help re: bought home w/leaking carbon monoxide

[redford95]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
Bought a home, had it inspected first. Was told the chimney had 2 flues, 1 for fireplace and 1 for boiler. Was told the fireplace flue top was deteriated. So I had a new woodstove installed and stainless steel chimney liner. I joked with the installers and said for them to make sure the liner went in the proper flue.. they stated there's no way to make a mistake..since there was only 1 flue up there for the fireplace. The other flue was filled with cement/stone. They explained that the boiler can not exhaust through a flue that has been capped / plugged off. So the exhaust has to be comeing out through the house. I looked at the inspection it stated the boiler had a flue which it does not. also the disclosure papers from the owner/realestate..circled there was NO known faults with the chimney and NO known faults wth the heater. (the cement does not look too old.. they've owned this house for well over 12 yrs.)
We would never have paid this price with a serious problem like this! We found other lies too such as the toilet burps when you use the kitchen sink..then we noticed sewer smell down in basement...it has a cheater vent.. must of had problems with plumbing vent... then also it stated 200 amp service but it's 150.. they said the roof was steel.. it is aluminum BUT the heating system and chimney is MAJOR! I did call the home inspecter, he said he'd have to see this for him self, I explained I also called the heating plumbing agency which installed this heater years ago, and they came right out since this was an emergency, the inspecter said his computer is down... then in the next sentence..it was in the shop being repaired.. .and then he said I will call me back in 24 hours.. that was 8 days ago.

 

[FlyingRon]

You'd have to prove that the seller knew there was a defect in the heater installation. The disclosure doesn't tell you of all property defects, just the ones known to the seller.

First off is to get someone who knows what they are doing, a heating professional, not some general house inspector, to inspect the heater issue. Who knows how it is installed. Many high efficiency furnaces exhaust through a PVC pipe through a side wall. Mine does.

I don't know what you mean by "cheater vent" but if you mean an air admittance valve, then that is legal by code in most places and may or may not be your problem. Again, you need professional help from a plumber, not some home inspector.

As for the representations as to the roof and the electrical service "they said" isn't very specific. Who is "they" and where did they "say" it.

 

[redford95]

I think you miss understood the entire problem. The boiler was installed properly years ago. ( I called and had the professional heating/plumbing company come out that installed it years ago..just to see if they had altered the venting of the exhaust ) Older boilers had to be vented through a flue in a chimney..newer heaters can be vented through the wall etc.. The problem is the HomeOwner, filled the flue with cement and plugged off the exhaust vent. I sincerely beleave he, a home sub-contracter, intended to cap/plug off the fireplace flue and accidently did the wrong one! (they did't use the fireplace except for decorative candles) If you wonder how a home owner/contracter could have made such a mistake...consider also that a PROFESSIONAL HOME INSPECTER also messed up on which flue was which. He told me that the fireplace flue looked like it needed to be repaired or a liner put in the chimney with a new cap, when it was fine. I was told by the professional plumbing and heating company to look back at the property disclosure statement. In that honesty disclosure statement it stated that the chimney and heater had NO known defects. (large stone and cement did not fall from the sky on a 9/12 pitch roof) Yes I will have to now install an entire new heating system venting through a wall etc... but this will be VERY costly since the original piping etc is from the center of the home where the chimney is and the outside wall is quite a distance...so all new pipeing etc... I just want to know who is liable for repairing this...
It is in the property disclosure statement from the homeowners that the roof is steel and the electric service is a 200 amp... when the roof is ALUMINUN (good feature..won't rust.. bad feature.. cuts off any wireless devices and cell devices) and the electric service is only a 150 amp.
The professional heating and plumbing service noticed the "cheater vent" which is an after market installation and in the center of a 12 foot drain pipe not up by the connection that it should have been installed by. But that, the non adequate plumbing vent, (sink and toilet burps, basement smells like sewage) is not my priority problem. The costly furnace venting is!

 

[redford95]

what should I do

Just wondering.. am I up a creek with out a paddle? Do I go to an attorney and see if there if there is any thing I can do re: the home inspection and/or the disclosure being incorrect. Do I just suck it up and forget about it.. I just want that flue opened back up and the furnace exhaust to be able to vent up the chimney like it's suppose to. I'm not looking for money.. I'm looking for a proper heating system to work with out killing my kids that live in the house.

 

[FlyingRon]

PROFESSIONAL HOME INSPECTOR ranges from complete idiots to some people who might be able to point out things that a proper specialist should look at.
Your home inspection came qualified such that it's hard to hold the inspector responsible for anything.

I'm still not understanding. The disclosure statement would generally not contain statements about the roof construction or the electrical service (since they were not defects). So either you are confused or I am. Your only hope is to drag all the paper you have to a lawyer to see if there is anything you can do.

But again, you're digging a deeper hole for yourself. If your contention is that the seller inadvertantly capped off the boiler flue, then you have no action for him not disclosing as he didn't know he had created a problem.