Why Is My Water Heater Backdrafting?

I find a fair amount of water heaters in Minneapolis and Saint Paul that backdraft.   Backdrafting happens when the exhaust gases from a fuel-burning appliance,  such as a water heater, spill in to the room rather that rising up and out of the house through the vent.  This is a potential safety hazard that should always be repaired.

The most common question that I get when I find a backdrafting water heater is "How can this be fixed?"
There are many potentials reasons for a water heater backdrafting, but there are several basic things to check - any one of these conditions could be enough by itself to cause a water heater to backdraft.

A missing rain cap. Not only do rain caps help to prevent rain from dumping in to the vent, but they help to downdrafts; these are wind currents that can blow exhaust gases back down the vent.  A listed cap is also required by the Minnesota Fuel Gas Code, section 503.6.6.



A backpitched vent connector. A water heater vent connector, often called a 'flue', is required to pitch upwards towards the chimney or vent at a minimum slope of one quarter inch per foot (MFGC 503.10.8).  This is a minimumrequirement.  Just meeting this minimum requirement doesn't mean everything will work the way it's supposed to.  The steeper the pitch, the better the draft.



Insufficient combustion air. I start every home inspection the same way - I close up all of the windows and doors, and I turn on all of the 'motors' at the house that remove air.  These fans include bathroom exhaust fans, kitchen exhaust fans, and clothes dryers.  Besides giving me the opportunity to make sure the fans are properly working, I'm removing a lot of air from the house at one time, which creates a 'worst-case' scenario for the fuel-burning appliances, such as the water heater.  If there isn't a proper combustion air duct installed, the water heater vent may end up acting as an air intake. This will definitely cause backdrafting.

A vent connector located directly across from a fan. Most newer furnaces have an induced draft fan that is designed to pull the exhaust gases out of the heat exchanger.   This fan ends up 'pushing' the exhaust gases up the vent, and if the water heater vent connector is located directly across from where the exhaust gases are directed, the exhaust gases from the water heater get pushed right back down.  The water heater doesn't stand a chance of drafting properly with this configuration.


The water heater isn't venting in to a chimney liner. When a water heater vent connector enters a chimney separately from the furnace or boiler vent connector, there's a good chance that the vent just pokes in to the chimney and the exhaust gases rise up the annular space between the chimney walls and the metal vent liner.  The heat created by the water heater may not be enough to heat up this huge area.  The water heater vent needs to connect to the metal liner.



An obstructed vent. This one is a curveball that most home inspectors won't be able to diagnose.  While replacing a water heater once, I found a dead bird sitting on top of the draft hood.  No wonder why the water heater was backdrafting.

If you have a water heater that backdrafts, have it professionally repaired.  Your home inspector may be able to give you several potential reasons for the water heater backdrafting, but an obstructed vent is always a possibility, and without taking stuff apart, there's no way to know for sure.


Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections



    

Home Inspection Agreements With Echosign

In November of 2009, a home inspector in North Vancouver was ordered to pay nearly $200,000 after a faulty home inspection.   I read about all of the mistakes that were made at this inspection, and the most important piece that I came away with was that the judge decided that the home inspector didn't give his client enough time to read the home inspection agreement, because the inspector had the client fill out the inspection agreement on-site, at the time of the home inspection.  You can read more about the story here.

That's the same procedure that we've always followed, and as far as I know, that's what most home inspectors do.... but to be proactive about this issue, we've changed our procedure.  Starting in January of this year, we began having our clients read and sign their home inspection agreements well in advance of the home inspection, and it's worked out quite well.

We signed up with Echosign, which give us the ability to email our clients a link to our inspection agreement, with can be viewed and completed online.  I've come up with nine great reasons to send out inspection agreements ahead of time with Echosign:

• This reduces our liability.
• It saves us time during the home inspection.
• It gives our clients the opportunity to address any potential concerns with the inspection agreement well in advance of the inspection, rather than at the time of the inspection while everyone is already there.
• It's green - no paper needed.
• I can read my clients writing.  I used to get a lot of email addresses and phone numbers that I couldn't read.  That doesn't happen any more.  I know this is a small benefit, but I really do appreciate this.
• We include a link to our web site in the email, so if our clients want to learn more about our company or about other services we offer, they now have the opportunity to do this.  This is especially helpful for the times when a third party, such as a real estate agent, arranges the inspection.
• For clients that can't attend the inspection, this is way easier than emailing the agreement and having our clients fax it back or scan it and email it back after they fill it out and sign it.k
• We include the date and time of the inspection as well as the cost of the inspection in our email - this definitely helps to eliminate any confusion.
• Our tech-savvy customers love this service.  I've received a ton of positive feedback from them.

