SarahFair
Senior Member
We moved in back in Oct so really never needed to flip the air on til this year.
About June I started noticing a moisture type smell in my entryway and dining room.
Its not an earthy moisture smell like wet wood or dirt, but you can tell it's moisture.
The SO claimed he could never smell it and that I was crazy. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago the smell is now stronger and he claims he can now smell it as well.
We went under the house this weekend and took a look at the unit.
Before we moved in the inspector peeled back the shoddy duct taped wall of the housing unit for the cooling coil. It was sitting in water.
We requested the homeowner fix the problem and clean the coil.
She said they did and when we did our 2nd viewing we saw a pump installed and the duct taped wall had been reapplied. Not wanting to cause any problems to the tape we didn't open it up to see if the coil had been cleaned.
While under the house we pulled back the duct taped wall and sure enough the coil is sitting in water, again.
The coil is filthy with all kinds of mildew and possibly mold.
The SO poured water in the pump and it was working properly but the housing box is unleveled causing all the water to fall to the wrong side (of course).
Sunday we called our home warranty people and they sent a company out today.
The man said it was not good news, we have a lot of problems going on down there. He said the coil had not been cleaned in what looks like years and the warranty company will not cover routine maintenance. That costs $250 for the cleaning, which they just leave the coil in place.
He said the insulation on the duct leading to the dining room is torn and sweating, which aside from the moisture in the coil, is also adding to the smell. We saw the tear in the insulation while down there, it's right where it comes of the housing unit and is torn about 2 foot (really it looks like where someone was straddling it to get to the unit and ripped it off.)
He said the housing unit and the coil are not level and they will need to be leveled.
I asked him if the sweating duct and coil would cause mold on the inside of the duct work and he said it probably could and is.
He then said, having these problems I would replace all the duct work in the house. I asked him how much that usually runs and he said about $10k (1800sqft house w/ 4 returns).
I asked him about cleaning duct work he said they don't have the machines to do that but he wouldn't suggest doing that.
So now Im having to wait to see what my warranty company will cover.
Im hoping the leveling of the housing unit and coil and possibly cleaning the coil.
But my question is, once the cooling coil and its housing unit is leveled, dried out, cleaned and we wrap the torn ductwork do I really need to replace the ductwork??
That sounds rather extreme to me..
Can I just have it cleaned or should it just be fine?
About June I started noticing a moisture type smell in my entryway and dining room.
Its not an earthy moisture smell like wet wood or dirt, but you can tell it's moisture.
The SO claimed he could never smell it and that I was crazy. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago the smell is now stronger and he claims he can now smell it as well.
We went under the house this weekend and took a look at the unit.
Before we moved in the inspector peeled back the shoddy duct taped wall of the housing unit for the cooling coil. It was sitting in water.
We requested the homeowner fix the problem and clean the coil.
She said they did and when we did our 2nd viewing we saw a pump installed and the duct taped wall had been reapplied. Not wanting to cause any problems to the tape we didn't open it up to see if the coil had been cleaned.
While under the house we pulled back the duct taped wall and sure enough the coil is sitting in water, again.
The coil is filthy with all kinds of mildew and possibly mold.
The SO poured water in the pump and it was working properly but the housing box is unleveled causing all the water to fall to the wrong side (of course).
Sunday we called our home warranty people and they sent a company out today.
The man said it was not good news, we have a lot of problems going on down there. He said the coil had not been cleaned in what looks like years and the warranty company will not cover routine maintenance. That costs $250 for the cleaning, which they just leave the coil in place.
He said the insulation on the duct leading to the dining room is torn and sweating, which aside from the moisture in the coil, is also adding to the smell. We saw the tear in the insulation while down there, it's right where it comes of the housing unit and is torn about 2 foot (really it looks like where someone was straddling it to get to the unit and ripped it off.)
He said the housing unit and the coil are not level and they will need to be leveled.
I asked him if the sweating duct and coil would cause mold on the inside of the duct work and he said it probably could and is.
He then said, having these problems I would replace all the duct work in the house. I asked him how much that usually runs and he said about $10k (1800sqft house w/ 4 returns).
I asked him about cleaning duct work he said they don't have the machines to do that but he wouldn't suggest doing that.
So now Im having to wait to see what my warranty company will cover.
Im hoping the leveling of the housing unit and coil and possibly cleaning the coil.
But my question is, once the cooling coil and its housing unit is leveled, dried out, cleaned and we wrap the torn ductwork do I really need to replace the ductwork??
That sounds rather extreme to me..
Can I just have it cleaned or should it just be fine?