The above posters are correct. I would first contact an attorney. The expense you are about to incur is extreme and it is highly unlikely that your contractor is just going to pay it. Make sure that you don't lose your right to file a lawsuit by making a mistake - only an attorney in your state can make sure that you proceed in the best possible way in case the matter ends up in court. It should only cost an hour of an attorney's time to get an outline of what steps you need to take. As far as correcting the problem, you will need to call a mold remediator. There are many, many bad mold companies out there, so beware. Based upon my own experience and what I have learned from others who have also lived this kind of nightmare - you will need to remove all of the siding/stucco/brick/whatever, remove and reinstall the windows (correctly), remove and replace moldy or rotted studs (unless a structural engineer deems them sound), remove and replace drywall, subfloor, etc. until all of the damaged materials are gone. You may need to have your HVAC ducts cleaned as well. PLEASE DO NOT CALL YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY! If you even call your insurance company they will report that your house has mold and you may lose your coverage. A house black listed by mold can have problems being sold because the buyers cannot obtain insurance on that property (CLUE databases track problems by address, not necessarily the owner). You have a long, uphill battle ahead of you. I urge you not to just cover it up and sell without disclosure. You could end up getting sued. Here is a website of someone who recently went through a situation much like yours: Here is a link that might be useful: Correction of moldy/rotted new house

-We feel the home is very dry hence the unfortunate necessity. I can honestly say I've never felt like this before. We wake up with dry throat, dry eyes and lips, etc. It wasn't like that at my folk's home ;) Plus with all our wood flooring, I think some humidity is needed. To comment on what's been said so far, thankfully, NONE of the ductwork is flex. It's all that tin/metal tubing. So first, as you described, I would seal all the joints, then wrap them with some sort of radiant heat insulating sheet. (That was what I saw at Lowes.) Any other recommendations on what to wrap them with? The furnace is pretty accessible. I was actually looking at a Honeywell model and considering mounting it just as you described, with the bypass on the cold air return and warm air unit on the hot air. In fact, I'm gonna take a photo now.... "A" is where I was going to install the drum, "B" is the return where I figured the bypass duct would go and "C" is the furnace. Did I tag that correctly? Oh, and B is where there was an old humidity humidistat that was removed and simply replaced with duct tape. I only saw the plate type humidifers at Home Depot. Tell me more about the drum type. And please let me know any recommendations on what models to get. THe home is small, about 1300 squ feet. Any recommendations on brands, etc? Here is a link that might be useful:

My new hvac install doesn't include a 5" media air filter nor fixing the hole to the crawl space inside my return vent. This is the hole that I patched with duct tape and plywood. My plan is to look for another installer (not any of the ones that previously bid on my system) and get a quote to do this: 1. Add a 5" media air filter 2. Correctly fix the inside of the return vent 3. Inspect the areas listed in the common mistakes document: (a) check the lineset for size, pressure, refrigerant -- I posted earlier that my installer says to use 3/4 suction line which is consistent with my condenser's manual. (b) check the airflow through the evap coils -- this is to make sure that the blower on the heater is at 1200 CFMs. (c) check the primary and secondary condensate drains -- installer already said he needs to install secondary drain since it's currently missing. (d) check the electrical including disconnects outside and in attic -- I already have a disconnect on the outside condenser that's slightly above and to the side of the unit. It might cost me more than $200, but I'm getting a new air filter, fixing the hole to the crawl space, and getting a checklist of items to consider fixing. Prior to getting a quote, I'm going up in the attic to review the install myself with my current installer. I'm going to check the seal of every duct to the register boots to make sure there are no air leaks that I can feel with my hand while the air is on. I'm going to check that all the new ducts are not obstructed in any run. I'm going to ask for the location of the disconnect in the attic for the gas furnace. I'm going to check the lineset for visual leaks. I'm going to inspect the lineset connections to my outside unit. I'm going to check the amount of air coming out of each supply register.

Hey Tara, The foam is a complete envelope of the perimeters of the house eliminating the need to insulate ceilings that are normally done in a typical batts or sprayed cellulose application. If you wanted to insulate those areas to help deaden sound, that will make things considerably quiter, but if you are going for sound deadining, that gets more involved such as when you have a home theatre room and are going for complete sound control.I remember as a kid a friends house where all walls and ceilings were insulated,(fiberglass batts in those days),and the house was extemely quiet. Being in alabama, i dont believe you will have the condensation issues that i mentioned as it is generally a problem in icy,freezing conditions that are lasting for days on end.You might run it by your foam installer for peace of mind, but even though your neck of the woods gets chilly in the winter at times, i think you have no worries.In your area, the foams biggest benefit will be to keep your house cooler in the hot summers as well as lower heating bills in the winter.There are differences of opinion about costs payback and how fast you will get a return, but i look at it this way: You will enjoy a very comfortable house throughout the year and are doing your part to have an energy efficient home.We were considering foam for our build, but was mislead by the only company servicing our area about venting (required), and in some cases where they sprayed homes in our area,the county made the homeowners rip it out and vent. This would have been a very costly ordeal for our build and was for those particular homeowners as the foam cannot be re-used. Enjoy your comfortable and efficient home!Best of luck with the rest of your project.