Business ProfileforFischer & Frichtel Homes

See attached document.

On 4/14/2021, I purchased a newly constructed Fischer & Frichtel (F&F) home in the Brightleaf devel-opment in Wildwood. Overall, I’ve found few problems with the house—except for two big, long-standing defects in the HVAC system.
1.    Within the first month after I moved in, I notified F&F of a 24/7 “drip” noise in the HVAC sys-tem, audible throughout the house, but loudest at the air return in the hallway to the bed-rooms. F&F Supervisor **** verified the noise and brought DesignAire, F&F’s HVAC contractor, over to solve the problem. DesignAire told me “You’ll just have to live with it,” an unacceptable solution given that I paid over $591,000 for the home. Since then, F&F has applied various “fix-es.” All have failed. To date, there is no evidence of water in the vents, but long-term, mois-ture in the vents will cause corrosion and the build-up of carbon monoxide; eventually, the system may require replacement.
2.    With frigid weather in January, 2022, ice developed at the top of the HVAC flue venting though my roof. Day or night, ice would break off from the flue, hit the roof, then slide down into my backyard. Dangerous to any person or animal nearby, the ice problem remains, despite efforts by F&F and DesignAire.
•    Working in the kitchen on 1/29/22 at 2:30 PM, there was a loud crashing sound coming from the other side of the house. Small chunks of ice were scattered on my lawn. One chunk lodged itself in the gutter, distorting it.
•    Similar ice slides occurred on 2/12/22 (9:15 AM) and 2/14/22 (11:08 AM).
•    At 3:15 AM on 2/23/22, a loud crash on the roof right above my head woke me up. I collected the ice chunks at dawn. In all, they weighed more than 1 lb. After yet more site visits, DesignAire, placed a “windpipe” at the top of the flue on 4/18/22 to prevent the formation of ice at the top of the flue.
•    More frigid Arctic weather late evening 12/24/22 brought more ice crashing onto my roof at 11:20PM; at 12:20AM 12/25/22, 1:18AM, 1:40AM, 1:50AM, 3:04AM, and 3:58AM. Yet another chunk of ice slid down my roof at 12:45 AM, 12/26/22. The chunk weighed 4 lbs., 8 oz., and it’s about 5” wide and 17” long. I again alerted F&F, asked for a response—and hopefully a solution—by 1/31/23. I have yet to hear from F&F.

Anticipating F&F’s continued inability/unwillingness to solve this almost two-year ice problem and hav-ing no confidence whatsoever in DesignAire, I contacted 2 HVAC companies in January 2023. West County Heating & Cooling quickly noted that the 10,000 BTU furnace vents into a 4” horizontal pipe that then empties into a 6” diameter vertical flue running up through the roof. Per its BTU chart, the entire length of the vertical flue should be no larger than 5”. Ballpark cost to install a liner to shrink the 6” di-ameter flue: $700.

Subsequently, ***** Air, here to install a whole-house humidifier, recommended the identical solu-tion. Estimated cost: $1,000-$1,500.

I identified this problem on F&F’s the “10 month Punch List.” F&F’s multiple efforts to date have failed. I ask BBB to break through my stalemate with F&F, get me reimbursed for the diagnostic trip charges ($190 for West County Heating; Inman’s diagnosis was at no cost), authorize me to hire any licensed HVAC company other than DesignAire without voiding the home’s Warranty, and pay for the remedia-tion of this long-standing HVAC defect.

Given that the “drip” problem has abated somewhat—I hear it only 2-3 times a day now—I will defer replacement of the entire vent system at this time.