All Forum Posts by: Dave Barnard

Jon, I apologize if I mispoke. The particular house involved in Will's thread was not an REO. It was purchased from the legal owner via sub-to knowing the occupant was there and needed to be dealt with. However, he has purchased many reo's that were occupied by the previous owners. The difference is, they were purchased pre MLS with the current occupancy known by both seller and buyer. I agree that banks will evict before listing an REO on the MLS. Sorry for the confusion.

Personally, I would have used all hard pipe there on the exterior using a 90* elbow right at the wall penetration. As well as strapping it to the wall. That flexible ducting has many bends in it which can decrease air flow and create more areas for lint to build up. Also the hood where the air exits is blowing right on top of that cinder block. If the assembly is strapped to the wall as I described the blocks will not be needed.

I actually lived in a home where the dryer vent ran vertically through a wall, up through the attic and out of the roof through a "t-top" type flashing that had a wire mesh to keep animals out. I had to go up there regularly and clean the lint off of that mesh. This was a single story home, however the length was close to 15 feet long. With regular cleaning and inspection, I don't see a problem with this either.
As Mitch stated, it is very important to keep lint (or any other type of build-up) off the condenser.

That's right Jake. That exact scenario is what's involved in the thread that I provided the link to in my first post.

Coby,
It is difficult to have permit work inspected after the work is completed. When dealing with electrical, there typically needs to be a "rough" inspection of the work before it's covered up by drywall. The same applies for plumbing. As to the liability issue, there is always a chance of something coming back to you no matter how likely or un-likely that chance may be. It would be my recomendation to have the work permited and inspected. The small cost of a permit can save you a lot of headache in the future.
Dave

I believe you want to know if investors will buy an REO while the previous owner is still occupying the residence. If I am correct you may want to read this thread.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/64944-the-occupants-from-hell-

People do it but be prepared for the worst!

Mike,
Take J Scott's advice and have the two contractors coordinate. It would be ideal to have the old roof removed, then the hvac contractor can come in and cut the holes needed for the ducting, electrical and gas. Once completed the roofer can install the new roofing material and flashings.

A knowledgeable painter should have planned on doing his job correctly and therefore charged you accordingly. Now after completeing his job in an inferior manner, he wants to do it right and charge more? I agree with Matt and J Scott that $150.00 is probably not worth arguing over given your time frame.
As a licensed contractor myself, if I were to overlook something that was needed in order to complete my proposed task, I would have to "eat it", complete the needed work and not charge my customer.

Michael,
As stated already I would definately stay away from a non-vented gas furnace. As Dick pointed out, there are direct vent furnaces that can easily be installed as long as the funace is mounted to an exterior wall. Williams is another popular brand.

David,
Assuming your AC guy did a thorough check, and there's nothing physically wrong with the ducting, it is likely a design flaw. Air takes the path of least resistance, which means the shortest ducts (closest to the air handler) will naturally get more flow than the ducts further away, as Mitch stated. I'm not sure what area your home is in, but here in southern CA most track homes use flex duct that was typically installed by the lowest bidder. If the size of the room and length of duct needed to get there were not compensated for, then the end result is what your experiencing.

You can install manual dampers in the ducting system which can be used to balance the air-flow. With these dampers you can restrict air to the areas that are a little cooler wich will force more air to the areas that are warmer.

You may also consider a "duct booster". This is a motorized fan that gets installed in the duct that feeds the problem area which will run only when there is a call for heat or cool from the thermostat. This fan will supply the room with more air.

A much more expensive option, and not likely for you to consider given this is a rental, would be to install a zoning system. This system has motorized dampers that are operated by individual thermostats. You can have 2 zones or as many as you would like. You can actually achieve different temperatures in different parts of the house while only having one a/c system.

If you would like to chat, send me your contact info and I'll call you tomorrow.

Dave