I've got a 2005 manufactured home, it's still under warranty. I just
discovered that my high efficiency gas furnace has been venting into my
attic. It's apparently been doing this all winter. The roof deck is
sagging by the exhaust vent and the sheating on the north side of the
house is coming loose. My concern is the way they may repair this and
what I should require. I'm scared of problems down the road after the
warrenty runs out this year. Any ideas?

chevybb wrote:
I've got a 2005 manufactured home, it's still under warranty. I just
discovered that my high efficiency gas furnace has been venting into
my attic. It's apparently been doing this all winter. The roof deck is
sagging by the exhaust vent and the sheating on the north side of the
house is coming loose. My concern is the way they may repair this and
what I should require. I'm scared of problems down the road after the
warrenty runs out this year. Any ideas?

Any signs of mold? If so, hire a lawyer, file a lawsuit for replacement
of the entire structure.

Take lost of photos inside and out, document, document, document
everything in writing. Demand any costs estimates, statements of work,
and invoices in writing and save copies. Write down dates and times
and names when you call any of the involved parties.

Without seeing the damage, it's difficult to say what will be required.
The furnace installer should bear the cost of this. The vent
obviously has to be properly installed, any moisture damage to the
roof, walls, ceilings, insulation, etc will have to be repaired. Be
very involved in this process, talk to the local building code
officials/inspectors about this, be there while the repairs are made if
possible, talk to the contractor performing the work, watch what is
being done, take before/after photos. You don't necessarily have to be
rude or angry, but make sure they know that you are seeing what's going
on and that you expect all problems to be completely resolved. It may
be worthwhile to you to spend a little to hire someone to thoroughly
inspect the attic and surrounding areas for any hidden damage (or if
someone you know or are related to is capable of this, so much the
better - just a neutral 3rd party who is knowledgeable would be good).

I'm far from an expert on this sort of situation, but I think that's
how I would handle it if it were me.

sorry, that first line should read: "...LOTS of photos..."

On 28 Feb 2006 09:36:27 -0800, "chevybb" wrote:

I've got a 2005 manufactured home, it's still under warranty. I just
discovered that my high efficiency gas furnace has been venting into my
attic. It's apparently been doing this all winter. The roof deck is
sagging by the exhaust vent and the sheating on the north side of the
house is coming loose. My concern is the way they may repair this and
what I should require. I'm scared of problems down the road after the
warrenty runs out this year. Any ideas?


You own a house. Congratulations. Get used to spending money.

The one useful Idea I can think of is to find out from the
company how much money they'll give you *NOT* to fix it themselves,
and then put that money towards hiring someone else to deal with it.
They may not be willing to do that at all, and if they are, it
will certainly cost you more to get it fixed than they'll give you.

Don't even worry about mold, yet. The implications of what's happened,
and the potential numbers involved, make it foolish _not_ to get legal
representation now.

One well-versed in local real-estate law.

HTH,
J

It was was inspected and given a cert of ocupancy right. or a troll .

"It was was inspected and given a cert of ocupancy right"

I once had a 200A heavy-up inspected in 5 minutes, breaker panel door
was never opened, much less the cover removed.

So I'm not suprised, ever, at what an inspector can miss.

Dave

"louie" wrote in message
oups.com...
sorry, that first line should read: "...LOTS of photos..."

Damn! I must be dislexic. That's what I read the first time....

;-]

wrote in message
ups.com...
"It was was inspected and given a cert of ocupancy right"

I once had a 200A heavy-up inspected in 5 minutes, breaker panel door
was never opened, much less the cover removed.

So I'm not suprised, ever, at what an inspector can miss.

Dave


My home inspectors missed the fact that half my kitchen was built over a
crawlspace. Duh.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
"It was was inspected and given a cert of ocupancy right"

I once had a 200A heavy-up inspected in 5 minutes, breaker panel door
was never opened, much less the cover removed.

So I'm not suprised, ever, at what an inspector can miss.

Dave


My home inspectors missed the fact that half my kitchen was built over a
crawlspace. Duh.

Is there something wrong with that?

"Dr. Hardcrab" wrote in message
news:4M5Nf.5486$FE2.4284@trnddc01...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
"It was was inspected and given a cert of ocupancy right"

I once had a 200A heavy-up inspected in 5 minutes, breaker panel door
was never opened, much less the cover removed.

So I'm not suprised, ever, at what an inspector can miss.

Dave


My home inspectors missed the fact that half my kitchen was built over a
crawlspace. Duh.

Is there something wrong with that?


