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Wood Stove Installation

By
Home Inspector with Safe@Home Inspections, LLC in SE Washington 215

Neve str pull on Superman's cape. 

A couple that were clients of mine when they purchased their home in Pullman had a company install a wood stove in the family room.  Since we had some roof leaks initially, they were cautious about putting another hole through their roof and asked me to follow up.

I like to be neighborly (we have time for it out here - you don't even say hello to an acquaintance unless you have 20 minutes to get caught up) so I did a courtesy check for them.

chimney Installed poorly!

It wasn't any better in the attic.  None of the support brackets had been installed nor the clips to attach to the sheathing.  It was also in contact with combustible materials.

So I gave my clients the bad news that the contractor had complete goofed it up and suggested that they contact him to get it corrected per the manufacturer's specifications - which he had left with them making it very handy to point out all the things he did wrong.

That appearently didn't go well so the couple contacted the buidling department.  The Building Official came for a visit.

The contractor show up on site with him.  And then proceeded to argue with the Building Official that installing it correctly wasn't necessary, it was overkill, it didn't really need to be done.

Wish I had been there.  Pullman Wa has a good building department and I think that Greg Colvig does a terrific job as the Building Official but he doesn't tolerate a whole lot of stupidity.

My clients apparently enjoyed the show.  And their wood stove and roof were fixed, correctly this time.

Lori Churchill Cofer
Beasley Realty - Pullman, WA
Realtor - 509-330-0086 - Pullman, WA

Glad to see you are such an advocate for your clients!  Of course, I already knew that from watching you work!  Great catch Paul!

Oct 20, 2009 01:05 PM
Not a real person
San Diego, CA

With the amount of time that it took to apply silicone sealant around all those shingles, they could just have done it right to begin with. My wise old grandmother always said that if you don't have time to do it right the first time, how are you going to find time to do it right the second time?

Oct 20, 2009 08:26 PM
Reuben Saltzman
Structure Tech Home Inspections - Minneapolis, MN
Delivering the Unbiased Truth.

That is one nasty installation.  I'll bet the person that put this in does every single one like that too.  I wonder what the rule of thumb for this person is... cut a hole, slap the flashing on top, caulk five rows of shingles?

Oct 24, 2009 12:44 AM
Paul Duffau
Safe@Home Inspections, LLC in SE Washington - Asotin, WA
Caring for People, Educating about Homes

Reuban,  you forgot the most important step - get the cash up front!  But I am keeping a lookout for more of their work.  If they did it here, they did it everywhere.

Oct 27, 2009 02:28 AM