I was speachless. . .

[James F. McKee]

speechless ...I'd have been laughing my butt off...jim

[lline]

I have a question here, in PG County MD, brand new home-Ryan builders have a peice of this flue connected onto the orginal flue leading from HW Heater into the chimney area, you could tell that they made adjustments and used a piece of this flexible flue, as per the builders, this is OK per PG county code, and they are not willing to correct this issue for the buyer? what do you suggest?
they stated that because PG county came and signed off on the inspection for the final, this was ok, I of course told the buyers differently and I explained most times, the county inspectors are all in "who you know"
please reply as soon as you can the buyers go for a walk through tomorrow morning... thanks

[Blaine Wiley]

The more I see from Jeff, the more glad I am that; A) I live in FL not CA, and B) we don't have gas appliances here!!

[Erby Crofutt]

Laura:

Have the buyer take your picture and report language on this issue to the local code enforcement office and ask them if they allow it locally.

You should also have the STATE Building Code Phone number handy so you or the buyers can call and ask them about it. The state guys are "usually" not suspect of being in the builder's pocket.

Primary Technical Contact:
Jim Magliano
Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development
Maryland Codes Administration
100 Community Place
Crownsville, MD 21032
PH: (410) 514-7216
FX: (410) 987-8902
Email: magliano@dhcd.state.md.us

State Agency/Office Head:
Ed Landon, Director
Maryland Codes Administration
Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development
Divison of Credit Assurance
100 Community Place
Crownsville, MD 21032
PH: (410) 514-7444
FX: (410) 987-8902
EMail: landon@mdhousing.org

[George P. Wells, CMI]

Originally Posted by lline

I have a question here, in PG County MD, brand new home-Ryan builders have a peice of this flue connected onto the orginal flue leading from HW Heater into the chimney area, you could tell that they made adjustments and used a piece of this flexible flue, as per the builders, this is OK per PG county code, and they are not willing to correct this issue for the buyer? what do you suggest?
they stated that because PG county came and signed off on the inspection for the final, this was ok, I of course told the buyers differently and I explained most times, the county inspectors are all in "who you know"
please reply as soon as you can the buyers go for a walk through tomorrow morning... thanks

I often tell clients that building codes are "Minimum" requirements and I am looking out for the client's best interest. Another thing I do - And I know Not everyone will be comfortable with this - is I'll look my client's straight in the eye and say something like "Look, I have kids (or nieces, nephews, etc.) your age. If one of my kids was having a house inspected and the inspector saw this, I’d want him to tell my kid about it – I don’t care what the local inspector or builder says”.
As I said, not everyone will be comfortable with saying stuff like that but it gets the point across. Most of my clients are young professionals. They almost always tell me that I remind them of someone's father or uncle, usually theirs. I've had many parents of relocated young buyers call me to personally thank me for treating their kids like they were my own.


I don't just take this approach with clients who are younger than I am. I have many times said to clients who are older "Look, if you were my brother ...


The most important thing is that I am sincere when I say those things. I don't care what builders, local inspectors or anyone else says, when I see something that is wrong, my clients are going to know about it.

[lline]

I did take a picture of this and told them to do this, but of course they are calling on me for the final walk through
the blue is what the the builder wrote to them in an email.

I noticed and wrote in the inspection report that I had to type up cause there were TOO many issues for the report on the spot, there was an extra vent hood located near the furnace and I purposely left this on the hot water heater so they could see what I was talking about, so they made some adjustments to the hood and I suppose that it did not fit correctly and then used this bendable, flue peice approx 2-1/2 ft of it. and I have only seen this used 1 other time for the furnace flue and they replaced it in Baltimore county?
#2 Flue from the HWH is correct and to the required building code. The house has been final inspected by WSSC and Pg County. The use and occupancy permit is the documentation for this.
For this below I noted that there was moisture present on the floor, per moisture meter, and the buyers as well explained per the 1st time in the home, they noticed the carpet pulled back and heavy duty fans drying the carpet, the moisture was found in that area as well. Each house surrounding this house had a sump pump and the house next door on the corner slopes, swales down towards this house.
#1 Already spoke directly to Mr. Walters regarding this issue. No sump pump in a walkout basement and there is NO standing water in the basement.

Once again, all other items on the home inspection report will be addressed/ corrected as requested with the exception of the above items that are in compliance with Ryan Homes standards as well as local jurisdictional standards.

what do you think??

[iniquette]

Think you have a stubborn builder on your hands. I know this sounds rude, but sometimes if you flood them with paperwork they will back down, and correct problems quicker rather than dealing with the paperwork. Just a thought. Sorry, I thought we were on the original picture yet. If you do have something wrong for sure the above protocol does work though.

[lline]

it is hard to beleive that for a few dollars to correct these issues, and the money that they are making on this house which has been sitting empty, brand new, for over a year, they won't budge, they always blame it on the inspectors, and this one happens to be the realtors cousin, so I am not backing down.

thanks for the responses

Laura

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

This type of vent is an approved (listed) B-vent. It can be used in the same manner as rigid vent systems. It just so happens that this particular installation wasn't anywhere near compliant.

Gravity type vent systems must have a continuous minimum rise of 1/4" per foot.

[lline]

can it be used together with rigid and B-vent? this is the 1st time seeing it like this on a HW heater flue, the other was for the furnace.

thanks

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

Yes it can.

[lline]

thank you very much Jeffrey

[Lindsey Terry]

Hahaha, WTF where they thinking. People just save money on hiring and architech and the lose it when this think blows up and they all die :S.

I HATE the darwing adwards! hehe this people die for God sake, leave them alone o.O

But I most admit, sometimes it's quite funny :P