Cold Air Return in Basement

Here on this page you can learn one of the cases of the cold air return working for the finished basement:

List of materials needed for the project:

Single sheeting 14” x 6” cold air frameRound elbow 6” pipe6” damper ½” zip screwsSheeting nails

List of the tools needed for the project:

Cordless drill with magnetic sockets HammerRed snips Replaceable-blade snipsTape measure Magic markerFlat screwdriver Scratch awl

When people are finishing their basements off, they are usually creating a mechanical room. This room is serving not only the purpose of separating noisy heating equipment such as furnace, water heater and so on, but also serves as a storage room. From the ductwork installation point of view, it makes easier to install a cold air return.

In order to better organize an explanation of the execution of this project I would like to divide it in several steps:

Step # 1 – “14” x 6” frame” installation:

As you see it in the P. 1 “14” x 6” frame” is installed on the face side of the wall 8” above the floor. A frame on the picture is made on the field from 2 ½” x ½” x 26” sheet metal angle. If you have this kind of material you have to do following:

  Take a sheet metal angle in the left hand folded side

up with the tape measure hooked up to the right end of it and by using the red aviation snips make a short cut at the 6” mark on the wide side

Make the next cut at the 20” mark Cut the angle all the way down to the ½” folded side in

both spots Bend 6” pieces up at 90 degrees angle – the “frame” is

ready for installation.

P. 1                         In order to install the frame you should do following:

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Put a mark on the studs 8” off the floor by using a tape measure, magic marker or pencil

Set frame’s right lateral side on the stud’s pencil mark and drive the first sheeting nail to the top. Before you do that, make sure that the frame’s left lateral side reaches the stud to your left

Straighten up 6” piece of the frame and drive a second nail Do the same on the left hand side

In some places you can buy “14” x 6” plastic frames”, they are even easer to install.

Step # 2 – Single sheeting installation:

On the most of the finished basement mechanical room’s interior walls, the drywall would be never installed. It is why you should use a single sheeting to make a cold air duct. In order to do that you have to do following:

Place a piece of single sheeting on the studs so its bottom touch the floor, seam up and the open part of it out make it flush with the stud to your right and drive a sheeting nail close to the top. While doing that you can hold a piece in place by using your left knee. Make

sure that a piece still flush with P. 2 the stud and drive another nail to the stud to your left

Drive as many sheeting nails as necessary considering that the distance between them should be 6”

Open Pittsburg seam with a screwdriver (P. 2) and stick the next piece of single sheeting in (this is a double sheeting you are seeing in the P. 2)

Nail it the same way to the studs as the previous one, but start from the middle Make a measurement for the last piece and cut it to length with the Replaceable-

blade snips Before the last piece installation, cut a 6” round opening in it as it shown in P. 1.

Nail a piece on its place

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Step # 3 – 6” pipe installation:

As you see it in the P. 3, you have to hook up a 6” pipe to the cold air duct. In order to do that you have to do following:

Line up opening in the sheeting with the duct and trace crimped part of the 6” elbow around or use 6” template

Cut an opening in the duct with the red aviation snips following inside of the line

Check out the opening by sticking in a 6” elbow: it must come in very tight

Leave the 6” elbow in the opening and take a measurement between sheeting and an elbow, add 2 ½ “to the result

P. 3 Step # 4 – Cut a piece of pipe:

All the pipes you can buy at the box store are in the opened kind in bundles. It is because, first, this way it is easier for their transportation – pipes are united by ten pieces at once, secondly, this way it is easier to cut them out.

To make a pipe ready for a cut, pipe should be separated from the others, for this purpose grab both edges of a pipe at the same time and harshly pull it towards yourself, then grab rest of the bundle with your left hand and use right hand to separate a pipe from the others.

P. 4 P. 5 Put a pipe on the floor so the crimped part of it has appeared on the right hand

side Take a tape measure in the left hand and replaceable-blades snips in the right hand

and hook up the tape measure’s blade to the pipe’s edge to the right Stretch a tape measure out from the right to the left on a distance just a little bit

longer than you need for a cut (P. 4)

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P. 6 P. 7 Put a replaceable-blades snips on the pipe under the necessary mark on the tape

measure and cut. Let tape measure to wind and put it back in the pouch Keep cutting at a right angle to the seam of the pipe. At the same time, lift the

pipe up with your left hand to allow yourself to cut it to the halfway of the pipe (P. 5)

Then reach to the lower seam with your left hand and grab it there. Put pipe on your left thigh and keep cutting until you cut through another seam (P. 6)

If your grip is not strong enough, or the metal gauge is heavy, or you are cutting 3” or 4” pipes, you can start the cut through the seam with a pair of aviation snips or compound leverage bulldog nose snips. Small sizes of pipe such as 3” – 4” you can keep cutting with the aviation snips (P. 9).

Sometimes there is a necessity to cut a pipe from another hand side, it happens, when you need a short piece of pipe or you need very precise cut and you are starting to cut the pipe through both seams. In this case, match a mark on the tape measure with the edge of the pipe, put replaceable-blades snips at the hook of the tape measure, and start your cut (P. 6).

How to cut a pipe straight: In the other manuals, you can find very weird instructions for making a straight cut! They are recommending mark the pipe to length on each side of the seam and once half way around. However, in the real live you should do following:Once you started to cut follow the thin scratches, which you may see on the surface of the pipe. Usually there are hundreds of them. They have occurred when pipes were flatted in the machine.In addition, when you cut with the straight-cut snips those snips has big flat surface, which will help you to make a cut straight.However, if you think that you need a really straight cut you can start cutting from the both parts of the seam (see P.8) and after you started cutting aim snips to the second cut through the seam. If you are cutting short piece of pipe just next to the crimp you have to do it with the red aviation snips (see P. 9).

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P. 8 P. 9 Step # 5 – Damper installation:

Normally no one bother to install any dampers in the cold air return pipes. However, for the finished basement it is necessary to do because in the summer time it is better to close them off and draw more cold air return from upstairs. So, in order to do that you have to do following:

Put one edge of the pipe on the floor and hold another in your left hand Hit the pipe with the scratch awl in the place where you are planning to install a

damper (usually at 160* angle from the seam), turn it back and forth to make the hole bigger

Insert a damper with the washer on in the pipe, run the bolt through the hole, put a handle on and screw it down with the wing nut

Step # 6 – Pipe, elbow installation:

Put an elbow on the pipe (elbow up, damper down) and fasten it with three ½” zip screws

Shove the pipe in the opening in the sheeting and stick the elbow into the duct. If a hole in the duct was done right the pipe will stay in place

Make a hanger from a piece of pipe or from the 12” drive and fasten it to the duct and to the pipe as it is shown in P. 10

P. 10 Go around the wall and make some cuts on the pipe sticking out inside of the

panned stud space Bend pieces of pipe (tabs) out as it shown in the P. 1 Fill all gaps with the silicone sealant

Installation is complete.

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