CANSPEC Homeservices

Here are some of the pictures we have taken at actual home inspections.
A brief description has been included to explain the picture as the issue
may not be obvious at first glance.

	This furnace heat exchanger is extensively rusted and could have a hole in it somewhere. Since the heat exchanger's design precludes a home inspector from seeing the vast majority of it, we recommended that this furnace be reviewed immediately by a qualified heating specialist for safety sake. In this particular case, the heating technician confirmed our suspicion that the furnace was leaking dangerous carbon monoxide gas into the home. The furnace was 'red tagged', which means that the furnace was condemned and the technician shut off the fuel to the furnace for the safety of the home's occupants. This furnace was immediately replaced.
	Metal chimneys typically rust from the inside to the outside. The inside can collapse inward 'choking' the exhaust off, which then can leak potentially deadly carbon monoxide gas inside the home. This is a serious safety concern which should be addressed immediately by a qualified specialist.
	This chimney has had a basement gas fireplace added to it (bottom left). It already had the furnace and water heater connected to it. The chimney was not originally designed to handle all THREE connections. The concern here is the danger of carbon monoxide spilling back into the house if all three appliances (furnace, water heater & fireplace) operate at the same time. This installation should be reviewed and corrected by a qualified heating specialist - NOW for safety.
	This is a set of very cleverly concealed pipes for a buried heating oil tank. This tank could not be inspected without an expensive excavation. Buried oil tanks can leak oil resulting in brutally expensive environmental cleanups. The worst case we have heard of here in Ontario has cost over $1 million dollars and the cleanup was still in progress at the time.
	This is a picture of a gas water heater installed next to a gas furnace. The opening in the furnace ductwork, in the center of the picture, is sucking a large volume of air into the furnace when the furnace fan is running. The problem here is that the air being sucked into the furnace at this duct opening can suck carbon monoxide from the gas water heater into the furnace, it then distributes it throughout the house. This is a very serious safety concern that should be addressed immediately, for the safety of the home's occupants. The most annoying thing about what you see in this picture is that the water heater was installed barely a month before the home inspection, by people supposedly trained in the safe operation and installation of gas appliances.
	This picture of a furnace heat exchanger shows the burners covered with rust flakes from the wall of the heat exchanger. There is a very high likelihood that this furnace is unsafe to operate. The safety of the furnace can only be confirmed or refuted by a qualified heating specialist. This furnace was deemed unsafe and was immediately replaced.
	This furnace filter was so dirty that it was sucked in toward the furnace fan and was cut up by the fan belt. Furnace filters should be cleaned or replaced every one to two months. Otherwise, the furnace fan has to work very hard and does not really deliver the heat to the house. This results in a large part of your heating dollar going up the chimney instead of into the house.

Have a question or concern? We would be glad to speak with you.
Newmarket: 905-830-1518 » Toronto: 416-993-2954 » Toll Free: 1-877-CANSPEC (226-7732)