Do I need a general contractor to build a house?

[Fxfymn413]

My junction boxes don't look like a tangled mess either,

I once had an inspector look at a panel I had done and he immediately said "An electrician did not do this." and I thought "Oh, s...." before he followed up with "This is too neat."

Man, this one floored me. Here in BC - actually I think across Canada, there just isn't political interference in the professional (regulation) side of civil services.

Where I worked it was just part of the job as it was for every building official I knew. In actuality I never really minded since they were just trying to look out for their constituents and they never pressed me to violate the codes. Most often the developer didn't give them the full story and when it was explained to them the issue evaporated. In those rare cases where we screwed the pooch I was glad find out about it and we fixed the issue.

What most folks don't realize is the code enforcement folks are also a part of the economic development process for the community they serve. My job was to get it built right, not to stop it. A good code person knows that and does their best to foster the growth of the community while keeping it safe. Dealing with complaints is just part of that.

 

[EddieWalker]

... He put in all sheet metal ductwork, with the only flex ducts being where you needed the ability to move it around a bit (like a vent in a suspended ceiling panel). He told me that the outfit I got a quote from would have run flex duct for everything from the furnace main duct as he had worked for them briefly. I was quite shocked that this was never mentioned as ductwork = sheet metal in my head. I have never seen or heard of anyone pulling flex duct for an entire house as it is horrible practice. But it sure it faster and cheaper than sheet metal!
...

I'm no HVAC expert, but this really surprised me. Here in my part of the world, East Texas, flex duct is all that's used in homes. From what I understand, it's like running PEX. You avoid having any leaks because you run the lines from point to point. In older homes with metal ducts, I find all sorts of leaks in them where the metal comes together and the sealant has cracked. People remove metal ducting and replace it with flex ducting.

On another point about HVAC units, be sure to have a solid plan on where you want the unit. Most new construction likes to put it in the attic. This has a lot of advantages for distributing the air, but it's horrible at maintaining the unit. Especially if the filters are in the attic!!! But the other issue that I have with units in the attic is being able to see if there is any water in the pan, and putting bleach in the drain lines every month. I get a lot of work repairing sheetrock in the ceilings of homes from units that had their primary drain lines plug up from not adding bleach to them, and the pan overflowing with water.

On my house, and when I built my parents house, I made sure that the HVAC unit was accessible. I have a utility room on my house with my water heater and electrical panel in there. For my parents house, I put it in their garage with their water heater next to it and the manifold for their PEX next to that.

I change my filters twice a month. I upgraded to 2 inch thick filters because I have 6 Akita's inside my house, and hair is an issue!! My parents change their filter once a month. We always add a shot of bleach to the drain lines when we change filters. Having the filters and bleach next to the units make it easy to maintain them. It also ensures that we look at the unit regularly to make sure there isn't any water anywhere.

 

[PILOON]

As earlier mentioned I DIY'd plans and built a few homes w/o any licensees at all.

Later I drew up plans and specs for a small storage building and they were approved within the week.

The owner who operated the storage facility would wait months for approvals, and that for exact same structures that were previously approved but just about 30 (or so) feet apart.

He had 10 such exact same structures and literally 9 major issues with each one.
Ranged from questioning engineers qualifications to having a local engineer re certify each structure adding soil analysis, surface drainage analysis etc, you name the obstetrical, they'd find one.

The inspector that was the problem was unionized and the first to be hired, the typical work to rule and not my job kind.
Basically now elevated to the highest level of incompetency.

I once observed him (leading his crew of inspectors) standing at the front door, key in hand while looking at his watch as he did not want to enter the offices a second ahead of start time.
He's such a known problem that he is no longer allowed to interface with the public but protected by his union.

 

[JDZ735M]

I once observed him (leading his crew of inspectors) standing at the front door, key in hand while looking at his watch as he did not want to enter the offices a second ahead of start time.
He's such a known problem that he is no longer allowed to interface with the public but protected by his union.

There should be a way to get a problem like that removed from the public payroll. I know, there are a lot like that.

 

[PILOON]

There should be a way to get a problem like that removed from the public payroll. I know, there are a lot like that.

We here all know that but he is unionized!
Enough said!
Union for line workers = OK, but salaried staff? under contracts?
He was/is a local hired by locals to promote local.
Enough said, can't be changed now however he'll soon retire I'm sure.
I am in a unique position that I sort of know his think process as I had to work alongside/with him some years ago.
Main comment is 'very narrow minded' and no team player.

At one time the mayor asked him (remember he is salaried) to attend counsel meetings so that we'd get rapid answers to questions/situations.
Well he did but billed the city for overtime (he's salaried) !
Later he charged the city for excessive car usage claiming that his car suffered from excessive depreciation all while he claimed the official gov't mileage fees.
Remember we are rural, no long distance.
No he's simply a POS taking every advantage he can.

Problem he keeps his nose clean, nothing to cause him being fired.

