u/bitsbybones

Hello all!

This probably sounds really stupid, and I'm sure i already know the answer...but i thought it was worth asking anyway!

I'm one of the unlucky humans that got a new, fancy dual fuel heat pump furnace thingy and now has leaky ductwork in the humid summer time (southern Ohio). Trying to get someone to come adjust the fan speed or something. But I was wondering if insulating the air handler in the basement could potentially help the rest of the ductwork from getting so sweaty? There's one problem spot in our upstairs bathroom that has actually caused water damage.

I do have an HVAC guy who will help me properly insult during the slower season, but am trying to minimize damage for now.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hello all! Recently FINALLY discovered the source of a drip happening in our basement, and a leak in our upstairs wall. HVAC ducts are not insulated and are sweating. My question is...does every bit of ductwork need to be insulated in order to keep this from happening?

Hello all! Ok! Looking for some guidance, hoping i can explain this in a way that makes sense.

My house is 161 years old. The chimney was unlined and the water heater vents into it. So...I was a good little homeowner, saved my money, had the chimney lined, capped, and 2 draft holes in the chimney filled where the water heater connects. 2 days later there's a leak somewhere in the chimney area coming into my upstairs bathroom. Chimney guy is super cool, comes back out, can't figure out what the problem is. Says the flashing around the chimney is really not ok, and that the roof is hinky. I have 5 different roofing companies come out. All say the chimney needs to be demoed below the roof line, B vent installed, need new roof because whoever replaced it last was drunk.

The furnace and the chimney are VERY close together in the basement. Almost touching. Something is dripping from up high in a dark cavern that no one can see.

My question is...

Could the act of lining the chimney and filling in those holes have caused condensation that can't escape from the water heater in the chimney? WHAT could be happening here? At first I thought the ducts for the HVAC may have been dripping, but now I'm not so sure! I have since put a heavy duty commercial dehumidifier in the basement and the dripping persists. The leak also shows up in the plaster upstairs even if it hasn't rained (the chimney area is tarped, but of course the whole thing isn't tarped because the water heater vents through the top).

Any help would be greatly appreciated! The water is starting to soak the beams below it, and who knows what damage it's causing in the house.

I've had roofers, HVAC guys, and a plumber all come out. Plumber is convinced that once a B vent is installed the issue will be resolved...buuut...that just doesn't make sense to me. Help!

Hello all! Ok! Looking for some guidance, hoping i can explain this in a way that makes sense.

My house is 161 years old. The chimney was unlined and the water heater vents into it. So...I was a good little homeowner, saved my money, had the chimney lined, capped, and 2 draft holes in the chimney filled where the water heater connects. 2 days later there's a leak somewhere in the chimney area coming into my upstairs bathroom. Chimney guy is super cool, comes back out, can't figure out what the problem is. Says the flashing around the chimney is really not ok, and that the roof is hinky. I have 5 different roofing companies come out. All say the chimney needs to be demoed below the roof line, B vent installed, need new roof because whoever replaced it last was drunk.

The furnace and the chimney are VERY close together in the basement. Almost touching. Something is dripping from up high in a dark cavern that no one can see.

My question is...

Could the act of lining the chimney and filling in those holes have caused condensation that can't escape from the water heater in the chimney? WHAT could be happening here? At first I thought the ducts for the HVAC may have been dripping, but now I'm not so sure! I have since put a heavy duty commercial dehumidifier in the basement and the dripping persists. The leak also shows up in the plaster upstairs even if it hasn't rained (the chimney area is tarped, but of course the whole thing isn't tarped because the water heater vents through the top).

Any help would be greatly appreciated! The water is starting to soak the beams below it, and who knows what damage it's causing in the house.

I've had roofers, HVAC guys, and a plumber all come out. Plumber is convinced that once a B vent is installed the issue will be resolved...buuut...that just doesn't make sense to me. Help!

Hello all! Really, really needing some help here. I have a very, very strange situation. Hoping i can explain it in a way that makes sense.

