Ducts, Controls & Hot Water
Ductwork Repair, Sealing and Installation in Oakland County
Your furnace and air conditioner are only as good as the ducts that carry their air. Our family-owned crew handles ductwork repair, duct sealing and new installation, shows up on time and tells you honestly what your ducts need and what they do not.
Tell us what it is doing. We will tell you straight what happens next.
- A family-owned business
- We show up on time
- 100% satisfaction guaranteed
Ductwork repair for the rooms that never get comfortable
A duct system has two sides. The supply side carries heated or cooled air from the furnace through a main trunk and out along branch runs to the registers in each room. The return side pulls room air back through grilles to be heated or cooled again. When either side leaks, sags, comes apart or was built too small, the equipment still runs, but the air does not arrive where it should. You feel that as a cold bedroom, a stuffy office or a bill that seems too high.
ENERGY STAR estimates that in a typical house about 20 to 30 percent of the air moving through the duct system is lost to leaks, holes and poorly connected ducts. Maverick Heating and Cooling is a family-owned business with a crew of four, and for 7 years we have been fixing that kind of problem in homes across Oakland County. We look at the whole system, tell you what we found and what it will cost, and start only when you say so.
What to watch for
Signs of ductwork problems
Duct trouble rarely announces itself. It shows up as comfort complaints that never quite go away.
One room always hot or cold
The run to that room may be too long, too small, kinked or partly disconnected, so little air reaches the register. Hold a hand to it and compare with the register in the next room.
Weak airflow from some registers
After a dirty filter, the usual causes are a crushed or sagging flex duct, a joint that has pulled apart, or a damper in the basement that was left closed.
Heating and cooling bills creeping up
Air that leaks into an attic, a crawl space or a wall cavity is air you paid to heat or cool. The system runs longer to make up for what never arrived.
Stuffy rooms
A room with a supply register but no path for air to get back to the return builds pressure when the door is shut. Less conditioned air gets in and the room goes stale.
Whistling, popping or banging
Whistling at a grille usually means too little return area for the air being pulled through it. Popping and banging is sheet metal flexing as pressure and temperature change.
Damage you can see
Gaps at joints, old cloth tape peeling away, rust, torn insulation and flex duct pinched over a joist are all visible in a basement or attic, and all worth fixing.
What we do
Ductwork jobs we handle
From one loose joint to a complete new duct system.
Duct sealing
Joints, seams, branch take-offs and register boots sealed with mastic or foil tape, starting near the furnace, where the air pressure in the ducts is highest.
Air duct repair
Disconnected runs reattached, crushed and kinked flex duct replaced, sagging runs supported properly and rusted sections cut out.
Duct replacement
New trunks and branches where the old ones are undersized, rusted through or too far gone to seal.
Ductwork installation
Complete duct systems for homes that never had them, for major remodels and for new construction.
New runs for added rooms
Supply and return runs for additions and finished basements, after we check that the equipment and the trunk can carry the extra air.
Added return air
More return grilles and larger return ducts for systems that are starved of air. It quiets the system and eases the load on the blower.
Duct insulation
Insulation on runs through attics, crawl spaces and garages, so the air keeps its temperature on the way to the room.
Dampers and air balancing
Manual dampers fitted and adjusted so each room gets its share. Where that is not enough, a zoning system can control each floor separately.
How duct sealing is done, and why duct tape is the wrong tool
Ducts leak where pieces meet: at the joints between sections, where branches leave the trunk, at the plenums attached to the furnace, and at the boots behind each register. We seal those with mastic, a thick paste that is brushed on and cures into a flexible seal, or with foil tape made for the purpose. Despite the name, cloth duct tape is not on the list. It does not last on ducts, which is why you see it hanging off old ones.
Is duct sealing worth it? It depends on where your ducts run. A leak in a basement ceiling still spills most of its air inside the house. A leak in an attic, a crawl space or a garage sends that air outdoors. If your ducts pass through those spaces, or the rooms farthest from the furnace are hard to keep comfortable, sealing usually pays. If your ducts are tight and inside the heated part of the house, we will tell you to keep your money.
Insulating ducts in attics, crawl spaces and garages
A duct crossing an attic in July is carrying cold air through the hottest place in the house. In January the same duct carries warm air through one of the coldest. Without insulation the air gives up part of its heating or cooling before it reaches the room, and in humid weather bare metal can sweat and drip. We seal those runs first, because insulation laid over a leak hides it without stopping it, and then we wrap them. Ducts inside the heated part of the house generally do not need it.
Duct sizing, return air and new equipment
Ducts are supposed to be designed around the airflow the equipment moves, room by room. Many were not. They were sized by habit, or for a furnace two furnaces ago, or added to over the years. The fault we find most is too little return air. A system that cannot pull enough air back is noisy, delivers weak airflow, and can overheat a furnace or freeze an air conditioner coil.
