Renovations from PoPville – A Fixer Upper in Park View Episode Four – Central Air

Ed. Note: We used to feature these renovations from PoPville back in the day but it’s been a while since I’ve found folks willing to share. A good time for me to say, which I sadly realize I have to say, if you have negative comments about the reno please consider keeping it to yourself. Critiquing the renovations is not the point of these posts. It’s simply to show what some folks have done. If you like it, obviously, feel free to let them know but again – well let me be clear – don’t be a jerk. Thanks. Sorry to have to preface with that. I really do love these features and am fortunate that 2 or 3 three more folks have also agreed to share their renovations. These renovations can be extensive – like a whole house gut or simply a 1/2 bath added, floor refinished or even smaller. It can be a whole series of posts or just one. If you’d like to share one of your projects please email princeofpetworth(at)gmail thanks and thanks for understanding!

You can read episode three from this series here.

It’s funny because I read and hear a lot of comments from people saying they wouldn’t purchase a house if it didn’t have central air. However, if you take a walk around DC many homes do not have central air and you’ll notice lots of window units! I did a little research before we even purchased and discovered installing central air was a significant purchase, but it wasn’t too bad. I think it’s a good investment efficiency wise and obviously for resale since so many people apparently expect central air. I’ve never lived with window units and I heard mixed reviews on how well they work. However, I did live without air conditioning during the first year of college and that wasn’t pleasant for a few months out of the year! So we started getting quotes shortly after we moved in, which felt kind of odd since it was already October at that point and air conditioning was definitely not needed.

Getting central air quotes was a much better experience than getting window quotes! Some companies wouldn’t even consider installing central air as they only did replacements for whatever reason. Polar Bear Air Conditioning & Heating said they would give us a 20 percent discount if we installed central air by the end of February because that’s usually a slow time of year and not many people are thinking about getting air conditioning work done. After reading more of their reviews and even a few comments on PoPville, we finally decided to go with Polar Bear in January and planned to start the work end of February.

The job was supposed to take about four days and it did, but that was spread out over about a week and a half due to the snow storms and ridiculously cold temperatures. They finished cutting the holes and installing the ducts and vents pretty quickly. They installed the ducts in our closets, which is good and bad. We lost some closet space, but at least they’re hidden away. And the one in the office is actually exposed because we removed that closet awhile ago. Then it was time for the roof work and it was about five degrees outside so that was out of the question. Luckily, they finished by the end of February and we now have central air! It cost $13,600 to have central air installed in the house. Polar Bear recommended a contractor to box in the duct work for us as well. They also repaired a badly damaged door frame in the office room and it looks like new again! I am very happy with the boxed in duct work and I know I will appreciate the central air this summer.