Finally saved up my money and had my chimney lined since my water heater vents into it. Chimney liner and cap. 2 days later it rains like crazy, and there's a leak in my upstairs bathroom ceiling/wall where the chimney is. Chimney guy is cool, comes back, dumps a bucket of water in the area, water starts coming. He has absolutely no idea how it's coming in, and says he isn't a roofer, but the roof is real weird. He is very apologetic and feels responsible, but also can't figure out what's happening. He also filled 2 old vent holes in the chimney in the basement with concrete.

I set up appointments with 5 different roofing companies. Each one says the chimney has to go, because it is "fucked." Also quoted for a new roof (oh joy) because whoever installed the last one was clearly drunk (photographic evidence was provided. Of the roof. Not the drunk guy). Chimney is to be demoed just below roof line and a B vent will be installed for the water heater.

At the same time the humidity levels in my house are way too high despite having the AC on. The system is only a year old. Dual fuel heat pump furnace situation. 2 ton, 1200 square foot house, Southern Ohio, humidity, I know. Basement humidity is generally around 64%, inside varies from 60-63%

HVAC guys come out and say everything is working as it should be, but they DO really hunt for what could be happening here. They lower the blower speed a little, change the pitch to the condensate drain. And discover SOMETHING dripping from SOMEWHERE above the return that just goes straight up into no man's land. The support beam below is wet from whatever the fuck this drip is.

The furnace and the chimney where the water heater vents are SO close to each other that they're pretty much touching. There is a bathroom up about where the drip is coming from, but there's no obvious plumbing in the area and I haven't noticed anything weird toilet or otherwise related, and can't even see where the freakin plumbing would even be.

The only kind of contractor human I haven't had out yet is a plumber. Initially I called about water heater options in order to just NOT use the chimney at all anymore, but now I'm wondering about leak detection.

Does anyone know what the chimney guy could've possibly done here? What the hell could be going on? It's impossible for me to photograph the drips because it's up in a dank, dark cavern.

The house is old as shit (1865. I know, i KNOW), but it had modern AC for YEARS before we got here. It isn't like we're converting her over into modern times or anything! And shit was fine last year until the thing blew up! I have replaced damn near everything in here except for the water heater. I'm considering selling at a loss because I can't financially keep up with the catastrophes. I'm still here because i love my neighborhood, and if I sold I wouldn't be able to afford to continue to live in this neighborhood. How fucked up is that?

Help? Please? Maybe? Any ideas? Thoughts?

Hello all! Really, really needing some help here. I have a very, very strange situation. Hoping i can explain it in a way that makes sense.

Finally saved up my money and had my chimney lined since my water heater vents into it. Chimney liner and cap. 2 days later it rains like crazy, and there's a leak in my upstairs bathroom ceiling/wall where the chimney is. Chimney guy is cool, comes back, dumps a bucket of water in the area, water starts coming. He has absolutely no idea how it's coming in, and says he isn't a roofer, but the roof is real weird. He is very apologetic and feels responsible, but also can't figure out what's happening. He also filled 2 old vent holes in the chimney in the basement with concrete.

I set up appointments with 5 different roofing companies. Each one says the chimney has to go, because it is "fucked." Also quoted for a new roof (oh joy) because whoever installed the last one was clearly drunk (photographic evidence was provided. Of the roof. Not the drunk guy). Chimney is to be demoed just below roof line and a B vent will be installed for the water heater.

At the same time the humidity levels in my house are way too high despite having the AC on. The system is only a year old. Dual fuel heat pump furnace situation. 2 ton, 1200 square foot house, Southern Ohio, humidity, I know. Basement humidity is generally around 64%, inside varies from 60-63%

HVAC guys come out and say everything is working as it should be, but they DO really hunt for what could be happening here. They lower the blower speed a little, change the pitch to the condensate drain. And discover SOMETHING dripping from SOMEWHERE above the return that just goes straight up into no man's land. The support beam below is wet from whatever the fuck this drip is.

