Furnace and Water Heater Venting

[Joe Dach]

........

[Darren Miller]

Joe;

I'm gonna be pretty harsh on you here; so be prepared.

If you don't know the different types of venting systems or the problems associated with them, then you have no business conducting home inspections. Venting of appliances is fairly simple, yet complex. You're dealing with peoples lives here, you better get some training (ie conduct some ride along's and take some classes) so you don't make a mistake that will cost someone their life.

Your pictures do not tell us a whole lot. The limited viewing leaves a lot of questions.

The first problem I see is one of the vent connectors is missing fasteners; there should be 3 fasteners per connection.

The WH; is that the only appliance tied into that chimney? Is the chimney orphaned?

Education- education- education

[Michael Thomas]

In the second picture, did you inspect the junction of the vent with the chimney? (I'm presuming that's a chimney, not a partition wall.)

A good source for information about venting gas appliances:

http://www.duravent.com/pdf/shbook.pdf

I have a printed copy, and not only use it as a reference but leaf through it from time to time to help keep important issues in mind.

Also, you might want to attend this class a week from Saturday:

http://www.nicashi.com/classcalendar/view_event.asp?CalendarID=1

I don't know if CE credit is available for Wisconsin inspectors, by the price is IMO very reasonable for the material covered and the presenter.

(http://www.nicashi.com/classcalendar/view_event.asp?CalendarID=1)