Lido Key is a barrier island with a mix of cottages, mid-rise condominiums and larger houses, much of it in flood zones that were remapped when FEMA's updated maps took effect in March 2024. Equipment at ground level is exposed to storm surge and salt, and post-storm assessment is a regular part of the work. A unit that has been wet is checked before it is switched on, not after.
St. Armands Circle is a short drive north and Lido Beach a short walk west, so much of the housing is seasonal or rented by the week. Condominium buildings stack air handlers in closets and on balconies, often original to a construction date now several decades past, and a vertical stack unit in a closet leaves very little room to reach a coil that has been neglected. In those buildings the access route is part of the assessment.
Elevation is the practical constraint. Equipment at ground level in a flood zone has to be weighed against base flood elevation before anything is replaced, and a like-for-like swap at the same height is not automatically what the rules allow. That conversation belongs at the planning stage, before a unit is ordered, so Lido Key work tends to start with where the equipment sits rather than with the fault.