central air - new question added

[myntik1]

Ok, I'm not sure if it's in the budget since I only have a couple of K and i need to do some 0otherprojects as well, but does anyone know a ballpark figure on central air.  I have a 1200 sq ft house, with forced hot air, a fairly new furnace and duct work.  I'm thinking roughly 2700.  1500 for the unit, 1000 for the labor, and 2-3 hundo for misc parts.  Am I in the right ballpark, or am I way off on this.

[mpm32]

If you already have the ducting for the forced hot air, you should research doing most of the work yourself.  It's not that hard especially since you have the ducting.


I installed my own central air in my house.  That included making the duct work.  The only thing I needed an HVAC guy was to pull the vacuum for the freon. 

[myntik1]

from what I understand the pipes need to be brazzed (sp?) and not welded.  I know I need to take off my skirt and be a man about certain things, but major hvac (I think this qualifies) and electrical I won't touch

[AtomSmasher]

I would guess that your estimate is about right, but it doesn't cost anything to get estimates from your local contractors, so I'd recommend you start calling around to see what a few places say it will cost.

[mpm32]

The pipe connections need to be sweat like copper pipes, the difference is you need to use silver solder and the appropriate liquid flux.  Really not any harder than sweating for plumbing.  When the HVAC guy comes out to pull a vacuum, you will see if you did a good job as a leak will show up at that time.

I'm sure if you look around the web there will be some guy that documented his project installing AC.  And there has to be tons of info out there and probably forums that would help.

Take a look at www.buildyourownac.com.   

[myntik1]

NEW QUESTION

We've given up on the central air idea right now.  Now we're going to install patio doors and a brick patio.  My question is I'm confident that I can install the doors, but the siding aspect on the other side of the wall intimidates me.  I don't want my siding job to look like ish. Any hints/tips or should I just hire this part out.  I figure it will be around 6-8 for someone to cut the opening and possibly install the door.  Does this sound right?  I'm going to attempt it myself, but if i get into a jam i would like to know how much I need to leave in reserve to get bailed out. Like my central air budget during a heat wave my estimate is probably laughable.

[shardian]

Dude, you can tackle new door installations and brick patios, but are worried about vinyl siding?

Vinyl siding is easy. Offset seams, screw first piece in place, snap new pieces into last and screw in place. Finish off sides and edges with trim and soffit.

[mpm32]

Here's the thing.  All of this stuff is not too hard.  You just have to start doing it.  Out of all the siding materials, vinyl is the easiest.  You probably will make mistakes but they all are fixable.

Are you going to side the whole side of the house? Or are you going to try to match to existing siding?  If existing, it may be hard to match because the old siding would've faded in the sun.

Putting in the door isn't hard either.  Just make sure you size your header right and make everything as square and plumb as possible and that will make the door installation easier.  Also having an extra set of hands to hold the door in place while your are fastening it in place will help.

[myntik1]

Up until 2 years ago outside of a few launch ramps as a kid I never built anything.  I guess I wasn't clear on my question.  The siding on my house is approx. 15 yr old aluminum siding. I know I'm not going to be able to find a match for it.  My concern is messing up the siding and then having to add some pieces that aren't an exact match.