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Was she crazy? Or slowly being poisoned? Another Home Mystery!

She didn't complain of headaches or any other of the more common carbon monoxide poisioning symptoms. She was just crazy. She acted like she'd a few too many, but it was too early in the day for that.

I almost dismissed her as another loopy homeowner until I saw the gray stains on the cabinets and the cookware in the pantry. That was my first hint...

Then, in the cabinet below, the black color on the under side of the pantry shelf was another hint.

And here's the culprit... a flue hood that doesn't quite fit over the exhaust opening atop the water heater.

It's enough to exhaust CO into the house. Wow! It's enough to make someone loopy!

Did she have a working CO detector? NO!

Did she have a working smoke detector? "Of course," she said. "What idiot wouldn't have a smoke detector?"

Of course, as I found out a few minutes later, it really should have batteries in it to be effective!

Be safe at home!

Tom Sinclair

About the House - Home Inspectors

Fairhope, Alabama

(251) 990-3169

www.InspectTestAnalyze.com

Reminder: The end of Daylight Saving Time approaches. A good time to change (not just check) your smoke detector batteries!

Posted by Tom Sinclair : About the House - Home Inspections on 10/13/2007 09:24 PM

Comments (11)

co, detector, crazy

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11 Comments on Was she crazy? Or slowly being poisoned? Another Home Mystery!

OCT

2007

Tom - How scary that must have been for you and especially her. At least you were able to find the issue and have it corrected. Just to think what could have happened in the long term is just too scary.

Tom, with all that she didn't have working; at least she a realtor that was!! Good job!

Tony Cannon

Joe: I still don't think she believed me. CO gas can do funny (not ha, ha) things to your brain over time.

Tom

Tony: She was actually the home owner and I was the home inspector. But the Good Lord had me in the right place at the right time.

Tom

Tons of people have no ideal how serious of a problem this can be. We don't see it as much in the south, because we don't use gas a much. I think the public should be more informed on this subject good post.

Brandon: Down here in southern Alabama you'd be amazed at the number of local municipalities that provide natural gas service to homes. This little house was near Gulf Shores, Alabama right on the beautiful Guilf of Mexico.

Houses in some of the more rural areas are supplied with gas by using liquid propane from an outside or underground storage tank. Still makes CO as a byproduct!

Thanks for your kind words.

Tom

Hey tom,

This is a scary picture and a good lesson when you view houses and ask people if they have the detectors.

Everyone lives in the house and thinks everything is fine as long as things appear to be " running " correctly.

OCT

2007

YIKES! Were you doing an inspection for a buyer? Or did the Home Owner have you come out for some other reason? Either way, good thing you were there.

Because of this post, I'm going out today and buying a CO detector!!

OCT

2007

Hi Tom: I see you just passed 10,000 points as well so congratulations right back at you. You posted on my blog so i wanted to visit yours.

Well, this post stopped me cold. How fortunate that you uncovered that problem. I have a CO detector but I am unsure if everyone in my family has one. I will email my parents and siblings now. Thanks for an important post!