Duct Sealing in Houston, TX

Duct sealing in Houston attics, specifics

Slab homes put every duct overhead. Older pier-and-beam bungalows in the Heights often run them below the floor instead. Different access, different failures. Underfloor runs take on ground moisture. Attic runs cook and sag.

Start at the return. Plenty of builders here framed platform returns from joists and ductboard beneath the air handler. That platform breathes raw attic air. You can check it yourself. Hold a tissue at the closet door gap with the blower running. Watch which way it pulls.

Roof rats are routine in this city. They chew flex jacket for nesting material. Look for loose yellow strands scattered on the attic deck. Those runs need replacing, not mastic.

Post-Harvey insulation work complicated a lot of attics. Crews blew fresh fiber straight over leaky old runs. The leaks stayed, just buried deeper. Pressure pan readings taken at each register locate them without tearing the attic apart.

Cloth tape does not survive a Gulf Coast attic. The adhesive releases, the fabric stays put, and it still looks sealed from the room below. Mastic and foil tape carrying the UL 181 mark hold. When a run is crushed flat under storage decking, sealing it is wasted effort and we say so.