Question: My husband and I just recently purchased a tract home in the North Patterson Avenue area in Goleta, and the house doesn’t have many cabinets or closets for storage.
The houses in our neighborhood were all built in the 1960s and, for some reason, the builder put the forced air furnace inside a closet in the hallway backed up to the bathroom.
I would like to move the furnace into the attic and then build shelving in the closet for some desperately needed storage space.
Can you tell us what would be involved with this project?
Your Handyman: Many houses that were built in the same time period as your home did for some unknown reason have the furnace unit and sometimes also the water heater originally installed in a closet inside the home.
This used up a potentially great space for storage and created the potential for an interior water leak problem if the water heater leaked.
It always seemed to me to be a poor use of space, and many homeowners with a similar arrangement have moved the furnace into the attic and the water heater into the garage.
Moving your furnace into the attic will require some planning, a good HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) contractor and a building permit.
One of the first issues for you to investigate is the condition of your ducting, which is probably located in the attic. If the ducting is in poor condition, it would make sense to remove and replace it at the same time as the furnace.
More than likely, your existing ducting will have much less insulation value than modern ducting, so there will be significant energy savings realized with new ducting.
There is the possibility that asbestos was used to insulate your old ducting, in which case a contractor who is certified in asbestos removal will be needed for any work that disturbs the asbestos matting that was commonly used to insulate ducting and furnaces when your house was built.
Asbestos removal, if done correctly, creates no health or safety issues but, if attempted by a homeowner or untrained contractor, can contaminate a home with asbestos fibers and create an expensive cleanup.
The correct placement of the return air register is an important factor in the energy efficiency and proper operation of your new heating system.
The return air register is the vent opening in the wall or floor through which cold air is drawn in to be returned to the furnace for heating and then blown back out into your home via the register vents located in the various rooms.
A return air register for a furnace ideally needs to be located at or near floor level in order to recover the colder air that has been pushed downward by the heated air blowing out of the registers.
Conversely the return air register for an air conditioning system should be located on or near the ceiling to recover warm air being pushed up by the colder air from the a/c unit.
Once your furnace has been moved to the attic, probably the only way to install the return air register at floor level will be by running a metal rectangular duct down the side or back of the closet in which the old furnace was housed. This duct will take up some valuable storage space but, if the return air register is situated on the ceiling, your overall heating system will not be able to operate at maximum efficiency.
Any type of appliance that has a gas flame, like a furnace, water heater or fireplace, needs to have an adequate source of combustion air supplied from outside the home in order for the appliance to operate efficiently.
If combustion air is inadequate, the gas flame will not burn cleanly, it will not heat efficiently and may also produce excessive amounts of carbon monoxide gas.
Depending on the style of your roof, your attic probably has either gable vents at the peak of the gables, eve vents at the eves where the rafters end, or possibly metal dormer vents installed at same time as a new roof.
Your HVAC contractor will be able to determine if there is an adequate supply of combustion air in the attic. If not, vents will need to be installed prior to the new furnace going in.
Two other issues that will need to be addressed with this project are the availability of a gas supply line and an electrical outlet for the new furnace location.
There probably is not a gas line already in your attic so a new gas line will need to be extended from where the old gas line terminated in the closet. This extension should be made with a steel pipe that is concealed inside the wall and not with any type of flexible line exposed in the closet.
A new power outlet should not be a big problem, and a wire can easily run up into the attic via the closet if needed.
The gas and electricity supply will both be handled by your HVAC contractor or by a plumber or electrician that he will hire as a subcontractor.
After the new furnace is installed and running, then you can finish off any wall openings in the closet with new drywall, install your shelving, and enjoy both your new storage space and your new efficient heating system!
• • •
Question: The tub spout in our bathtub has been dripping for months and is now getting worse. The bathroom was remodeled about 10 years ago, so I am surprised it is now a problem.
How can we stop this dripping?
Your Handyman: A dripping shower head or tub spout is a common plumbing problem that is usually easily fixed, especially in a bathroom like yours that has relatively new plumbing.
The mixer valve for a shower or tub basically has two parts: the valve body that is made of copper or brass and is fastened inside the wall, and the valve cartridge that is a removable unit that controls the mixture of hot and cold water and the total volume of the water flow.
With a newer bathroom like yours, the valve body is more than likely still in good shape, and your problem drip will go away with the installation of a new cartridge.
To remove the valve cartridge, you first need to shut off the water supply to the house, and then first remove the mixer handle, which is usually held in place with a single screw that is concealed with a small cap of some sort.
Once the handle is removed, the round metal escutcheon plate that is typically fastened to the valve body with two long screws needs to come off.
Now the valve body inside the wall is exposed and usually there is a little horseshoe style clip holding the cartridge in place that is pulled up and out. Then the valve cartridge can be removed by carefully pulling it out of the valve body using a pair of pliers.
Take the old valve cartridge with you to a plumbing store or hardware store where you should not have any trouble purchasing a new replacement.
Also buy a small container of silicone grease to liberally coat the new cartridge before it is installed, put the escutcheon and handle back in place, turn on the water supply, and your drip should be gone.
