What is the feasibility and cost of flipping this furnace?

[jmr106]

The displaced water has to go somewhere.

JMR: keep in mind that you will increase the flow rate if you put more holes in the blocks. Unless you have a way to calculate that, it is a guessing game whether you have enough pumping power.

And, now that you have an idea of the cost for refitting your units and cleaning up your trench, have you reconsidered the costs of diverting the water before it reaches your crawlspace? You wrote that off as too expensive back at the beginning, but now you have numbers to compare it to.

It is a guessing game. Hard to know which pumps to get or how much that flow is going to increase. I can't see a feasible way of even calculating that, mainly because I still have no idea if this is a spring/storm drain or intermittent stream that goes crazy when it rains a lot. Or, it could just be rain water from the surrounding ground that comes in when the ground is saturated.

Yeah, I looked into stuff like the french drains and other deep drains around the outside of the house a long time ago. Waterproofing in general gets up around the cost of a new car. These drains around the perimeter of the house seem to do the same, which is why those were written off. Average cost for a front and back yard regrade averages a $5,000 starting cost for pros. It apparently can double that in a hurry.

Even after days of rain, usually the water flow stops a day or two after it stops raining and the pump quits coming on completely. Should I just not drill into the wall and just put sheet drain up as-is to redirect it? I'm not sure exactly why they made such a huge hole for a little water heater. This was before there was any system at all down there and there was just a floor furnace, so I don't understand the former owner's intent. A 15' long hole for a water heater that's maybe 2' across at best?

 

[frodo]

some units are BOTH horizonital and vertical units.

all you really have to do is move the condensate drip pan [if it has ac]

under the A coil.

my unit is a upright or horizontal. it is in the attic

what is brand and model of your unit ?

 

[jmr106]

some units are BOTH horizonital and vertical units.

all you really have to do is move the condensate drip pan [if it has ac]

under the A coil.

my unit is a upright or horizontal. it is in the attic

what is brand and model of your unit ?

Paperwork from the most recent HVAC visits say:

Make: Rudd
Model: 13AJN24A01

While a search for that model will bring up an outside a/c unit by itself, this also apparently comes together as a combo furnace and a/c system under the same model.

 

[nealtw]

some units are BOTH horizonital and vertical units.

all you really have to do is move the condensate drip pan [if it has ac]

under the A coil.

my unit is a upright or horizontal. it is in the attic

what is brand and model of your unit ?

It is a furnace that can be flipped, Buffalo figured he could do it with a helper in a day, but all the local pros just want to re-duct the whole house and seem to have a min. charge of $2500 and lots of excuses:hide:.

 

[jmr106]

It is a furnace that can be flipped, Buffalo figured he could do it with a helper in a day, but all the local pros just want to re-duct the whole house and seem to have a min. charge of $2500 and lots of excuses:hide:.

...and the threat of a contractor doing it "improperly" and killing us all with carbon monoxide spreading all over the crawlspace and up into the house. Usually all of them say something along the lines of, "If you want to get some independent person, fine. I can't do it for that amount and anyone who does it for less is cutting corners. I can see ways that you "could" cut corners, but to do it right will require a complete teardown and removal and a new unit installation. Then there's vibration to worry about, whether on top of the wall or hung from the floor."

That's about the general response that I'm getting.

 

[nealtw]

...and the threat of a contractor doing it "improperly" and killing us all with carbon monoxide spreading all over the crawlspace and up into the house. Usually all of them say something along the lines of, "If you want to get some independent person, fine. I can't do it for that amount and anyone who does it for less is cutting corners. I can see ways that you "could" cut corners, but to do it right will require a complete teardown and removal and a new unit installation. Then there's vibration to worry about, whether on top of the wall or hung from the floor."

That's about the general response that I'm getting.

So it could be hung until the floor was finished and the blocked up to sit ion the floor. What cut corners anyone is suggesting I am not sure, we would still expect a pro to look after the required details and really there should be CO detector there anyway. And are they saying the first guy did it all wrong.

:help:

 

[frodo]

JEEEEEEEZZZZ...


I am looking at your unit. the duct work is connected by flex duct

DAMN....

disconnect the flex...turn the unit hang it with regular old plumbers strap
hook the flex back up.

the gas line can be hooked up with a flex

when the unit is hung,, if a fella was smart, he would hang it so that the flue worked out

I see a half a day 2 guys

not a hole lotta material

$1000.00 no problem

 

[nealtw]

JEEEEEEEZZZZ...


