Miramar Beach, Walton County
Blower Door Testing in Miramar Beach, Florida
Blower door tests for builders with several new houses going up in Miramar Beach.
Blower door tests for Miramar Beach builders
Big Bend Services, Inc. tests newly built houses for air leakage under the Florida energy code, including new houses in Miramar Beach, ZIP code 32550. Builders with several houses under way can put them all in one request, and each house is tested on its own with its own reading.
To book, call (850) 819-6031, Monday to Friday, 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM, or use the form. Bookings are handled from our Wewahitchka office.
Several houses
Booking a group of houses in Miramar Beach
Give each house its own line in the request, with its street address, its permit number, its ready date and the person to call on site.
Ready dates that differ
Houses in a group can be ready on different days, and the test dates follow each house rather than the group. When one house slips, call with its new ready date and a new date is set for that house alone.
Retests
A house over the limit has its leaks corrected and is tested again.
Lots in other towns
Houses in other towns we serve can go in the same request under their own addresses, each with its own ready date and site contact.
Spec houses
The test is tied to the house, not to a sale, so a spec house is booked like any other.
How it is run
How the test runs on each house
The equipment is a fan, a frame for the doorway and a pressure gauge.
The fan
Fitted in an exterior doorway, in a frame and panel that close off the rest of the opening. Keep one outside door clear of stacked materials and tools for it.
The pressure
The fan holds the house at the test pressure set by the code while the reading is taken.
The airflow
The air the fan moves to hold that pressure is the leakage the result is built from.
The result
The reading shows how much air gets through the shell, not where.
Setting each Miramar Beach house up for its date
On each house's test date, the exterior windows and doors are closed but not taped, fireplace and stove doors are closed, and exhaust, intake and flue dampers are shut. Interior doors stand open where they are hung, the heating and cooling is off, and every supply and return register is fully open. The site contact for that house is the person who has it set up this way when the test is due.
Same plan
Why two houses on one plan can read differently
A plan sets the shape of the shell, but each house is framed, wired and plumbed by hand, and a change from one lot to the next can add or move an opening.
A change order
An added outdoor outlet, a moved bath fan or an extra ceiling light puts an opening in one house that its neighbors do not have.
A swapped product
A different window, exterior door or attic stair can sit in its opening differently.
A mirrored plan
The same rooms on the other side can move a chase or a duct run to a new spot.
A different crew
A new framing, electrical or plumbing crew may work in its own way.
Late work
Openings that can arrive after the rest of a group is ready
An opening made after a house is tested is not part of its reading, so work that crosses the shell late in a build belongs before that house's date.
Gas lines
A line to a range, water heater or fireplace brought in through a wall or floor.
Low-voltage wiring
Cable, security and doorbell wiring run in from outside after the main electrical work.
Appliance vents
A dryer vent or range hood duct held back until the appliance is picked.
Outdoor wiring
Power for landscape lighting, an irrigation controller or a generator added near the end.
Before or after drywall on a group of houses
A builder can test houses before drywall or after it, since the code ties the test to the openings through the shell rather than to the drywall. A pre-drywall test reads the shell as it stands that day, so sheathing, house wrap or sealed top plates have to be finished first. Choosing one stage for the whole group keeps the readings comparable from house to house.
Testing one house while crews work nearby
Work can carry on at the other lots while one house is tested, and noise or dust next door has no effect on its reading. Inside the house being tested, crews can keep working as long as the test-day set-up stays as it is and no one uses the doorway the fan is fitted in. Let the crews on that lot know the test date ahead of time.
Scope
What each reading leaves out
Each Miramar Beach reading covers air leakage through that house's shell and nothing else.
Insulation
Insulation levels in the walls and attic are a separate part of the energy code.
Windows
Window energy ratings are not part of the reading.
Equipment
The size and efficiency of the heating and cooling are not measured.
The limit
The limit every house in the group 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 Walton County in Climate Zone 2.
Same limit for every plan
A small house and a large one in the same group are held to the same 7.
Other services
Gutters, garage doors and shelving on the same job
The same new houses can need gutters, a garage door and closet shelving, and commercial buildings along the Miramar Beach resort and condo corridor can need gutters and roll-up doors.
Gutters
Seamless gutters formed on site, scheduled around the builder on new construction and around business hours on commercial buildings.
Garage doors
New doors measured to the opening, plus commercial and roll-up doors.
Shelving
Closet, pantry, laundry and back-room shelving that we supply and install.
Same county
Blower door tests elsewhere in Walton County
What to expect
How a Miramar Beach 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 test take an hour, since the result is per hour?
How is air changes per hour worked out?
What does 0.2 inches of water gauge mean?
Does furniture in a model home change the reading?
Is the attached garage part of the test?
Is the attic part of the test?
Get a quote
Request a Blower Door Test in Miramar Beach
List each house with its address, permit number and ready date, and the office will follow up.
