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July 2004
GAZETTE Newspapers
By: Arthur S. Lazerow
Ask Mr. Home Inspector
Venting Problems, And More…
What an interesting month for housing related questions.
Thank you, readers! I have personally answered all questions
(except
Helen’s) and selected these three for this month’s
column. Venting and carbon monoxide are usually winter concerns,
but check these first two:
Question: Helen W. left this question on my answering machine: “Can
an electric ventilating fan be vented only into the attic.”
Answer: In one word: NO! Bathroom fans, kitchen exhaust fans
and laundry dryer fans are all intended to remove moisture
and/or odors from the home. Depositing them in the attic
permits one of two undesirable events to occur. First,
the moisture
and odors can seep back into the home through small air currents
that exist in every home between the attic and the home.
The interior of a home is depressurized in relation to
the outside,
sub-slab and the attic. Ever notice that when a window is
opened, the fresh outside air always comes into the home.
This is because
Mother Nature wants relieve the negative relative pressure.
Second, the moisture trapped in the attic will drive mold
growth and rot. Wood, insulation, and the attic side of
drywall ceilings
are all mold food. Just add moisture. I have seen 50% or
more coverage of mold on wood trusses and roof sheathing
in an improperly
vented roof with bath fans terminating in the attic.
Conclusion: all vent fan ducts must be taken to a roof
opening, gable end louver or ridge vent.
Question: Paul from Gaithersburg called with this story: His
condominium association arranged for a contractor to vent all
of the furnace flues from the homes in his multi-unit building
into one joint flue, which terminated into a roof vent over
his home. There is no mechanical venting to pull all of the
flue gasses out of the building. Paul purchased a plug-in carbon-monoxide
alarm from a local hardware store and from time to time it
indicated the presence of carbon monoxide in his home. When
he complained to the Association management, he was ignored.
Paul asked for advice.
Answer: There should be no carbon monoxide of any amount
in a living space. That indicates a malfunctioning gas
or oil
combustion appliance and is dangerous. Joint venting is not
allowed unless a motorized building vent fan services the
vents. Think of high-rise buildings with joint kitchen
or bathroom
vents and mechanical venting. This is acceptable. Joint venting
without power venting can permit the gases to flow back from
one area into another area. I missed this at a home inspection
years ago. A basement bathroom ceiling fan was connected
with a “Y” connector to the laundry dryer vent pipe
before the single end was attached to a wall vent cap. When
my plumber educated me, I paid for the correction. It is called
learning the hard way.
Since the Association management had ignored Paul’s calls
and he was involved in a serious life-safety issue, I recommended
he contact a lawyer and arrange to make legal demand that corrective
action be taken immediately.
Question: Louise D. emailed with this story: Her family had
recently moved into a new construction home. The ground fault
interrupting circuit breaker (GFCI) that protects all of the
home’s bathrooms was located in the first floor powder
room. This is very common in new construction. However, it
began to trip repeatedly for no apparent reason. She further
wrote: “Unfortunately, our home is under a builder’s
warranty that says GFCI tripping is normal and won’t
be covered under warranty. The power outlets in the two bathrooms
on the second floor are almost useless, as it is a big nuisance
to keep running downstairs to reset the GFCI. If we hire an
electrician to fix the problem, we may void the electrical
wiring warranty for the whole house. What shall we do?”
Answer: A GFCI breaker should not trip unless either it is
defective or there is an electrical wiring fault allowing
voltage onto the ground wire or neutral wire in the circuit,
since
this is the condition that the GFCI apparatus is designed
to detect. I vote for defective. The builder should arrange
with
the project electrician to replace the GFCI because this
condition is an electrical deficiency and is covered by
the state of
Maryland’s required new home warranty. If not, hire a
Maryland licensed electrician to make the correction. If the
builder later claims the warranty is voided, I believe they
would be on the weak end of the argument, especially in front
of a judge.
P.S.: I received a wonderful thank you from Louise soon thereafter.
She wrote: “We finally managed to get the builder’s
electrician to replace the malfunctioning breaker two days
ago. Since then we haven’t had even a single trip. Your
column in the Gazette is really helpful and useful to readers,
and again, we appreciate your taking the time to answer housing
problems that homeowners most likely don’t have the slightest
clue what could have been the causes.”
Tip of the Month: Thunderstorm season is upon us. Walk around
your home with a careful eye asking if I were water, how can
I get inside. Wind driven water can find the slightest failure
in the exterior skin of your home. Poor grading conditions
invite water into basements or crawlspaces. Clogged gutters
and downspouts, failed window and door caulking and areaway
drains blocked by leaves and debris near the basement door
will cause water infiltration problems. Be proactive to keep
water out of your home.
Have a question relating to a housing problem? Email it to
aslaz@erols.com. Each question will be answered and some will
be included in this column.
Arthur Lazerow, president of Alban Home Inspection Service,
Inc., was a homebuilder for 25 years and is now a nationally
certified ASHI home inspector, having performed more than 5,000
inspections during the past 10 years. He can be heard every
Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m. as co-host of Real Estate Today
on WMET 1160 AM.
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