Questions Of The Week September 8

**** Welcome to another round of Questions of The Week!

Please read the Introduction and requirements, changes may have been made.

A member of the Awards Committee will post questions, at a random day/time.

Eligible members may make one post per question thread to answer the questions, and the eligible member’s winning entry must have all parts of the questions answered completely in that one post. Editing your one answer post allowed will result in disqualification.

Any disregard to the above and divulging the correct answers or giving hints/references will cause a disqualification.

Until Wednesday evening the first two persons to answer questions 1 - 5 correctly will have an opportunity to break the tie with answering question 6 correctly with the first one answering all 6 the winner (as judged by the Awards Committee or Poster of the Questions). After Wednesday the extra credit question will not be considered and the first member to have answered all 1 - 5 correctly will be considered the winner.
The lucky winner will get a case of “Now that you’ve had a Home Inspection Books” shipped to them at their address on file.
Winners of the Questions of The Week shall request their prize by emailing fastreply@nachi.org and submitting their Mailing address for shipping.

GOOD LUCK! ~ GO! :cowboy_hat_face:

  1. What is efflorescence and what three conditions must exist for it to occur?

  2. Why should multiple neutral conductors not be terminated on the same neutral termination lug/point on a panelboard termination bar?

  3. Water damaged gypsum board should be replaced unless all of what four criteria are met?

  4. The following is a multi-part question regarding the proper bonding of any gas system metallic piping on or inside of a structure that is likely to become energized. This bonding is a requirement of the National Electrical Code, National Fuel Gas Code (NFPA 54), International Residential Code, and International Fuel Gas Code. Using the following equipment list in a home answer the questions below.

Appliances/equipment/piping in the home under question:
• No CSST is present and only black iron gas lines are in use along with typical appliance connectors.
• Gas free standing range
• Electric water heater
• All electric home heating system.
• Manufactured metal fireplace firebox with manual gas log lighter.

Questions:
• How can the requirements of proper bonding for the gas piping system be achieved according to the codes?
• What significant safety issue in an existing home do the various codes not take into consideration regarding bonding of gas lines?
• How can the gas line system, in the previous question, be bonded properly without the need for possible expensive retrofits?

  1. How much clearance from any obstruction should a water closet have to its sides and in front of it?

Between now and Wednesday evening the following extra credit question will be used to decide the winner between the first two members that answer all of the five questions above.

  1. What is the definition of a “Tiny House? What are the rescue opening and emergency escape requirements for a “Tiny House”?

Oh, nice questions, Manny! :smiley:

Efflorescence is a fine, white, powdery deposit of water-soluble salts left on the surface of masonry as the water evaporates.

  1. There must be water-soluble salts present somewhere in the wall.
  2. There must be sufficient moisture in the wall to render the salts into a soluble solution.
  3. There must be a path for the soluble salts to migrate through to the surface where the moisture can evaporate, thus depositing the salts which then crystallize and cause efflorescence.

Two neutral wires can’t be connected to a single terminal in a panelboard since the circuit may not be isolated if it needs to be worked on.
Additionally, two neutral wires can’t be connected under a single lug is because the connections might come loose, which could lead to a fire, and may not be able to be torqued properly. Moreover, most panel manufacturers do not allow multiple neutrals under a single lug.

  1. The source of the water or moisture is identified and eliminated.
  2. The water or moisture to which the gypsum board was exposed was uncontaminated.
  3. The gypsum board can be dried thoroughly before mold growth begins (typically 24 to 48 hours depending on environmental conditions.
  4. The gypsum board is structurally sound and there is no evidence of rusting fasteners or physical damage that would diminish the physical properties of the gypsum board or system.

If installed in or attached to a building or structure, a metal piping system(s), including gas piping, that is likely to become energized shall be bonded to any of the following:

(1) Equipment grounding conductor for the circuit that is likely to energize the piping system
(2) Service equipment enclosure
(3) Grounded conductor at the service
(4) Grounding electrode conductor, if of sufficient size
(5) One or more grounding electrodes used, if the grounding electrode conductor or bonding jumper to the grounding electrode is of sufficient size

The bonding conductor(s) or jumper(s) shall be sized in accordance with Table 250.122, and equipment grounding conductors shall be sized in accordance with Table 250.122 using the rating of the circuit that is likely to energize the piping system(s). The point of attachment of the bonding jumper(s) shall be accessible.

In most cases, option #1 is used, and it happens automatically at the appliance. For example, at the range in the noted in the question. If the range is properly installed, then the gas piping that runs to the range will also be properly bonded at the range.

The fireplace likely doesn’t have an electrical connection as it is a manual ignition version. As a result, the fireplace would need a bonding clamp to meet the requirement.

A common issue is the unintentional use of underground piping as the grounding electrode. The most straightforward fix is the use of an isolation fitting to prevent the underground piping from becoming the grounding electrode.

Front of Toilet: The front edge of the toilet must clear any possible obstruction – walls and other fixtures – by a minimum of 21”.
Sides of Toilet: Code states that the toilets cannot be closer than “15 inches from its center to any side wall, partition, vanity or other obstruction, or closer than 30 inches center-to-center between toilets or adjacent fixtures.” In other words, you need to provide less space between the toilet and a wall (15 inches) than you do between the toilet and another service that provides water and/or has drainage (30 inches).

