De-Winterizations

[nwagner]

I had a first yesterday in which the bank actually de-winterized the plumbing for the inspection. The catch was that the plumber left the anti-freeze in all of the traps. Aren't they supposed to wet vac this stuff out and do so before operating the fixtures?

[Linas I. Dapkus]

I think the anti-freeze is environmentally safe and can be flushed. I did one last week that was de-winterized and when we turned the water on we found lots of pipes that had burst due to improper winterization. (lines were not drained) I've got one for Wed. that is also coming out of winterization and has had mold remediated because it was winterized too late.

[Henry Valenzano, CMI]

Originally Posted by nwagner

I had a first yesterday in which the bank actually de-winterized the plumbing for the inspection. The catch was that the plumber left the anti-freeze in all of the traps. Aren't they supposed to wet vac this stuff out and do so before operating the fixtures?

That stuff is a vegetable base and should not really harm you. It will give you the shi s if you ingest it.

[Chris D. Duphily]

Originally Posted by hvalenzano

That stuff is a vegetable base and should not really harm you. It will give you the shi s if you ingest it.

If they use glycol I can tell you from experience that it tastes like baby asprin.

[dplummer]

I didn't think you were to drink out of the toilets. ha ha. Doug

[Scott F. Coslett]

Here's a pic from my last de-winterization. The entire dwelling was winterized with automotive grade anti-freeze. Dwelling was located in a rural area and thus was utilizing a septic system (sand mound). I guess if the fellow was vacuuming the traps when de-winterizing the amount of anti-freeze getting to the septic system would be minimal. However, once the fellow had the supply hooked up, everything got flushed into the septic system. This was definitely noted in the report.


Scott

www.PennInspector.com
scoslett@pa.metrocast.net

[Chris D. Duphily]

Originally Posted by dplummer

I didn't think you were to drink out of the toilets. ha ha. Doug

Hey, I was thirsty!

No when I had my 20-30 gal "mishap" I was replacing a flow control for a chiller and another tech "accidentally" turned the wrong isolation valve on. It made one hell of a orange/pinkish geyser .... "the good ole days"

[Chris D. Duphily]

Originally Posted by scoslett

Here's a pic from my last de-winterization. The entire dwelling was winterized with automotive grade anti-freeze. Dwelling was located in a rural area and thus was utilizing a septic system (sand mound). I guess if the fellow was vacuuming the traps when de-winterizing the amount of anti-freeze getting to the septic system would be minimal. However,[bold] once the fellow had the supply hooked up, everything got flushed into the septic system. [/bold]This was definitely noted in the report.


Scott

www.PennInspector.com
scoslett@pa.metrocast.net

[William J. Decker]

I always recommend that the seller (or the bank) de-witerize, with me present, and that a licensed plumber (at the seller's or banks expense) be present.

I tell the dlient to make sure their lawyer has this in writing and expends the contingency.

Don't take on any liability that you don't have to.

Hope this helps;

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

I have one to do tomorrow that the bank will only accept 4 companies they reffered to the client. The client is having a major problem trying to get one of them to respond. I told her I could do a visual inspection for any mechanical defects and come back later once they got the water turned back on. She was questioning if it was really necessary to have the pipes de-winterized for the inspection. I started listing all the things that could possibly be wrong and would not be able to detect without running wate in the house. She immediately changed her mind and started hounding one of the companies to get out there for tomorrow's inspection. Hopefully nothing goes wrong, but I will definately get some good pictures for my collection if I do find anything.