A community still under construction

New Construction Duct Cleaning in Trinity Falls

Trinity Falls describes itself as a 2,000-acre community and one of the leading new neighborhoods in McKinney, and it is still selling new homes. Duct questions here are about the build, and the first call is often to the builder.

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In this order

What to Do With a New House

Look. Take the cover off one supply register. Pale powder, wood chips or scraps on the metal mean construction debris went into the system.
Check your warranty paperwork. If the house is still inside the builder's warranty period, photograph what you found and report it to the builder in writing.
If the builder will not deal with it, or the warranty has run out, arrange a cleaning yourself. Ask for supplies, returns and trunk lines on every system, in writing.
Replace the filter when the cleaning is done and check it again after a month.

More detail is on the new-build and remodel dust page.

A local wrinkle

City Limits and Building Codes

McKinney adopted the 2021 international building codes in November 2022, and has updated them since. A city's building codes apply inside its limits. In a 2018 case between Collin County and the City of McKinney, the Dallas Court of Appeals held that a city cannot enforce its building codes in the surrounding area known as its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

A McKinney mailing address does not tell you which side of that line a lot is on, and this site has not checked any particular street. The county appraisal record for your property lists the jurisdictions that tax it, which answers the question. It matters only if you are trying to work out which rules your ductwork was built and inspected under.

Dryer vents

New Vent, Old Mistakes

In a house that is one or two years old the dryer vent has not had time to fill. What is worth a look is how it was put in: whether the connector behind the dryer got crushed when the machine was pushed into place, and whether the flap outside opens freely. Both are covered on the dryer takes too long page.

Asked by New Owners

The builder says the ducts were cleaned before closing. Should I check?

Yes, and it takes five minutes. Remove one register upstairs and one downstairs and look at the metal behind them with a flashlight.

There is construction all around us. Does that dust get into the ducts?

Outdoor dust comes in through doors, windows and shoes and is caught, or not, by the filter. That is a reason to check the filter more often. It is not by itself a reason to clean the ducts.