The sins of prior homeowners/contractors

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LDPosse
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Joined: Mon. Dec. 19, 2011 11:11 pm
Location: Tower City, PA

Post by LDPosse » Thu. Oct. 15, 2020 10:47 pm

So this past winter, in early March, I went outside one morning, and noticed a brick went missing from the top of my chimney.
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Chimney missing brick

I could not find it outside, so I shut down the furnace and pulled the pipe down. Sure enough, there was my brick.
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Found brick

.JPEG | 1.2MB | B1D51087-DEE6-4BC9-B1A5-46960C3FA173.jpeg
Just as a precaution, I took a picture up the flue to be sure it was clear. Unfortunately, it appeared that something was partially blocking it.
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Chimney obstruction

I called the local chimney sweep. They came out and cleaned the chimney, and retrieved a large wad of fiberglass insulation stuck in the chimney 🤦‍♂️😡

Fast forward to october, and the realization that I need to deal with this problem sooner than later is setting in. I cut a hole in the chimney/flue chase in our living room to inspect the situation. I found a crock, with the ductwork installed right up against it.
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Found crock

To my complete non-amazement, cutting out the ductwork revealed a crock that the last owner’s contractor simply plugged up with fiberglass, instead of closing it off properly.
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Full chimney view without ductwork

With the crock now properly bricked and mortared shut, I am back in business, and my DS Kozy King has the house at a sweltering 81°.

While I’d love to read the riot act to the company that did the ductwork and oil furnace install in 2005, I do not imagine that will get me anywhere.

I mainly wanted to put this out there as a precaution for anyone with a coal, wood, oil, or gas furnace utilizing an old chimney. This could have had tragic consequences, thankfully, in this case, it did not.


 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Fri. Oct. 16, 2020 7:37 am

Very few people have pride in what they do and to be fair they usually charge more so the homeowner goes with someone else.

A very distant relative installed gas boiler and hot water heater at my Grandmother's.
  • Hot/Cold inlet on the water heater was reversed, looking at the piping it would appear it was simply easier to hook it up backwards. Not sure it was mistake or on purpose.
  • The relays were never hooked up correctly to accommodate the new boiler which has no lo setting. Only one zone would fire the boiler which wasn't a problem with the coal but for this boiler since it has no lo if the second zone came on the pump would keep pushing unheated water. Of course if other zone was satisfied when it did fire, the second zone would continue to run. It would be entirely possible for the pump to run 24/7.
  • The ground for the LWCO was not properly hooked up to lower part of boiler and there was problem with it cutting off the boiler occasionally.
  • That wasn't the problem though, there is a probe for aquastat similar to what you find on multi meter. It wasn't fully seated in the contacts inside the well.
That would be the short list. When I got there he was getting ready to install the gas pipe all the way down the side of the house .....around the chimney.... Despite the fact he could go right through the wall near the meter with an easy unobstructed run to the boiler which I had to point out to him.

<sigh>

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