Where Do You Source Ducting?

Vermaraj

For those of you that install residential HVAC in new construction or do major refits where do you source your trunk lines or plenums?

Do you fabricate them yourself from sheet stock?
Use a local sheet metal fabricator?
Buy from a distributor?

I am asking on behalf of a friend in the sheetmetal business. We have worked together on a number of commercial jobs where he custom formed and installed all the duct work. He is contemplating buying some automated forming equipment but without a residential contractor supplier business the numbers won't work.

thom

My HVAC contractor has a shop. They fabricate plenums, boxes, etc. They come off the plenums with properly sized pipe. All the ducting is sheetmetal. Without a shop and proper equipment I don't think you could do the job properly.

Diesel65

I had my own sheetmetal shop for a few years, the scary thing is I can buy from all three big sheetmetal fabricators in my state for less than I buy raw materials and pay overhead to build it myself.

I kept enough equipment to make one off pieces as needed. I am saving a small fortune doing it this way.

knothole

We use pre-fab duct except for plenums and other transitions. Alot of the square to round transitions can also be purchased from a distributor.

Danny

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MechanicalDVR

All the contractors I have worked for fabricate duct in the shop, have custom made duct done by automated shops, and buy from local distributers.
It all depends on price. If a transition or offset is made in the shop it is done to save time or just for a small job. Large jobs are done by automated shops with takes off from the prints (very cheaply done). If standard size trunk duct or round pipe is needed it is cheaper to buy than fabricate.

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ctbuilder

Any web companies?