Carrabelle, Franklin County
Blower Door Testing in Carrabelle, Florida
How to leave a new Carrabelle house for its blower door test, and how owner-builders book it.
Getting a Carrabelle house ready for its test
Big Bend Services, Inc. runs blower door tests on newly built houses in Carrabelle, ZIP code 32322. The code spells out how the house has to be left while the test runs, and a house that is not set up that way cannot give a true reading.
Call (850) 819-6031, Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, or send the form. The office in Wewahitchka handles the booking.
Test day
Setting up a Carrabelle house, one area at a time
Around the outside
Close every window and exterior door, upstairs and down, but do not tape, cover or seal any of them. A window left open counts as a leak the finished house would not have, and tape over one hides a leak it would have. A cord or hose run through a window keeps it from closing.
Fireplace or stove
Shut its glass or metal doors, if it has them.
Dampers
Close the flue damper and the dampers on the bath fans, range hood, dryer vent and any fresh air intake. An open flue damper is a path straight up through the roof.
Inside doors
Open every interior door that has been hung, including closets and the laundry, so every room sits at the same pressure.
Heating and cooling
Turn the system off before the fan is set up, since a running air handler fights the pressure the fan holds. It can run for crews earlier in the day.
Registers
Open every supply and return register fully, and pull off any plastic or tape left from drywall and paint.
While the test is running
Once the fan is fitted in an exterior doorway, the house stays exactly as it was set until the test is over, and no one uses that doorway. If a condition cannot be met on the day, for example a damper not yet installed or a window that will not close, call the office before the test date rather than on the morning of the test.
Not on the list
Things that can stay as they are
Parts of a house under construction that neither move air nor open the shell need no special handling.
Lights and power
Lights and outlets can stay on.
Appliances with no vent
A refrigerator, dishwasher or freezer can stay plugged in.
The garage vehicle door
With an unheated, uncooled attached garage, the big door is outside the test. The door from the garage into the house is the one that stays shut.
Unfinished surfaces
Bare subfloor, unpainted drywall and missing trim make no difference to the reading.
Owner-builders
Building your own house in Carrabelle
An owner-builder books the test directly with our office. No contractor has to place the booking.
The address
The street address of the house.
The permit number
The building permit for the house.
The ready date
The date the house will be ready for the test.
Your number
You are the site contact, so give the number you will answer on test day, plus any gate code or lockbox.
If the date moves
Call with the new ready date, and a new test date is set.
Your trades
Questions to put to each trade before the test
On an owner-built house, each trade confirms its own last opening through the shell.
Plumber
Are all the vent pipes through the roof and the hose bibs through the walls?
Electrician
Are the outside lights, outlets and the service entrance in?
Heating and cooling
Are the refrigerant and condensate lines through the wall and the registers installed?
Whoever sets the fans and vents
Are the bath fans, range hood and dryer vent ducted outside, with caps and dampers on?
Framer or carpenter
Is the attic hatch or pull-down stair in its frame and closing?
The boundary
The attic in a Carrabelle test
The plans show how the attic is built, and that decides whether it is inside the test.
Vented attic
Outside the test. The ceiling below it is the boundary, and the attic hatch stays shut.
Attic sealed at the roof deck
Opened to the house for the test, with its hatch or stair left open, and measured with the rest.
Choosing when in the build to test
An owner-builder can book the test before the walls are closed or after. Before drywall, the fan reads the framing, sheathing and wrap as they are that day, so whatever layer stops air on your plan has to be finished. After drywall, it reads the completed walls and ceilings. The details you send to book it are the same in both cases.
Scope
What a Carrabelle reading does not rate
The Carrabelle reading tells you about air getting through the shell, and other energy code requirements are handled apart from it.
Insulation
Batts, blown insulation and foam are judged under their own code sections.
Glass
The energy labels on windows and glass doors play no part.
The system
Air conditioner and furnace sizing sit outside the test.
Late openings
Openings that can come late on an owner-built house
An opening made after the test is not part of the reading, so late work that crosses the shell belongs before the test date.
Gas lines
A gas line to a range, water heater or fireplace that comes in through a wall or floor.
Low-voltage wiring
Cable, internet and security wiring run in from outside.
Outdoor power
Wiring for a generator, a well pump or outdoor lights.
Other services
Gutters, a garage door and shelving for a new Carrabelle house
Our other services can be booked for the same house through the same office.
Gutters
Seamless gutters formed on site to each roof edge.
Garage door
A new door measured to the opening, with a new opener if wanted.
Wire shelving
Closets, pantry and laundry room, supplied and installed.
The limit a Carrabelle house has to meet
Section R402.4.1.2 of the 2023 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, allows a new house no more than 7 air changes per hour at 50 pascals in Climate Zones 1 and 2, and Table R301.1 places Franklin County in Climate Zone 2. You get the reading for your house. At 7 or below it is within the limit. Above 7, the leaks are corrected and the house is tested again, set up the same way as the first time.
Same county
Blower door tests elsewhere in Franklin County
What to expect
How a Carrabelle booking runs
- 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.
Does the house need to be clean for the test?
Should the sink and tub drains have water in them?
Do crawl space vents need to be closed?
Does a detached shed or workshop count?
What does 50 pascals equal?
What does air changes per hour mean?
Get a quote
Request a Blower Door Test in Carrabelle
Use the form to book a test on a new Carrabelle house, and the office will follow up.
