Does anyone know what would cause a sudden increase in shower pressure? This morning, the pressure in my shower was waaaaaay higher than normal. I checked the other faucets in the house and they were fine. The guest shower was fine too. I checked the water meter to see if somehow there was a leak or something that might have been doing something, but nothing was strange with it. I took a quick look under the crawl space to see if any pipes and somehow moved around but nothing was out of the ordinary there. The looked around my water heater... I'm no plumber but nothing seemed weird... besides if something were up with the water heater I'd think the other shower and faucets would show higher water pressure too. Any ideas?

I googled it and everything I found said that it should be affecting all faucets.


In a possibly related note, last night I was watching TV and heard a loud crash from one side of my house. I figured my cat had knocked something over so I went to investigate and found nothing. I checked all closets and rooms and nothing was out of place. My cat turned out to be on the other side of the house and my dog was right next to me. My roommate heard it too, so I'm not crazy. So now it seems that something in my house is broken and I have no idea what it is or when I will find it.

10/5/2010 8:41:02 AM

an _increase_ in shower pressure is not consistent with a leak or something in your pipes breaking.

if none of the other faucets have the same increase then whatever caused it is probably in or right around the shower head itself.

more than likely, the flow restrictor in your shower head broke or became dislodged. I typically remove this from my shower heads anyway.

[Edited on October 5, 2010 at 9:24 AM. Reason : .]

10/5/2010 9:24:00 AM

I've got a tankless water heater and my shower water has a pretty low limit on how hot it will get enough. During the summer it didn't bother me because it was a million degrees outside and I didn't care for scalding hot water in my shower. But now that it's starting to cool down, I'd like to have a hotter shower in the morning...so what gives? Or what are my problems/options?

My kitchen sink water can get scalding hot as does my bathroom sink water. Although I will say that the sink in the downstairs bathroom is much more consistent and quicker at getting the water really hot (so I shave downstairs).

10/5/2010 10:07:48 AM

You might have a scald preventer in your shower knob. I had the same problem and all I had to do for mine was take the knob apart and adjust the setting up a couple of notches.

It might help to Google your particular model to see if you can get a cut-sheet on how to take it apart, what features it has, etc.

[Edited on October 5, 2010 at 1:09 PM. Reason : c]

10/5/2010 1:08:34 PM

^ this.

should be a plastic piece that is adjusted once inside.

10/5/2010 5:27:13 PM

Fridge went out again over the weekend. About time to replace it. It was a hand me down that was 15-20 years old.

I think I am going to get one of Samsung's that are 20% off at Lowes right now.

10/6/2010 1:29:12 PM

^ Why is your fridge going out? So long as the compressor is running and it's not leaking refrigerant, you can probably fix it for dirt cheap.

The evaporator coil in my fridge kept icing up. I fixed it by replacing a $7 temperature sensor.

10/6/2010 1:33:50 PM

^^be sure to get one of those "10% off movers coupons" from lowes. They usually have them at the post office, or you can sign up online for it. (if you've done it before, just use a different email address..)

if you do it a few days after your initial purchase, you can always bring the receipt to any lowes and they'll basically do a return/ re-ring with the discount...

every little bit helps, and i can imagine the extra $40 or so dollars would be a good bit of change to any homeowner...

10/6/2010 4:29:06 PM

all you people with plumbing problems are more than welcome to pm me for advice or to come out and take a look (no charge for estimates/advice). i'm an established business, licensed, insured, etc. etc. not the cheapest around, but i can guarantee top quality work from my people that i stand behind. i've done work for several people on here and as far as i know all were happy.


[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 7:55 PM. Reason : that sounds like an ad, but it's not... just an offer for help]

10/6/2010 7:53:10 PM

10/6/2010 10:51:52 PM

Quote :

"if I were you, with all of this rain we had, I would take the time to dig out the mud and add gravel. you will probably have to dig down 12" or so. you dont want to build on unstable soil."

I'm well aware of this. The foundation for the plastic shed is basically a flat area created using a maddox and a square shovel, covered with 4 mil plastic to prevent erosion, and then covered with 2" of gravel to allow the water to run underneath the shed. It's a shed, not a house, so there's no reason to go digging another foot into the ground when the plastic I put on top of the soil actually did prevent any erosion from occurring (all that happened was that the gravel got washed nice and clean some of it washed down the hill). If the shed leans a degree or two down the road I'm not worried about it.

[Edited on October 6, 2010 at 10:55 PM. Reason : ^^^ I don't think those coupons can be used with any other promotion, unfortunately.]

10/6/2010 10:54:15 PM

^^plz to add freon

10/7/2010 2:00:16 AM

Quote :

"I don't think those coupons can be used with any other promotion, unfortunately."

i would try it. worst they would say is "sorry, we cant honor it". I've had some really good luck with using them at lowes with other sales. used a few on some sale items rather recently. granted, ymmv... if you do end up using it, let us know the results.

10/7/2010 9:46:06 AM

my heat has crapped out every year since i bought my house in 2006. it's a 1992 or 1995 model, i don't remember which right now. i had a home warranty when i bought the house, went through wayyyy more bullshit than it's worth & ended up having to call our regular heat/air guy out anyway, so i'm not doing that again.

i looks like it might be on it's way out & i'm thinking of getting a new one. i was looking at the federal tax credit site & it doesn't specifically mention packaged heat/air units as qualifying. am i missing something? it's gas heat & electric air.

any recommendations on manufacturers or models? if there's something w/ humidity control (as in lowering, not increasing RH), that would be awesome.

10/7/2010 10:17:56 AM

What do you mean your heat craps out every year?

Anyway, furnace units (generally in residential applications, this is really your furnace + your air handling unit with your separate condensing unit outside) are eligible if you buy a natural gas or propane Furnace with an AFUE of 95 or greater. There is no credit available for an electric furnace.

If all you are replacing is the furnace and air handling unit, I don't know that there is much if anything you can do to lower your humidity related to those specifically. You obviously could add a humidifier to increase humidity during the winter heating months of course. As far as lowering though, that is controlled by a few things, mostly all of which are not changing if you are just swapping out a furnace unit.

The reason I say this is that the size of your condensing unit plays a huge role and that is something you aren't changing right now. Home builders tend to oversize units on a regular basis. This causes the unit to cycle on and off more, not staying on for prolonged periods of time. This cools the air sensibly (as in satisfies your thermostat), but doesn't control humidity well.

The other thing you could do would be to switch to a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) system, but that also requires changing the condensing unit out.

So, if you aren't changing your condensing unit out, there are two things you might be able to do right now. One is to buy one of the furnace/AHUs that has a variable speed blower. These units start your fan on a very low speed when your system kicks on and can ramp up as needed. They control the humidity much better. But, I'm not sure if you can just tack that onto an existing system with another condensing unit. (I don't any residential work. I know they exist via Trane for houses, but I see it as them selling the whole split system together; I don't know about just replacing the furnace).

The 2nd option would be to force the unit to run a certain minimum amount of time when it is kicked on, to avoid the cycling and to make sure it actually dehumidifies your air. This should be able to be done simply with a new programmable thermostat hooked up to your current system. Especially if it was one that measured RH and Temperature. It can tell the condensing unit not to turn off until both are satisfied.

[Edited on October 7, 2010 at 10:56 AM. Reason : ]

10/7/2010 10:46:43 AM

Thanks for the advice on that coupon. I went to the site and it has this diclaimer: Coupon cannot be used in conjunction with any other coupon or discount.

What sucks is we ordered last night on the lowes card with 6 months no interest and today they started offering 12 months. Thought about calling them and seeing if they can hook me up.

