Cracked Fireplace Flue Presents High Risk
QUESTION: I bought an older house. My inspection report indicates that the fireplace is unsafe because it has an unlined flue and a crack. What should I do?
ANSWER: The best answer is to demolish and rebuild the fireplace. The risks of the unlined, cracked flue are two: fire and earthquake damage.
Fire risk can often be corrected with a “retrofit” flue liner, but these do not strengthen the chimney against earthquake damage. Check with a masonry contractor who specializes in fireplaces for further advice.
How to Track Down a Qualified Inspector
Q: Looking through the Yellow Pages listings for a home inspector, I finally found them under “Building Inspectors.” Question. Why don’t you list yourselves under Real Estate, as is everyone else associated with real estate?
Question 2. The ads include all manner of qualifications cited by individual companies. How do I know which qualifications are meaningful?
A: In the days of “Ma Bell” she, in her infinite wisdom, selected Building Inspection as the place to put the then new category of home inspectors. The categories are so rigid, it appears that only some of the “independent” phone books can list us elsewhere. Maybe someday PacTel and GenTel will catch up.
Regarding qualifications, they vary widely because home inspection is a unique yet unlicensed discipline that draws from many related trades and professions for background training.
Inspectors come from the ranks of contractors, engineers, code inspectors, architects, and others with related experience. Yet we are none of those; and none of these is a sufficient qualification.
The best qualification for screening a prospective home inspector is CREIA/ASHI membership, since that organization has fairly rigorous testing and ethics requirements. Beyond that, call and ask pointed questions of those you tentatively select.
