“If all else fails—-follow the instructions.” This sentence was actually part of the instructions I had once for installing a sliding door. While it showed a sense of humor on the part of the manufacturer, it really cuts to the heart of the matter—-that you “never know what you don’t know.” As a home inspector I often find things that have not been installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
The wall heater pictured below was installed too close to the wall. When I find installations like this—especially if they are fire safety issues such as this one, I will sometimes insert the applicable manufacturer’s instructions right in the report with a picture of the improper installation. The following PDF “Snapshot” was taken directly from a recent Inspection Report in order to give you an example of what it would look like in a typical report. In this case I also “high-lighted” the damning evidence within the manufacturer’s instructions.
It is extremely informative that many of the “key” words are CAPITALIZED and in BOLD to emphasize the importance of the instructions.
This next picture is of a similar type wall heater that has utilized the old forced air register location as a place to install the new heater—-clever, but too close to the floor—-and of course it needs to have its protective cover installed.
This heater has not been installed long and/or used very much and yet one can still see the “faint” discoloration of overheating of the floor near the unit.
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Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector
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