As for fixing it, I'm sure we could have for fairly cheap but we just fixed it about a year ago and we are tired of losing all of our food. We ordered the Samsung 25.9 cu ft french door fridge in white for $1199 which is normally 1499.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_315514-149-RF263AEWP_4294857973+4294963507__?productId=3116253&Ntt=french&pl=1¤tURL=%2Fpl_Samsung_4294857973%2B4294963507__s%3FNtt%3Dfrench

10/7/2010 11:39:02 AM

it craps out as in something on it fails every year and a part(s) has to be replaced. the unit continues to blow air but it's cold, every time it breaks.

i'm not sure if i'm misunderstanding you, but my unit is 1 big box out side. a packaged unit that contains a gas furnace & electric air conditioning. the guy from the a/c contractor that the warranty people sent out, both guys from our normal a/c company, & my dad (architect) have said that it's probably on its last leg and i need to be considering replacing it. i don't have the knowledge of these things that they do, so i don't know why it's failing specifically, but i do remember a coil or something had to be replaced last time.

Quote :

"You obviously could add a humidifier to increase humidity during the winter heating months of course."

this is the last thing i want to do. my house is humid as shit, even in winter. it was built in 1964. i recently bought a dehumidifier on clearance at target that does a decent job for 1 room (or 2 open ones), but obviously it only works if you move it to that room & turn it on. would sealing the crawlspace fix the humidity? how much does that run?

i have a simple 5+2 programmable thermostat. do you have a model that reads RH that you'd recommend?

[Edited on October 7, 2010 at 11:42 AM. Reason : ]

10/7/2010 11:39:54 AM

Ok. I just assumed you had a split system if you were talking about a furnace. I don't see too many packaged furnace units outside for residential these days.

As far as the humidity...that sounds more like a problem with the house. Residential AC/furnace units are rarely doing any sort of dehumidification during winter months (unless you have the AC on heh). In fact, even though they aren't removing actual moisture content from the air, heating air via electric resistance heating or a furnace etc. lowers the relative humidity of the air being heated. This is why most people have low humidity problems in their homes in the winter. So, having your house be too humid in the winter is a tricky situation to solve...

Having moisture problems in the winter wouldn't normally be associated with your unit. Improper venting of appliances in the house, exposed soil in the crawl space, improper insulation (too much, wrong kind, improper installation, etc.) are some of the culprits I would consider first. Do you have a dirt floor crawl space? If so, is there a vapor retarding barrier installed correctly on the dirt floor? If it is a concrete slab crawl space, you could have the problem that someone didn't lay a proper vapor barrier below the poured concrete. Do you have your crawl space vents open or closed normally? (or depending on the season).

Also, something to be careful of is that if you have a dirt floor crawl space + no vapor barrier, you need to watch the wood subfloor if your crawl space isn't getting well ventilated. If those abnormally high moisture levels in your house are being caused by moisture entering your house via the wood subfloor you could have some mold and rot problems with the floor.

You can always buy little cheap electronic humidity sensors to check the humidity levels in different areas of your house. As far as thermostats that read RH. Honeywell has several. Their VisionPRO 8000 7-Day Programmable Thermostat is a nice programmable one that displays RH (and depending on the setup can control it - though mainly control only applies to when the AC is running as I've discussed already). It is around $100 though; I'm sure there are cheaper ones that also just display RH.

I would definitely look into some of this as noticeably high humidity levels inside your home during winter in this area are not normal...

10/7/2010 12:29:24 PM

Quote :

"Ok. I just assumed you had a split system if you were talking about a furnace. I don't see too many packaged furnace units outside for residential these days. "

my house is old (blt 1964), and the unit is old, but a LOT of houses here in RM use packaged units. no clue why.

Quote :

"As far as the humidity...that sounds more like a problem with the house. Residential AC/furnace units are rarely doing any sort of dehumidification during winter months (unless you have the AC on heh). In fact, even though they aren't removing actual moisture content from the air, heating air via electric resistance heating or a furnace etc. lowers the relative humidity of the air being heated. This is why most people have low humidity problems in their homes in the winter. So, having your house be too humid in the winter is a tricky situation to solve..."

no, it's humid year-round. i saw something in a description of a carrier unit about humidity control & was wondering if it could decrease RH.

