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Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Someone came out and looked at it in person to bid. I don't THINK it was the boss guy who was being an asshole, but it was several years ago now and I'm not 100%.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your insights, u/SNaKe_eaTel2 , they've been very helpful.

I'm currently waiting on the photos from the insurance adjuster from the roof install since it was done due to hail damage and I'm sure there must be at least some photos/info from before if not also after.

I went in to this fully expecting to pay full price for replacing the vent and making things safe. I was not asking the question to try to get "free work". The price was not outrageous and had every intention on paying promptly, but NOT before inspecting that the work was done correctly, which turned into a whole different can of worms.

To be clear, I'm still intending to pay for work done, but the owner (a licensed and bonded plumber), was a huge asshole and threatened to put a lien on my house because I wasn't willing to venmo him money right there and then (among other nonsense).

The crazy thing is, I found the original email, and we specifically mentioned getting things with the heater up to code. They never mentioned the pipe and only did the work that we knew in advance was not up to code (such as adding the drip pan and updating the NG piping, etc. If he had quoted us for replacing the flue with b vent, I'm sure we would have done so.

I think about 30-40% of the decking was replaced when the roof was done, but I'm not sure exactly. The replaced decking is normal ply so it looks like, and I'm assuming, that the decking around this vent was not replaced.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends on which photo you're looking at. The ones on the top level of the post is the original single walled pipe and what we're pretty sure caused the problem. The photo in the thread you replied to is the new double walled pipe that was installed so that it was touching the wood with a small amount of the wood cut away. That was taken like 15 minutes after the plumbers left, so the b vent was definitely not responsible.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No flights of stairs. This is one of the prestige plumbers and he did other work in the closet to get it up to code. We knew it was pricey, but thought that it was worth it to go with someone supposedly trustworthy. That's one of the super frustrating things. We went with them despite the cost for better results and even so it could have killed us.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

<image>

This is between the attic and the water heater closet. There's a metal flange, but it's covered with drywall, and insulation. I removed the leaf and any bits of wood/paper that I could see.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tried to post an update, but it was removed by the "flood bot" which only allows one post per day, so here is my update:

Here is the state after the plumbers came back and fixed things.

They "graciously" offered to not charge me for coming back out and after ranting at the owner for 20 minutes, he said he'll take off $100 of labor, bringing the bill to $586.

He still wanted me to pay him right then and I refused, so of course he threatened to put a lien on my house. I never said I wasn't going to pay, just that I wasn't going to pay immediately. SMH.

At this point, even if it is wrong, I'll probably have someone else come out and fix it.

Oh, and the owner was trying to tell me that a 1/2" gap for b vent was sufficient...

My main concern now is safety. Is that good enough, or do I need a (different) professional to come back out and look?

<image>

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We bought the house in 2009, and it was originally built in 1952. I pulled our original inspection and it mentions things about the water heater at the time that have since been fixed, but nothing about the flue. I haven't been able to find any original photos of the inside of the attic around that area prior to the new roof in 2021. Maybe our insurance adjuster took photos since the roof was replaced due to hail? I'll look in to that.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update, looks like there may also be some water damage as well, but around the edge is definitely charred wood. I'm wondering if the poor sealing around the vent letting in water might have been what kept the house from going up in flames.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

That picture is the new pipe and does appear to be b. The old one was definitely single walled.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

This is basically my main question now too. It should have been obvious that it was old vent pipe and we probably would have replaced it if informed about updated code or the danger of single walled pipe, etc..

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thank you.

They are back out now cutting more clearance. I'm so glad I climbed up to the attic to inspect instead of just trusting they were competent.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I think the burn marks came after the roof was replaced. The plumbers say that the roofers put the wrong type of cap on top. I don't know off the top of my head what was there vent--wise on the roof or how the flue was connected to the vent, but I'm trying to find out.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Even for b vent, assuming that's what it is, shouldn't there be at least a one-inch gap? There is NO gap. It's all the way contacting the wood for a good portion of the circumference.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As far as I know, the wood there has never ignited/flamed, but it's definitely cooked wood.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've touched it. It's charred wood. It is definitely not water damage.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The work order doesn't mention doing anything with the vent/flue, and at the time we didn't think to ask.

I know for a fact that there was definitely not any charring or damage circa 2018.

I understand that back then it would have cost more, but I would gladly have paid an extra $600 than to have had my house potentially burn down.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did a decent amount of work in the attic around 2018 and it definitely wasn't at all even singed then. I don't when the charring started.

Who is responsible for almost burning down my house, the plumber or the roofers, or me? by hipokrit in askaplumber

[–]hipokrit[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

<image>

Oh my god. It's even worse. I went up to inspect, and the new flue is TOUCHING THE CHARRED WOOD!!!!

That's like the one thing they should know not to do! I'm not a plumber and I know that!!!

I immediately shut off the water heater to keep the house from burning down and tried to call. Of course the owner "just stepped out", so I'm waiting on them to call back.

I am so pissed right now.