"One-inch gap": Holmes Family Rescue star Mike shares an important tip for framing around ductwork

Holmes Family Rescue star Mike Holmes Junior often shares tips for various works to be done while remodelling and renovating. In one such tip, Mike shared an essential tip for when framing around the ductwork.

For that, he mentioned how different types of materials "expand and contract" during various circumstances. Hence, based on the type of material one has used, it expands and contracts at different rates. For that, he prefers to have a "one-inch" gap from floor joists to the top of the ductwork.

Showing how it's done, Mike stated:

"This is the main trunk that's gonna go through it and feed the air throughout our home to heat and cool this house. Now you can see there's about a one-inch gap from our floor joists to the top of the ductwork. When I'm framing, my back framing around this ductwork, it's important I maintain that one-inch gap. Some people like to go tighter."

Holmes Family Rescue star Mike Holmes Junior shares a few important tips

One of the tips that Holmes Family Rescue star Mike Holmes Junior shared via Instagram on July 21, 2025, was about the framing around the ductwork. Showing how there are different types of materials and their expanding and contracting properties, Mike said:

"Every single material in your home expands and contracts. Depending on what type of material it is, it's gonna expand and contract at different rates. That's why it's really important. You see our main ductwork here."

He then showed the main trunk, which goes all the way through the home and circulates air. It does both heating and cooling tasks. However, there was a one-inch gap that Mike preferred. He kept the distance between the floor joists to the top of the ductwork.

Holmes Family Rescue star Mike noted that it was his preference, as some of the people like to go "tighter." The one-inch gap was to give "lots of room" for the expanding and contracting.

"I like to give it lots of room because as the home expands and contracts, if it's too tight to the ductwork, that's when you hear banging as the heat comes on or as it cools, because it expands and contracts at different rates, at one time of the year, maybe you have room against your ductwork and at another time it might be tight."

With his particular preference, Mike stated that he likes to give the duct a "little bit of" extra room. As a result, there won't be any "banging" through the ductwork.

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Fans can stream Holmes Family Rescue Season 3 episode on HGTV.

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