Quote :

"Having moisture problems in the winter wouldn't normally be associated with your unit. Improper venting of appliances in the house, exposed soil in the crawl space, improper insulation (too much, wrong kind, improper installation, etc.) are some of the culprits I would consider first. Do you have a dirt floor crawl space? If so, is there a vapor retarding barrier installed correctly on the dirt floor? If it is a concrete slab crawl space, you could have the problem that someone didn't lay a proper vapor barrier below the poured concrete. Do you have your crawl space vents open or closed normally? (or depending on the season)."

there's no vapor barrier. that's why i asked about sealing the crawlspace. it's just dirt.

Quote :

"You can always buy little cheap electronic humidity sensors to check the humidity levels in different areas of your house. As far as thermostats that read RH. Honeywell has several. Their VisionPRO 8000 7-Day Programmable Thermostat is a nice programmable one that displays RH (and depending on the setup can control it - though mainly control only applies to when the AC is running as I've discussed already). It is around $100 though; I'm sure there are cheaper ones that also just display RH."

i don't really need sensors in different areas around the house bc all of the rooms are humid. a couple tend to be worse than others but there isn't one room that i would consider dry. i would be interested in a programmable thermostat w/ RH sensors bc i want to control the humidity. i don't really need to know just the number w/o being able to do anything about it.

i just saw that the ideal indoor humidity is around 40-50%. when i turn the dehumidifier on it will give me the current RH, which is typically in the mid to upper 70s, although i've seen it a couple of times in the low 80s. you can see why this is a problem.

10/7/2010 1:33:35 PM

Quote :

"no, it's humid year-round. i saw something in a description of a carrier unit about humidity control & was wondering if it could decrease RH."

Carrier is a good brand. Bryant is basically the same equipment (same company different brand type deal) for generally a cheaper price. A lot of units these days are moving towards better humidity control (both actual amount of moisture and relative humidity) as more people realize that has almost as much to do with occupant comfort as the dry bulb/sensible temperature that your thermostat reads. However, once again I will state that units generally control humidity during their cooling cycle (ie when you are running your AC), and not during the heating cycle. The way your home unit reduces humidity levels in the air is at your evaporator coil where the air is cooled and dehumidified creating the condensate that collects there/drains from there. So yes it can remove moisture from the air, but during the cooling mode. During heating seasons, the RH will be lower, but generally no moisture removed from the air as it gets heated.

So, when a unit states it has humidity control, it generally is stating "hey, this unit will not only satisfy the sensible temperature set-point during it's cooling cycle but it will attempt to maintain the RH/wet bulb you want as well." They generally aren't talking about controlling humidity in the winter, and if they are, they probably are talking about *increasing* the RH since that is the problem 99% of homeowners have during winter months.

Did this unit state anything specifically about winter-time humidity control? Otherwise I'd assume that those 2 paragraphs I just wrote apply.

Quote :

"there's no vapor barrier. that's why i asked about sealing the crawlspace. it's just dirt. "

Gotcha. I wasn't sure exactly what you meant there. I think a vapor barrier is definitely needed. I'd want that regardless of whether you were having moisture problems now or not. Those old foundation vents relying on natural ventilation don't really do a good enough job in this area of the country to not have a vapor barrier imo.

Quote :

"i don't really need sensors in different areas around the house bc all of the rooms are humid. a couple tend to be worse than others but there isn't one room that i would consider dry. i would be interested in a programmable thermostat w/ RH sensors bc i want to control the humidity. i don't really need to know just the number w/o being able to do anything about it. "

Sorry, I didn't mean for you to get multiple sensors to place around the house. I was talking about a $15 hand-held device that you could carry around to different rooms to get some accurate humidity levels that would help me (or someone you hire to help you) see what kind of moisture problems you have other than "it is really humid." And that isn't a dig on you, just that it always helps to have as much information as possible . When I stated that, I did not realize your dehumidifiers actually had senors and indicators in them.

What I will say is that just because a thermostat has a sensor + indicator for RH levels, that does not mean it or your unit has the ability to *control* that. So don't buy a thermostat that only has an RH sensor. A sensor and an indicator is just that: a humidity element and the ability to display what it is. It needs to specifically state humidity control. And that really comes down to the unit and the thermostat working together.

