Are the ducts leaking or are there gaps in the connections and that's what's leaking? If it's flex duct, maybe 18 years in that climate is deserving of replacement. Have you had a few contractors look at it and tell you that replacement is what's needed?

Yes ducts are leaking at many spots according to an infrared device. One contractor looked at it and another asked questions and will stop by Saturday. The quotes are EXTREME.

",,,Condenser and air handler are 2 years new, freon is ok..." The issue is duct work only.

Attic space is tight 'cause it is a Florida house with "low" roofing. The quotes are EXTREME.

If I had to fashion a reason it would be due to this (tight space). Duct work is primarily a labor intensive job working in of all places a hot humid attic made worse by the building it occupies. (worker injury, house damage, yeah there's a charge for that...)

How extreme? Like rip off the roof to get to the ductwork extreme? It's an example why I never buy a house with a small tight attic. A lesson as it were.

Can't even tell you how many of those kinds of jobs I walked away from. More like run, but well you know... if you don't ---about to find out.

Other jobs I like to run from: homes with two HVAC units in a tight attic in which one of the units has to be removed to get the other one out. The one that's broken is always the one in the back.

The stories I could tell, Oh dear Lord...

I service the Katy, Texas area