New Construction HVAC and Plumbing in Tampa Bay

For builders and contractors

One licensed company for both mechanical trades means one contact, one schedule and one set of trade permits to track.

• Plan review and load calculationWe size the HVAC from an ACCA Manual J load calculation and select equipment with Manual S, which is how the Florida Building Code’s energy chapter (section R403.7) says systems must be sized. A right-sized system is quieter and controls humidity better than an oversized one.
• HVAC, start to finishDuct layout and installation, line sets and condensate drains, setting the air handler and outdoor unit, the thermostat, and startup and testing. New Goodman and Daikin systems use R-32 refrigerant.
• Plumbing, phase by phaseUnderground drains and supply before the slab is poured, rough-in and top-out, setting the water heater, and trim-out with fixtures.
• Permits and inspectionsWe pull the permits for our trades and schedule the inspections at each stage. The permit fee is billed separately.
• Custom builders and remodelersWe bid from your plans and walk the house at each phase. Owner upgrades, like a whole-home dehumidifier or a tankless water heater, are priced in writing before they go in.
• Production buildersFor subdivision work, send the plan set, the lot count and the build schedule up front so we can confirm we can staff each phase before we commit to it.

Recent rough-in and add-on work

Real photos from Home Therapist jobs around Tampa Bay.

Building a home? Decide these before the drywall goes up

HVAC and plumbing are the hardest things to change once the walls are closed. These are the questions we would ask your builder, or answer for you if we are doing the work.

• Ask for the load calculationThe system should be sized from a Manual J calculation for your plans, not a square-foot rule of thumb. An oversized system cools fast but leaves a Tampa Bay house damp.
• Plan for humidityVariable-speed and two-stage systems pull more moisture out of the air. A whole-home dehumidifier (the AprilAire E100, $4,545 installed) is easiest to add during construction. See single-stage vs two-stage vs variable-speed.
• Returns and duct locationMake sure closed bedroom doors do not starve the system of return air, and ask where the ducts will run. Ducts inside the conditioned space lose less cooling than ducts in a hot attic.
• Zoning for two storiesA two-story home often holds an upstairs-downstairs temperature split. Zoning or a second system fixes it, and it is far cheaper to plan now. See HVAC zoning.
• Water heater choiceGas tankless needs a gas line sized for it, electric tankless needs a large electrical service, and a hybrid heat pump water heater needs room to breathe. Decide before rough-in. See point-of-use vs whole-home tankless.
• Plumb a softener loopCity of Tampa water averaged about 10.8 grains per gallon of hardness in 2024. A loop and a spot for a softener near the main line cost little during construction. See water softeners.

Some builders let you bring your own HVAC or plumbing contractor or pay for upgrades; others do not. Ask before you sign the contract.

Additions, ADUs and garage conversions

• Check the load first. Extending the existing ducts into new space only works if the current system has capacity to spare. If it does not, a ductless mini split or a separate system is the better answer. See what a mini split costs.
• Garage conversions need insulation and their own cooling. On one Lutz garage conversion the old copper lines had to be replaced before the new system could go in. Turning the garage into a gym, an office or a movie room instead? See our garage mini split guide for sizing and prices.
• Bathroom additions need new drain and supply lines. Where a gravity drain cannot reach the sewer, a grinder pump can, like the bathroom rough-in with a grinder pump we did in Tampa. Read bathroom addition plumbing.
• ADUs and in-law suites usually get their own water heater and their own HVAC, tied into the main home’s water and sewer.
• Permits. We pull the permits for our trades on additions and conversions, and the permit fee is billed separately.

Job records from rough-ins, remodels and conversions

Written from our own job records. Customer names and street numbers are left out.

How we work with builders

The paperwork and payment side, so we can get on your schedule and stay on it.

• Bids from your plansSend the plan set and the schedule. We bid each trade in writing, line by line, so you can compare it with other bids.
• Fast turnaroundWe do not run a months-long backlog. Rough-in, set and trim visits are booked quickly, and once we are on site we move fast: a full AC and duct system change-out finishes in one day because we send more than one crew.
• Certificate of insurance on requestWe email a certificate of insurance ($1M general liability, plus workers’ comp) and a W-9 when you ask, so you can set us up as a vendor before the first visit.
• Invoice terms for approved accountsApproved business accounts can pay on invoice terms instead of paying at the time of service.
• One account for every propertyOne contact and consolidated invoices across all of your locations or rentals. Each invoice shows the address the work was done at.
• Priority schedulingAccount customers get priority on our schedule. We are open 24 hours, 7 days a week, and there is no after-hours trip or dispatch fee.
• FREE diagnosis, written quotesThe diagnosis and the estimate are FREE. You approve a written quote before any work starts, so there are no surprise invoices.
• Photos of the workOur techs photograph what they find and what they fix, and we can send the photos with the invoice.

Where we work on new construction

We serve the three counties of Tampa Bay from our shop at 1408 W Linebaugh Ave in Tampa.

See every city and ZIP code we serve

New construction questions

More ways we work with businesses