Did you every tell anyone that you did THIS...

oil3.JPG

oil4.JPG

or perhaps THIS…

oil6.JPG

or do THIS…

openvent2.JPG

But some may say, “That’s preposterous! It’s beyond the InterNACHI Standards of Practice. What you’re suggesting is unethical!”

oil4.JPG

oil4.JPG

Sure Ben, I take all sorts of other people’s stuff apart all the time.
Especially really old stuff.

Like Brian, I to do too. :wink:

Especially really old plumbing. My personal favorite. It’s a laugh a minute.

Drum traps are a hoot to pull apart! :wink:

Did You forget checking the water filter on those old humidifiers???

LOL

NACHI TV does an advanced course on “Plumbing](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8-PlnJ3kkk&feature=related)”.

It’s not a matter of “ethics”, Ben. Have you ever even read the SOP? Do you object to ours being a non-invasive inspection? When do you expect to train us on the proper way to remove drywall?:smiley:

And I like to crawl down the chimney, like Santa does, to inspect each and every crack/joint of the flue…:roll:

I check the flue cleanouts (even if I have to stick my camera through the draft damper), because it saved lives. Here’s the proof…
oil5.JPGlooks good

oil6.JPGstuck my hand, arm, and camera through here

and found a blocked flue.

I found numerous semi-blocked flue pipes coming from fuel-fired heating systems this way.

oldtank3.JPG looks good here

oldtank4.JPG but its actually a killer.

I encourage home inspectors to pull clean-outs, and open draft dampers. Go beyond the SOP, and save some lives.

oil5.JPG

oil5.JPG

oldtank3.JPG

LOL:D :smiley:

openvent2.JPG Easy to pull open. It’s designed to be opened.

openvent3.JPG Looky here. Hazard. Lives saved.

Not opening clean-outs or looking through a draft damper of a fuel-fired heating system’s flue connection pipe is equivalent to not looking down a chimney stack from the roof.

IMG_0018.JPG Uh Oh. Chimney with cap… Yum, yum.

looksee

IMG_0030.JPG zoom in

IMG_0032.JPG damage

IMG_0033.JPG actual pieces of flue missing with the brick exposed. Lives saved.

I take off chimney caps and spark arrestors all the time. Every time.:smiley:

wow…I defer that to a chimney sweep…lives still saved only the properly trained man is doing the job…jmho…jim

funny

What do you do when you can’t get them back on? Rusted screws, bands, loose brick? Report replacement needed?

If you went beyond the SOP to do these things are you not opening yourself up to a lawsuit if you missed something else that was not within the SOP? Great that you may have found the defect but now what are you going to do when that same client or their attorney comes back and ask why you didnt remove the sheetrock and find the mold like substance behind the bathroom wall? Or why didnt you remove the sheetrock behind the gas range and detect the leak that finally made its way to the living space. Going beyond the SOP is any inspectors choice, but with those choices you live with the consequenses.

My 2cents…Now im off to hire an attorney to defend what I just said…HAHA.

Every single furnace and fireplace I recommend be inspected, serviced, cleaned, video scanned, what ever it takes to make sure it is safe BEFORE THEY CLOSE ESCROW, because I cannot see DEEP inside of them to determine enough information a professional would find dismantling it for service, or find broken/cracked flue liners after the chimney is cleaned and inspected by a licensed chimney sweep.

I would never take anything apart like Ben posted for any client.

That makes me feel better. I do the same, recommend a level II inspection and never attempt to take a flue apart, at least not during an inspection.

I wouldn’t do it for my mother, I would tell her to call someone who has parts with them so I don’t have to run to Home Depot 10 times putting something back together I don’t usually have parts hanging around for—:D…and pay for them to do it instead of me…!!

Good idea. :slight_smile: