SNations

A couple of days ago I was climbing some rickety pull-down attic stairs and my client said something about a dangerous job. I didn't say it out loud, but I thought to myself that sometimes the most dangerous thing I do is enter what we all think is an empty apartment.

Jim, this is interesting. Where I live the counter staff won't tell you anything more than which version of the code they enforce.

I don't understand this part. It sounds more like an indictment of a poorly installed flue than a problem of running the flue and intake to different areas. Am I missing something?

There's an interesting new Building Science Corporation document -- BSI-075 -- that just came out last week. It's making the argument that this is from air leakage (exfiltration) above the neutral pressure plane. At the corners of the building something, probably wind pressure, is causing air leakage also. It's an interesting article (but aren't they all from BSC).

Yes, 303 therms is in the ballpark for 33 winter days for a worse than average home with little insulation and high air leakage, which sounds like what you've got. Plus, your furnace isn't working right. It shouldn't start up the immediate second after it shuts down.

I think it's important to note that as Mike describes the situation he doesn't even know for sure the relationship to the seller of the guy who yelled at him. So just saying that he was asked to leave doesn't protect Mike enough. If you're asked/told to leave by somebody who doesn't have a legal interest in the property then you should indicate why you complied with the request. In this case, because the guy was a whole lot crazy and maybe even violent.

I think you should say more than simply that you were told to leave. If you had simply and nicely been told to leave by somebody other than the seller, would you have left? I wouldn't. I'm not sure I'd leave even if the seller nicely told me to, at least not the first time. You need to indicate that this guy seemed unstable and you feared a physical outburst. Maybe you should be diplomatic about it, but you need to document what happened.

So the engineer measured the crack (how long did he have to go to school to learn how to use a ruler?) and told you to contact somebody who actually knows what he's doing? You should ask for your money back.

I would think that excessive voltage drop would be a problem long before any kind of excessive heat or mechanical failure. Maybe the solution is to measure the voltage at or near the main panelboard. Of course that's just a snapshot based on current load conditions.

OK, that's a bad thing. Now I'm curious: has anyone ever heard of a service drop failing because it overheated? How much heat would it take for it to fail? Personally, I can't believe that in a million years that would happen for 90 feet of #3 Cu to a 200 amp service.

Marc, what bad thing do you see happening from the service drop being smaller than the SEC needs to be?

Here in Chicagoland I've never seen any type of openable transom in a steam shower. Another interesting geographical variation.

I don't want to minimize your electrical problems, but if your crawl space is moist then that's a big problem unto itself. You need to dry out your crawl space. Seal it off from the outside. Vapor barrier on the ground. Ventilate it with conditioned house air. (Can you connect it -- or is it connected -- to the rest of the basement?) Insulate the outside walls.

I had a blind client earlier this year. He walked around the exterior with us in a foot of snow, and participated throughout. I nice experience really.

And then what? Replacing the duct system is only an option for Mike Holmes. I'd do a duct leakage test and then I'd measure the airflow from each register. Then I'd take that info along with a visual examination of the system and give them some recommendations. At the top of the list is probably calling Mike Holmes. Nowhere on the list is to keep working with the same HVAC contractor who provided the original opinion. I once did an energy audit for a client who told me that her living room was always cold. One supply register was closed and the other was almost totally blocked by the couch. There might be a simple solution to improve things.

Hi Douglas,The first paragraph of the code the Jim posted says, "Indirect waste piping shall discharge into the building drainage system through and airgap or airbreak as set forth in this code." The IRC definition of "indirect waste pipe" is: A waste pipe that discharges into the drainage system through an air gap into a trap, fixture or receptor. So the IRC leaves off the air break part (and also uses two words for "air gap"). Referring to the picture that Nolan posted, that's not what I think of when I envision an air break, because I envision that to mean that the pipes aren't touching at all (overlapping, but not touching). If you say it's an airbreak then I believe you. But it certainly is not an air gap. Right? So the IRC doesn't prohibit Nolan's example, as far as I can tell. Also, I'm not aware of any authoritative requirement (except for the California code that Jim posted) that AC condensate must drain in an indirect manner into the building's drainage system. I've seen the requirement, but not from an authoritative source. Are you aware of any such source, such as the IRC? Do you know if the International Plumbing Code addresses this issue?

Jim,While it's clear that the OP's installation is fine, the last paragraph of the code you posted isn't totally clear to me. Do you think that this code is calling the connection to the tailpiece (like Nolan posted) an indirect connection? If so then I'm not seeing it.

Don't bother to hire a home inspector to look at your foundation. That will be a huge waste of money. It's pretty clear that your foundation is fine -- at least the part that's visible, and an inspector can't see the rest anyway. Call an arborist if you have concerns. Who told you the tree has a fatal wound? Do you believe that person? Do you want a second opinion? Are there branches that threaten your house? Has this tree stopped growing? Is it at a stage where the roots are done growing and now the tree will either thrive or die? The concerns are primarily with the tree, so call a tree person if you have questions.

As I read it this section describes the plumbing for an indirect receptor but it doesn't define what needs to be plumbed that way.

I'm also looking at the 2012 Code Check, and under "Condensate Control (AC & Condensing Furnaces)" it says: "May drain to indirect receptor (lav tailpiece, tub overflow)" and under the '12 IRC column it says [local] and under the '12 UMC column it says {312.5&6}. Maybe the plumbers do consider this to be an indirect receptor but it doesn't seem to fit the definition.

I still don't see it. Do you have something like Nolan shows, where the condensate drain line T's into the sink tail piece? Your reference doesn't seem to prohibit that. A receptor is defined as receiving discharge from indirect waste pipe. Indirect waste pipe is defined as a waste pipe that discharges through an air gap into a trap. Certainly what Nolan shows doesn't have an air gap, so I don't see how it's prohibited by the IRC.

Who says it's a violation of the IRC? Can you quote a section or reference a section number? Your local jurisdiction may not allow it, but that's for them to explain. I would point to section 1411.3 to show that it's not a violation.

As a dues-paying ASHI member I want to echo the idea that ASHI should play a huge role in helping Mr. Russell. This affects all of us. I trust that our board will lead on this issue.

I think you have a lot more investigating to do before it's time to bring out the codes. A blower door test would be a good place to start. They should have measured the humidity during the winter if they wanted to diagnose the problem. The newest (and fairly tough) International Energy Conservation Code didn't take effect in Illinois until January 1 of this year, so that's not in effect. Plus, this being Chicago I think you need to start browsing Chicago code if you're going to try to compel the builder to do anything useful.

A sub-slab radon mitigation system might help.