I purchased a home built by them, it's not more than 4 years old, but the a/c is leaking or was never filled up properly. I woke up to find that my compressor had iced up and the vents blowing warm air.
After running the heater for a bit, the system starts working again.

It's not under warranty anymore.

Anyone know a good a/c person near briar creek/durham area? I want it refilled, but I also want to know why/where it's leaking.

9/11/2007 10:30:35 AM

Centex makes piles of shit

9/11/2007 11:05:52 AM

4 years is not as long as the system shouldve lasted, but its also not out of the realm of possibility that you wore it out. Especially if you were not doing yearly maintenance. I would call ARS.

9/11/2007 11:12:33 AM

oh yearly maint. was done by the company (warranty). they checked pressures, cleaned out whatever, inspected this and that, fixed leaks, etc...

didn't have a service contract, so i'm out in the cold.

my old place never needed a recharge nor ever had any issue ever. not used to paying to fix something that shouldn't break. i should have taken the hvac with me.

9/11/2007 11:17:34 AM

ok compressor is bad. valves are shot. part is under warranty, labor is not.

$1000+

[Edited on September 11, 2007 at 12:37 PM. Reason : who knows a guy?]

9/11/2007 12:36:51 PM

IT IS CENTEX'S FAULT OMG!

9/11/2007 12:58:35 PM

yep

[Edited on September 11, 2007 at 1:24 PM. Reason : without the exclamation marks.]

9/11/2007 1:18:57 PM

Quote :

"IT IS CENTEX'S FAULT OMG!"

It really is though. They build shitty vinyl boxes and have really sloppy design standards. They "value engineer" everything appealing out of a houses design just to save a few bucks, then they slap together a few hundred of them very quickly and pocket the savings. They're very good at making money, and it will become apparent how good they are at building houses in just a few more years as the owners have more and more to bitch about with their houses.

9/11/2007 1:30:30 PM

i love that when you call in to warranty services, they like to add that most home warranties are 1 year , but they pay for two.

they have nothing to say if you counter with "other companies don't need a longer warranty, b/c they actually build a better product".

now that i'm not under warranty, i can say that.

9/11/2007 1:36:35 PM

ARS +1

I have a contract with them to service my HVAC anytime its busted.

9/11/2007 1:44:45 PM

i'm going to start that after my compressor is replaced.

9/11/2007 1:45:26 PM

centex isn't as bad as a lot of, or even most, tract builders. they're nothing to write home about though.

i would call airmakers. that's who we always reccomend when customers ask, and they do my personal work also.

69 could also probably help you out on the cheap, but i think he's quit doing any side work.

9/11/2007 9:19:38 PM

its called a mass produced subdivision. they throw up 20 houses in like 3 months - you should feel lucky there hasn't been more shit wrong in 4 years. quality doesn't matter to companies like that.

9/11/2007 9:24:09 PM

yeah, quality is job #7887 to centex.

people in my and other subdivisions had cracks in their garage floor and centex said it was normal.

haha. turns out they didn't use enough rebar/build it properly. the only people that actually lose are the homeowners. it's sad. there are all sorts of laws to protect the company, none for the buyer.

[Edited on September 11, 2007 at 11:29 PM. Reason : damn you 69, why don't you do side work. ]

9/11/2007 11:28:57 PM

dr horton is the same way.....cracks in the garage is "normal"

9/11/2007 11:33:20 PM

normal to watered down concrete that's too thin and has too little rebar in it and a shitty job of compacting the dirt below it..

9/11/2007 11:48:46 PM

Quote :

"people in my and other subdivisions had cracks in their garage floor and centex said it was normal."

well to be fair, how big were the cracks? were they just little surface hairline cracks, or was the surface concrete chipping away, or was the crack deep into the slab?

surface cracks happen in concrete slabs, preventable but it does happen, chipping surface is way too much water at the surface (but it makes it easier for the mexicants to finish it, so it happens a lot), cracks deep into the slab is another issue.

9/12/2007 12:15:02 AM

all the cracks worth mentioning went down pretty deep.

poor workmanship, inferior materials, etc... it's not like it costs them more money to do it a little better.

they took a saw and cut around the cracks and they went down all the way.

some of the people had rainwater coming up through the slab.

[Edited on September 12, 2007 at 1:04 AM. Reason : i'm guessing that it's not good.]

9/12/2007 1:02:44 AM

haha, i remember hearing about that when i was selling for anderson homes out there.

9/12/2007 2:16:06 AM

9/12/2007 8:30:51 AM

^LOL

9/12/2007 9:58:16 AM

I had the same thing happen a month ago and Lewis Heating and Air fixed it. I think mine was never filled up properly either. I believe he filled it up, turned the heater on for 30 minutes, then turned the air on and it worked fine again.

