Before purchasing our new home, my husband and I invested in a home inspection.
- We already knew there were a lot of problems with the house.
We were getting an especially good deal because the property needed so many improvements. We also hired a local HVAC contractor to assess the furnace and central air conditioner. While my husband and I are both rather handy, we didn’t want to tackle a heating and cooling replacement project. Not only is the installation of a furnace, air conditioner and ductwork somewhat complex, new equipment is also extremely expensive. In order to make the investment worthwhile, we needed to know we could depend on the heating and cooling system for a few more years. After a thorough inspection, the HVAC contractor recommended a thorough cleaning and tuning of the system but felt confident we could trust it to hold up for at least five years. We gave the HVAC contractor the go ahead to service the furnace and air conditioner, bought the home and immediately started on renovations. We tore down walls and ceilings, ripped up floors, installed new windows, replaced fixtures and appliances, insulated, upgraded plumbing and painted. Our project took us about eight months to complete. Because we created so much dust and debris, we kept the windows open for ventilation. We went without air conditioning and suffered the heat. Once everything was finished and clean, we were eager to close the windows and enjoy central cooling. That’s when we discovered a problem with the air conditioner. We called the HVAC contractor back, and he found that the system was horribly clogged from construction debris. We now know how important it is to cover the vents during a remodeling project.