Saw a set of plans from 3 years ago vs today, huge difference

I was cleaning out my old hard drive and found some ductwork plans I did back in 2021. Compared them to a similar job I just finished last week. The old ones had so many extra fittings and wasted space. Now I'm using a simpler layout with more straights and less transitions. It saves about 15% in materials each time. Has anyone else looked back at their old drawings and cringed?

3 comments

3 Comments

patkelly20d ago

The same thing happens with everything once you get enough reps in. It's like when I learned to pack for a trip, used to bring way too much stuff, now I just grab the same three outfits and a good pair of shoes. You just figure out what actually works and ditch the rest.

jessicad9820d ago

That three outfit packing strategy works great until you end up somewhere with surprise weather or a dress code you didn't expect. Maybe keep one backup outfit just in case, you know? I learned that one the hard way at a wedding that was way fancier than I thought.

gonzalez.rowan20d ago

Wait, are you really saving that much just by reducing fittings? I've gone back and looked at my old layouts too and yeah some of them were messy but I feel like going too simple can backfire. Had a job last year where I cut too many transitions to save money and ended up with airflow issues that cost more to fix than the fittings would have been. Sometimes those extra pieces exist for a reason, especially if the building settles weird or the client adds stuff later.