OMG: how did my house not burn down?

[protool]

I opened the ceiling in the garage this weekend to pull some speaker wires and coax. I looked over at the area above the water heater and was pretty well amazed that the vent wasn't connected. After I showed LOML she said that the floor of the laundry room (directly above) has always been warm.

So, that's pretty scary. And presumably we've been breathing bad stuff as well although our carbon monoxide detector has never gone off. As I was thinking back, the home inspector wrote up that vent pipe either wasn't connected or wasn't connected properly on the furnace. I guess the vent guy took the day off when they were building the house.

Regardless, I feel really, really lucky that we're alive and the house is standing.

[Uncle Cracker]

Glad you didn't become a statistic... You don't say how long ago your house was built, but there might be a need to hold somebody accountable for this, not the least of which might be the building inspector that certified your house to be fit for habitation.

[cabinetman]

You're very fortunate. Good thing you went up there.
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[cgallery]

You're very fortunate. Good thing you went up there.
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Yep! The Lord works in mysterious ways.

[crokett]

You were very lucky. Is it just me or is there charring on the sub floor above that open flu?

[Richard in Smithville]

Wow.....that's just unreal!. Glad that everyone is alright. That's one thing to mention to the doctor next time you see him/her though.

[Uncle Cracker]

Is it just me or is there charring on the sub floor above that open flu?

It ain't just you...

[protool]

Yes, there's a bunch of charring there. Here's a link to a larger version.

The plumber just left and everything is fixed. He asked an interesting question: have you recently gotten a new roof? Yes, last month. His contention is that the vent pipe was broken through the process of replacing the vent jacks on the roof and that there would be lots more soot around the whole area if it had been charring for 17 years (house was built in 1991). The date on the water heater was 1991 indicating that no-one has worked on it since it was initially installed.

I talked with LOML and she says that the floor has always been warm in the laundry room. This would indicate that maybe this has been this way for a long time. However, last week she called me in b/c she smelled smoke and was worried that the dryer was having problems. I smelled it too but we couldn't find anything. This is new and would indicate that this is a recent issue due to the roof.

So, do you think that replacing the vent jack on the roof (remember that this is a 2 story house) could be so violent that it could unhook/disconnect/break the connection 15 feet below? That is, should I pursue having the roofer pay for the repair?

If it has been going on for 17 years, its scary, but not really, really scary... it would probably be OK. However, if its has only been going on for 30 days, our house was going to burn up. Soon. Like, holy crap soon. So, if you've been thinking about putting speakers in the back yard but have been putting it off, think of it as an opportunity to make sure your house isn't going to catch on fire.

[Uncle Cracker]

So, do you think that replacing the vent jack on the roof (remember that this is a 2 story house) could be so violent that it could unhook/disconnect/break the connection 15 feet below?

Doubtful... From your photos, the lower section of pipe and fittings was completely disjointed and pointed away from the upper section. This could not have happened by accident, or even on purpose, if the roof jack is all that was disturbed. That piping had to be manipulated to that position.