Disconnected Flue Pipe

[Nick Ostrowski]

From the looks of the area around the disconnected flue pipe in the basement, this appears to have be going on for a while.

[Jim Luttrall]

Yep, good catch. That would have been easy to miss without a closer look.

[Bob Harper]

Note the unlisted, ineffective support strap ( drive) under the ell. Nick's area is loaded with homes having this setup. The B-vent shares the chase with the fireplace. The fireplace installers run the B-vent tail into the basement where the HVAC contractor comes back and connects the furnace and WH.

Note the unlisted firestop, too. I would imagine the single walled connector is not properly supported either, which placed a strain on the elbow.

Good catch Nick!

[H.G. Watson, Sr.]

Unconventional wiring method pictured as well, proximity issues also for the conductors.

[Rod Butler]

Yikes, I hope no one had been injured as a result of this. Pretty scary indeed. Good job!

[James Duffin]

Here is a picture of a water heater vent that separated at a seam when the foundation on the house was repaired. The water heater was sitting on a slab in a storage room and when they jacked up the house to repair the foundation the water stayed put but the vent went with the house.

[Nick Ostrowski]

Here are some tidbits from an e-mail I received today from my client's realtor regarding the inspection where this flue pipe was disconnected........"The seller has already replaced the glass sidelight window at the front door and reconnected the drain pipe out front and reconnected the flue pipe. They were wondering if you'd be able to come back out and test the heater now instead of them having to pay an hvac guy. Bob may have already asked you but I thought I'd ask as well. I didn't know if that was something you'd be willing to do for Bob and Jane as a favor."

Favor......as in no charge favor? Because they don't want to have to pay an HVAC guy which was my recommendation based upon multiple issues with the flue pipe?

For Gods sake. You're buying a house. Get an HVAC pro to the house and stop trying to save a buck. It's borderline insulting. Why don't we see if the home inspector will come back for free?

[Rick Cantrell]

Nick
How about:
For me to come back would not be doing my clients a favor, that is why I recommended they call an HVAC specialist.

[Nick Ostrowski]

I like that Rick.

[Rick Cantrell]

Thanks for the feedback.

[John Kogel]

Nick
How about:
For me to come back would not be doing my clients a favor, that is why I recommended they call an HVAC specialist.Right. Good chance the seller 'fixed' it by just slamming the old elbow back together.

The realtor could do them a favor and pay for the checkup. Funny that never occurs to them. :confused:

[Scott Craig]

Here are some tidbits from an e-mail I received today from my client's realtor regarding the inspection where this flue pipe was disconnected........"The seller has already replaced the glass sidelight window at the front door and reconnected the drain pipe out front and reconnected the flue pipe. They were wondering if you'd be able to come back out and test the heater now instead of them having to pay an hvac guy. Bob may have already asked you but I thought I'd ask as well. I didn't know if that was something you'd be willing to do for Bob and Jane as a favor."

Favor......as in no charge favor? Because they don't want to have to pay an HVAC guy which was my recommendation based upon multiple issues with the flue pipe?

For Gods sake. You're buying a house. Get an HVAC pro to the house and stop trying to save a buck. It's borderline insulting. Why don't we see if the home inspector will come back for free?

Funny! I come across this a lot and never really sure the proper way to handle it. Never want to go back and get too involved, but if I don't the realtor always seems upset and end up not hearing from them for a long time.

[Ted Menelly]

I recently wrote of a water leak at a home that was not there at the time of the inspection. The reason I am so postive it was not there is because I double checked as I always do and doing the walk around with the client they actual operated all the fixtures as we did the walk around. This happened to be a hose bib. Should I mention the fact that the home had several inspectors over a 6 month period that did not write it up as well as any sellers disclosure.

The client, due to the control the Realtor had on the entire outcome of the inspection never contacted me directly after the inspection. I found thousands in this home in needed repairs including an 8,000 replacement cost HVAC system.

The Realtor said the client had a leak at the hose bib when they turned it on that wound up leaking inside the wall cavity and into the master bedroom. Now mind you "The leak is inside the wall *after the hose bib is turned on*" as the client relaid to the Realtor and then the Realtor to me. Lets see. Turn the hose bib on outside and the water connections are all outside away from the wall. The wall is sealed, but when the hose bib is turned on the water leaks inside the wall by opening the valve to the hose bib outside the sealed wall :confused:. I tried contacting the woman but she was in between homes, she has 3 in 2 different state and I could never get a hold of her.

I told the Realtor to have the woman contact me. It never happened. I got a demand from the Realtor from the client to pay 325.00. I said "have the client call me". I also explained the procedure to the Realtor and the leak was not there. It was created when they did work to the siding outside in that area. The Realtor says it does not matter. He knows how it probably happened but she is demanding payment and he says "Ted, you gotta pay it so she will get off my back. I told the Realtor that if he wants her off of his back then he needs to pull the 325.00 out of his 3,500 he made on the deal.

The man almost had a stroke. Imagine. A client bugging me thru him about something I had nothing to do with and the reason he is in the middle is because from day one he took control of the client and said he would handle everything. He talked her out of every dollar I found wrong with the home. He had the foolishness to take control like that and be the go between. He made the sale talking her out of all the repairs because "the buyer was not going to pay for all that" She gets a water leak after work is done. She demands payment from me thru him. He has a stroke when I said to pull the money out of his 3,500 because nothing is coming out of my 350.

Go Figure.

Did I mention that I love Realtors. It is high time the Realtors started taking responsibility for their actions.

Edit here

Yes I lost that Realtor as a referring Realtor. Next !!!!!!!!! Most are lost because they give you a few homes in a row that are slugs and you write the heck out of them.......On to the next inspector. I had a Realtor lose 4 deals in a row that I inspected.........Everyone was for financing reasons.........I lost that Realtor. It must have been my fault he did not do his job well enough before proceeding with trying to sell the clients homes. Next !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I brought him bad luck or something! I did wind up inspecting homes for 2 of those folks thru other Realtor at later date