New build or renovation? Your ducts are full of drywall dust

Liberty Hill, Leander, Georgetown and the Highland Lakes are full of houses finished in the last five years, and a lot of them share one thing: the HVAC ran during construction, with the registers open, while the drywall was being sanded. Everything that was in the air is now in the ducts.

Why it happens

Crews run the AC to work in comfort and to dry out materials. The system pulls sawdust, drywall dust, insulation fibers and concrete dust through the returns and coats the trunk lines and the coil. A construction filter helps, if anyone changed it. Most builders do not clean the ducts before handing over the keys, and it is not on any inspection checklist.

What it does

• A house that is dusty a day after cleaning, from the day you move in.
• A coil that is already coated, which means the AC is less efficient on day one and the musty-smell problem starts years early.
• Fine dust that aggravates allergies, in a home where the owners are usually told the air is brand new.
• Debris in the blower housing and on the wheel.

When to do it

Right after the punch list, before furniture, is ideal. Any time in the first year is fine. If you have already been in the house a while and the dust never stopped, it is not too late, and the coil is worth a look at the same time. The same applies after a remodel that involved sanding or demolition, even if the ducts were cleaned when you bought the house.

What we check first

We photograph the inside of the trunk line and the coil at the free inspection. In a new build the photos usually settle the question in one look.