Duct Sealing in Houston, TX

Duct sealing in Houston attics

Gray smudges fanning out from a ceiling register. One bedroom that never catches up. A dusty attic odor the first minute the blower runs. Those are leak symptoms. The equipment is usually fine.

Leaks cluster in predictable spots here. Houses run flexible insulated duct back to sheet-metal plenums and trunks. The weak point is where flex meets a takeoff collar. The inner liner pulls back off the bead. Someone tapes the outer jacket and calls it sealed. Register boots are worse. Many were never sealed to the drywall, so the boot breathes attic air all summer. Slab-level return plenums framed into a wall cavity leak most of all, and they pull dust straight out of the chase.

Foil tape alone does not survive a vented attic. Heat and humidity cycle the adhesive loose. Mastic holds. Mesh goes over wider gaps, and flex gets a band on the inner liner plus one over the jacket. We do the return side first. That is where sealing changes how the house actually feels. Attic access drives the labor more than duct footage does. Low heel heights slow the work. So does missing decking and a tight scuttle.

Sealing is the wrong call sometimes. Crushed or sagging runs need rehanging. A torn liner means replacing that run. Growth on a sweating cold duct is a moisture problem, and mastic does not fix it.