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Safety
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Miscellaneous
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This is a picture of a gas water
heater installed next to a gas furnace. The
opening in 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 in to the furnace at this duct opening
can suck all the carbon monoxide from the gas
water heater into the furnace, when 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.
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This third floor window at these stairs needs a
railing to protect against someone falling
through the window three floors to the concrete
walkway between these homes. The window is a
standard thermal window. It is not a plate glass
window. The railing should be installed in front
of this window immediately, for safety and legal
liability sake.
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This picture of soot blow back on and around
this water heater temperature sensor is an
indication of a serious malfunction and
deterioration inside this water heater. This is
a serious safety hazard that should immediately
be investigated and corrected by a qualified
specialist.
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This gas fireplace vent goes through a closet
filled with combustible clothes. Obviously, no
consideration was given to fire safety or the
welfare of the homes occupants. It is supposed
to be contained inside a properly spaced
enclosure. This installation needs to be
correctly and safely completed by a qualified
specialist, immediately.
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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.
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The location of this light bulb inside a clothes
closet could easily start a fire in this home.
A better idea would be to have an enclosed light
here (no exposed light bulb) or a fluorescent
light fixture, which does not generate the kind
of heat that an incandescent bulb does. It is
not enough to tell people not to stack clothing
or other combustibles like cardboard boxes too
close to this bulb. It is better to make it
safer in the first place.
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These rusting propane tanks, which are required
to be at least ten feet from any opening in an
exterior wall (Note the kitchen window in the
top right of the picture) These tanks should be
replaced (because of their rusting condition)
and relocated immediately (too close to the
kitchen window) for safety sake. These tanks are
also supposed to be on a stable base, like
concrete pad or patio stones etc.
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This gas meter, located in a driveway, should
have a post or metal barrier in front of it to
protect it from being hit by a vehicle. If it
gets hit by a vehicle, it could leak natural gas
and cause and sustain a fire. The protection
should be installed immediately.
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The wires shown in this picture are the incoming
electrical service cable at the top of the hydro
mast on this house. The connections on the power
lines are supposed to covered with a proper
insulating material. This semi exposed
connection is so close to the bare
ground/neutral wire that it is obviously arcing
across (probably in rainy weather only) and
pitting the ground wire. If these two wires ever
touch each other, (say, in windy weather) they
will short and burn through each other, giving
off a light show that the neighbours will
remember for a long time and this house will
then be out of power, possibly along with half
the neighbourhood. The local hydro utility
should be called in to correct this problem.
Since it is the local utility's responsibility
for the service cable connections at the top of
the mast, there should be no charge to the
homeowner for this urgent safety correction.
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The wire to the left of this main electrical
shutoff switch is the system ground wire. It is
supposed to be connected to the incoming water
pipe for the house. This should be corrected
immediately for safety sake so that a short to
ground in the system will blow a fuse or trip a
breaker instead of energizing the device box or
the housing of the device that is connected to
it. The correction should be done by a qualified
electrician.
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This clothes drier electrical plug has no metal
box to contain the wire connections. A person
reaching for the laundry soap (blue and white
box in the picture) could electrocute
themselves. The correction of this problem
involves less than $10.00 worth of parts. A
small price to pay considering the alternatives.
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This is an air conditioner electrical supply
cable hooked up to the 'street' side of this
home's MAIN power disconnect. There is no way to
shut off the power to this cable. It is a fire
hazard that must be corrected immediately by a
QUALIFIED electrician.
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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.
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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.
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This picture shows a very dangerous way to
connect the air conditioning wires. The air
conditioning wires (small red and black wires)
are connected to the street side of the main
disconnect. They are unfused and cannot be shut
off. This is a fire and electrocution hazard
that should be corrected immediately
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This picture shows another very dangerous way to
connect the air conditioning wires. The air
conditioning wires (small black and white wires
exiting the panel at top right) are connected to
the panels main bus. This bus is fused at 100
amps, the wire is only rated for 30 amps. This
is a fire hazard that should be corrected
immediately.
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This picture of soot blow back on and around
this water heater temperature sensor is an
indication of a serious malfunction and
deterioration inside this water heater. This is
a serious safety hazard that should immediately
be investigated and corrected by a qualified
specialist.
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This house had a new electrical panel installed
a few years ago. Unfortunately, the service
cable conduit was not fitted with a box
connector to properly connect it to the
electrical panel. The conduit has moved back a
bit leaving the service cable rubbing on the
electrical panel casing. Should the wires ever
short to the panel, there is a very real
possibility of fire or electrocution. This item
needs to be corrected immediately, for safety
sake!
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