Tom Hendricks

Tom is a sheet metal journeyman who completed a four-year apprenticeship through a SMACNA-affiliated joint apprenticeship and training committee (JATC), the standard path that combines about 8,000 hours of on-the-job training under journeymen with classroom instruction in welding, layout, fabrication, drafting, and HVAC system installation. SMACNA represents over 3,500 contractor companies engaged in sheet metal and air conditioning construction across the United States and Canada, and the journeyman credential is the qualifying tier that lets a worker fabricate and install on commercial projects without supervision.

Tom has spent eighteen years building residential and light-commercial duct systems, which means cutting the trunk and branch runs from raw 28-gauge sheet, hanging it on strap and threaded rod, transitioning to flex at the boots, sealing every joint with mastic or UL-181 tape, and pulling a flow hood at every register before the final invoice. He works to SMACNA HVAC Duct Construction Standards and ACCA Manual D sizing methods on every job. The math on the duct-sizing, static-pressure, friction-loss, and CFM calculators on this site is the math he uses to spec a system before he starts cutting metal.

Tom reviews everything in the Ductwork & airflow category (duct sizing, CFM, static pressure, duct velocity, equivalent length, friction loss, ACH, MERV filter, air balance) plus the diagnostic tools that touch the airflow side of a service call (delta-T, condensate drain sizing, dew point). The radiator BTU sizing tool falls under his review too because finned baseboard and panel radiator sizing uses heat-transfer math that overlaps with airflow heat balance.