Also, now that I understand you have a true gas heat packaged unit, I understand that you will probably be replacing everything and not just the heating portion of your unit. Since that is the case, you do have the option to at least partially solve the humidity problem by getting a better unit that has better humidity control (definitely won't be the cheapest option out there though). The reason I say partially is that you still obviously have moisture problems with the house regardless of the units to see those types of humidity levels. Just out of curiosity, what is your thermostat generally set for in the summer?

Quote :

" i just saw that the ideal indoor humidity is around 40-50%. when i turn the dehumidifier on it will give me the current RH, which is typically in the mid to upper 70s, although i've seen it a couple of times in the low 80s. you can see why this is a problem."

In general that is about right. For office areas I generally design for about 35%-60% RH levels and around 70-75 db temperature levels. Having a 10% target RH humidity in a residential setting can be tough even with a good system. This is why I state 35%-60%.

Also, the other thing to keep in mind is that the temperature and humidity together play a big role. For example: At 72 degrees, most people would generally still be very comfortable at 60-70% RH whereas if the temperature was 80 degrees, now the RH would need to be closer to 50% for around the same comfort level as the 72/60-70. This is one reason why there is a range, and also why I ask what you keep your thermostat at. It also is a good lead-in to state that you probably wouldn't want to set your RH to 40% in the summer and force your unit to just run an run and run to try and keep up with that- ESPECIALLY if you have moisture issues in your house to begin with.

And yes, seeing 70-80% RH inside your house is a bit ridiculous if the AC is running. And if those numbers are during the winter...well, I'd have to ask: you sure you don't have some underground hot springs running directly underneath your house?

And, just for kicks, if money isn't an object and you're asking for good models, something like this is your "Cadillac" for strict residential temperature and humidity control with the restraints that you keep the same style system (packaged gas heat unit): (let me know if this isn't the style unit you have now)

http://trane.com/Residential/Products/Packaged-Units/XL16c-Gas-Electric-Packaged

Quote :

" * Climatuff two-stage compressor delivers superior reliability * State-of-the-art fan system * Variable-speed blower motor * Ultra-quiet operation * Stainless steel heat exchanger and burners * Heavy gauge, two-tone powder-painted cabinet * Increased dehumidification with Comfort-R™ * Advance airflow system featuring the Vortica blower for quiet and efficient operation * Functional louvers with rounded corner guards for added safety * All-aluminum Spine Fin™ coil provides enhanced airflow * Durable Weather-Beater top to shrug off the elements year after year"

The bold items are the key ingredients to that unit having great humidity control.

Now, I do think that they make additional "whole-house" dehumidifiers which is an additional component to your normal house AC setup. I do not know much about them since I don't do residential work. However, I personally would look at WHY you have so much humidity to deal with before tacking on additional equipment and energy costs each month to deal with it.

There also is a possibility that although someone has been out to fix the heating side of your system several times, your AC portion is just crappy too (dirty coils, refrigerant leaks, or whatever) and that is contributing. Although I still think that you have a moisture problem coming from the crawl space or some other culprit in the house.

10/7/2010 3:05:32 PM

i agree that the main moisture problem is the crawlspace. i brought up the humidity issue just bc we're looking at getting a new unit & maybe it could help. not that humidity is a big problem in the winter only...it's a problem year round, moreso in the summer. the worst times of year are fall & spring bc the house gets stagnant. it's too warm for heat but too cool for a/c on some days, and running the fan only makes it even more humid. my husband has a kestrel pocket weather thingy for work (he's a forester) and its humidity readings are pretty consistent with the dehumidifier.

i am extremely hot-natured. my husband is the exact opposite. in the summer the air is set to 70 at night, 74 is the highest during the day (if i let it get above this, the house won't cool down by bedtime. i've done LOTS of experimenting). i would LOVE to crank it down to 63-65 but i think my husband would die from hypothermia. in the winter, it's maybe 65 & 73...i'm not sure...i haven't messed with the heat settings lately besides testing it the other morning when the low was 42 and it was 63 in the house when i woke up.

back to the hot vs cold natured thing. i think a lot of the difference in comfort level b/w us could be helped with humidity control. i know my husband really doesn't tolerate humid environments well at all. i don't like it, but i can tolerate it (until my feet stick to the kitchen floor tile from the almost-condensation).

how much do systems like that trane run? my dad recommended goodman. know anything about them? i read more about carrier mainly bc they're product descriptions were easier for me to understand.

