Daily Home Renovation Tips

OK, in the last article in this series (link at the end of this posting) I said I would show pictures of the duct taping used around the cold air return. So I will.

The first is of the duct tape itself. I’m reminded of an Andy Rooney segment many years ago on 60 minutes where all he wants is to buy a pair of running shoes and he goes into a shoe store and is shown a wall full of different modes. Same thing (almost) with duct tape.

The one we bought and used is shown below, specific for ducts. And, be careful when you take the tape off the back. Since this type of duct tape is ‘metal-ish’, when the tape is removed it wants to immediately curl up into itself. The first few times there was some colourful language when it kept happening.

 

The second is around the sheet metal and flexible vent that is behind the cold air return (that is on the other side of the wall). This was not done at all by the person who originally installed this. Tape is along the sides and top of the sheet metal, where the air duct meets the sheet metal, as well as (not sure if you can see this in the pic below) on the space between the drywall and the wood stud.

Next, I applied duct tape around both the connection between the flexi-shaft and the metal connector as well as between the the metal connector and the main cold air return as pictured below.

Lastly, I applied (although you can’t see much of it) around the space between the humidifier unit and the cold air return.

The result is that I can now feel on my hand air being taken out of the basement bedroom when I put my hand up against the cold air return in that room. One should, I am told, be able to place a piece of tissue paper against the cold air return and there should be sufficient air going into the return to keep that tissue paper from falling to the ground. I forgot to do this, but used the hand test instead.