Dryer Vent Cleaning

When was the last time you cleaned your dryer vent? Clogged up vents can cause fires and also cause the dryer to work less efficiently as it takes longer to dry a load of clothes.

While there isn't much I miss about our old house I do miss the ease of cleaning the dryer vent. The dryer there backed up to an exterior wall and was less than a foot long to outside. After several attempts by birds to build nests in it I replaced it with a vent tube with a cage to keep them out but otherwise it was easy to clean. I'd scrap off the lint stuck to the outside off every so often and pulled the dryer away from the wall once a year or so to replace the hose connecting it to the vent. (As it's easier to replace a $10 hose than it is to clean one.)

I noticed a few weeks ago that the flaps on the dryer vent cover on the wall outside weren't closed all the way due to lint build up. I didn't expect it to be clogged up so quickly after moving into the house. With it being roughly 16 feet up through the wall and then across the ceiling to the side of the house 20 feet up from the ground I was expecting I might need to hire someone to clean it out. But it turns out my trusty shop vacuum has more than enough suction power to get the job done. I shoved the hose as far up the vent as possible and even after only three months of use it pulled out a large amount of lint. There's still a little bit stuck on the vent outside so eventually I'm going to have to get an extension ladder to get up there clean that off as well. But the flaps are closing now at least. I also vacuumed inside the dryer as well. And thanks to our dimwitted younger cat I had to replace the vent hose due to him tearing holes in it for whatever reason.

I'll also note here one annoyance I have with the way Ryan Homes builds these houses. The vent pipe going up through the is oval while the hoses are round. There was a considerable amount of frustration involved in getting it on there. Apparently it's an issue with the thickness of the wall or so I was told but it's still irritating. If our cat destroys another hose I'll probably order a round to oval adapter that is available several places online. (But no where locally in-store oddly enough.)

Dampers and Energy Efficiency

Since moving in three months ago Jenny has been complaining about how it's hotter upstairs than down. With a single zone HVAC system I figured this would be the case at least to some extent and the reverse in winter since after all hot air rises and cool air sinks. About a month ago I was talking to my neighbors and they mentioned that it was possible to adjust dampers in the attic to change the amount of air flowing to each floor. This was news to us as it had never been mentioned by anyone. (And definitely not at the final walkthrough/orientation like I would have expected.) I went up in the attic a few times looking but never could figure out how to make the adjustment.

I saw our project manager outside last week and asked him about it. He explained in more detail what I was looking for and once more I went up in the attic. I found what I thought was it but still couldn't figure out how to make the adjustment. (I also didn't want to do it wrong and screw it up either.) I ended up calling the service line Thursday and they in turn put in me in contact with a local HVAC contractor that sent a technician out Friday afternoon.

Essentially the damper is a lever secured by a wing nut on the main air ducts running from the air handler. (Two for upstairs and one for down.) Along with showing me how to make the adjustment the tech also labeled everything for future reference. In the summer the downstairs damper needs to be halfway closed and the two upstairs need to be wide open. In the winter it needs to be the exact opposite. He also discovered that the rear upstairs damper was closed which was definitely not helping our situation.

Instructions left on the air handler for future reference.

The lever that opens and closers one of the dampers.

On the topic of the air conditioning I continue to be very impressed by how energy efficient our house is. Ryan Homes really pushes this fact in their sales materials and what I've experienced so far has proved it. Our old house was a mid-1950's brick rancher that definitely was no where near as sealed up as the new house. On days when the temperature hit the upper 90's or over 100 the air conditioning would routinely run all day and never quite reach the 76 or sometimes 78 that we set it for. At our new house we've had the thermostat set at 74 and with similar temperatures the A/C cuts shuts off throughout the day. Even with the lower setting and a 30% larger house our electric bill has so far been roughly the same or slightly lower than it used to be at the old house. I'm curious now to see what happens this winter with our heat especially with it running on gas now. 

Pre-Drywall Meeting and Closing Scheduled

I met this afternoon with the project manager to do the pre-drywall walkthrough of the house. Similar to the walkthrough we did last Wednesday it was another chance to see everything done so far and prior to the hanging of drywall and ask questions. Similar to the pre-construction meeting Jenny and I read through numerous other Ryan Homes blogs to find out what to expect and questions to ask.

The major things were to double check to make sure that things such as cable and phone jacks, ceiling fan rough-ins, and similar things were installed and placed where we wanted them. Most everything else were things we went over in the walkthrough last week or even in the pre-construction meeting or subsequent phone calls with the project manager.

