This is what I saw from behind this house.  Before I went inside I knew what we would be dealing with.  This is a big red flag!

It is obvious that the roof sheathing is rotting.  And from repairs on the siding it was obvious that the leaking wasn't stopped!

My moisture meter was the first tool I got out of the bag.  We went to the basement first.  Under and all around the wall under this chimney box was moisture detected at over 30%.  My meter only goes to 30%, and the needle jumped there, indicating that the moisture content is far higher.  The actual content could be 75% for all we know.  But 30% is sufficient to tell that the moisture intrusion is active.

The middle level was the same way, with comparable moisture all around and over the fireplace.

The house was generally moist, for this and other reasons.  And there was mold evidence in the exposed wood in the unfinished furnace room in the basement.

My recommendation:  When you see unprofessional work, expect it to influence other areas of the house.  A house is made up of different, integrated systems which either work together properly and in harmony, or not.

The Flashing, Flashing, Flashing post has already brought in business.  Another person in the same neighborhood, impressed by my Superman ability to see non-existent flashing (cough!), invited me over to investigate this same flashing problem on their house.  While there I also did an IR examination.

It seems that in addition to water stains, the bedroom also is hot and cold.  Looking around with an infrared camera, it isn't hard to see why.

 

This is blown up larger than normal, and grainy, but you can still see what is happening.  Part of the room has a pentagon shape, with a long attic space behind the bed. 

You can see the bed at the bottom of this image.

The wall behind the bed is about 6 feet high.  The attic space behind is quite hot.

The Max is the hottest spot in the image.  It is 131 degrees.

Keep in mind, this is right behind the bed!

The area you are looking at represents the space between two studs, and no insulation below about 5 1/2 feet.

The insulation was never stapled and fell down.

Looking into the attic, it was resting right on the floor.

Keep in mind, this house is just over one year of age.  That is how quickly insulation can slip. 

Imagine what can happen on a tall balloon wall!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The image to the right is along that same wall.  It is to the right of the bed and in the corner. 

The same situation exists - the insulation was never stapled, it has fallen and the Max hot spot you see is 135 degrees!

That will influence a room, just a bit...

This represents the 12th image taken in that room.  There were more than two spots along that attic space wall.   In that room alone, here were 23 pictures taken in total! 

Imagine how hot and cold this room can get!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the cathedral ceiling in one alcove of the bedroom.  It is the end of that same pentagon shape described in the first image.

The line in the middle is the center double stud from floor to the highest point.  The height here is about 10 feet.

The insulation on both sides of that double stud was not stapled.  The Max temperature there is 166 degrees Fahrenheit!

There is only air between this drywall and the outside of the house.  This spot just happened to be in the sun on this particular day at the time I was there.

Even though the thermostat is in this room, and it has its own HVAC return, this room was uncomfortably warm.  A ceiling fan does not help.

It probably is uncomfortably cold in the winter.

How can you control the environment there when it is so poorly insulated?  There were 23 problem spots in this room.

 

 

 

I went to investigate one problem, and found a few others.  This was not the only room with the hot/cold issues.  There were many other spots in many other rooms throughout the house.  It was a very long thermal image report.

This particular home represents one of the worst insulation jobs I have seen in a long time.  They are out there.  I had a previous post over a year ago entitled "What I Am Seeing Now," which identified insulation that is not stapled as being a big problem.  You can see why.  Despite what the builder says, the drywall does NOT hold it up over time.  Insulation that is not stapled is simply poor quality, unprofessional work.

People love looking into the camera with me.  It can be horrifying!  It can also be fun...

I took a picture of a young lady a couple of months ago.  She was five months pregnant.  The baby's form was clearly visible!  I am sure they framed the photo I emailed them!

My recommendation:  If you can get an IR inspection on a house, do it before the one year warranty walk through.  That way, issues like this can be corrected before your clients have to live with them.