Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
Hiring a home inspector makes sense
Question: I’m actually in Edmonton, but I can’t find any other person to get advice from. I hope you can help me, or help me find another source. We took over a 26-year-old house this past winter and the sump pump is running every other hour for approx 10 to 20 seconds each time. I checked that there is a valve on the sump pump and when it is not working, the water won’t come back in. We can hear and see the water running into the sump from another place; I guess that should be the water-collecting system. I also hired a landscaping company to regrade the back yard, so above-ground water is running away properly.
How can I tell whether the amount of water running into the sump is normal or too much? My last house was approximately 10 years old and I only heard the sump pump work one time in four years, and most of the time the sump was totally dry, so there is no comparison for me. Which company, institution, or department should I contact to find out where the water come from? Since there is so much water around the house, is it going to destroy my foundation? Is this something I should worry about? If we want to add a back-up sump pump, in case of a power outage, or if the sump pump breaks, what "system" would you recommend — UPS, a smaller pump hook on battery, or another suggestion? I really appreciate your time and hope you can give me some help.
Thank you very much in advance, Renee Zhang
Answer: Finding answers to your sump-pump questions may be much more simple than you think, even without a lengthy Google search. Consulting a local CAHPI registered home inspector to come and inspect your home may yield all the direct answers you desire. Ideally, this should have been done prior to purchase of your home, but can still be done later, whether you want the entire home inspected or just one or more individual systems checked.
Determining whether there is indeed a concern or issue that needs to be addressed with a system in your home can be difficult for many homeowners. Despite the mountain of free information available on the Internet, much of this information may be misleading or difficult to understand. Rather than losing sleep, worrying that your home will be floating away on an imaginary underground stream, you should hire someone to look at the issue first-hand. While you may find an experienced plumber or contractor who can check the sump-pump operation and ease your mind somewhat, that may not the best place to start. Hiring an experienced registered home inspector will give you direct information about your perceived problem in your own home.
For me to address your question more accurately, I would have to look at the home, location, soil conditions and other factors to properly know whether you have an abnormal amount of water draining from your weeping tile into your sump, or not. Having said that, the frequency of operation you are describing is certainly not abnormal. To have it run that much in the winter may be a little unusual, but that depends on whether the weeping tile is below the frost line, how deep your foundation is, and how cold it is. I commend you for improving the landscaping and grading around your home, but anything more may be an overreaction.
Excessive moisture in the soil around a home can cause serious issues, but that is precisely why a weeping tile and sump pit system is installed. If there is a lot of soil moisture, this must be collected by this critical system, so that it can be redistributed above grade and prevent seepage and soil pressure issues in your foundation. The frequency of operation you describe is certainly not excessive and may only serve to suggest that the system is working well, as designed.
The question you have posed about a back-up pump is well thought-out and worth addressing, by itself. It does make sense to have a second sump pump installed in case of a failure of the main pump. The type that may be the most prudent will be a small pump that runs off a large 12-volt automotive or marine battery. This is a good idea in case of a power outage, particularly during heavy summer storms. That is when there will be the maximum amount of moisture draining into the sump, and when you may need the secondary emergency pump to engage. Connecting the battery up to an on-demand trickle charger, plugged into a regular duplex receptacle, should ensure the battery is fully charged and ready when needed. I’m not sure what a UPS is, but further research by you may determine whether that is acceptable, also.
Ideally, hiring a registered home inspector to inspect your home prior to purchase may have answered your questions in advance, but there are issues that do arise after possession that can easily be addressed in a post-possession inspection. Consulting a professional home inspector to inspect one or more systems in your home to determine if they are operating properly, or just to explain the proper function to you in person, makes sense. To find such an individual in your area, check out the Canadian Association of Home Inspectors website at www.cahpi.ca, and click on the map for registered home inspectors in your home province.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the past president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors — Manitoba (cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at 204-291-5358 or via his website at trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
Renovation & Design
Vent issues lead to moisture damage
Question: I read a story in the Free Press, where you responded to a letter around moisture in the attic. I, too, have an issue and it is peeling paint on the ceiling in the kitchen. At least I think that’s what’s causing the peeling. I have a couple of ducts coming up from bathroom fans that vent through the attic and out the roof. The vent hood that they lead to is a flat, static-air vent hood — not good. In addition, this part of the roof is almost always covered with snow. Drifting snow from a north wind leads to a build up of snow in this location almost all winter. At times, you can see some icicles in the attic around the vent.
