You have the right to ask to see the monthly energy bills. But you are right that is an eyesore.

Wow, the only houses I’ve seen with ducting run on top like that have been flat roof houses but they’ve always had some kind of false wall to hide the ducting from view. The solution to the energy issue is to have the ducts covered with closed cell foam and then painted with Uv blocking paint so it doesn’t deteriorate. That won’t help the ugly factor though but I’m sure there is more expensive fix replacing your HVAC with a different system that is able to use interior soffits.

A mini-split system would be energy efficient and would give you a separate zone at each heat exchanger.

I would definitely get rid of the roof monster. That thing is truly hideous. Since the home lacks insulation and an attic, you might want to redo the roof and put in highly insulated roof panels to try to create an insulated air space on the inside.

Those two changes will not be cheap.

I'd lose it in a heartbeat. Minisplits are probably the easiest solution. A high velocity system that uses small pipes could be considered if you don't like the minisplit heads, but they can be noisy and drafty.

We found a place that sold recycled commercial roof polyiso foam panels very inexpensively; we put them on top of an existing roof and solved a difficult insulation problem quite nicely.

What's the price they are selling this gem at?

I know it's not the only house in So Cal?

Start the bidding war at $400K? 500? 750? shut up. LOL.

What happens after you buy it? OMG, this house is such a money pit. [There's always a reason they did what they did.]

Now they expect you to pay for it. (who ever buys it)

If you're not a housing vulture, you're better off looking at the pretty houses. Ugly houses are for the ugly home people. That said, in this housing market... it may be the only one you have a chance at getting. Is that the reason you are contemplating it?

[There's always a reason? what is it?]

Because? no one else wants it. The ugly home people wouldn't pay what you will.

Hire a *LICENSED* HVAC Contractor to go out there before you buy it. Get a real world quote to address your HVAC needs at this location. Once you see real world prices, then make a decision if this is worth what you think it is.

Certainly you could go mini splits. But those are inside the home ugly. A head hangs on every room of the house. Maintenance / Repair and eventual replacement costs are much higher than normal forced air ducted HVAC.

In some cases... it would be better to bull doze and rebuild.

I service the Katy, Texas area. Helping you understand Home Inspection reports are not free, but they could save you from a seriously costly mistake. Do it before you can no longer back out.

A home inspector is not a substitute for hiring a *LICENSED* HVAC contractor.

It the temperature in the shade is in the 100s, you can imagine what the temperature is on the surface of all that exposed duct work. This would be a huge energy hog in an area where electricity is very expensive. You should visit the house on a hot day and see if the AC can even maintain an indoor temperature of 75 degrees.

The mini split would work well in the large open room. They don't work well when there a several small rooms with doors that are kept closed. In my opinion, the mini split would still work much better than what is currently on the roof.

Removing the equipment will leave several large roof deck penetrations which will have to be closed. If the roof shingles are reaching the end of their life, you may be better off replacing the roof at the same time. You need to consider all these costs in your offer to buy this house.

It's so ugly that it's beautiful - It has that, 'Saw Mill' exhaust system look!

Definitely a Geothermal project - A good place to bury the family fortune!

SR

Thank you everyone. It sounds like this may be more trouble than it’s worth. There will always be other houses.

@rwiegand Can you describe how the insulated roof panel was installed, and what did the whole roof cost?

Did you just leave the plywood sheets that were under the existing shingles in place, then attach the insulated roof panels to those? Then you put a new shingle roof onto those insulated sheets?

My son's new house had a low slope, well shaded roof, with no reasonable attic access for adding insulation or ventilation. The slope was really marginal for shingles, so we went with a rubber roof.

We tore off the failing shingle roof, left the existing decking, put the 4" recycled foam panels down in an overlapping pattern (8" total thickness, ca R-42 to 48) and screwed them down with long screws with ~3" washer heads on them. We then applied an EPDM rubber roof directly on top of the foam, exactly as is done normally in commercial roofing. We had to build up the trim at the edges of the roof to accommodate the extra thickness.

In a full sun exposed roof steep enough for shingles, especially in an AC intensive climate, I would have put down 1x4 sleepers and another layer of decking on top of the foam with soffit and ridge vents to keep the roof cooler, prolonging the life of the shingles, and decreasing the added heat load into the house. (Even more likely would have been to cover it with solar panels, but his site is too shady for that)

Apparently it is standard practice on flat roof commercial buildings with rubber roofs to replace the foam whenever the building is re-roofed. The condition of the recycled foam ranges from badly degraded to like-new. Obviously you want the good stuff. Enough foam to cover his 3 br house with 8" cost about $750 as I recall. I was able to pick it up locally, delivery probably would have been that much again. Installing it was a thousand or two more than the rubber roof would have been by itself.

That work, combined with blown-in cellulose in the walls, rigorous air sealing, spray foam around the sill, and rigid foam on the basement walls, along with replacing the metal-framed, single pane windows, dropped his heating/cooling cost from $3-400/month down to below $100.

Your silence on the subject of what this place is listed for makes me think it's priced over $750k. In fact if I don't hear from you today, I will just assume you were bidding $1 million. LOL.

All kidding aside if you want to learn, become a house stalker. Keep the address this place is at go back there in a few years....

Take notes, pictures to fill a scrap book. In 40 years or so, pull out the scrap book you have a gold story to tell the grand kids during the next forced lock down. (It may not take 40 years.)

@rwiegand Why do they layer 4-inch panels on top of each other instead of just getting an 8-inch foam? The 4-inch panels stacked just create another layer where water can get trapped.

I think vents defeats the whole point of having such a roof. An insulated roof lets you create an insulated space inside the attic area. Adding vents would prevent you from conditioning the attic.

1) 4" is how they come. You don't get a choice when recyling the material, that's what commercial buildings in this region use. We wanted twice as much. FWIW, I've never seen an 8" foam insulation panel. There's no reason water should get in there.

2) The vented space I'm suggesting is above the former deck and new insulation. The attic is inside the conditioned envelope of the house and is now sealed. An issue with insulating at the roofline is that the shingles can get hotter, shortening their lifetime, and also radiating heat down towards the attic. The vented space is only to cool the roofing shingles and make the roof a little more efficient when cooling is the primary concern. There is no connection between the vented space and the attic, it is outside.