That is why we look at the ducts whenever we replace equipment. A new furnace or air conditioner connected to leaky, undersized ducts will not perform the way it should. Not every new HVAC system needs new ductwork. Often the fix is a larger return, a few sealed joints and a reworked connection at the furnace. Sound sheet metal ducts often outlast the furnace they were installed with. Flex duct, tape and insulation tend to age sooner.
When a new duct is not the answer
Sometimes there is no good route for a new duct, or the run would be so long that little air would reach the end of it. A sunroom on a slab, an attic bedroom or a detached workshop is often better served by a ductless mini-split, which needs only a small hole in the wall. And if airflow is weak at every register, start with the furnace filter. A clogged one can make good ducts look bad, and changing it takes a few minutes.
How it works
How a ductwork job goes
Call and describe it
Tell us which rooms are the problem and in which season. We will give you an honest answer on when we can come and look.
We inspect the ducts
We arrive on time and trace the system from the furnace outward: trunks, branches, returns, joints and any runs in the attic or crawl space.
Findings and price
We show you what we found, explain which fixes will make the most difference and give you the price before any work starts.
Sealed, fixed and checked
We do the work, run the system and check the airflow at the registers that were giving trouble. 100% satisfaction guaranteed.
Why Maverick
Family-owned, on time and honest for 7 years
Family-owned
A family business with a crew of four, in business for 7 years.
On time
You planned your day around us. When we give you a time, that is when we are at your door.
Honest work
We show you what is wrong and tell you the price before we start. If a small fix does it, we say so.
100% satisfaction guaranteed
We stand behind every job. Your satisfaction is guaranteed, 100%.
Why is one room always hotter or colder than the rest?
Usually because that room is not getting its share of air. It may sit at the end of a long run, be fed by a duct that is too small, kinked or leaking, or have no return path when the door is closed. Rooms over a garage or with a lot of glass also gain and lose heat faster. Sometimes a damper adjustment solves it. Sometimes the run needs repair or the room needs another supply.
Should ductwork be replaced with a new furnace or AC?
Not automatically. Sound sheet metal ducts of the right size can serve more than one generation of equipment. What should happen with every replacement is an honest look at the ducts: are they sized for the new system's airflow, is there enough return, are the joints sealed. Often a few changes near the furnace are all that is needed. If the ducts are badly undersized or falling apart, we show you why before recommending more.
What is the difference between duct sealing and duct cleaning?
Sealing closes leaks so air goes where it should. Cleaning removes dust from inside the ducts. The EPA does not recommend cleaning as a routine job, only as needed: when there is substantial visible mold inside hard-surface ducts, an infestation of rodents or insects, or ducts so clogged with dust and debris that particles blow out of the registers. The EPA also says duct cleaning has never been shown to prevent health problems. It is a separate trade from the work on this page, and you will not hear us pushing it.
Can you add a vent or a return to an existing duct system?
Yes, in most houses. A supply run can be tapped off the trunk, and a return added where there is a path back to the furnace. Before we do, we check that the blower and the trunk have capacity to spare, because every new register takes air from the others. For a finished basement or an addition, that check matters most. If the system cannot carry the extra room, we say so and give you other options.
Does closing vents in unused rooms save money?
No. It sounds logical, but closing registers does not make the furnace or air conditioner do less work. It raises the pressure in the ducts, which pushes more air out of every leak and makes the blower work against a restriction. With enough of them closed, it can cause real trouble for the equipment. Keep registers open and unblocked, and if a room gets too much air, have it balanced at the damper.
How much does ductwork repair cost in Oakland County?
It depends on how much duct is involved and how hard it is to reach. Sealing joints in an open basement is a small job. Replacing runs in a tight attic or crawl space, or opening a finished ceiling, takes much longer. We look at the system first and give you the price before any work starts. Call 248-930-2080.
Keep reading
Related services
Other work we do alongside ductwork repair.
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Controls
Zoning Systems
Upstairs too hot, basement too cold? Zoning gives each part of the house its own thermostat.
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Heating + cooling
Ductless Mini-Splits
Heating and cooling for rooms with no ducts: additions, garages, sunrooms and older homes.
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Heating + cooling
HVAC Installation
A new furnace and air conditioner, sized to your house and installed as one matched system.
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Air quality
Indoor Air Quality
Dust, dry winter air, a damp basement or stuffy rooms. We find the cause before we suggest equipment.
Where we work
Ductwork across Oakland County
We are a family-owned crew of four serving these communities and the towns around them.
- Troy
- Rochester Hills
- Royal Oak
- Southfield
- Farmington Hills
- Novi
- Waterford
- West Bloomfield
- Pontiac
- Bloomfield Hills
- Birmingham
- Auburn Hills
- Clarkston
- Lake Orion
Do not see your town? Call 248-930-2080 and ask, or see our full service area.
Too hot or too cold?
Call the family that shows up
On time. Honest about the problem and the price. 100% satisfaction guaranteed.
248-930-2080Maverick Heating and Cooling · Family-owned · Oakland County, MI