We have seen your comments, and we understand your frustration. We don't have the details of your home or inspection report, so we will just have to respond to your note.
A gas leak is indeed a safety hazard, although gas leaks don't typically occur at the heat exchanger. Natural gas is odourless, but has a perfume added to it so that people can smell leaks. Our inspectors are trained to recognize the telltale smell of natural gas. Most homeowners can smell this as well.
We don't have enough information to address your comment that it was investigated but not flagged by the inspector. If no leak was identified during the inspection, where we remove the furnace cover and operate the furnace, it's likely that the leak was not active in the inspection. If a gas odour was detected by the inspector during the inspection, immediate further evaluation would typically be recommended.
The cost to correct a gas leak is usually quite small, but it is an immediate issue.
If the furnace heat exchanger is cracked, products of combustion can enter the house, creating a different issue than unburned natural gas. Incomplete combustion can produce carbon monoxide. The majority of a furnace heat exchanger is not visible even when removing the front covers, and a professional home inspector cannot analyze the condition of the heat exchanger. That's why as generalists, we recommend a heating specialist inspect and service the furnace as you move into the home.
When heat exchangers fail, the furnace is often replaced. Our inspection reports record the age of the furnace and a typical life expectancy. If the furnace was older, we would have projected the need for replacement and provided a ballpark cost. Again, we don't know about your specific situation.
Clay pipes under a front lawn are not visible, and are not included in a professional home inspection. We can't inspect what we can't see, although we do run all the plumbing fixtures in the house and watch for backups as part of the inspection. Most old Toronto houses have clay drain pipes and we would not recommend replacement of these as a matter of course. I have a clay main drain going out to the street in my 1921 home.
PVC cleanouts do not necessarily indicate that the clay pipe has been replaced. In my home for example, I have two PVC cleanouts in the front lawn, but the only thing that was replaced was the original trap, and about 2 feet of pipe on either side. The majority of the pipe is still the original clay. We would never conclude that the main drain to the house has been replaced based on the presence of plastic cleanouts.
I apologize that my answers cannot be more direct and helpful, but I don't know the specifics of the home and the inspection report. If you would like to contact us to discuss the situation, please do so.
Thanks very much,
Alan Carson
President
