Air Duct Repair in Independence, MO

What we actually find inside Independence ductwork

Pull a floor register and look down. If you see wood joists and subfloor instead of metal, that is a panned return. Half the older houses here have them. The pan is one sheet nailed across the joist bay. Air gets drawn past the band joist, through old nail holes, and out of the basement. That is why the return smells like basement.

Gravity furnace conversions turn up often. Huge round trunks, riveted seams, asbestos paper wrap at the elbows. We do not cut those. Testing comes first, then an abatement contractor.

Attic flex in the newer subdivisions fails at the collar. Inner liner slips off the bead. Outer jacket still looks inflated, so nothing appears wrong from the hatch. Meanwhile the insulation below the sag is matted and dark. That dark stripe is the tell.

Boots are the quiet leak. Sheet metal boot, wood floor, no sealant between them. Every supply register in the house leaks a little into the joist bay.

Repair makes sense when the trunk is solid and the leaks are at joints, takeoffs, and boots. Mastic and screws hold. Tape does not. Crumbling ductboard and torn liner mean replacement, and we will tell you that instead of patching.