I am looking at your unit. the duct work is connected by flex duct

DAMN....

disconnect the flex...turn the unit hang it with regular old plumbers strap
hook the flex back up.

the gas line can be hooked up with a flex

when the unit is hung,, if a fella was smart, he would hang it so that the flue worked out

I see a half a day 2 guys

not a hole lotta material

$1000.00 no problem

That was exactly my thinking.:agree:

 

[slownsteady]

It may create noise (rumble) in the house if you hang it from the floor. But hang it temporarily till you get the rest of the job done.

 

[jmr106]

JEEEEEEEZZZZ...


I am looking at your unit. the duct work is connected by flex duct

DAMN....

disconnect the flex...turn the unit hang it with regular old plumbers strap
hook the flex back up.

the gas line can be hooked up with a flex

when the unit is hung,, if a fella was smart, he would hang it so that the flue worked out

I see a half a day 2 guys

not a hole lotta material

$1000.00 no problem

Most of the quotes say 2 guys for 3 whole days, and these are "HVAC Techs"... I don't understand why they are making it into such a huge deal.

 

[frodo]

 

[nealtw]

Are you getting quotes in writing and what exactly do they want to do. Depending on what they are saying I might have some tough questions for outfit that installed the last time.

 

[jmr106]

Are you getting quotes in writing and what exactly do they want to do. Depending on what they are saying I might have some tough questions for outfit that installed the last time.

So far, I can't get anyone willing to alter it as-is and flip it/adjust it as-is. They see it as a big burden to disconnect everything and reconnect it. I have no idea why they feel that the entire thing needs to be replaced in order to do so. I think it may just be because they feel that it would be easier for "them" to start over from scratch. Or, as suggested and as I figured the minute that they told me - more money for them.

I'm actually still leaning more towards hanging it, because it would virtually cost as much to temporarily have someone flip it and then bring it back down again. Even at $1,000 to temporarily hang it and then another $1,000 to put it back down where it was after I was finished...I'd be at nearly what the original installers wanted to flip it.

 

[jmr106]

So it could be hung until the floor was finished and the blocked up to sit ion the floor. What cut corners anyone is suggesting I am not sure, we would still expect a pro to look after the required details and really there should be CO detector there anyway. And are they saying the first guy did it all wrong.

:help:

Well, according to many of the "pros"...they apparently consider it "cutting corners" to make adjustments to the current furnace in order to flip it. So of course, the automatic natural solution to that is to just tear the whole thing out and replace it. No comments so far on anything that was done wrong with the first install, however. They just go into the usual, "I can't really see a way to do that without changing out the whole thing..." deal. I mean, it feels kind of dumb to stand there and feel like I may need to suggest something to someone who is supposed to know way more about it than I do.

 

[jmr106]

It may create noise (rumble) in the house if you hang it from the floor. But hang it temporarily till you get the rest of the job done.

The furnace and blower are actually very quiet. The furnace makes the typical "gas and flames" noise (I presume that's the rumbling you're referring to) that can be heard lowly in the hallway, anyway. It isn't disturbing at all.

Just to the left of the system around the area right over the edge of the wall is where the old floor furnace used to be. When they removed that, they simply put in some type of (probably fairly thin) sheet metal covering of some type that covered up the whole furnace hole and then in the middle of that sheet metal is where that big return hose is going to. I think that return hose goes up and over the back or top of the machine. So that whole area there is the hallway, anyway. Given that thin sheet metal and that we can currently hear it underneath that area, I doubt that it being a few feet closer would make any difference in the noise. I'd still prefer to hang it if I could. I guess I just need to keep trying to get estimates from smaller companies, and stay away from the larger companies that tend to charge more.

 

[WyrTwister]

Were it me , I would seriously consider raising it and hanging it from trapeze of all thread rod , attached to the joists above and unistrut .

Unless I am missing something .

And I would do it myself , maybe with help with the lifting , from family members .

This is not rocket science . I have most of the tooling . Would probably end up buying a Presto-lite torch from Harbor Freight and some Sil-Fos from a local HVAC supplier .

God bless
Wyr