One truth that changed my life is that the duct system determines equipment performance and efficiency more than the equipment itself. Others in the HVAC industry have also realized this; true efficiency comes from both the installation and the equipment. However, there are still many who haven’t yet had this revelation, and that means we have an industry-wide problem that needs a new approach.

For the past few months, I’ve focused on why duct renovation is important, what it involves, and how to get it done. Now let’s focus on the missing link many companies need to make duct renovation a reality. In this fifth and final article in the “Defining Duct Renovation” series, let’s examine the role of the duct renovator, the skills they need, and how to plug them into your company.

Duct Renovator Roles and Responsibilities

The first reaction from many company owners is to just have installers do duct renovations. It makes sense, right? Unfortunately, this is often a setup for disaster. That’s because many installers don’t want to mess with ductwork unless they have to. They have too many other responsibilities, and fixing ducts is just one more thing slowing them down.

As much as I hate to admit it, there are some installers who think duct work is beneath them. Unfortunately, these perspectives have been ingrained in our industry for decades and will be tough to break.

So, duct renovators should not be your installation crews. Continue to let those crews do what they do best. Instead, consider duct renovators as an entry-level position focusing on one issue — fixing bad duct systems. Just like you build a great duct system, you need to build great renovators.

Your best candidates for this role are summer help, new hires, and duct cleaners. Train them from the start to look at the system before they know anything about the equipment. This helps them see problems that experienced industry professionals frequently overlook because they’re so fixated on the equipment.

Duct renovators need someone to help them understand the goal of their work and why it makes a difference. It’s hard to stay motivated when you have fiberglass-swollen fingertips and mastic on every piece of clothing you own unless you understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Give your duct renovators purpose and help them understand why their position is valuable. If you can’t express this idea in one or two sentences, do a little brainstorming and make it fun. Once most renovators understand their job is to ensure equipment longevity and customer satisfaction, their attitudes improve.

The Duct Renovator Mindset

Since duct renovators are future installers, salespeople, designers, service technicians, and leaders of your company, it helps to make sure they have the right mindset. They should be able to focus on details and then prioritize one thing at a time. Their primary role is to fix ducts, after all.

Before any work begins, emphasize a safety mindset. Anytime a duct renovator gets into a fight with sheet metal, they lose. Sometimes this involves a loss of blood, and it’s usually preventable. Using the right safety equipment and procedures comes before they repair or disconnect the first duct. Start them off right so they don’t suffer any injuries or worse.

Duct renovators take pride in their work. They care about the results and know how it determines installed system performance. Knowing that the simple adjustments they make can cure safety, health, and comfort problems empowers them and gives them purpose. They will wear this knowledge like a badge of honor, so give them a mission to accomplish.

Duct renovators also need good communication skills. They must regularly work with others in the company and talk to customers. They take the scope of work given to them by the salesperson or designer and then ensure it meets customer expectations. The last thing they want is to cut a new return grille or supply register in the wrong location.

Since duct renovators may be the last people to touch the ducts on a job, they must be able to clean up after themselves. The jobsite should look better than before they arrived if they’re doing things the right way. This step is so basic I’m ashamed to mention it, but it’s amazing how easy it is to skip picking up once the work is complete. A duct system that is a work of art gets overlooked because of the debris someone forgot to sweep up or the box of trash left in the crawlspace.

The Duct Renovator Skill Set

It usually takes a couple of weeks to learn the basic skills needed to perform a duct renovation. The renovator's skill set grows as they work with an installation team. This mentorship time is extremely important. Duct renovators trained by a great install team become great duct renovators. On the other hand, when trained by a bad install team, they become bad duct renovators.

First, duct renovators must understand how air moves through ducts and why sharp turns and restrictions are bad for airflow. Use a simple traffic analogy to drive home how ducts parallel roads. For many duct renovators, this is all it takes. You can also help them with their training by having them identify bad ducts through visual inspection and photos. Eventually, they will identify bad ducts through airflow measurements, comparing required airflow to measured airflow.

Once duct renovators understand basic duct construction, they need basic sheet metal and flexible duct installation skills. Some essential skills include:

• Knowing how to tear out existing ducts
• Removing kinks, excess flexible core, and sufficient duct suspension
• Understanding how to attach ducts, both sheet metal and flexible
• Installing balancing dampers
• Sealing and repairing leaky ducts
• Insulating ducts that are correctly sized
• Installing new ducts, boots, supply registers, and return grilles.

To put these skills to use, a duct renovator needs the tools to perform the work. Some common tools are:

• Tape Measure
• Hammer
• Screwdriver
• Felt tip marker
• Duct knife
• Needle nose pliers
• Sheet metal snips
• Hand seamers
• Pipe crimpers
• Cable tie tensioning tool
• Cordless drill/impact driver with bits and accessories
• Tool pouch and bag to keep them in.

Finally, duct renovators need a scope of work, duct schematic, or airflow numbers to guide them. This means salespeople or designers have a responsibility to gather the right duct system information and pass it on to the renovators. If the default instructions are, “Just fix the ducts,” don’t be surprised if the renovation fails.

Melding Duct Renovators Into Your Team

There are multiple ways you can use duct renovators. You’re limited only by your imagination. They can work either alongside or separately from your installation teams.

When working alongside installation crews, the duct renovators need to stay out of the way. Each group has a responsibility they must complete. The installers set the equipment and get it operating, while the duct renovators take care of any duct-related upgrades. This doesn’t mean these two groups don’t work together — it just means they know their roles and stick to them. This scenario works best when you have a new duct renovation crew in training.

Another option is for the duct renovators to come in after the equipment replacement is complete. The installers set the equipment and have it ready to go the day before. The duct renovators come in the following day to correct duct system issues and then have a commissioning technician assist with equipment adjustments once their work is complete. More advanced duct renovation crews will make adjustments and commission the system. This scenario works best when you have an experienced crew that can work independently of the installers.

Sometimes you’re simply so busy that you will need the duct renovators to take care of other tasks to keep customers happy. If that’s the case, you can schedule duct renovation work for slower times. Offer a discount to do the work in the off-season to keep everyone working. It beats layoffs and sweeping the shop each day. If the customer wants the work done during your busy periods, charge a premium price to make it worth your time.

In time, some duct renovation crews will perform duct renovation and other system repairs independent of equipment replacement. This should be the goal — make them self-sufficient and grow them into a place where they can increase their skills and income. Make the skills they have a future profit center in your company.

Training for the Future

Duct renovators won’t be a part of every company. The model only fits if you offer duct renovation to your customers. However, if you decide to explore this opportunity, it provides a way for new installers to learn the fundamentals of airflow and immediately see the results of their work.

The skills they learn teach them to look beyond the box and account for factors that affect true system performance and equipment longevity. Don’t forget, duct renovators are future install team leaders, system commissioners, designers, and salespeople. Your job is to give them a vision of where they can go and then help them get there.

As their skills improve, they will progress to full system setup and air balancing as they become masters of the airside. Why not look for other ways to bring new talent into our industry? Consider how you can add duct renovators to build your company of the future.