The furnace and the chimney where the water heater vents are SO close to each other that they're pretty much touching. There is a bathroom up about where the drip is coming from, but there's no obvious plumbing in the area and I haven't noticed anything weird toilet or otherwise related, and can't even see where the freakin plumbing would even be.

The only kind of contractor human I haven't had out yet is a plumber. Initially I called about water heater options in order to just NOT use the chimney at all anymore, but now I'm wondering about leak detection.

Does anyone know what the chimney guy could've possibly done here? What the hell could be going on? It's impossible for me to photograph the drips because it's up in a dank, dark cavern.

The house is old as shit (1865. I know, i KNOW), but it had modern AC for YEARS before we got here. It isn't like we're converting her over into modern times or anything! And shit was fine last year until the thing blew up! I have replaced damn near everything in here except for the water heater. I'm considering selling at a loss because I can't financially keep up with the catastrophes. I'm still here because i love my neighborhood, and if I sold I wouldn't be able to afford to continue to live in this neighborhood. How fucked up is that?

Help? Please? Maybe? Any ideas? Thoughts?

Hey all! Question!

I have an exterior wall in my very poorly flipped 1865 house that is just rock hard. Nearly nothing can penetrate it. I really didn't think much of it at first and found alternative ways to hang things. Then I was hanging out with a new neighbor (house directly next door, and other neighbors think the same jerks flipped that house as well), and one of the first things she asked me was:

"Are any of your walls really, really hard!? All of the livingroom walls are like rocks and I can't hang anything up!"

So it got me really wondering what this stuff is. There are plenty of areas in my tiny house that have metal behind the drywall (around a chimney, windows, corner areas, ducts), so I'm aware of that one. I thought maybe cement board, but why would cement board be on exterior walls in a dining room and livingroom unless it's cheaper and they had a shit ton of it for some reason?

I hate whoever flipped this house, and we're still in the progress of figuring out whether or not we'll need to walk away from it...but I'm still trying to learn it and what it's made of as much as I can.

My neighbors house is 1880s with vinyl siding and stone foundation. Mine is 1865 with vinyl siding and stone foundation. Neither of us want to investigate what's under the siding because we're both pretty sure it'll just be rotten wood 🤣 from all of the chimney and roof issues both houses have had over the years.

But any input on these hard as hell walls would be helpful! I told her to hang things with command strips!

Hey all. This is sort of me venting, but also sort of me looking for some advice?

My husband and I bought our house 2 years ago. The homes inspection was super decent, and we didn't see anything glaringly messed up. The house was built in 1865, so it had been heavily renovated over the years with original transom, window and door frames...stuff like that. It's a cute little house (about 1,000 square feet. Just fine for the two of us) with a beautiful yard. Anyhoo!

The house is in an amazing location. This is the first time we've lived in a neighborhood we absolutely love, and our entire lives are here. We're friends with our neighbors, we walk to work, we love taking walks and looking at the beautiful 1800s houses and parks. But our house...has been trying to kill us. It has been a solid money pit for the last 2 years, and we've been scrambling to scrape by for the repairs.

10k in sewer work, 13k for a new furnace and heat pump after our AC caught fire in August, 6k due to a massive roof leak that caused serious damage inside, 1200 for a chimney liner and cap because raccoons kept finding their way into the chimney, and the water heater vents through the ancient chimney, 10k on some other miscellaneous crap. And NOW another roof leak, which will be about 4k to demo the chimney, repair the shingles (the roof is actually only 5 years old), and replace the front gutters.

Oof da. I find myself thinking we should move. This house wasn't sold as a fixer. It wasn't cheap. And we had no idea that any of these issues would be issues. But at the same time...we love it here. And we've put sooo much into it, and any house is going to be a gamble. 4k isn't awful. It's...fine. We get a 60 month loan and it's fine. But I'm terrified for the next one, and the next one. I just wish that I could chill a little and actually enjoy my house for a bit without something super serious happening 😞