AC in upstairs not working properly after all new duct work and full gut remodel
Sorry in advance for the long post…
We are in the final days of a year-long full gut renovation, which included all new mechanicals and HVAC. Our home is a 1960 expanded cape (the expansion was done 15 years prior to us owning the home) and has one large primary bedroom upstairs with a bathroom and walk-in closets and nine foot ceilings. This week has had temperatures of 90+ and when turning on the AC for the first time since the system was completed about a month ago, we noticed that the upstairs is getting barely a trickle of cold air out of the four vents (two in the bedroom and then one each in the bathroom and closet). It was unbearably hot up there but the first floor and basement were comfortable. The basement was actually freezing.
Our GC initially said that closing the vents in the basement would allow the cold air to be directed to the upstairs bedroom but it’s still barely a trickle. Then he said it might possibly be that the ducts are the incorrect sizing because they did not redo the system for the second floor and will have his HVAC guy out to check what is going on. The solution might be opening a wall and redoing it. However, our contract states the following for HVAC:
Remove existing furnace and AC unit. Remove existing duct work, vents and
registers.
• Contractor will provide and install two zone central air heating and cooling unit.
Provide one new condenser on a new pad.
• Provide and install all required sheet metal ductwork, supply and return air to
and from new air handler.
• All new duct and flu work for entire house. Supply and install needed diffusers.
Vent out laundry, hood, and exhaust fans for bathrooms.
• Install new wall/ceiling registers and return air grills.
• New forced air HVAC system. The condensing unit to be installed on the rear yard.
• Install Rheem 4.5 Ton 85k BTU 14 SEER; 92% efficiency with coordinating Air
Handler Units. (Contractor will perform appropriate sizing calculations for all
mechanical units)
• Grilles assume (2) units per room.
• All bath, laundry, hood and dryer venting.
The all new duct and flu work for the entire house and contractor will perform appropriate sizing calculations should mean this is on them, correct? I do not want to have to pay extra for this. Am I reading the contract scope for work correctly that the upstairs was supposed to be included?