Freeport, Walton County
Blower Door Testing in Freeport, Florida
When a new Freeport house is ready for its blower door test.
Blower door tests for new Freeport houses
Big Bend Services, Inc. runs the energy code air leakage test on newly built houses in Freeport, ZIP code 32439. Freeport has a lot of new construction, and the test on each house is tied to the stage that house has reached, not to a date on the calendar.
Call (850) 819-6031, Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, or send the form. Our office is in Wewahitchka.
Timing
When a Freeport house is ready to test
The code allows the test once every opening through the building thermal envelope has been made. The envelope is the shell around the heated and cooled rooms, and each part of it has its own openings.
The roof
Plumbing vent stacks, exhaust fan ducts, and any flue for a water heater or fireplace.
The outside walls
Hose bibs, outdoor outlets and lights, the electrical service, the dryer vent, the range hood duct, and the refrigerant and condensate lines to the outdoor unit.
The ceiling under a vented attic
Duct boots, recessed lights, ceiling fan and smoke alarm boxes, and the attic hatch or pull-down stair in its frame.
The slab
The pipes and conduit that come up through it.
Windows and exterior doors
Installed, so they can be closed on test day.
Late openings
Openings that can come late in a build
An opening made after the test is not part of the reading, so work that crosses the shell near the end of a job belongs before the test date.
Gas lines
A gas line to a range, water heater or fireplace that enters through a wall or floor.
Low-voltage wiring
Cable, internet, security and doorbell wiring run in from outside after the main electrical work.
Outdoor equipment
Wiring for a generator, an irrigation controller, a well pump or outdoor lighting added near the end.
Appliance vents
A dryer vent or range hood duct that waits until the appliance is chosen.
Solar and battery wiring
Conduit from a roof array or an outside battery that enters through the roof or a wall.
Pool and outdoor kitchen lines
A gas line, water line or wire that leaves the house to reach them.
Testing before or after the drywall
A Freeport house can be tested before the drywall or after it. A test before drywall reads the shell as it stands that day, so whatever the plan uses to stop air, whether sheathing, house wrap or sealed top plates, has to be complete by then. A test after drywall reads the finished shell. Which point suits the build is the builder's call, and paint, floors and cabinets do not change the reading at either point.
Builders
Several houses at different stages
A builder with several Freeport houses can book them in one request, with the street address, permit number, ready date and site contact for each.
Dates follow each house
A house still waiting on its line set or dryer vent gets a later date than the one beside it.
Dates that move
When a ready date changes, call with the new date for that house and a new test date is set.
Results
Each house gets its own reading. Only a house over the limit is corrected and tested again.
Other towns
Houses in other towns we serve can go in the same request under their own addresses.
Getting in
Any gate code or lockbox for a house, listed on that house's line.
Spec houses
The test is tied to the house, not a sale, so a spec house is booked like any other.
The boundary
The attic and garage on a Freeport plan
Two parts of the plan decide where the measured shell runs, so mention them when you book.
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.
Scope
What a Freeport reading does not cover
The fan measures air leakage through the shell and nothing else. Other energy code requirements are checked in other ways.
Insulation levels
How much insulation is in the walls and attic.
Window ratings
The energy figures on the windows and glass doors.
Equipment
The size and efficiency of the heating and cooling system.
Setting up a Freeport house on test day
While the test runs, the exterior windows and doors are closed but not sealed, since an open window adds a gap the house will not have and tape hides one it will. Fireplace and stove doors are closed, and exhaust, intake and flue dampers are shut. Interior doors stand open where they are hung, so every room reaches one pressure. The heating and cooling is off, because a running air handler pushes against the fan, and supply and return registers are fully open. The site contact has the house unlocked and set up this way when the test is due to start.
Crews on a Freeport house during the test
Trades can keep working at a Freeport house on test day as long as the set-up stays as it is and nobody uses the doorway the fan is fitted in. Work at the neighboring lots can carry on as normal, since framing, noise or dust next door has no effect on the house being tested. Tell each crew on the lot the date once it is booked.
The number each new house has to meet
Section R402.4.1.2 of the 2023 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, allows a new house in Climate Zones 1 and 2 no more than 7 air changes per hour at 50 pascals, and Table R301.1 places Walton County in Climate Zone 2. The same limit applies to a small starter house and a large custom one, and a reading at or below 7 is within it.
Other services
Gutters, garage doors and shelving for new Freeport houses
New construction can call on our other services before move-in, booked through the same office.
Gutters
Seamless gutters formed on site, scheduled around the builder.
Garage doors
A new door measured to the opening, with a new opener if wanted.
Wire shelving
Closets, pantries, laundry rooms and garages, supplied and installed.
Same county
Blower door tests in other Walton County towns
What to expect
How a Freeport 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.
Does the outdoor unit have to be set?
Is the floor of a raised house part of the test?
Does a furnished model home need emptying for the test?
Does a detached garage or workshop count?
How is air changes per hour worked out?
Does final grading or the driveway need to be finished?
Get a quote
Request a Blower Door Test in Freeport
Use the form to book a test on a new Freeport house, and the office will follow up.
