Bought a house which did not have a properly lined chimney..

[Undrln]

What is the name of your state? Ohio.

Recently we discovered flue gases were leaking from the exposed part of our chimney in our attic when a carbon monoxide detector alarm on the 2nd floor of our home went off on Christmas Eve.

We now have no heat because the furnace has been shut off by the gas company. The fire dept., gas company, and two independent HVAC companies agreed the problem was a result of the furnace being used with a chimney that was not properly lined for it. In other words, they should have put a special liner in the chimney, but did not and the terra cote bricks started to slowly flake from the acidic flue gases given off by the furnace.

We now have to have a double-wall pipe put inside the chimney to safely carry away the flue gases. We cannot have it safely lined at this point (from what I understand), and furnace does not support a horizontal exhaust.

The same company whom we bought the house from done the renovation, and installed the furnace. So I am wondering is it possible they can be held liable for the cost (at all??)? The house was purchased around 1995 .

Thank you for your time.

[BelizeBreeze]

and you are just finding out about it now?

[acmb05]

Originally Posted by BelizeBreeze

and you are just finding out about it now?

This type of problem can take a number of years to show themselves, However the inspection they had when they purchased the home should have caught this potential problem.

Not sure though after 11 years if they would have much luck getting the company that did the renovations to fix the problem. Gas company should have caught it to when they did the innitial inspection on the furnace install before turning on the gas.