How to Replace the Duct Work Around the Insulation in the Attic

Duct work for furnaces and air conditioning units is often in the attic of your home. If the duct work is old and leaky, your home isn’t getting the most from your heater or air conditioner. In order to fix the problem, you have to replace the ducts with new ones. In order to access the ducts, you’ll have to remove the insulation from around the ducts. Ensure that your insulation doesn’t contain asbestos, which is used in many homes up until the 1970s. If so, do not try to remove the ducts in your attic until the asbestos is cleared from your home.

Heavy-duty face mask
Screwdriver
Utility knife
Ducts
Duct sleeve
Duct clamps
Screws
Foil backed butyl duct tape
Silicon caulk

Instructions

- 1
  Put on the face mask to protect your lungs from the fiberglass in the insulation. Lift the insulation from the duct work and set it aside.
- 2
  Start at one end of your attic and start unscrewing the pieces of the duct work from each other. If the duct work is taped together, cut through the tape with a utility knife. Remove all the old duct work from the attic space.
- 3
  Connect your new duct to the main register in the room, which is where the air flows into the room. Slip the metal collar over the place the duct work meets. Slide the duct clamp over the sleeve and tighten the screw in the side of the clamp with the screwdriver or use the foil-backed duct tape to hold it in place. Wrap the duct tape around both sides the duct work several times.
- 4
  Repeat the process in step three with every new length of duct work until the entire space is complete. Use silicon caulk to fill in any gaps in the places between the new duct work and the registers. Tape any holes in the new duct work with the duct tape.
- 5
  Place the insulation over the new duct work.

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