As regards smoke detectors - I've never seen this!
The fifteen year old house was in pretty good shape! Not much done - new appliances and so forth, but no remodeling! It was very well kept.
As I walked in I noticed that the smoke detector in the main level was new. Good! It should be, as the original one would have been too old. There was a another new one in the basement. This owner was well informed and on top of things!
Then on the upper level there was a similar and new smoke detector in the hallway!
Excellent!
Going into the bedroom I noticed a ceiling repair.
Oddly it was round, with sloppy drywall compound spread all around it.
Roof leak? It was painted. So I noted it.
Then, in the other two bedrooms there were other ceiling repairs, just inside the door, and very similar. They were also round and painted.
Being the slow train that I am it finally dawned on me. There were no smoke detectors in any bedroom! And these repairs were similar everywhere!
THEY HAD REMOVED THE SMOKE DETECTORS IN THE BEDROOMS!
Interested to see what was going on in the attic space, I went up imediately but it did not give much information.
Where the smoke detectors would be was covered with plywood! And the insulation was conveniently moved away for storage.
IT IS NEVER GOOD TO REMOVE OR SMASH INSULATION IN AN ATTIC TO CREATE A STORAGE SPACE! IN THOSE AREAS YOU HAVE NO INSULATION! WHILE THIS MIGHT SEEM LIKE A BIG DUH, I SEE IT SO OFTEN THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT A PRINCIPLE UNDERSTOOD BY MANY PEOPLE.
But, from the attic space, I don't know if the smoke detectors were still wired up but under the insulation or plywood, or if the wires were still there with just wire nuts! Nothing, no information.
This is a problem for many reasons! But what happened?
My guess - the original detectors began chirping and even replacing the batteries did not help. When they get too old (smoke detectors should be replaced after 10 years) sometimes they will chirp without stop. My experience is that they do so between 1am and 4am, but that is just me!
To "solve" the problem, did these folks just remove them? Hey, no more waking up at night!
BUT NOW THEY HAVE A DANGEROUS CONDITION AND IT IS UNCERTAIN THE NEW DETECTORS THAT REMAIN WILL OPERATE PROPERLY AND COMMUNICATE ONE WITH ANOTHER. AND THAT IS THE CODE!
This is a correction that needs to happen immediately! The current homeowners and anyone buying the house are at terrific risk. Thinking they did something clever and good the current homeowners did not. It's a good thing they had a home inspector in their house!
My recommendation: home inspections sometimes take twists they usually don't take! I had never seen this before! Fortunately it was something we could see and catch. But this is a safety disaster and the homeowners should be grateful this was caught. Get a home inspection! It might reveal something the inspector has never seen before!
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