Air Duct Repair in Los Gatos, CA

Air duct repair in Los Gatos homes

One room never gets warm. The furnace runs long. Registers blow weak air, or nothing. That is usually a duct problem, not an equipment problem. In postwar ranch homes here the original galvanized trunk-and-branch is often still in place, with flex branches added later. The joints come apart at the boot. Conditioned air then feeds the attic.

Flex is the usual culprit. It sags between joists, kinks at tight turns, and static pressure climbs. The inner liner can tear while the outer jacket looks fine. We pull the jacket back to check. Crawlspace runs get crushed by anyone working under the house. Rodents chew entry holes into both attic and crawlspace duct, common on wooded and hillside parcels off the canyon roads.

Mid-century wrapped fiberglass ductboard is its own case. Once the liner deteriorates it sheds fiber, and sealing it does not stop that. Replacing that run is the honest answer. R-6 and R-8 flex from the 1980s onward can often be re-hung, re-strapped, and resealed at the collar instead.

Repair is worth doing when the trunk is sound and the damage is local. When a system has crushed runs throughout, failed liner, and an undersized return from the heat-only era, patching it is money spent twice.