Bristol, Liberty County
Blower Door Testing in Bristol, Florida
Air leakage testing for new houses in Bristol and across Liberty County.
Blower door tests for new Bristol houses
Big Bend Services, Inc. runs blower door tests on newly built houses in Bristol, ZIP code 32321, in Liberty County, and Bristol tests are booked through our office at 511 S Highway 71 in Wewahitchka.
Call (850) 819-6031, Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, or send the form to book one house or several.
More than one house
Booking several Bristol houses together
The houses on one booking do not have to be at the same stage.
Staggered ready dates
Each is booked for the day its own shell is complete, and if one date slips, call and a new date is set for that house.
Tested one at a time
Every house is measured by itself, with the fan in its own doorway and its own reading at the end.
Details for each
Address, permit number, ready date and site contact for every house on the booking.
One contact per house, or one for all
Name a site contact for each house, or one person who can open all of them.
Houses in other towns
Houses elsewhere in Liberty County, or in other counties we serve, can go on the same booking.
Finishes
What a Bristol house can leave until after its test
The reading depends on the shell, not the finish work.
Wall and ceiling paint
Primer and paint make no difference to the number.
Tile, wood and carpet
Floor coverings go on top of a subfloor that is already part of the shell.
Baseboard and casing
Trim covers joints but is not what stops the air.
Fixtures on inside walls
Sconces, mirrors and towel bars on interior walls can go up after the test.
Cabinets and counters
They can be set later, as long as the plumbing and wiring behind them that run through an outside wall are already in.
Openings are not finishes
An outdoor light added over a porch, a vent added late, or a satellite or cable line run through a wall after the test is an opening, not a finish. Plan those before the test date, because the code ties the test to the point when every opening through the shell has been made.
Before each date
Openings to check on each Bristol house
Bath and kitchen exhaust
Fans and the range hood vented out, with dampers that shut.
Wiring into the attic
Cable openings through the top of the walls filled.
Plumbing stacks
The vent pipes rising through the ceiling, with the ring around each one closed.
The attic opening
A hatch or stair that seals and latches.
Outdoor outlets and lights
Boxes set in the outside walls, with the gap around each one closed.
Window and door frames
The gap between each frame and the rough opening filled before trim covers it.
Dryer vent
Run out through the wall, with the hood and flap on the outside and the gap around the pipe closed.
Air handler closet
A closet framed around the air handler, with a return built into it, closed off from the attic.
Soffits and chases
A soffit over the kitchen cabinets, or a chase for ducts or a flue, capped where it meets the attic.
Attics and garages on each house
A vented attic is left out of the test, and the ceiling below it is the boundary. An attic sealed and insulated at the roof deck is opened to the house and measured with it. An attached garage that is not heated or cooled stays outside, and the wall and door it shares with the house are part of the boundary. Note which houses on the booking are built each way.
When one house in the group reads high
A house over the limit is corrected and retested by itself, under the same setup as its first test. Whatever gap turns out to be the cause on that house is worth checking on the houses still waiting for their dates. When the same crews built them, closing that gap before their first tests can save a retest later.
Test day
The setup for each Bristol house
Whoever opens each house should know this setup, since a missed step on one house shows up in that house's number.
Closed, not sealed
Windows and exterior doors shut, with no tape over them.
Fireplaces and stoves
Their doors shut.
Dampers
Exhaust, intake and flue dampers closed.
Inside the house
Interior doors open where hung, heating and cooling off, supply and return registers fully open.
Crews on site while a house is tested
Crews working inside should stay put or step out before the fan starts, rather than coming and going while it runs, since an opened door changes the reading. On a group of houses, work can carry on at the houses next door, and crews can return to the tested house as soon as its test is over.
Additions in Liberty County
Additions and alterations that make up less than 85 percent of the building shell are an exception in the code and are not required to be tested. A project at or above that share is tested the same way as a new Bristol house, and it can go on the same booking as the new houses.
The limit in Liberty County
Liberty County is in Climate Zone 2, like every county we serve, and new houses there are held to 7 air changes per hour at 50 pascals under section R402.4.1.2 of the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, 8th Edition (2023). The figure is how many times the air inside the house would be replaced in an hour at the test pressure.
Same county
Blower door testing in Liberty County
What to expect
How Bristol tests are 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.
Does a wood stove change the test?
Does the siding need to be on?
Does closet shelving need to be in for the test?
Do the exterior doors need their hardware?
Does the well or septic system need to be finished?
Do the window screens need to be on?
Get a quote
Request a Blower Door Test in Bristol
List each Bristol or Liberty County house with its address and ready date.
