If he provided the tile, then it's up to him to QC the tile, and only top quality stuff gets installed. If you supplied the tile, then legally I can see his argument...however, if it's "chipped" chipped, and the homeowner is on site, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for the installer to point it out and ask "is this really okay for me to install this?" As to the el being installed upside-down, handheld outlet els are usually installed so the water outflow is pointed down towards the floor. Yours is pointing up? The argument that the nipple can't be cut to the right size is ludicrous! If needed I cut them to whatever length I need then thread the ends. If these guys used pre-threaded nipples from the supply house, then you install the dropear outlet fitting at a certain depth behind the face of the finished wall so the proper amount of nipple threading is available for the outlet el to thread onto. Plumbing 101. Now you wrote the plumber was a "subcontractor." If you have a "contratactor" or GC that is overseeing the project, bring these problems to him and let him hammer things out with the subs. If you hired the subs directly, then it's up to you to wield the financial hammer over them until things are repaired to your satisfaction. Best thing is to have a conversation. Then follow the conversation up with a letter. Rehash the conversation, the repairs needed, and a time frame to accomplish. Just the facts, no emotion. No mention of money paid or withheld at this time. If further actions need be taken we'll go into those later.

Thanks for the post! I walked through the house with the HVAC guys this morning to figure out alternatives. Unfortunately, there aren't many... I looked for alternative routes for the duct work but it really only works by going across the basement ceiling - up behind the fridge - through an already small closet, up the attic and then popping in from the ceiling. Asked about setting up a small furnace up in the attic to feed the second floor bedrooms independently of the basement and first floor but that would cost at least as much (and likely more) than the duct work. With the temperatures that we are comfortable with at night (60's), I'm hoping the baseboard electric does the trick. We recently insulated the attic and, even with the vents closed in the rooms, there is adequate heat up there now. I'm now thinking that when the furnace gives out, I may look into converting the house to hot water heating instead which should solve all these problems. Thanks again, E

First of all, electric, propane, and coil costs vary across the country. You need to research the rates for each fuel in your area and make a decision accordingly. I will warn you to watch out for propane though; that stuff is pricey and may end up costing you more to run than oil. The equipment sizing in your quotes is indeed all over the map and you need to look into that. The way Manual J load calculations work is: garbage in, garbage out. Assuming all the contractors actually did Manual J and not some other load calc, the only explanation for the different sizing is that they used different values. I would ask to see the calculations so you might be able to see why they vary so much. 40K Trane (TUH1B040), 60K Trane (TUH1B060), 80K Bryant, 85K Thermo Pride, 100K Thermo Pride, what a mess. Actually the 100K Thermo Pride and 80K Bryant will be similar in output because of the differences in efficiency, but the other quotes are all over the place. As for one Trane contractor saying the furnace needed to be moved to the attic and the other didn't, that could be because of physical size differences between the 040 and 060 models quoted? Not really sure what's going on there though. For the heat pump quotes, you are seeing air handlers quoted larger than the outdoor units because the efficiency of the system is higher when you do that. You do sacrifice some dehumidification in the summer, though. Variable speed air handlers are more efficient than multi speed models, and are better at dehumidification. I would strongly recommend going with one if you can swing it. Comfort R is included on all Trane variable speed air handlers and is just a marketing term for the ramping profile on the blower for better dehumidification. It is an OK way to dehumidify, but a better way in my opinion is dehumidify on demand. This lets you set a humidity setpoint, and the system will slow down the variable speed blower when you go above it. You do not need to use a Trane thermostat for any of the system's functions to work. The Trane 803 is a rebranded Honeywell VisionPro 8000 which can only overcool to dehumidify, which is not optimal at all. I would want at least the VisionPro IAQ on any of the systems you were quoted with a variable speed blower. That way you will be fully taking advantage of the equipment you paid for. Heat strip sizing is covered in the Manual J load calculation. They say to size it to 80% of the whole heat load for the home. Some contractors prefer to size to cover 100% in cases where the heat pump fails and you need it to meet the whole load. I'm sure the companies would be happy to give you prices without the maintenance plan. That would be the first place I would go to cut costs. I am not really a Trane guy so can't comment on issues (or lack thereof) with the TAM7 Hyperion air handlers. Hopefully someone else here who works with Trane more can answer that. This post was edited by hvtech42 on Tue, Oct 14, 14 at 15:25

I'd guess a subpanel feeds the dryer and the affected circuits. The neutral is loose in the sub or where the feed connects to the main. Over time oxidation increases the connnection's resistance and it won't pass enough voltage to operate light dury appliances and lights. However, the dryer is a large load (low resistance) and thus raises the voltage drop across the oxidized loose connection. It arcs across and makes contact for a while, until the oxidation builds up again. The reason the cycles are getting more frequent is that each time the arc is struck, the gap in the "connection" gets wider. The motor in the dryer runs on 120v. The loose neutral caused voltage on that leg to jump way up, and it smoked. Another possibility is that one of the hot legs in the main is loose. This would leave the dryer motor failure unexplained, but that could be coincidence. QUestion. DO you ever notice that your lights, esp. on the "ghost" circuit, momentarily get BRIGHTER when a large 120 volt load (iron, air-con, water pump, etc.) on another circuit starts up?