[Edited on October 7, 2010 at 3:22 PM. Reason : ]

10/7/2010 3:20:59 PM

Unfortunately, I honestly don't know how much that system would cost. I have no idea even the ballpark price of residential systems; I just understand the fundamentals. I am an HVAC Engineer, but I do large scale industrial jobs so I've never priced a residential system.

Here's the thing with Goodman: They are an "economy/value brand." They are the grocery store brand equivalent in comparison to name brand cereal. Some of them taste just as good as the original and they are certainly much cheaper. But sometimes they taste like cardboard. You'll hear differing stories on them. Some people bought them, saved a lot of upfront money, and they have never crapped out on them. From those people (maybe like your dad), they are the people who love them because it saved them money and they had no problems.

For every person like him, there is at least 1 person who will tell you horror stories. And the general consensus from any HVAC Engineer I work with who does residential on the side is that Goodman is really hit or miss. It is a value brand and a gamble and they don't recommend them unless someone really just wants to replace the unit to sell the house or something. (ie they won't be using it).

And just FYI: Goodman, Janitrol and Amana brands are all the same manufacturer just branded differnetly. So do with that as you will. If you do choose to stay away, stay away from all of them. Most guys at work would say stay away from all of them. Especially if you are planning to live their yourself. /shrug (as usually though with these things, ymmv)

I asked someone at work and he said to price stuff from any of these. In each case, they are under the same manufacturer, just branded different. The first being slightly cheaper and the 2nd being the "name brand" and a little more expensive.

American Standard/Trane
Bryant/Carrier
Lennox/Ducane

And yes getting a new unit should definitely help. A unit that old probably has all sorts of problems. And there is also a good chance that the system is oversized which, as I stated in one of my early posts, will let your house meet it's temperature requirements but not the humidity requirements. How many ft² is your house and what size is your AC unit (in tons) currently?

Something else came up as well from my lead at work when I told him about your problem. I didn't think of this since I wasn't around to see old home construction as old as yours obviously and he was. He said that the ductwork installation in a home as old as yours was probably pretty shoddy compared to today's energy standards. This could lead to a couple problems that would also cause a lack of humidity control. Mainly the fact that your supply and/or return ducts could be leaky.

In general, hopefully I have given you some things to think about. Feel free to continue asking questions though and I will do my best to answer. In the end, at least maybe I can help you get a good set of intelligent questions to ask someone who comes out to your house to look at your crawl space, ductwork, and units in person to determine the best solution for you.

10/7/2010 4:06:38 PM

thank you. this has been VERY helpful. i don't know the tonnage on my current unit.

10/7/2010 4:19:26 PM

A decent rule of thumb for residential HVAC is about $2500 per ton. My father sells predominately Janitrol equipment for one single reason: they have the best warranty.

[Edited on October 7, 2010 at 4:20 PM. Reason : typing FTL]

10/7/2010 4:20:29 PM

^^ np

^
word. The stuff about the brands is just the consensus I got among a few people at work who have done residential AC on the side for a few years and/or owned homes long enough to have replaced a few units in their time. I imagine if it has a good warranty then that helps a lot as far as if it needs to be serviced more or not.


Also, proper installation plays a huge role too. It doesn't matter how good the system is if it isn't installed properly. That can honestly play a larger part in whether a unit needs to be serviced often.

[Edited on October 7, 2010 at 4:36 PM. Reason : .]

10/7/2010 4:27:27 PM

so how many tons would my house need?

10/7/2010 5:28:12 PM

To really figure that out fairly accurately, I'd need to do a Manual J residential load calc. Even those aren't perfect though. But honestly I might consider getting one done by people potentially bidding the job simply because your current system is obviously not doing the job.

