I haven't been posting a lot lately - busy! So are the bugs!
I swore I would never install another split-system air conditioner again, It is not that I don't like them - far from it! I installed three at the lake house in New York, one in my garage, and two for a friend. They are not terribly hard to do - but not terribly easy, either!
I tested one early on in the 1980's when a big HVAC company I was working for wanted to license them from Japan. "Americans prefer window units!" one of the corporate "suits" said, and to some extent, he was right. A basic window unit can be had for under $500 and installed in an afternoon. A split system, on the other hand, requires some pretty serious work and it can be a bit difficult for the DIY installer. Plus, even a basic split-system HVAC unit runs $1000 these days.
Note: When pricing these, be sure to figure out whether they come with refrigerant lines, electrical connectors, disconnect box, and the like. Some companies lure you in with low come-on prices and then sock you later with these necessary accessory items which can run $200 or more. Compare apples to apples! That being said, there are only a few companies making these and most are re-branded. Midea seems to be the number one producer. My latest unit is branded "Blue Ridge" but is identical to my earlier unit which is a Midea.
When we built Mark's studio, the easiest thing to do was to frame up a hole in the wall and install a $400 Frigidaire window unit heat pump. And for over a decade, that worked well. But early on, we had trouble with water running off the roof and into the unit which then leaked inside the studio. We put a water diverter channel on the roof and the problem went away. No more water!
But a decade later, the A/C unit rusted through, which might be from all the water landing on it, or the salt air of living on a coastal island, or maybe the corrosive effect of clay products on the unit (that shit is seriously bad for your health and let's not even talk about glazes, which are basically ground glass!). So the window unit had to go and time to upgrade to a split-system.
I removed the old window unit and found the wood was all rotted out with signs of bug infestation. Termites? The annual termite inspection was the day before and no signs of the bugs were found. We called them back and they did a major spray job all around the house and studio and agreed to foam the walls (inside) with bug-killer. Bait stations were also installed. If you live in the South, you have to expect bugs, from the "Palmetto Bugs" (cockroaches) to flies, drain flies, bottle flies, deer flies, gnats, no-see-ums, mosquitoes, and so forth. Bugs are everywhere and it pays to have a contract with a bug company to come spray every so often. If they are knowledgeable, they can help you identify specific bugs and whatnot, and how to deal with them.
As the island arborist (yes, we have one) explained to us, there is a war going on in my backyard, between the carpenter ants and the termites. They are both fighting for control of who gets to eat the pine trees or any other kind of wood laying around. Kill off the ants, you get termites. Kill off the termites, you get ants. It's their world, we just live in it.
A friend of ours, to "save money" says they just get a can of bug spray at the grocery store and spray it around every so often. I really hope they don't have termites! You can be penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to termites.
They leave these little trails - and termite shit all over.
The studio foundation was sprayed when we built it, but that is no guarantee that you won't get termites. In fact, the limited ingress (and the fact they were all gone) was probably a result of that spraying and subsequent treatments over the years. There was a 10-year warranty - but that was from 13 years ago. Time for a reset!
When we lived in Virginia, our "bug guy" told us that our house was probably treated with Cholordane, which is now outlawed and so toxic that nothing will ever live in that soil for a century. I am not sure if that is true, but the house was bulldozed to make room for mini-mansions anyway.
I removed all the affected wood (which was limited to that around he window unit) and framed up the hole with some scrap lumber a neighbor was throwing away - old "heart of pine" from the 1960s back when a 2x4 was almost 2" by 4" and the corners were so square you could shave with them. Termites don't like that dense wood as much, it seems.
Anyway, this delayed the whole project by a week or so, and once I get going, it should not take more than a day or two to install the new split-system HVAC. First, I have to run the electric to a disconnect outside. Then, the mechanical mounting of the inside unit and the outside unit (the latter with a wall bracket this time around). Finally, the refrigerant plumbing and then pumping down the lines with a vaccum pump, leak checking, charging and then (fingers crossed!) cold, cool air blowing out the inside.
And then the Parcheesi club ladies are bugging me to glue their Parcheesi boards back together! I keep telling them not to overturn the table when they lose, but do they listen? Heck, no! "Bob will fix it, he's young and strong and knows how to fix things!"
Maybe ten years ago. Not so much, today!
