Brandon Whitmore

Thanks Jim.

Hope you're all staying busy. I need an inspector referral for the Gilbert/ Chandler AZ area if anyone has one?

Good afternoon, A co-worker is looking for a good inspector for a house in Silverton, OR (near Salem). Any ideas?

Rarely see that stuff used around here due to the price.

I received a response to this question from the state of OR Building Codes Division. Please understand that this answer is relative to this exact problem, and that input should be gathered from the local AHJ. "While this isn’t a duct, it is a penetration between the garage and the occupied space that should meet R305.2. Also, the pertinent sections of Chapter 24 of the ORSC that aren’t being met are: G2407.2 and G2407.4 for combustion air. Obvious that there isn’t adequate combustion air; the occupied space is at a negative pressure to the garage, especially with the fireplace not operating (the pilot light might reduce some backdraft by drawing heat/vent air flow up the fireplace vent) G2427.3: Positive flow required for any vent. The “home” is obviously at a different pressure than the garage, and the system is back-flowing into the home. The maximum “negative pressure” (draw) of the water heater and furnace will be about -0.05”. The interior of the home can have bath fans, kitchen fans, temperature difference between the warm home and the outdoors (creating stack effect pressure similar to that created by the vented flue), wind effect, etc. that can easily overpower the draft up the water heater to the roof vent outlet, especially when just the pilot light of the water heater is the only heat source in the vent system. The system is not meeting code. Are you still in contact with the customer? They should be made aware of the possible hazards; we hope they have working carbon monoxide detectors. I’m unaware of a method to equalize the pressure between the garage and the living space, since a duct/opening can’t be made between the living space and garage (per ORSC R305.2)."

I swear there was a vent connector wall penetration prohibition in the past. There still is, if one were to follow various manufacturer's installation instructions. The closest I could get in chapter 3 of the ORSC (IRC planning section) was the one prohibiting "duct" openings in between the house and garage. While the vent isn't truly a duct, it's still an opening that communicates between the house and garage. Natural draft and induced draft units can share a vent connector. The code basically now just says the positive pressure portion of the airflow from the induced draft can't affect natural draft equipment. Here's why I don't like this one: I was there to an emergency response call. The customer was having intermittent odors in the house near the fireplace. The fireplace has not been in use since 2011 (valved/ capped). Under certain conditions, if the house could pull air in from the garage (CO, etc.). Also, let's say the common vent were to get plugged while the furnace was running poorly. Byproducts of incomplete combustion would blow back down into the house. I know it's wrong, but don't know if I can say the code says so. At least not any more.

Furnace and AWH in garage, fireplace in family room on other side of wall.... Click to Enlarge 668.35 KB Click to Enlarge 744.5 KB

I suggest you take a picture of the manufacturer's nomenclature plates during the inspection. You can use that information to look up the installation instructions on-line. Then, you'll learn what the manufacturer's require or allow.

The house sale fell, and the electrical "issues" were one of the reasons the buyer bailed (he's my brother's renter right now). My brother sent me the report to see what he needed to do...... I might contact the inspector and gently suggest some additional training.

One of many inspection report issues... Jim-- maybe you can let this guy ride along with you for a while.....

As others have stated, it's quite possible that another unit is enjoying some "free" gas. Next time they're away from the house, shut off all gas/ pilots to the unit, and take note of the exact meter read. When they come home, check it again and see if it has advanced. It's possible that there's crossed meters as well. (e.g., the meter that is billed to them, is actually feeding a different unit).

I'd treat them like any of the other tools in the garage, but wouldn't recommend that someone inexperienced or uncomfortable around firearms do so. I'm sure some inspectors would treat them like a warning

Nothing below smells like chlorine, but I deal with odor complaints all of the time, so I'll throw a few things out there. Could it be an overcharged battery smell from a UPS system, alarm system, etc. ? You could check for natural gas/ propane leaks to rule that out. Was there any evidence of rodent activity in the crawlspace?

Looking at that tool gave me an idea. I've got a Metrotech 810 and V-Loc Pro2 locators in my truck I should use the next time I need to trace a wire.

Fenixlighting.com just earned some business by being cool enough to send you a few switches. I've been wanting a new mountain bike light, so I picked up the BT30R through them. They have a new member 20% off sale, which helped convince me I "needed" it.