So why am I telling you about Echosign?  I think it's a cool service that most people don't know about.  If you have a need for electronic signature captures, check them out.  They even have several standard forms, such as I-9, W-4, and W-9.  There's a similar competing service called Docusign, but it costs about ten times as much, and the only benefit that they could provide was 'better customer service'... at least that's what they told me.

If you'd like to see how this works, you can view a sample home inspection agreement.


Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections



    

Cheater Breakers

When an electric panel is filled with standard circuit breakers and more circuits need to be added, the solution is sometimes to install tandem breakers.  These circuit breakers allow for two circuits to be installed under one space, so they're often call cheaters.  A few other terms that I commonly hear are duplex, twinner, half-height, half inch, and double.

Is this really cheating? No.  This is a perfectly acceptable practice... but there are several rules that need to be followed to make the installation correct.  When these rules aren't followed, I suppose you could call it 'cheating'.   Today I'll share what I look at when inspecting tandem breakers.

The model of the panel

The model or part number of the electric panel will typically give away whether or not the electric panel is designed to accept tandem breakers or not, and how many can be used.  Here are a few examples:

• HOM20M100C  = 20 spaces for standard circuit breakers.
• QO13040M200C = 30 spaces for standard circuit breakers, and will accept a total of 40 circuits - that means 10 tandem breakers can be used at this panel.
• E0816ML1125S = 8 spaces for standard circuit breakers, and will accept a total of 16 circuits - that means all 8 spaces accept tandem breakers.
• BR1224L125V1 = 12 spaces for standard circuit breakers, and will accept a total of 24 circuits - that means all 12 spaces accept tandem breakers.

I think it's easy enough to see the pattern here.

A diagram inside the panel

The wiring diagram inside the panel is the best way to determine if tandem breakers are allowed, and if so, exactly where they're allowed.  In the photo below, which I used in my blog about double tapped circuit breakers,  you can see that the top four spaces allow only full size breakers, while the bottom eight slots allow tandem breakers.



Here's another panel diagram - this panel allows the use of tandem breakers in four locations.



And another - this panel doesn't allow any tandem breakers.



And another - this panel allows tandem breakers in the bottom ten spaces only (11-20 and 31-40).

Other Things To Look For

If the diagram inside the panel is missing or isn't clear, there are several other ways to help determine if tandem breakers can be used in a panel.  One simple way is to look for the maximum number of circuits allowed.  In the photo below, you can see that only 20 circuits are allowed at the panel.  This panel had 20 full-size spaces, so tandem breakers weren't allowed.



If the label is missing, another way to determine the maximum number of circuits allowed is to count the number of terminals for the neutral wires.  For instance, if there are 23 terminals present for neutral wires, the panel is probably designed for 20 circuits.  This is not a hard and fast rule though - some panels may have 40 neutral terminals present, yet only be designed for 20 circuits.  In the photo below, there are a total of 23 terminals; 1 for the main neutral wire coming in to the panel, 1 to bond the panel, 1 to ground the panel, and 20 more for the neutral wires.  This panel is designed for 20 circuits.



Another trick is to just look at the shape of the bus bars, if they're visible.  Bus bars that are designed to accept tandem breakers will often have a slightly different shape.



In the photo below you can see that tandem breakers will often have a different design than standard breakers, which prevents them from being installed in locations where they shouldn't go.




The manufacturers make them this way in an effort to prevent people from using them in an improper manner - but this doesn't stop everybody.  In the photo below, you can see how someone broke the bottom of a breaker to force it in to a place that it wasn't designed for.



If a circuit breaker sticks out from the rest of the circuit breakers, or 'stands proud', it probably doesn't belong.  This particular panel didn't allow tandem breakers.



When I find improper installations like this, I always recommend having an electrician come out to make repairs.

Oh, and for the record -I've been saying 'electric panel' this whole time, but a more technical term would be 'load center.'


Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections



    

Do HUD Homes Need Truth-In-Housing Evaluations?

