David Meiland

What IR are you using, what were you pointing it at, and specifically *where* in relation to the box?

Does this house have forced air heating? Air conditioning?

What would you normally expect as the vapor barrier--poly on the framing, kraft on fiberglass batts, VB primer on the ceiling?

Is this an exterior wall?

Seems like the correct repair is going to involve removing and replacing the siding, lapping the WRB over the flashing, etc. If the roofer gets sent out the to do the whole thing... look out. I have seen roofers try to loosen siding, jam the flashing up under it, then pound the siding back down. What are the chances of that working right?

Mike, did they take a cut out of your payment?

There's a helluva big fan right there in the room, in the furnace itself. If there are large supply duct leaks in the system, and the returns are tight, the blower could be depressurizing the house enough to suck flue gas down and out the draft hood on the water heater. The house in Olympia where I did some of my BPI training was a great example of this. The furnace sucked flame right out of the water heater and scorched the vinyl floor.

He just needed a bit of training

That's the bearing plate and nut for a deadman that's buried out in the yard? It looks puny.

Scenarios are all over the place. If funds are scarce, the horizon short, the house cut up into small rooms, and the electricians willing, fixing the ceiling heat for $200 is a no-brainer. If funds are adequate, the horizon longer, the floor plan somewhat open, and the mini-split installers competent and competitive, new heating equipment is probably smart. I deal with homeowners all the time on energy/heating/remodeling/payback scenarios. Some people want to keep their chitty, uninsulated, cut-up house for a few more years and just want to be able to keep the place at 65 degrees by any possible means. Those folks need to go to the hardware place and buy one or more 1500-watt oil-filled radiator space heaters and put them near where they sit/stand/work. Other people like their location, like their house, and can make some improvements with a ~10-year period in mind. Those folks often get mini-splits and 100% of them later report to me that they love them. A fairly common profile here is someone older who is tiring of cutting, splitting, carrying, and lighting wood in their stove. They are going to install something to supplant or replace it, probably a mini-split. From what I know, a lot of the northwest has solid rebate programs for the equipment, so it's a popular choice.

There is a huge difference between the install cost of a ducted system and a ductless system. In this area, small, open-plan homes can easily get most of their heat from a single-head ductless that costs about $3000 to install and is about 225% efficient, with an approximate payback period of about 10 years when replacing electrical resistance. "Never" is the wrong word. A ducted system costs a helluva lot more.

Do people buy these houses after you guys point out issues like this with the roof/attic?

I have a customer with a weekend place, it has weathered knotty cedar siding on it, and in a few spots along one side, a woodpecker has hammered some holes in the boards. This is channel siding, and he has worked on the channels rather than the thicker areas. The holes go through in a couple of places, but they are not large enough to allow access--I have seen that before, fairly large holes into the attic. Is this a mating ritual? An insect-finding mission? Any other thoughts? Click to Enlarge 39.17 KB

In a situation like that, I wonder if the installer needed another 1/2 or 3/4 turn on the PRV... but he didn't know if he could get another whole turn... and he wanted to line up over his preferred outlet pipe location... so he didn't quite get it tight enough. A connection like that is subject to a lot of hot/cold cycles and needs to be bulletproof.

A customer of mine has a skylight leak that shows up in the exact spot. The water blows up under the skirt flashing, drips down into the rafter bay, lands on top of the rigid foam insulation that's in the bay, and then runs down to the top plate of the wall, where it then goes down between the drywall and the top plate and drips out the window head. In your case, the same could happen, but the water is running down the upper surface of the kraft paper, or down the drywall itself.

Chafing gear?

What's to stop you from digging out the putty and seeing if the pipe goes anywhere?

First thing I note in the Flir link... "focus free". I would not buy a "focus free" thermal imager, I think that would be a big mistake. When I'm using my imager I am constantly sharpening the focus as I move the unit.

I have pans made by a sheet metal shop, 2" deep, soldered, and use the same PVC outlet with rubber washer that you see on water heater pans. If you pour a 5-gallon bucket of water in it, the water goes out the pipe. On a slab you have to drill through the mudsill, which is a real PITA, or elevate the pan and machine above it.

You're supposed to drill a hole in the floor and drain the pan into the crawl space or somewhere else where it won't cause so much trouble...

Yeah... did I miss this?

I'd go to eBay and have a look. Lots of used gear in mint condition there, for good prices. Another place to post is IRTalk.com

I think that's a shadow from the flash...

At the very least, that cast iron grille is part of the cooking surface--the entire casting, not just the top of it--and it needs to be fully above anything flammable. If you stick a scrap of 2x4 under each leg, you'll be good, otherwise it's too low.

Mike, what's the chance they would be in residence under a slab?