 

[dstig1]

I'm no HVAC expert, but this really surprised me. Here in my part of the world, East Texas, flex duct is all that's used in homes. From what I understand, it's like running PEX. You avoid having any leaks because you run the lines from point to point. In older homes with metal ducts, I find all sorts of leaks in them where the metal comes together and the sealant has cracked. People remove metal ducting and replace it with flex ducting.

On another point about HVAC units, be sure to have a solid plan on where you want the unit. Most new construction likes to put it in the attic. This has a lot of advantages for distributing the air, but it's horrible at maintaining the unit. Especially if the filters are in the attic!!! But the other issue that I have with units in the attic is being able to see if there is any water in the pan, and putting bleach in the drain lines every month. I get a lot of work repairing sheetrock in the ceilings of homes from units that had their primary drain lines plug up from not adding bleach to them, and the pan overflowing with water.

On my house, and when I built my parents house, I made sure that the HVAC unit was accessible. I have a utility room on my house with my water heater and electrical panel in there. For my parents house, I put it in their garage with their water heater next to it and the manifold for their PEX next to that.

I change my filters twice a month. I upgraded to 2 inch thick filters because I have 6 Akita's inside my house, and hair is an issue!! My parents change their filter once a month. We always add a shot of bleach to the drain lines when we change filters. Having the filters and bleach next to the units make it easy to maintain them. It also ensures that we look at the unit regularly to make sure there isn't any water anywhere.

Flex duct has insane pressure drop as all the ribs create tons of drag. That's why it is so bad. You lose lots of flow or need to upsize blowers to compensate. Properly sealed metal ductwork is far better. And if it is sealed right, it will stay sealed. PEX is great for plumbing. Flex duct is horrible for handling air. But it is fast, cheap and easy! Around here seeing someone pulling flex for all HVAC means they are a low-baller and doing shoddy work. Amazing how different the regions can be, isn't it?

But here again you also see a major regional difference. Pretty much nobody here puts an air handler in the attic or any other unconditioned space. Most house here have full height basements, at least under a part of the house. You have to go down 4' for frost footings so going another 4' for a full basement is trivial and allows you more usable space. And that is where the HVAC units are put. Any new construction will have that basemeent as conditioned space. Very old houses can be an exception but are often "sorta" conditioned as they will pump some heat in there to make it half decent.

What is normal in one region is bad in another... Amazing how many of these we run into, isn't it Eddie?

 

[EddieWalker]

Yes, it's amazing how different things are done in different areas of the country. When I insisted that the HVAC system was installed in the utility closet, I was told by several HVAC contractors that it wasn't possible because nobody could create a metal duct to go from ground level to ducts in the attic.

While I don't agree that you are correct on your comments on ducts, I do agree that what is done around the country varries significantly on those unique areas.

 

[dstig1]

The pressure drop of flex duct vs smooth sheet metal is well documented, not an opinion. Basic fluid dynamics. The rest is those regional differences. You should have seen the look of disgust on my HVAC guy's face when he said "those guys would have used all flex duct!" Of course I am making the same face when your HVAC guy said "nobody can make a duct to get from the closet to the attic". Ummm, that's the job, sonny. You bang the tin until it takes the shape you want... If you couldn't do that around here, you couldn't be in HVAC installation.

But if nobody does that in your market, then that is the answer you would get. I know my guy well as I work with him and I know the dumbfounded look he would give me if I asked "if he could do it." It would probably be accompanied by the phase "does a bear **** in the woods?" or similar. "Well duh."

 

[buckeyefarmer]

The pressure drop of flex duct vs smooth sheet metal is well documented, not an opinion. Basic fluid dynamics. The rest is those regional differences. You should have seen the look of disgust on my HVAC guy's face when he said "those guys would have used all flex duct!" Of course I am making the same face when your HVAC guy said "nobody can make a duct to get from the closet to the attic". Ummm, that's the job, sonny. You bang the tin until it takes the shape you want... If you couldn't do that around here, you couldn't be in HVAC installation.

But if nobody does that in your market, then that is the answer you would get. I know my guy well as I work with him and I know the dumbfounded look he would give me if I asked "if he could do it." It would probably be accompanied by the phase "does a bear **** in the woods?" or similar. "Well duh."

My thoughts exactly. Even I can get metal ductwork up to the next level, it’s not difficult. I hate the flex stuff. The guy who did my house used it in the attic off the main duct, all the rest is hard duct.

 

[EddieWalker]

To be clear, I should have said it was very hard to find an HVC contractor that would create the metal duct to go from the closet to the attic. In the end, I found several and went with the bid from the contractor that did the big commercial jobs in my area, including the airport. I believe that they did a good job making it, and that they did a good job of sealing it. But I was in a house last week out at the lake that is considered very high dollar, and it has both metal and flex ducts in it's attic. Guess which ones where keeping me cool while I was up there?

To say that metal is better because it flows better ignores the simple fact that metal ducts leak and flex ducts don't. While you might have your ducts sealed good enough to never leak anytime in the future, odds are very good that if you look at ten other systems with metal ducting, 9 of them will have leaks. In my opinion, best practice is to use what will offer the best chances of success over the longest period of time.