I was recently asked whether or not HUD homes require Truth-In-Housing evaluations, and my thought was sure, they’re required on all properties… but I said I’d check on it.  I did some research on this topic, and I was quite surprised at what I found:

The rules don’t apply to the federal government

In a nutshell, HUD’s position is that Truth-In-Housing evaluations may slow the sale of a property, and “By statute and regulation, HUD is to sell its properties as fast as it can, preferably to owner occupants.”  HUD won’t pay for Truth-In-Housing evaluations, and they won’t complete required repairs.

So how are the various cities dealing with this?  I contacted every city, and the answers were all across the board.  By the way, I use the term 'Truth-In-Housing' loosely – it’s what most people call the required pre-sale city inspection.  These are also known as Truth-In-Sale of Housing, Time of Sale, Point of Sale, and I/I Sewer Inspections.

• Bloomington – Still required.  The city of Bloomington is currently in the middle of a dispute with HUD, but if a property is offered for sale in Bloomington today, an evaluation is required.
• Brooklyn Park – An evaluation is required after the sale goes through, and the new owner must complete any required repairs.  This means that the new buyer is walking in to the deal blind, and could be facing a large list of required repairs immediately after purchasing the home.
• Crystal – No.
• Golden Valley – When I called, I was told “Yes, they’re required on all properties.”  This answer makes me think that the city is not yet aware of HUD’s refusal to participate in this program.
• Hopkins – An evaluation is still required, and the buyer must complete the repairs after the sale goes through.
• Maplewood – “Yes, they’re required on all properties.”
• Minneapolis – No.
• New Hope – Same as Brooklyn Park.  An evaluation is required after the sale goes through.
• Osseo - “Yes, they’re required on all properties.”
• Richfield – Same as Brooklyn Park.  An evaluation is required after the sale goes through.
• Robbinsdale – “Yes, they’re required on all properties.”
• Saint Louis Park - “Yes, they’re required on all properties.”
• Saint Paul – No.
• South Saint Paul – “Yes, they’re required on all properties.”

How this affects the public

When a home is sold without a Truth-In-Housing evaluation, the buyer takes on a larger risk.  The obvious and immediate issue is that these HUD homes may have numerous safety hazards that would ordinarily be identified by a Truth-In-Housing evaluation.  The obvious solution is to get a private home inspection.  Gee, you didn’t see that coming did you?  The less obvious issue is that the new owner may be faced with a list of unexpected repairs when it comes time to sell the property.  Buyer beware.






Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Saint Paul Truth In Housing
    

"You Won't Find Anything Wrong With This House"

I'm sure we all have a few phrases that we hear on a regular basis that make us cringe.  Here are a few of mine (all of which I recently heard in one day).

Confident Real Estate Agent:  "You won't find anything wrong with this house."

If you brought your infant to the doctor for their one month checkup, would you confidently tell the pediatrician that they won't find anything wrong with your child?
If you took your dog to the vet for an annual checkup, would you confidently tell the veterinarian that they won't find anything wrong with your dog?
If you hired a heating contractor to come out for an annual furnace check-up, would you confidently tell them they won't find anything wrong with your furnace?
I just don't get it.

Homeowner: "Why didn't the other inspector find that?"

Of course, I always answer I don't know.
You'd think that this would be a rhetorical question, but most homeowners genuinely want me to answer this question.  Here are a a few answers that I always want to say, but never do:
You hired a lazy inspector.
You hired the cheapest inspector you could find.
Your real estate agent picked an inspector that wouldn't 'blow the deal'.

Same homeowner as above: "I thought the other inspector did a good job... I mean, they gave me a nice three-ring binder and everything."

If you go to a restaurant and you get a free toy with your meal, do you expect it to be a good meal?
If you go to a hair salon  and you get a free fanny pack with your haircut, do you expect it to be a great hair cut?
Some of the most confusing (and worst) home inspection reports that I've seen have been accompanied by colorful three-ring binders.  Here at Structure Tech, we stopped giving out three-ring binders about eight years ago.  That's when we started focusing more time and effort in to really writing our reports - not checking boxes.

Homeowner: "I had the gas company out, and they couldn't find any problems."

My suggestion is usually to hire a licensed contractor.  The gas company does not send out licensed contractors, and I'm no longer surprised when they don't identify very real gas leaks.  For more info on this topic, click any of the links below.

• Gas Leak Video
• Why Can't The Gas Company Find These Gas Leaks?
• Furnace Certifications Might Be Useless (don't call the gas company for this).

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minneapolis Home Inspections