|
QUESTION:A house we're interested in purchasing has a 15-year-old natural gas
furnace and gas water heater in the basement, and is vented through the
roof with what appears to be 6" or so round metal pipe with a metal
venting cap on top. I'm guessing this is some form of double-walled gas
chimney?
The problem is that, looking in the basement near the furnace,
apparantly the 1st floor frame walls weren't thick enough for a 6" diam
pipe, so whoever installed the pipe flattened it to fit inside the wall-
it appears to have been flattened so its' about 2" thick and 10" wide,
as that's what I see coming out of the basement ceiling. I'm guessing
that the "chimney" is (or rather, was) double wall, the visible part in
the basement seems like it was double walled, which, when flattened, is
still double walled, but now with no airspace.
The exposed furnace flue pipe is about 5" diam, single-wall, and it was
flattened so that it would fit inside the flattened chimeny, and because
the flattened flue pipe was smaller than the flattened chimney, there's
an open space (about 1.5" wide) on each side of the furnace flue as it
goes into the chimney. Through these 2 open spaces, with a flashlite, I
can look up and see the chimney cap on the roof, and can also see that
the chimney is flattened for a good 10-12 feet. The inside of the
chimney is also covered with a lot of black soot.
The hot water heater flue is connected to the furnace flue, or more
correctly, run into a hole that was cut in the side of the furnace flue.
My attorney is aware of the situation, and any offer would be written so
that the necessary corrections would need to be made.
Several questions.
One, would the average house inspector look close enough notice what
I've described and call attention to it / flag it, or would they merely
turn on the furnace, and if it worked, say OK?
In the event I do make an offer, the attorney would make it contingent
upon a satisfactory inspection, but is the house inspector the
appropriate person to flag this installation?
Who would be the most appropriate person to perform the "official"
inspection?
Second, what should a "correct" installation for a setup like I've
described look like?
I'd cetainly insist on an inspection for whatever was done, but in this
rural area, I'm not sure the municipal inspectors fully realize, at
times, what they're looking at.
Is it normally double-walled pipe? What clearance from combustibles (the
present flattened pipe is resting against at least one of the 2x4
studs)? Is it permissible to connect the water heater flue into the
furnace flue, and if so, for the gas installation, is any draft regular
required for the common "chimney connector"?
ANSWER: During the recent purchase of our first home (17 year old re-sale) we
hired a house inspector who saved us big bucks. In our jurisdiction
(Ottawa, Canada) house inspectors are not required to be licensed.
We received prices of $75CDN to $300 CDN for house inspectors. We went
with a firm that charged us $240 CDN, was fully accredited and insured. The
inspector insisted that I be present for the inspection with him, and to
allow 4 to 6 hours, so that he could point out and explain any defects. We
were aware of several, but he also found unsafe wiring in the furnace room
(tucked away and held together with masking tape), a furnace flue that had
fallen out of it's vent stack (he was amazed the current owners were still
alive), and for a furnace inspection he spent almost 45 minutes on the unit,
checking the draft, inspecting with a mirror and flashlight, etc. He found
a minute crack in the heat exchanger. Our jurisdiction allows some heat
exchangers to be repaired by welding, so he phoned an HVAC tech and found
that the current model in the home could not repaired legally by code.
The owners did not believe his report (he provided a detailed written
report), so they called the gas utility to inspect, and the unit was
promptly red tagged and disconnected. Luckily they agreed to pay for a new
furnace (it was darn cold at the time) and vent stack repairs (over $4000
CDN) as part of the purchase conditions.
I guess the motto is "buyer beware". A good home inspector would catch
such a problem, or any serious problem. And of course, you get what you pay
for. I couldn't believe how detailed this company's inspection was, and
they found other "obvious" things that I would never have thought of, and
with minimal effort and cash I have corrected, avoiding major repairs.
Here, eveyone and their dog is a "home inspector". Shop around, demand
references, and speak to people in Real Estate that know. Check with the
better business bureau, and ask your attorney if it is possible to check if
your choice of inspector has, or is currently, being sued.
|
|
|
|
