Flue Liner Code Question - http://www.hvacmechanic.com/ Forums
Original message
| homeseller
 |  "Flue Liner Code Question"
, posted Wed 20 Aug 23:48  
I am getting ready to sell my house and just found out that I need to correct a code issue that I don't fully understand. I think I need some advice on how to proceed.
My furnace is 17-years old, so the city inspector required me to have it certified. I was charged $250 to have a HVAC professional come test the furnace and write up a form saying it passed. While he was there, he recommended a $600 part and said that the furnace is fine. I also instructed him to clean and tune the furnace if it passed, but if it didn't, I would want to get a couple of bids on replacing the furnace altogether instead. I asked what it would cost to have a new one installed and he quoted me upwards of $4000 since it is a high efficiency furnace.
When the city inspector came to the house, he noticed that the flue liner did not extend 6" above the chimney and said that it would have to be fixed before he would issue a seller's property maintenance certificate. When I called the HVAC guy back to ask about this, he told me that the code states that I have to have it capped, but according to him, there is nothing in the code about it extending 6" above the chimney. Either way, I would need to have it corrected. He quoted me $150 to do this, but when he came back to perform this "easy fix," he informed me that there is no flue liner present, so he would have to install a new one...$1600.
This raises several questions for me...
1) If this flue liner is a code requirement, why didn't he catch it when he was here to perform his $250 certification?
2) I have my chimney professionally cleaned annually...why didn't a chimney sweep tell me I needed to have this installed?
3) How did this house pass inspection when I bought it 10 years ago if this is a standard code requirement?
4) Why does it cost $1600 to install a flue liner and why wasn't it installed when the furnace was put in? Even though the furnace vents directly outside, the water heater still vents through the chimney making it that much more important to have the liner installed, right? Plus -- according to my math, that means these corossive acids have been at work for 17-years, yet none of the chimney sweeps have ever mentioned a problem...I find this curious.
The bottom line, here, is that I need to sell this house and really don't want to dump a couple of grand into a chimney liner. What's the most cost effective way to solve this problem?
Thank you,
homeseller
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Replies:
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| yuri
|  "Re(1):Flue Liner Code Question"
, posted Thu 21 Aug 15:37
Replace the water heater with an electric one and have the top of the chimney capped is a cheaper solution. There are some grandfather clauses and things need upgrading when they are being replaced or inspected for safety permits. Out of sight/out of mind, most customers HATE spending $$, distrust techs so we sometimes don't bring every issue up as most people won't do anything unless they have to. Grandfather clause again. You would need a 4" B vent to meet the code for the gas water heater and it is expensive stuff.
Yuri
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| | yuri
| "Re(3):Flue Liner Code Question" , posted Thu 21 Aug 21:31
Cannot do that. Sounds like you need a liner. Direct vent water heaters cost several thousand $$ so the liner is probably the cheapest solution.
Yuri
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