I recently inspected this fire place in a home that had a vent free gas log unit installed. The fireplace is masonry and can be used for wood as well. The unit was in good working order and 100 % compliant.
I looked at picture for chimney clearance on flat roofs. I learned that no height is required above paraphat if distance between chimney and paraphat is greater than 10 feet. That was interesting to me because I would have required it prior to learning this.
Based on the immediate visual inspection this fire place hasn’t been operated in a fairly lengthy period of time. The fuel that was left in the unit by the previous owner has bird droppings and there are feathers laying in the bottom of the fire box. These items indicate the chimney / liner has been occupied by birds which may result in plugged / partially plugged chimney / liner. The flue operated properly and was still in tact. The fire box was constructed of steel and there were no indications of fire box damage.
Fire Extinguisher: Here is a multipurpose fire extinguisher. It has a rating as a A,B and C. The extinguisher has a full charge, there is no pin or tamper seal on this extinguisher. Recommend getting another extinguisher as this one could go off with someone picking it up by the handle.
Fire Extinguisher: Fire extinguishers are devises found indoors and used to douse fire and prevent its spread. They have have ratings for different types of fires. Most common in households would be a mulpurpose rated extinguisher, A,B and C rated.
Chimneys have various different features in them that need to be accounted for when inspecting them. One needs to account for any types of potential issues that could create an unsafe environment when having a safe fire inside your home. Check for missing mortar flue tiles, spalling flue tile, cracked flue tile and other gaps and cracks.
Top Ten Ways You Can Sharply Reduce Your Professional Liability Exposure:
Register for InterNACHI’s free, negligent referral protection plan for real estate agents.
Insist that your client hire a professional home inspector to inspect the property, and strongly recommend that the inspection also include ancillary inspections for the presence of wood-destroying insects, as well as harmful pathogens, such as mold and radon.
Have the home inspected before the sale so that it is “MoveInCertified.” MoveInCertified homes have been pre-inspected by InterNACHI-certified inspectors, and the sellers confirm that there are no major systems in need of immediate repair or replacement, and no known safety hazards.
Take the time to manage your clients expectations of what can reasonably be discovered by a visual inspection of a property that is full of furniture, carpets and stored items that further physically restrict the scope of an already limited inspection.
Be sure to carry your own Professional Liability Insurance to protect yourself from allegations that you should have independently verified that the property was defect-free.
Review the inspectors Pre-Inspection Agreement to make sure that it contains a Notice Clause that requires the buyers to notify the inspector within no more than 14 days of the discovery of any defect for which they believe he is responsible.
Avoid conflicts of interest. Never recommend an inspector who participates in preferred vendor schemes. All major inspector associations prohibit participation in such undue praise-purchasing schemes. You have a fiduciary duty to recommend the very best inspectors based solely on merit, not money. And it goes without saying that you should never recommend any inspector with whom you have a close personal or blood relationship.
Recommend the high-value inspector, not the low-price inspector. Good inspectors charge accordingly. Trying to save your client $100 on a home inspection could wind up costing them $10,000 in home repairs.
Only recommend inspectors who adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, such as members of InterNACHI.
Only recommend inspectors who participate in InterNACHI’s We’ll Buy Your Home Back Guarantee.
Always attend the home inspection. Many real estate agents have been advised never to attend a home inspection, allegedly by real estate attorneys. Agents who say that they have received such advice are never able to articulate its rationale. You are no less likely to be named in a lawsuit by hiding during the inspection, and the reasons for attending the inspection are quite compelling. First, your presence is a clear indication of your professionalism and concern for your clients interests, two factors well-known to engender referrals. Secondly, it affords a very cogent opportunity to refocus your clients attention to the limited nature of the inspection. For example, you could note the numerous obstacles, such as furniture, carpets and appliances, that can obviously inhibit the inspectors ability to see certain areas of the home. Finally, should this transaction come to grief, your interests are usually perfectly aligned with the inspectors, and your recollection of such limiting factors would provide powerful corroboration of the exonerating reasons that a defect was not discovered during the inspection.