Without that though, I can still give you a rough factored estimate but I'd need to know a good bit of stuff even for that:

How many heated/cooled square feet is your house?
Where is your house located(Rocky Mount?)?
What are your surroundings like? Trees? No trees?
What direction does your house face?
Which direction of your house has the most windows?

This stuff would be nice but is a little hard to find out so it isn't necessary just for an estimate:

Insulation in walls?
Insulation above the ceiling in the attic?
Insulation in floors above crawl space?
Has any of this insulation been replaced anytime recently?(I assume you don't know what the R value of your insulation is?...it's ok, I haven't looked in my house at all either heh).
Original windows?(double pane or not?)

10/7/2010 7:35:32 PM

How many heated/cooled square feet is your house? 1609sf
Where is your house located(Rocky Mount?)? rocky mount
What are your surroundings like? Trees? No trees? yes, trees. lots of them, but not forested. typical 1960s brick ranch style neighborhood.
What direction does your house face? west
Which direction of your house has the most windows? east


Insulation in walls? if so, minimal is my guess
Insulation above the ceiling in the attic? yes, blown-in. about 16-18", not sure. done in 2008
Insulation in floors above crawl space? no
Has any of this insulation been replaced anytime recently?(I assume you don't know what the R value of your insulation is?...it's ok, I haven't looked in my house at all either heh). attic-yes, see above. there's no floor insulation & i'm 99% sure the wall insulation has never been replaced
Original windows?(double pane or not?) not original windows, dbl paned, about 15 or so years old.

10/7/2010 9:28:56 PM

Why heating load calculations are important:

Quote :

"What we find is that most newer homes come in no lower than 800 square feet per ton, referring back to the rule of thumb preferred by many contractors. High performance homes can be as high as 1500 or 2000 square feet per ton. That means that a contractor using 500 square feet per ton is installing an air conditioner that's 2, 3, or even 4 times larger than it should be. "

An improperly sized HVAC unit can cost you $Texas. Hire a pro and ask to see the manual J calculations before you sign a contract. Check that things like your location and house facing are correct.

10/8/2010 1:33:47 PM

I apologize. I've mostly been busy and out of town since I was last on here responding to the questions. I'll catch up a little bit for now.

Quote :

"An improperly sized HVAC unit can cost you $Texas. Hire a pro and ask to see the manual J calculations before you sign a contract. Check that things like your location and house facing are correct."

Indeed. It can cost you $Texas, cause your equipment to fail earlier, and not provide good control. As I stated earlier, I definitely agree 100% about getting your potential contractors to do the manual J calcs and let you see them while you evaluate their bids. Check over the information they input, make sure the inputs are correct/check for inconsistencies between the contractors' calcs, and if you have any questions ask them and/or ask here. A calculation like that is only as good as its inputs (garbage in/garbage out) so it definitely pays to check their work.

As newer houses and upgraded houses get more energy efficient, people understand the importance of humidity control, and residential load calcs get updated (diversity, updated appliance loads, etc.) the old rules of thumb are definitely needing to get updated. What gets tricky is accurately estimating a load for a house as hold as this that may or may not have received thermal upgrades in some areas while not in others over the life of the house. Normally for a newer house with some shade I would probably suggest 2.5 for 1600 ft² but your house obviously doesn't seem to be as efficient as that...I'd probably say 2.5-3 tons once you get the crawl space insulation + vapor barrier problem fixed since that is probably the biggest contributor to your humidity and discomfort problems.

I am still curious of the size of your current AC system if you ever get a chance to look.

Also, remember that I am just throwing out some ballpark numbers so you at least have an idea of what to expect when you talk to the contractors. The calcs will definitely hold more weight than my only-somewhat-educated-estimate

10/11/2010 3:24:00 PM

have a walk through for a new construction scheduled this week

any pointers?

10/11/2010 4:02:51 PM

Be super picky.