9/12/2007 1:47:00 PM

Welcome to home ownership. My coils busted on a 7 year old unit 2 years ago, and that was $1400 to fix (not under warranty).

My new problem is it appears there could be some settling of my home on the front side ($$$$)

9/12/2007 2:32:39 PM

^ Same here. I don't understand why my 35 y/o house would decide that 2007 was the year to start settling, but I've got to nip this in the bud. Do you know who built your house Ryan?

9/12/2007 2:39:34 PM

Concrete cracking is a normal characteristic of the material. Good builders put in "control cracks" which are indentations in the concrete that will most likely be where the crack forms if one does (so you will not really see it). If the crack is only cosmetic you have nothing to worry about.

9/12/2007 2:52:54 PM

check your pm

9/12/2007 2:58:11 PM

http://www.airmakers.com/

I know 6 different families that have had work done by them and all have been stellar. They replaced our Gas-pack unit this past spring and easily beat the next closest competitors price by $1,000.

9/12/2007 3:33:00 PM

Skack: Parker Lancaster.

I know the right person for you to call, however. I had him investigate cracks about 6-7 months ago. He said my house was level, was an architect, and claimed the small cracks I had were a result of lateral pressure differences due to my house being on the hill. What he saw in the house he said was frame deflection. The problems I am seeing more pronounced may still be a result of frame deflection. The hot hot weather has bound to be causing problems. I am going to wait for winter, and see if the conditions ease, if not I'll have someone come out. It will cost me thousands to fix it if its foundation

9/12/2007 3:47:57 PM

^cracks in a wall (i assume that's what you're talking about) aren't abnormal as a house ages, and does not really indicate foundation problems. wood drying out, frame deflection, sheetrock being slightly in a bind/bowed when it's installed, weather changes and lot of other things can all be causes of cracks.

also, any previously repaired cracks are always going to be prone to reappearing/expanding. the only "real" way to get rid of a crack is to replace the sheetrock. which of course is silly, because it's $texas. much easier just the mud/sand it every however many years. cracks and nailpops are just part of life with sheetrock.

i've been pleasantly surprised at the foundation condition of my 45 yr. old house. i had some floor beam, stud, and sill rotting in my master bath area from a leaking shower pan but nothing terrible.

[Edited on September 12, 2007 at 4:03 PM. Reason : .]

9/12/2007 4:00:54 PM

i would say it's your fault for buying a piece of shit house. i really don't understand the appeal of cookie cutter vinyl neighborhoods.

9/12/2007 4:24:18 PM

lack of lead paint, asbestos, and crappy wiring

9/12/2007 4:50:36 PM

depending on where you live, you can get that in plenty of non cookie cutter houses

9/12/2007 5:05:10 PM

^^^^^ Shoot me a name/number if you don't mind.

I didn't think about the heat, but my garage actually had an A/C duct running into it which I disconnected and capped this summer. It probably is much much hotter than it has ever gotten in there. The crack that appeared in my garage does need addressing though. It's not minor IMO.

9/12/2007 5:12:05 PM

Your garage had ac?

9/12/2007 5:14:39 PM

^^it's not so much the heat as it is the humidity.

Quote :

"i really don't understand the appeal of cookie cutter vinyl neighborhoods."

two big things are what you can get for your money square footage wise and warranties. also, some people just like new things.

Quote :

"lack of lead paint, asbestos, and crappy wiring"

new wiring can be just as bad. i've seen some scary junk in tract built homes. how it passes inspection, who knows.

[Edited on September 12, 2007 at 5:21 PM. Reason : .]

9/12/2007 5:17:25 PM

^^ Yes. It was just one vent. Not enough to cool the garage, but just enough to waste a bunch of energy. I have spent the past year fixing/undoing all types of ridiculous shit to that house. I've learned not to question it anymore.

[Edited on September 12, 2007 at 5:20 PM. Reason : s]

9/12/2007 5:18:53 PM

i got this house for a steal, so i'm good with a few things going wrong, but not the a/c.

they came out and replaced the compressor, pulled a vacuum on the system and installed a filter/dryer.

what they didn't do is run nitrogen through the system beforehand to force out any moisture that had accumulated.

i'm going to have to address that tomorrow.

unless someone with hvac experience can say for sure that a receiver/dryer will catch most moisture.

it looked as though the compressor seized b/c of previous moisture in the system IMO and the opinion of the dude who came out to inspect it.

my house is now cool again though.

9/12/2007 6:43:02 PM

who the hell wants to AC their garage?