Yeah. They discussed a million details about how to make the house more
comfortable in winter - stuff like putting those foam things behind
electrical switch covers, and repairing weatherstripping that the prior
owner had neglected. I pointed out the crawlspace, which was never insulated
correctly and asked about the proper way to do it. Both guys said
"Hmm....didn't catch that."

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Dr. Hardcrab" wrote in message
news:4M5Nf.5486$FE2.4284@trnddc01...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
"It was was inspected and given a cert of ocupancy right"

I once had a 200A heavy-up inspected in 5 minutes, breaker panel door
was never opened, much less the cover removed.

So I'm not suprised, ever, at what an inspector can miss.

Dave


My home inspectors missed the fact that half my kitchen was built over a
crawlspace. Duh.

Is there something wrong with that?


Yeah. They discussed a million details about how to make the house more
comfortable in winter - stuff like putting those foam things behind
electrical switch covers, and repairing weatherstripping that the prior
owner had neglected. I pointed out the crawlspace, which was never
insulated correctly and asked about the proper way to do it. Both guys
said "Hmm....didn't catch that."

O.K., I gotcha now.

I thought maybe new codes don't allow crawlspaces anymore or something....

;-]

"Dr. Hardcrab" wrote in message
news:SI7Nf.3804$d61.574@trnddc05...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Dr. Hardcrab" wrote in message
news:4M5Nf.5486$FE2.4284@trnddc01...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...
"It was was inspected and given a cert of ocupancy right"

I once had a 200A heavy-up inspected in 5 minutes, breaker panel door
was never opened, much less the cover removed.

So I'm not suprised, ever, at what an inspector can miss.

Dave


My home inspectors missed the fact that half my kitchen was built over
a crawlspace. Duh.

Is there something wrong with that?


Yeah. They discussed a million details about how to make the house more
comfortable in winter - stuff like putting those foam things behind
electrical switch covers, and repairing weatherstripping that the prior
owner had neglected. I pointed out the crawlspace, which was never
insulated correctly and asked about the proper way to do it. Both guys
said "Hmm....didn't catch that."

O.K., I gotcha now.

I thought maybe new codes don't allow crawlspaces anymore or something....

;-]


No - still allowed. But, it makes me wonder just how cheap it was to heat
houses in 1956, when this was built. Absolutely no effort was made to
insulate the crawlspace, and it's the main dining area. The floor's ice
cold. It's gonna be a project.

Thanks for all the good ideas. This is not my first house, it was
supposed to be the retirement house. The furnace is factory installed,
as I said all repair work is covered by the factory at no cost to me.
I've already taken pictures of the seen problems, but until a crew gets
here to open up the attic from the outside(there is no other way in) I
won't know the extent of the damage. Sounds like I should be prepared
to go to the wall with them.

"chevybb" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for all the good ideas. This is not my first house, it was
supposed to be the retirement house. The furnace is factory installed,
as I said all repair work is covered by the factory at no cost to me.
I've already taken pictures of the seen problems, but until a crew gets
here to open up the attic from the outside(there is no other way in) I
won't know the extent of the damage. Sounds like I should be prepared
to go to the wall with them.


They provided no attic access from the inside??? This gets better and
better. Did you actually speak to any of the people who built this house?
Were they drunk all day?

They could have killed you.

Get a lawyer

Bill wrote:
They could have killed you.

Get a lawyer



Another symptom of what's wrong with America and why we have so many
lawyers wasting money and driving up the cost of everything. Bubba
gave the best advice. The OP has a warranty and the company has
indicated it will make the necessary repairs. Why the hell would
anyone go running to a lawyer?

A far better approach is to do as Bubba suggested and get the local
building inspector involved. If he shows no real interest, and the OP
doesn't have a reasonable understanding of how the work should be done,
then I would consider hiring a competent home inspector to come over a
few times. Before the repairs start, a couple times during, and again
when they are done. I'd get a price/rate nailed down upfront.

My concern is that all the carbon monoxide (which is supposed to be vented
outdoors) is now in the home with you.

Sounds like you are in danger of monoxide poisoning. Any flu or headache or
red cherry like skin? Blue fingernails? Children who don't wake up for days
at a time?

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"chevybb" wrote in message
ups.com...
I've got a 2005 manufactured home, it's still under warranty. I just
discovered that my high efficiency gas furnace has been venting into my
attic. It's apparently been doing this all winter. The roof deck is
sagging by the exhaust vent and the sheating on the north side of the
house is coming loose. My concern is the way they may repair this and
what I should require. I'm scared of problems down the road after the
warrenty runs out this year. Any ideas?

most important:

is the venting rectified?

install a carbon monoxide detector immediatly [ today ]

get an attorney, the side of the roof might have to be replaced and
they will try and lowball the repair

dont sign anything until you speak with an attorney.


--
whodat
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