Wett Inspections by home inspectors could be a fatal choice
Ask the home inspector who offers a WETT inspection with their home inspection if they include inspection of the chimney, if not, they are simply taking money to do half a job and leaving people unknowingly unprotected. In recently speaking to a fire department inspector who works in the Orillia and Barrie area I learned chimney fires are still, in proportion, a major cause of home fires.
WETT certified Home inspectors are not competent to inspect chimneys
If there is no inspection of the chimney that means there is a glaring part of the system still unknown. A WETT certified member, which is the classification almost all home inspectors fall into, is not trained or competent to perform chimney inspections. They can handle only basic visual inspections. It takes a WETT certified technician to actually conduct the more intensive inspections. Technicians can also perform maintenance on wood burning appliances or fix major problems that you may have with them.
Uninspected chimneys are dangerous and can be costly to replace
Besides the issue of fire there is the replacement cost of the chimney if it is defective. From a possibly defective liner or a split in the manufactured chimney which is common on older chimneys or those that have had a chimney fire in them at one time, the cost of replacement can be from $3,000 to upwards of $20,000 for a masonry chimney. Yet the inspector you are hiring to protect you with vital information on the home intends to knowingly leave you with not only a possible unexpected replacement cost of a chimney but with a potential fire hazard uninspected.
Every year people die in home fires many of which begin in a chimney. A home inspector who is not a WETT certified technician but is only a WETT certified inspector does not inspect the chimney and without inspecting the chimney they leave more than something to be desired they leave their clients in a very dangerous and vulnerable position.
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