It's "Furnace Friday" bloggers do all kind of silly things "Wordless Wednesday", "Speechless Sundays" I just saw "Funny Fridays" I guess share a dumb joke. I prefer things to do with homes. Furnaces are an important part of a home, even in the summer as Jay's post proves. This is a Re-Blog of a post by Jay Markanich a Virginia home inspector.
Do you have a day of the month that you change your furnace filter? Would the first Friday of every month work for you, if you are not yet a creature of habit? "Furnace Filter Friday" is the first Friday of each month on this blog. How will I know if I've missed "Furnace Filter Friday? If there is a Gallery Hop in the Short North and I have not blogged the day before about changing your furnace filter it is time for ketchup.... I mean catch up.
Hopefully I can find good home inspector blogger content about furnaces to Re-Blog like Jay's post. Thanks to Jay in Virginia for allowing "Replace Your Air Filter Regularly" OR The Mystery of the Rotting Door Trim' to be Re-Blogged.
Home Maintenance Mondays? Sump Pump Saturdays?
Sometimes things are found during home inspections that should not be there. And the reason has to be investigated. This can be a regular Hardy Boys mystery sometimes and can be a lot of fun!
It has been dry and on a patio not otherwise wet I saw the water you see here and the rotting wood. Whatever this problem was, it had been happening for some time. This part of the house is on a slab. It would be unusual, but not impossible, for water to be coming from under the door. There was no water source nearby. So what caused it? Sometimes, instead of looking down, you have to look ... up!
This is the water running to the drain rotting the wood trim under the patio door.
This is the AC condensate tube which is dripping water onto the patio splattering onto the wood and rotting the wood trim under the patio door.
This is the drip pan under the AC unit so full of water it is draining into the condensate tube which is dripping water onto the patio splattering onto the wood and rotting the wood trim under the patio door.
This is the absolutely frozen line on the AC unit dripping water into the drip pan under the AC unit so full of water it is draining into the condensate tube which is dripping water onto the patio splattering onto the wood and rotting the wood trim under the patio door.
This is the air filter so dirty air can't flow through it which is freezing the absolutely frozen line on the AC unit dripping water into the drip pan under the AC unit so full of water it is draining into the condensate tube which is dripping water onto the patio splattering onto the wood and rotting the wood trim under the patio door 50 FEET FROM THE AC UNIT !
One thing leads to another...
This is a foreclosure. Apparently the air conditioning, and perhaps previously the heat, has been on every day for some time. The filter had not been replaced -- for some time! The thermostat was set on 70F! The temperature generally was 83F. The unit was trying so hard to reach the demanded temperature that it was running continually and freezing from the effort. I turned off the AC unit and called the listing agent, whom I know. I DID NOT REMOVE THE FILTER! Why not? Because it was soaking wet and getting sucked in toward the coils. Sometimes Good Samaritan efforts can cause other damage, which I did not want to do. That foils anything else I might find on the inspection. Then the selling agent hears, "Well, that was fine until the home inspector broke it!"
When I first saw the dripping tube, I knew it was either a condensate line or from the drip pan under a washing machine. As there was no washing machine in the house and that pan dry, I knew where to look.
My recommendation: especially on listings that sit for a while, but certainly in your own home -- replace, or clean, the air filter regularly! How often is "regularly?" If the system is operating every day, then the filter should be replaced, or cleaned, every month!
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This post provided by Maureen McCabe of Real Living HER
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Very interesting post. So many things to maintain in a home and to remember to check.
Central air, all that water from the condenser not an issue in Maine. But changing that air filter on the hot air furnace to make it more efficient in the winter is. Liked the images, cause and cure approach on this one. Very helpful.
Good advice for home owners. Thanks for sharing.
That is great inspiration for our home inspectors like Jay who provide us with valuable information for our clients and customers...I am with you...Foolish Fridays, Mute Mondays...not sooo much...
why not click through and comment on the original?
Thanks for the post and the pictures. A good home inspector can help the buyer by looking for these things.
I re-blogged Jay's inspection reminders as well --- great advice. Have a nice weekend Maureen!
We have no furnaces in Florida, but I like the Filter Friday. I can make mine A/C Filter Friday. So many folks mess up their system so badly due to poor maintenance. A filter costs only a few bucks and can save so many headaches down the road. Nice re-blog.
Thanks, as always, for the reblog Maureen!
No, THANK YOU!
You have got to be the most Re-Blogged home inspector in the universe.
Well, I don't know about that Maureen, but please don't tell Billy Jays...
Billy Jays???
Billy has 11 or 12 blogs by now. They are a lot of fun!