10/11/2010 5:27:48 PM

i agree - anything that is slightly upsetting to you or a mere annoyance should be mentioned - the best thing you can do is have a neighbor that has done it or a realtor go through with you to spot things you may miss - the neighbor can point out things that they noticed afterwards

you'll likely do another walk through for nail pops in 9-12 months after closing but if you spot any already it's worth mentioning them now

if you have hardwood - look for any scratches that could have been made when moving appliances or anything heavy

check for paint drips

10/11/2010 5:56:39 PM

^^^ $50 and I'll represent you.

10/11/2010 8:53:14 PM

[Edited on October 11, 2010 at 8:54 PM. Reason : Dp]

10/11/2010 8:53:14 PM

Quote :

"you'll likely do another walk through for nail pops in 9-12 months "

So that's what you call those. I must have like a dozen of them on my third floor and it annoys the shit out of me.

10/11/2010 10:04:38 PM

Yeah, I took a hammer to my wall several times. A few more showed up after the 12 month walkthrough

10/12/2010 8:58:27 AM

Hammering those nail pops back in isn't going to do you a whole lot of good, they're just going to pop back out again. I pull out the nail, and replace it with a screw, and then spackle over it. Never had a nail pop twice in the same spot (once I started doing it this way, that is).

10/12/2010 10:59:46 AM

I pull out the nail and replace it with nothing.

10/12/2010 11:07:50 AM

ha, I guess that's another way to ensure no repeat pops

10/12/2010 11:29:07 AM

thanks guys!

ctnz i'm in texas, so i doubt you'd be able to make it in the next few hours.

might post pics later.

it's exciting to move from a condo in a victorian in the northeast to a full house on the gulf

except that whole insurance thing

10/12/2010 10:58:41 PM

^^

When my wall falls down one day I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

10/13/2010 9:33:47 AM

Quote :

"I am still curious of the size of your current AC system if you ever get a chance to look."

where do i look for that number?

and thanks for all the info!

10/13/2010 2:48:31 PM

I have seeded 5 acres of grass in the past week. If it doesn't grow then it will have to wait until spring because I'm tired of screwing with it this year.

also, the backhoe broke down this afternoon and I noticed i have a nice gas leak on the tractor I was using to seed the grass. My guess is I have been dumping diesel fuel all over the yard while I was seeding.

And we are suppose to move into the new house 1st week of march which means we have to start packing. Not looking forward to it.

10/13/2010 9:39:43 PM

Quote :

"where do i look for that number? and thanks for all the info!"

np

And, it really depends...I would guess you have some kind of metal stamped/engraved nameplate on the unit somewhere visible on the outside that would either list BTU/h or Tons (1 Ton = 12,000 BTU/h). Otherwise if it doesn't explicitly list that, it should have a model number listed to go with the brand that we could trace...that is if any of that is even visible somewhere on the unit for you.

10/14/2010 10:11:13 AM

Quote :

"When my wall falls down one day I guess I shouldn't be too surprised."

I'm going to wear a helmet at your house from now on.

10/14/2010 2:50:55 PM

Haha. No worries, I have left the ceiling nail pops alone for now. If I don't look up I can pretend they aren't there.

10/14/2010 3:03:37 PM

Most people don't pay attention to this, but have any of you seen ridiculous increases on your home owners insurance? I have four properties, and I am getting close to a 40% rate hike on all. I called state farm, and they said that state wide they had to increase the rates this year due to losses. 40% sounds like horse shit.

10/15/2010 9:15:50 AM

Yeah I would look into that - mine increased as well but not 40%.

I thought there were regulations on that anyway.

10/15/2010 11:18:20 AM

So i've been looking seriously at a house but it's priced 16k over tax value, and honestly needs another ~20k in repairs and upgrades. The owner has been renting it out the last few years and it's in fine condition for a renter, but for a buyer it simply doesn't measure up.

I'm fine with the cost for upgrades, that is if i can get the house for what it is truely worth at present condition. I will not pay a premium on a house for the privledged to then upgrade it. I've asked my realtor to pass my concerns/issues along to the seller's representative but i feel that with the guy asking so much already he is either stubborn or just oblivious to what the home needs since it's no longer his primary residence. Should I go ahead and place a lowball offer?

10/15/2010 2:18:59 PM