I’ve been told this vent should be wrapped with insulation, and maybe Poly as well, to help insulate it and prevent any heat loss. I was thinking of doing that and then installing a raised vent hood on the roof so that the vent won’t get covered by snow so often. The other option is to run the duct another 15 feet, to the other side of the roof slope, where there wouldn’t be any snow build-up. Unfortunately, this would lead to an even longer run in the attic. What do you think?
— Clay Kornelson
Answer: Improperly insulated or installed exhaust fan ducts and hood can cause significant moisture damage and are a fairly common home defect. The solution may be quite simple, but access to the attic and the roof to fix the problem may be the difficult part of the equation.
After looking at the pictures you attached with your inquiry, it is obvious improper arrangement is responsible for the ceiling damage. Nailing down the exact issue may be more difficult, as there are several obvious defects with this job. As with many home issues, amateurish workmanship, often with the use of the wrong materials and/or methods, is the culprit. While I don’t know which defect is directly responsible for the water damage, fixing all the following items should surely solve your problem.
The first thing, as you suggest, is replacing the vent hood on the roof. Someone has improperly installed a standard, square roof vent for the ducts rather than one designed for exhaust fans. The difference between the two is a passive attic vent has small slots or channels under the cap which are continuously open, while the exhaust fan hood has a damper that only opens when the fan is turned on. This damper prevents unwanted cold air from entering the ducting while minimizing warm-air loss from the bathrooms through the fan when it’s not operating. In your configuration, warm air exiting the home continuously will hit any cold air either entering the duct, or at the vent hood, causing condensation. This condensation will surely freeze in cold weather, causing a blockage of the vent hood and/or frost buildup in the duct. Not only will this inhibit proper operation of the fans, it may cause the frost to melt in warmer weather and the resulting water to run back into the attic, fan, or the kitchen ceiling.
To compound this improper installation, it appears there may be two ducts in the attic intersecting just before venting into the improper hood. Whether these two are physically attached or both simply terminating under the roof vent, the results may be the same. Some or most of the warm air expelled from these ducts could easily flow into the attic rather than out through the open roof vent hood. If that happened, frost buildup from condensation would definitely form on the underside of the roof sheathing. As with the ducting, this frost would melt in the first winter thaw, drip and soak the insulation below, possibly running into the ceilings.
The initial solution to this second defect is to split the ducts into two separate entities, and connect both individually to the appropriate vent hoods newly installed either on the roof, or a nearby gable end, if possible. This will not only reduce the likelihood of both fans leaking, it may actually improve their performance by providing the properly sized ducts and hoods for each unit. This is critical, as each exhaust fan will have a specific volume of air movement (usually rated as CFMs) which is contingent on the duct sizing. Installing a high-CFM fan with ducting that is undersized, partially blocked, or connected to another fixture, may significantly affect this feature. Lower airflow may be the result, wasting energy and not adequately venting either of the areas serviced by the individual units.
Finally, the insulation on the ducting appears to be moderately well done but is missing in a few locations. The ducts must be fully insulated, as open spots will be subject to much colder attic temperatures, creating isolated areas of frost from condensation. Removing all of the old pipe wrap-style insulation may be a good idea, allowing the installation of more modern insulation less likely to be affected by moisture. The key here is to ensure the complete duct system is insulated adequately and uniformly, to prevent warm and cold spots that can lead to condensation.
The most difficult part of repairing the improperly insulated and vented ducts and hoods for your exhaust fans is getting access to do good repairs. Both the attic and the roof will have to be accessed, with care taken to install and seal the proper materials, both above and below the roof sheathing.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the past president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors — Manitoba (cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at 204-291-5358 or check out his website at trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
