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Not all vent systems work the same

I had the pleasure of inspectinga very creatively remodeled home here in Silverton, Oregon today. This in particular had me scratching my head:

exhaust fan tied to the plumbing system

The exhaust vent for the master bathroom was tied directly to the plumbing vent system. I guess they are both "vent systems" however they do very different jobs. The plumbing vent is built to hold water, so any condensation or rain water or bugs can all go down the drain no problem. The exhaust vent for the master bathroom may begin to have issues with most of those things.

Very creative "custom" remodel job anyway.

Posted by Jim Allhiser Salem, Oregon Home Inspector on 03/18/2009 06:20 PM

Comments (14)

Re-Muddled in the Home Improvement Channel

home inspection, remodels, plumbing, ventilation, creative, custom

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14 Comments on Not all vent systems work the same

MAR

Let me be the first! I'm curious to know how you wrote that up.

Jim did you write it up as the wrong color pipe?:) This installation has so many things that are "just plain wrong" about it. Not the least of which is possible sewer gases communicating with sparking motors:)

Ha! That's one I haven't seen yet.

I think my exact words were: "crap-tastic installation," or something like that.

Yikes I didn't even think about the flamable methane. Just imagine that blow torch!

Thanks for the comment Reuben.

MAR

I like how you said "very creatively remodeled home." Now that's being nice!

Many years ago I took three other inspectors to a home that was full of junk. Not only that, though, the junk stunk. When we finished, my brother commented that they had a lot of "s**t" in there. I said, "No they don't. They have excessive furnishings and storage." It's all in how you word things -- LOL.

Yikes! Hope this was the only thing they modified! Makes you want to look all the more carefully doesn't it!

I don't know a darn thing about this but it still seems wrong. and why is everyone saying "yikes" in this post....Okay, that's my two cents. Yikes!

Russel: That's funny.

Margaret: The owner was a talented finish carpenter, but he was not a plumber!

Cecily: Your cents is worth way more than two. This is scary, like burn your house down around you scary. That's yikes.

MAR

I saw someone try to vent a dryer through the plumbing ventilation system before. True Brilliance. Good post!

Jim, that's just crazy. I bet you have seen some interesting stuff over the years.

Harold: You said it.

Lara: I am always amazed at the inventiveness of home owners.

MAR

Hi Jim, you've got to hand it to some home owners and their creative thinking. I just had a house this week where the owner cut the main beam to install a new furnace and supported the two cut ends with temporary jack screws, and of course they were not sitting on any footings.

MAR

Footings! We don't need no stinking footings! Jack screws work just fine. At least they didn't use a bumper jack. I've actually seen that. Oh yeah, Jim that really is an interesting system. Yikes!!

Jim, My term is creative construction. Same meaning, same results. I like crap-tastic much better, but you can't put that in the report.

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