Altha, Calhoun County
Blower Door Testing in Altha, Florida
Planning the blower door test on a new Altha house around the date you need it finished.
Scheduling a blower door test in Altha
Big Bend Services, Inc. tests newly built houses in Altha, ZIP code 32421, for air leakage under the Florida energy code. When the test is booked decides how much room is left between the reading and the date the house has to be finished.
Call (850) 819-6031, Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, or send the form. Our office is in Wewahitchka.
Work back from the finish
Picking a test date for an Altha house
Two dates frame the test: the ready date, when the last opening through the shell is made, and the finish date, when the house has to be done for a move-in, a sale or a closing.
Close to the ready date
An early test leaves the most room behind it.
Room for a retest
A house over the limit has its leaks corrected and is tested again, and both need to fit before the finish date.
Finishes alongside
Paint, floors, trim and cabinets do not change the reading, so they can go on around the test.
Trades on the schedule
Put the test date where every trade with work crossing the shell can see it, since an opening made after the test is not part of the reading.
Readiness
What holds up the ready date
Each of these crosses the shell, and the ready date is only as firm as the last one to go in.
Windows and exterior doors
Installed and able to close and latch.
The attic access
The hatch or pull-down stair set in its frame.
Fans and vents
Bath fans, the range hood duct and the dryer vent, each with its outside cap.
Refrigerant and condensate lines
Run through the wall to the outdoor unit.
Plumbing and electrical outside
Hose bibs, outdoor outlets and lights, and the service entrance.
Gas lines and flues
Any gas line through a wall and any flue through the roof for a water heater or fireplace.
Fresh air intake
The duct and outside hood, if the plan has one.
When the Altha ready date changes
Call the office as soon as the ready date changes, and a new test date is set. The same call covers a change to the person who will open the house, or a test-day condition that cannot be met, such as a damper that has not been installed yet. For a group of houses, only the house whose date moved gets a new one, and each of the others keeps the date it has.
The limit
The number an Altha house has to meet
Section R402.4.1.2 of the 2023 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, sets the limit for new houses in Climate Zones 1 and 2 at 7 air changes per hour at 50 pascals. Table R301.1 places Calhoun County in Climate Zone 2.
7 air changes per hour
At the test pressure, the leaks may swap the air inside for outside air no more than seven times in an hour.
One zone for every county
Every county we serve is in Climate Zone 2, so a house in Altha meets the same limit as a house on the coast.
At or under
A reading of 7 or below is within the limit.
How the reading is taken
A fan is fitted in an exterior doorway, in a frame and panel that close off the rest of the opening. It holds the house at the test pressure, and the air it has to move to do that is the leakage. The result is one number for the whole shell, which shows how much air gets through but not where, so the house is measured as a whole each time it is tested.
Booking
What to send when you book an Altha test
The office sets a date from four details, sent by phone or through the form.
Address
The street address of the house.
Permit number
The building permit for the house.
Ready date
The ready date you have worked out.
Site contact
A name and number for the person who opens the house, and any gate code or lockbox.
More than one house
One line per house with its own details, and each is tested on its own.
The boundary
The attic and garage in an Altha test
How the attic is built and whether the garage is attached decide where the measured shell runs.
Vented attic
Outside the test. The ceiling below it is the boundary.
Attic sealed at the roof deck
Opened to the house for the test and measured with it.
Attached garage
Outside the test when it is not heated or cooled, with the wall and door into the living area measured as part of the boundary.
A room over the garage
When it is heated and cooled and the garage is not, the floor between them is part of the boundary.
A sunroom
Inside the shell when it is heated and cooled with the house.
Crews at an Altha house on test day
Trades can keep working at an Altha house on test day as long as the house stays in the test-day set-up and no one walks through the doorway the fan is fitted in. Noise, dust and work at the next lot have no effect on the reading. The person opening the house can pass that on to the crews that morning.
Scope
What an Altha reading does not cover
The fan measures air leakage through the shell and nothing else.
Insulation
How much insulation is in the walls and attic is set elsewhere in the energy code.
Windows
Window energy ratings are not part of the reading.
Equipment
The heating and cooling system is not rated by the test.
Placing the first test in the build
A first test before drywall leaves the top plates and the wire and pipe openings through them in view if the house has to be corrected, and the same is true before insulation is blown onto the floor of a vented attic. After the cabinets and trim are in, any corrections happen around finished surfaces. The builder chooses which point suits the build.
Test day
How an Altha house is left for the test
The code sets the conditions for the time the test runs.
Outside
Exterior windows and doors closed, but not sealed.
Fireplace and stove
Their doors closed.
Dampers
Exhaust, intake and flue dampers closed.
Inside
Interior doors open where they are installed.
Equipment and registers
Heating and cooling off, with supply and return registers fully open.
Same county
Blower door tests in other Calhoun County towns
What to expect
How an Altha test is booked
- 1
Send the build details
Address, permit number and when the house will be ready.
- 2
Test booked
We give you a date for the test.
- 3
Test run
The house is tested once it is ready.
- 4
After a failed test
Corrections are made and the house is tested again.
Should the test wait until the driveway and yard are done?
Why is the test run at 50 pascals?
Can the test be booked while the windows are still on order?
Is the limit different in winter or summer?
How does a reading turn into airflow?
Does a detached garage or shed count?
Get a quote
Request a Blower Door Test in Altha
Use the form to book a test on a new Altha house, and the office will follow up.
