DIY vs. Professional Duct Sealing: 6 Reasons to Call a Pro
During summer and winter months energy bills tend to, unsurprisingly, go up as HVAC systems are put to work. However, while small increases are common and nothing to be concerned with, if your utility bill seems unusually high, and the temperature is still uncomfortable, you may have a problem. When a home is using more energy to attempt to heat or cool a home, and it isn’t working, it could be a sign that there are issues with the air ducts in your home.
While there are many websites explaining how to do a DIY duct sealing, it is not the best choice. In fact, here are a few reasons why you shouldn’t do it yourself, and instead call a professional.
1. Ducts Can Be Hard-to-Reach
Air ducts can be found virtually anywhere in your home: in the walls, the ceiling, the attic, and even the basement. While in some cases, these ducts are easy to reach, other times it can be more difficult, especially if they are inside the walls or in the basement.
In cases like this, a DIY duct sealing is not the best idea because you may not have the right tools to reach the ducts safely and create a minimal amount of mess. Additionally, since you can’t reach the duct either you may not be able to get the sealant in all the necessary areas, so the problem remains unsolved.
2. Professionals Use Special Computer-Controlled Systems
With ducts sometimes being difficult to find, it can be hard to know where they all are without ripping open your walls and ceiling. Beyond that, locating the actual leaks is also difficult when you have no idea what to look for.
Fortunately, professional duct sealing companies have specialized computer-controlled systems that can help to quickly and efficiently find all of the ducting, without having to tear down drywall throughout the house. This not only saves a lot of time, but it also helps drastically reduce the repair costs, since you won’t also be paying for extensive wall repairs.
3. Repairs Are Quicker
When you try to do a DIY duct sealing, you might find that it takes a great deal of time. From finding the ducts to pinpointing all the air leaks, it can be a time-consuming process. Professionals, however, will have an easy time locating ducts and leaks because of their specialized computers. Added to that, they have extensive experience in sealing air ducts that will allow them to know exactly what to do, and where, saving precious time.
4. Mastic Isn’t a Sure-Fire Fix
When it comes to DIY duct sealing, the sealant that is commonly recommended is called mastic. This is a gooey paste that is extremely messy and unpleasant to work with. For the mastic to work well as a sealant, it has to be applied in a precise way. If the mastic coat is applied too thin, it will be ineffective and may not even cover everything. A coat that is too thick may also cause issues and take much longer to dry.
In addition, mastic only really works for areas that are easily accessible, as stated before. That means whatever ductwork is hidden behind walls or is just not easy to reach due to location will be difficult to cover with mastic without a considerable amount of demolition. Which would take more time and create an even bigger and more costly mess to clean up.
However, even if applied correctly, there is a lot of cleanup involved when using mastic and, after all of that work, there is still a chance it will fail over time, meaning you would have to go through the whole process all over again.
5. Duct Tape is More of a Temporary Fix
Another popular DIY duct sealing fix is to use special duct sealant tape. This tape is different from the fix-all duct tape that people usually think of. Instead, sealant duct tape is made of aluminum foil and specially designed for use on HVAC systems. This is much easier to work with than mastic, and also takes much less time to put into place.
However, like with mastic, HVAC duct tape can also fail over time, losing its stickiness, which means it would eventually require replacing as well.
6. A Professional Can Use Aeroseal
Unlike the messy and ineffective fixes available for DIY duct sealing, professionals have much better products available to them. One such product is Aeroseal.
Aeroseal is an extremely unique product used to seal any openings within an HVAC system’s air ducts. What makes Aeroseal so unique is the technology behind it: before even beginning the duct repair process, a pre-seal test is done to find all leakage points.
Once the points have been identified, Aeroseal is placed into the duct system, where it automatically finds and seals every leak that is less than 5/8-inches in diameter. After about two hours, Aeroseal will be completely dry, and all air leaks will be filled entirely. To confirm that all the leaks have been covered, the technician performing the job will do a second test checking for air leaks to show that it was successful and provide you with a certificate stating so.
While DIY duct sealing may seem like it could save money, it could actually leave you spending more money than you actually have to. When you hire a professional to handle your HVAC duct sealing, you can rest assured that the job will be done correctly the first time, saving you money. Additionally, a professional will have access to products like Aeroseal, which effectively seal any air duct leaks without having to make a big mess and potentially failing over time.
