Air Conditioning for my house

[max_boost]

Sorry to see/hear Juror. I saw the pics earlier and despite knowing nothing, it simply doesn't look right. Hope you get it sorted out.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Thanks Max.

Post Mortem: I highly recommend one of the two guys. I am more than willing to share his info with anyone who is interested. He ended up fixing the mess as much as he could.

It is quite unfortunate that the moron was recommended by someone on here. My apologies to the guy recommending him for the upcoming harsh words, but when your guy can't even measure properly or connect up a humidifier line to the new thermostat/humidistat controller among other things, he is not the expert that you claim he is. He's an apprentice refrigeration mechanic who hasn't been doing residential for more than a few months - not the guy who has been "doing this for a while".

I guess I should have taken the hint when you said a few times that you didn't want to liable if anything happens.

I get that you two are buddies, but I have an fuc*** ugly circle that was siliconed over because the guy can't: 1) Follow simple instructions, 2) Measure properly. I should have charged him to have SpikerS come over and repair that, although color matching would have been a concern. I also have an A/C unit in a spot that I didn't want it to be in because of the incorrect position of the access hole. His rationale was "the customer gets to pick where the unit wants to go, he gets to pick how the pipes come out and where" and that his positioning looked good. To top it off, he questioned the integrity of my wife and I - even after I pulled out evidence that we had agreed on a certain level of service.

I won't say who the beyonder is because there is no point, and maybe he meant well.
And no, the refrigeration mechanic was not Gavin, W&J, or Action. Will post photos tomorrow when there is daylight.

[Cos]

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[The_Rural_Juror]

Price was just alright. I ended up spending more than I wanted to but got a nicer unit.

Again, the second guy was great as he ended up doing more work to fix the mistakes and I compensated him for his time. This is all about the first guy because he was the one that I dealt with, and who seems to forget things easily.

How it was supposed to look:


What it ended up looking like after day 1:


The one installer first said that both installations are "identical". The next day he said that the neighbour's installation is "ugly". Then he said that my wife and I never told him about it, and we are purposely just adding more work for him. He said that I get to pick the location of the unit, he gets to pick the location of the pipes coming out. Also blamed the utility room for being on the wrong side of the house. He said that the neighbours have a different ceiling in their basement so they could come out that way. I know that it's the exact same house, just a mirror image. I also looked up in the ceiling, and there was plenty of room to route that way.

My simple instruction to him was "replicate the neighbour's setup - where the unit is placed and where the pipes come out. Someone else has already figured it out, so no need to reinvent the wheel."

This is the extra hole he drilled because he measured from the inside and got it wrong. My wife even offered to go over to the neighbour's place and provide him with measurements but was declined. He ended up having to drill a second hole because he hit the foundation.



This is the hole after that he said that it "will be covered up and hidden behind the tube...make invisible". I asked after the first day (before the connections were made) if he could move the breaker over it so that he's covering up a few small screw holes rather than a big circle. He said no. He also left the holes uncovered after day 1 because "nothing will get in there overnight".



This is my compromised position after realizing that I don't trust him to make the pipes look good. At least the pipes aren't dangling over the window as much.





Here's what was agreed upon:
- $xxxx for labour. This includes: delivering and installing a/c exactly replicating my neighbour's setup (exact same house), installing a new thermostat/humidistat combo, and re-wiring the existing humdistat to the new one.
- flow through cost of all parts
- installation will be completed in one day

While he was cleaning up, I asked why the old humidistat was still hooked up - meaning that the control hasn't been wired over to the new one. He said that "he doesn't know and only does a/c, not humidifiers". This is when I lost it on him and showed him some text messages that were exchanged about that topic. The other guy ended up installing it.

He didn't want to come over for a quote, nor did he want to see photos of the place before he placed the quote - saying that "I am a commercial guy, residential installations are so easy - no problem. I do so many before and just did one house behind SAIT last week that looks just like yours."

tl;dr Went on advice of beyonder "who knows a lot of the top commercial guys in the city". Thought I was getting an experienced guy. Got a moron-noob. Now I have a f**king nipple on my wall.

[Cos]

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[The_Rural_Juror]

I think it's because the utility room is in the middle of the house and basement is developed. Also didn't think the second guy trusted the first guy to be alone, so they went on a few supply runs together.

I should probably top up the silicone as well.

[G]

Any leftover stucco from the builder?

[The_Rural_Juror]

Zero.

[bigboom]

Does anyone else have issues with their basement being really cold after the AC is running? I'm wondering if the unit isn't fully sealed.

Also, has anyone else had issues with allergies post AC install?

[Cos]

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[Darell_n]

Originally posted by bigboom
Does anyone else have issues with their basement being really cold after the AC is running? I'm wondering if the unit isn't fully sealed.

Also, has anyone else had issues with allergies post AC install?

Cold air settles in the lowest areas. This is why it's a good idea to relocate the basement's return air down to floor level if it isn't already, and make it larger than existing. And close all the registers down there too.

[benyl]

Originally posted by bigboom
Does anyone else have issues with their basement being really cold after the AC is running? I'm wondering if the unit isn't fully sealed.

Hot air rises?

You also have a massive fridge in your utility room. It's going to naturally cool the surrounding air.

[Cos]

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[A790]

Originally posted by bigboom
Does anyone else have issues with their basement being really cold after the AC is running? I'm wondering if the unit isn't fully sealed.

Also, has anyone else had issues with allergies post AC install?

Cold air is going to find its way into the basement via cold air returns, open doors, etc.

What I do is turn the AC off around 7:30 and then just run the furnace fan for a couple of hours. House remains cool and the air coming from the vents is already paid for

[Cos]

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[The_Rural_Juror]

Originally posted by Cos


Do you have to manually do that or do you have a way to program your thermostat to follow that?

I really want to buy a super smart thermostat for shits and giggles.

My new Honeywell Visionpro 8000 wifi will allow for fan scheduling. I don't think I saw that feature in my Nest.

[benyl]

Just run your fan 24/7. It costs like $3 / month or something.

[roopi]

Originally posted by bigboom
Does anyone else have issues with their basement being really cold after the AC is running? I'm wondering if the unit isn't fully sealed.

Also, has anyone else had issues with allergies post AC install?

Did you close your vents in the basement. It will make a difference.

As for allergies yes major. difference. They improved since I don't have to open the windows anymore in the evening to cool the house off.

[A790]

Originally posted by Cos


Do you have to manually do that or do you have a way to program your thermostat to follow that?

I really want to buy a super smart thermostat for shits and giggles.

I just use the app on my phone for my Nest.

[Cos]

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