Electrical Service Panels
Electrical panel entry comes with risk. There is potential for injury or even death by electrocution. There are panel manufactures that have a reputation for being problematic. Zinsco and Federal Pacific Electric may require further inspection by a qualified electrician or electric inspector. Infiltration of the panel by water or rodents may create problems that may not be immediately identifiable form the outside of the panel but may result in unexpected hazards at the time of opening the closure. What the article did not mention were some basic potentials that may result from occupant tampering. Some of these are multiple wires inserted into breaker connections (2 or more wires under the srewed connection on a breaker), in correct breaker / wire size. The most common residential wire to breaker sizes are 14 gauge wire on a 15 amp breaker, 12 gauge wire on a 20 amp breaker, 10 wire on a 30 amp breaker, 6 gauge wire on a 50 amp breaker. Larger wire size on lesser breaker is not advised but is acceptable, larger breaker size on smaller wire size is a hazardous condition and may result in a fire.
Fireplace
The above pictured fireplace is a full masonry fireplace. This is an example of one built in a way that exceeds all current minimum requirements. The hearth opening itself is 966 si, or 6.7 sf, which dictates other requirements. The manual damper and flue, at 153 si, is correct and could support an opening up to 1040 si.
The sides and top are 16" wide,4" more than the 12" required for an opening greater than 6sf. The 2" high hearth extension meets the 20" minimum. The lintel is supported 6" on each side, beyond the 4" required. The metal rack is in good shape. There is no evidence of cracking or breakdown in the 25" deep, correctly angled lining.
All other elements of this fireplace were correct and appeared to be in good shape, including the clean-out, roof clearance and cap. The room also had working smoke and CO detectors.
Typical gas fireplace appears to be in good condition. The flame is blue indicating full combustion.
The gas connections are good. The vent stack is clean and terminates on the side of the building. No cracks present. Flammable ornaments are too close to the opening and should be moved away to avoid potential ignition. Recommend to hire a maintenance technician to service the fireplace once a year. In order to redirect some of the hot air into the room this fireplace is setup for addition of a fan.
This is a photo of a chimney crown. In the image it visible that the crown has started to deteriorate. There are loose pieces of cement and the brick edge is visible. Inspector should label this as a defect and recommend repair.
Creosote build-up was observed in the wood burning fireplace chimney. Creosote build-up within the chimney is a potential fire hazard that should repaired. Recommend having the fireplace chimney inspected and cleaned by a certified professional prior to use to insure safe operation.
I learned that abrasive blasting is a new form of mold removal much more efficient then the labor intensive sanding and scrubbing. Sand, baking soda, corncobs can all be used as different types of media for the abrasive blasting technique.
Have your chimney or wood stove inspected and cleaned annually by a certified chimney specialist. Keep the area around the hearth clear of debris, decorations, and flammable materials. Keep air inlets on wood stoves open, and never restrict the air supply to a fireplace. Otherwise, creosote may build up, which could lead to a chimney fire.
Fireplaces and wood stoves are designed to burn only one type of fuel. The following can be burned in a fireplace: dried and cut firewood, pallets that have not been treated or exposed to chemicals, fallen tree limbs, wood collected from housing developments, and manufactured fire logs.
I picked an article on Backdrafting, which is reverse flow of gas. Fuel-fired appliances are not able to exhaust combustion byproducts to the outside of the house. This happens due to low air pressure inside the house which can be caused by fireplaces, dryers and vents expelling air to the outside. To test for backdraft one can use smoke pencil to see if the smoke is sucked into the duct. One of the clues can be presence of soot on top of water heaters. Carbon monoxide analyzer can be used to test the air composition.
It is vent-less fireplace. Dust, carpet lint and pet hair can gradually choke off the fireplaces air supply, leading to
incomplete combustion and high amounts of CO that are vented into the living space. Furthermore, the gas burner may develop a crack over time and function erratically, producing high levels of CO. Recommend installing CO detector in the living room. To mitigate CO dangers, some manufacturers instruct customers to keep a window open while vent-less fireplaces are in operation. Unable to find the user manual during the inspection. Recommend reading the user manual and follow the manufacturers instruction.
I went over an article titled “Fireplace Fuel” by Ben Gromicko.
The article goes over what kind of fuel can be used on different fireplaces; and what should never be burned in fireplaces. The ones that cannot be used can cause problems ranging from minor irritation to a hazardous health threat to occupants.
The fireplace is a zero clearance fireplace that is run by gas with gas logs everything seems to be in good working order. We encourage the homeowner to get the fireplace inspected once a year by a qualified company. Exterior part of chimney has some wood rot and should be looked at by a reliable and knowledgeable contractor. The exterior part will be included in the exterior part of my inspection with pictures.
Carpet in bathrooms are not a good idea in fact are not suppose to be in commercial buildings. Wet carpet can lead to mold and cause respiratory problems in humans. Although carpet is permitted its not best. The good is carpet is softer more comfortable to walk on and is a not a slip hazard.