Tiny Homes are generally accepted as 400 sq feet or less. The egress requirements are the same as R310. In summary:

R310.1.1 Minimum opening area. All emergency escape and rescue openings shall have a minimum net clear opening of 5.7 square feet (0.530 m2).

Exception: Grade floor openings shall have a minimum net clear opening of 5 square feet (0.465 m2).

R310.1.2 Minimum opening height. The minimum net clear opening height shall be 24 inches (610 mm).

R310.1.3 Minimum opening width. The minimum net clear opening width shall be 20 inches (508 mm).

YIPPEE! :cowboy_hat_face:

Good questions Manny, thanks for your time.

GREAT EFFORT Nathan! Unfortunately the bonding question(s) got Ya. However you answered the extra credit question and that makes you the WINNER!

  1. What is efflorescence and what three conditions must exist for it to occur?

Answer: Two very good publications on efflorescence that will answer these questions and more can be found at the Brick Industry Association ( http://www.gobrick.com/docs/default-source/read-research-documents/technicalnotes/tn23a.pdf?sfvrsn=0 and the Masonry Institute of America ( https://www.masonryinstitute.org/pdf/612.pdf )

  1. Why should multiple neutral conductors not be terminated on the same neutral termination lug/point on a panelboard termination bar?

Answer: A very brief and excellent description of why this should not be done has been provided by Scheneider Electric and can be found here https://download.schneider-electric.com/files?p_enDocType=Data+Bulletin&p_File_Name=0100DB0705R1215.pdf&p_Doc_Ref=0100DB0705 .

  1. Water damaged gypsum board should be replaced unless all of what four criteria are met?

Answer: These criteria can be found in the Gypsum Association Publication GA-231-2019, Assessing Water Damage to Gypsum Board.
https://gypsum.org/2019/04/ga-231-2015-assessing-water-damage-to-gypsum-board/

  1. The following is a multi-part question regarding the proper bonding of any gas system metallic piping on or inside of a structure that is likely to become energized. This bonding is a requirement of the National Electrical Code, National Fuel Gas Code (NFPA 54), International Residential Code, and International Fuel Gas Code. Using the following equipment list in a home answer the questions below.

Appliances/equipment/piping in the home under question.
• No CSST is present and only black iron gas lines are in use along with typical appliance connectors.
• Gas free standing range
• Electric water heater
• All electric home heating system.
• Manufactured metal fireplace firebox with manual gas log lighter.

Questions.
• How can the requirements of proper bonding for the gas piping system be achieved according to the codes?
• What significant safety issue in an existing home do the various codes not take into consideration regarding bonding of gas lines?
• How can the gas line system, in the previous question, be bonded properly without the need for possible expensive retrofits?

Answers:
• How can the requirements of proper bonding for the gas piping system be achieved according to the codes? — The Equipment Grounding Conductor (ECG) of a properly wired receptacle outlet can provide the required bonding provision.
• What significant safety issue in an existing home do the various codes not take into consideration regarding bonding of gas lines? — The various codes do not take into account an older home whose receptacle outlets are not equipped with EGC provisions prior to the creation or acceptance/use of any such code requirement.
• How can the gas line system, in the previous question, be bonded properly without the need for possible expensive retrofits? — By using an appropriately sized wire attached to the gas line piping at the exterior where it enters the home and routing it to the main system ground point. This can also help prevent another issue of spurious currents caused by nearby electrical storms that may be induced on the gas line system.

The requirements for bonding can be found in the NEC under section 250.104 (2017 version), The National Fuel Gas Code Section 7.12 (2018 Version), The IRC Section G2411.1 (2018 Version), and the IFGC Section 3.10. The American Gas Association has written a Fact Sheet covering and explaining this which can be found here https://www.aga.org/research/fact-sheets/electrical-bonding-of-gas-piping-systems/

  1. How much clearance from any obstruction should a water closet have to its sides and in front of it?

Answer: There should be a 15” clearance from the water closet center line to any obstruction on its sides and 21” in front from its front edge. IRC R307.1

The following extra credit question will be used to decide the winner between the first two members that answer all of the five questions above.

  1. What is the definition of a “Tiny House? What are the rescue opening and emergency escape requirements for a “Tiny House”?

Answer: The IRC does provide guidance for “Tiny Houses”. The answers and more can be found in Appendix Q Tiny Houses. While you’re reading this appendix look at the other available appendices in the IRC. Many people do not realize they are there.

Congrats Nathan Clapper!

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Congratulations, Nathan Clapper!

Thanks everyone! I’ll have to brush up on the bonding - I appreciate all the help and advice from everyone here!

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Deserves to win just because of the effort put in these answers. Great job.

Congratulations, Nathan Clapper!

Thanks Manny, for those awesome questions.

You got the bonding down! It was the second half of the question that I was speaking of about an existing home where I had the issue of no EGC for an older home. It was a struggle for me to word that question without giving away the answer.

GREAT JOB answering the questions!!