I'm likely way out of my league on this forum, so apologies in advance if this is not the correct place. Probably a very basic question for this forum.
I moved into a home build in the 1940's. Overall the home is in good shape. The furnace is new (multi-stage I believe). I've been exploring the unfinished basement and started looking at leaks in the duct work. I took the time to tape and mastic the visible leaks (winter and nothing else to do). I then started looking at the cold air returns from the second level and noticed they run down the exterior wall, not in duct work. I was able to take a photo with my phone by reaching my arm in and can see the insulation on the exterior wall. In one area it is even open to the ceiling of the first floor, so would seem to just pull in from between the floor joists. In the basement there is drywall on the ceiling in one area of the basement where the cold air return comes down. I cut a hole in that dry wall to stick my phone in to take a photo. No metal duct work, just the cold air return running between floor, floor joist and the dry wall ceiling which then joins with the main cold air duct in the basement. I was pretty disgusted by what I saw in that space; dusty, some mold etc.
So, my main question. Is this as bad as it appears to my untrained eye? Would it be worthwhile to get an HVAC professional to have a look and possibly install metal duct work in the cold air returns?
Thank you for any suggestions.
I moved into a home build in the 1940's. Overall the home is in good shape. The furnace is new (multi-stage I believe). I've been exploring the unfinished basement and started looking at leaks in the duct work. I took the time to tape and mastic the visible leaks (winter and nothing else to do). I then started looking at the cold air returns from the second level and noticed they run down the exterior wall, not in duct work. I was able to take a photo with my phone by reaching my arm in and can see the insulation on the exterior wall. In one area it is even open to the ceiling of the first floor, so would seem to just pull in from between the floor joists. In the basement there is drywall on the ceiling in one area of the basement where the cold air return comes down. I cut a hole in that dry wall to stick my phone in to take a photo. No metal duct work, just the cold air return running between floor, floor joist and the dry wall ceiling which then joins with the main cold air duct in the basement. I was pretty disgusted by what I saw in that space; dusty, some mold etc.
So, my main question. Is this as bad as it appears to my untrained eye? Would it be worthwhile to get an HVAC professional to have a look and possibly install metal duct work in the cold air returns?
Thank you for any suggestions.
source https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?2225770-Old-Home-HVAC-System&goto=newpost
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