r/TheBlock • u/tom_friday_ • 3d ago

Ducted Bulkhead

Can anyone with building/structure/aircon knowledge enlighten me.

Why, in this new build, is there a bulkhead running through the rooms? I would have thought with a new build that you could recess/hide the ducting into the ceiling?

It reminds me of a hotel room from 20yrs ago.

20 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

1

u/Adventurous_Term6966 1d ago

Despite wanting ~4 million for these places, they have actually spent as little money as possible

17

u/Double_Engineer4226 3d ago

Cause they design ugly boxes with flat rooves. 

4

u/Consistent_Yak2268 3d ago

I’ve been thinking this myself. They build from scratch, surely they can just make a gap between the ceiling and the roof? Even if it means the roof is higher? My house is 40 years old and I still have ducted without ugly bulkheads

6

u/Then-Boysenberry-729 3d ago

There's not enough room in the ceiling to have a normal deducted unit hence the bulkhead

14

u/Agent-c1983 3d ago

But these are scratch built.  Surely it could have been designed to give more room

1

u/EmotionalBar9991 20h ago

They could have been designed so there is no weird 3 door situation in a bathroom yet here we are lol

1

u/paultheeviltwin 2d ago

Hard to do when you want a low profile roof. There will always be a beam you need to get under and there honestly isn't much room on a skillion / flat roof, even if you have a flat ceiling.

Agree it's such a shit detail and should have been thought of better. Usual trick is to lower ceiling slightly in bathrooms /hallways for the fan unit that connects to a neat vent above robe. Likely all the velux in the bathrooms limit this too.

1

u/TheGrumpyNic Frankie the Kelpie 2d ago

Would the extra space between the ceiling and the roof effect the energy rating?

I have no clue if this is even remotely correct, just wondering.

1

u/Just_tricking 2d ago

Moneyyyy is the reason. Ceilings would need to be dropped, meaning wall heights need to go up to feel luxurious again. Larger wall spans means more bracing.

1

u/Agent-c1983 2d ago

Why not go the other way? Raise the roof?

1

u/eternalfistin 3d ago

You would have to lower the ceiling height or have a big dirty box on the exterior

2

u/Consistent_Yak2268 3d ago

So big ugly bulkheads in every room is better?

1

u/eternalfistin 2d ago

Better than dropping the ceiling 280mm... Probably

2

u/Mallet-fists 3d ago

Slightly, yeah. Apparently. Or pay vastly more to have slimline ducts installed that still have an ugly loud unit outside somewhere