9/12/2007 6:44:12 PM

Well, I can deal with the 2 little cracks I saw above the door frame, but what has happened this summer is my front door now is longer perfectly square in the frame. It is making me think this is becoming more than frame deflection. Skack, I'll call you tomorrow with the number. Not home tonight/

9/12/2007 6:49:19 PM

Quote :

"who the hell wants to AC their garage?"

Shit.......I could have a 20,000 sq ft house and I guarantee the garage is where im gonna be 90 percent of the time

[Edited on September 12, 2007 at 7:00 PM. Reason : 2 percent tawlet/8 percent porn]

9/12/2007 6:59:45 PM

Quote :

"ok compressor is bad. valves are shot. part is under warranty, labor is not. $1000+"

Ok... let me tell you exactly why your compressor broke and how you're taking it in the ass.

First, your system ran low on refrigerant, probably due to a leak () it could have been under-charged from day one), which is most likely the result of a poorly brazed joint or physical damage to the refrigerant lines. When refrigerant in a system runs low, you prevent heat exchange. Because your system can't properly exchange heat, when heat is absorbed from inside in refrigerant doesn't properly change phase from liquid to gas. This leads to the buildup of liquid in the refrigerant lines. You can see evidence of this when ice builds up on your refrigerant lines. When that liquid backs up all the way to the compressor, bad things happens. Liquids are incompressible. Thus, when the compressor tries to compress the liquid, in won't compresses and the hydrostatic pressure blows out the valves.

You said the part was under warranty which is good. A compressor for the average home AC unit is around $400-$500 dollars. A compressor shouldn't take longer than 3 hours to replace. If there are no problems, a good service technician can do it in under an hour. The going rate for an HVAC service technician is $60-$80 per hours. Do the math on the labor, add about $75-$150 for incidental materials not covered by warranty, and you you'll quickly see that their quote is full of shit.

You probably didn't need the technical explanation of why your shit broke, but I thought it might be educational.

9/13/2007 12:33:38 AM

i think he got the quote before he found out the part was warrantied if i'm reading correct. if you consider that the parts were included, it's not out of line at all.

also, any tech that can install a compressor in under an hour (speaking in terms of billed time) is either:

a.) doing a sloppy, half ass job.

or

b.) baller as hell and should be in the a/c repair hall of fame.


[Edited on September 13, 2007 at 1:15 AM. Reason : .]

9/13/2007 1:13:46 AM

I just did my check up with Airmakers. I have to say, for 150 bucks a year, they come out twice and they are very cool to deal with. The guy came out yesterday to check my heating unit for the upcoming winter...there was water in my pan under the AC unit. He spent 30 minutes, cuting the escape line, blowing it clean, puting it back together, cleaning up the water and runing a shop vac on the bottom end....all part of the AC and not the heating unit he was checking. He didn't charge me a thing. He was here for about 2 hours total. Well worth the $.

9/13/2007 7:58:12 AM

how do you check your coolant? I had to have mine recharged last year, so I'd like to be able to do it myself if I canm, now that I dont have a home warranty.

9/13/2007 11:14:51 AM

You can get a set of gauges to do it fairly cheap I think my dad has a couple of sets. I think thats all you need and I bet instructions on how to do it are on google or you can get someoene to show you and then you can do it yourself from now on. It only takes a couple of minutes if you have the equipment.

9/13/2007 11:17:52 AM

can you buy freon without some sort of license?

and if you could... wouldnt you have to do it yourself a few times before it would pay for itself?

doubt it would make much fiscal sense

9/13/2007 11:22:40 AM

You can buy it but you are definitely not supposed to let it leak out on purpose. When you take anything like a fridge or old ac to the dump they have a guy there who purges the compressors before they are scrapped.

9/13/2007 11:26:16 AM

hmm, guess its not like changing your car oil then, huh.

9/13/2007 11:28:18 AM

looks like you need to be 608 certified to buy it

Quote :

"WARNING Federal Law provides that ONLY the following can purchase refrigerants. 1. Certified Refrigerant Technicians approved by the E.P.A. under Section 608 of the Clean Air Act. 2. Purchasers of refrigerant for resale to a Certified Refrigerant Technician. 3. Purchasers of R-134a, R-410A, and refrigerant supplies do not need a license. 4. Automotive Certified Refrigerant Technicians approved by the E.P.A. under Section 609 of the Clean Air Act (R-12 only). "

9/13/2007 11:31:22 AM

Quote :

"2. Purchasers of refrigerant for resale to a Certified Refrigerant Technician."

I bet "big bill" at big bill and brothers hvac supplies will not check your credentials.

9/13/2007 11:37:01 AM