One thing I noticed today that I was especially impressed by was how thorough they seem to be with the energy efficiency thing. Everywhere you look there's either yellow or pink expanding insulation foam that has been used to seal every possible area where air could leak into the house. Even the electrical outlets and ceiling fan rough-ins have been sealed in this way.

Based on suggestions I received from several coworkers one thing I did today during the walkthrough was take photos of each wall to have a record of where the wires and plumbing are before they're covered up by drywall. This way if we ever want to hang a picture or something else that requires putting a nail into the wall we have a rough idea of where things are. (Along with using a stud/wire finder of course.)

Over the weekend we also received a letter in the mail with the schedule for our new home orientation meeting and closing. The former is scheduled for Tuesday April 22 and the latter for April 24. It sounds like this is pretty much set in stone at this point although after talking with my realtor the closing date might change slightly since we're using an outside law firm for settlement.

Breaker box in the garage.

Main air intake and wastewater lines.

Laundry room hook ups and plumbing for washing machine and dryer.

Upstairs central ductwork.

Upstairs bathroom plumbing.

Bedroom wiring.

Surprise Walkthrough

I got a call from our project manager early this afternoon. Along with the usual progress updates (ductwork and HVAC installed over the weekend; plumbing and wiring being installed this week) he also asked if I was available to meet with him and do a walkthrough of the house later in the day. (NOT the pre-drywall meeting. That's going to happen next week.) Since I work at a school and my day generally ends by 3pm anyway I jumped at the chance meet him. As luck would have it Jenny was also able to leave work a bit early and also attend.

Jenny and I had walked through the house over the weekend and noted a number of minor issues that we went through with him. Among other things (and his responses):
-Gouges in the garage floor. (Normal and unavoidable. Will be patched prior to closing.)
-Several cracked 2x4's in the framing. (Imperfections are common and these were on non-load bearing walls so it's not an issue.)
-Several holes in the plywood on the walls. (Apparently the construction crew will do this intentionally to give them hand holds to lift walls into place and they will be patched later.)
-Numerous spots where you could look up at the second floor and see where nails were secured into the floor joists. (Also normal and results from going so quickly with a nail gun. The subfloor is secured with not only nails but screws and glue as well to prevent squeaks.)

We also found out what the deal was with the bedroom closet/laundry room nook issue I noted in my previous entry, Slight Deviation in Plans. According to him this was a result of a common tweaking of the house plans based on customer input and other factors and it just hadn't been reflected in the sales materials yet. Like I mentioned in that entry Jenny actually preferred it that way and is glad to have the spot in the laundry room for extra shelving/storage space. (Although he said if we really wanted it the other way it wouldn't have been a problem to re-frame the space.)

We went room by room and had a chance to ask questions. All the ductwork and plumbing had been run, and a crew was working inside on the wiring as we went through it. Being as curious as I am about such things I probably bordered on the annoying with everything I asked about. Seeing as all of this stuff is covered up behind the walls it was absolutely fascinating to me seeing how these systems come together and work.

A few other things of note I learned today that I found especially interesting:
-Electrical wiring around the exterior walls of the house is run at the bottom instead of in the middle as you see on interior walls. Apparently this is an energy efficiency thing. Lower on the wall creates a smaller gap when insulation is placed over it.

-Each spot where the wire is passed through a stud is covered by a little metal plate. This prevents a nail from accidentally hitting the wire if someone goes to put up a picture or otherwise do something that involves putting a hole in the wall through the stud.

Small metal plate protecting the electrical wire.

-One of the things Jenny and I had noticed over the weekend and were curious about was why there a piece of house wrap on the interior wall of the master bathroom. It's the only spot inside the house like that and we figured it was there for a reason but just weren't sure what that was. Turns out we were right and it's actually yet another energy efficiency thing. That piece of house wrap sits between the tub and the exterior wall and helps to keep the water in the tub warmer.

House wrap on the wall of the master bathroom.

I also received a slight slap on the wrist so to speak from the project manager regarding my visits to the site. He had told us any time we wanted to go on the property we needed to check in with the neighborhood office and be escorted. The first time I had done this I was told by the sales representative there that this was more of a formality and I could go down there whenever. I've also read on numerous blogs and talked to other folks that have been through the build process that they had no problem visiting anytime so I didn't think much about it. I've been waiting until evenings once the crews leave to go look around and snap photos and check on things but I was reminded this afternoon that I do need an escort for my own safety.

As it is we're scheduled to do our pre-drywall meeting next Monday and should find out for sure at that point our expected closing date. Hopefully we've finally seen the last of the snow and things should move right on along from here.