In response to the complaint mentioned above: The said property was a foreclosure that had been sitting for a long timeThe gas was turned off by Roanoke Gas Coand the meter lockedUpon entering the property, there was a loud knocking noiseThis turned out to be the boiler circulation
pumpI was confident as to what was wrong, but am not a licensed HVAC technicianI stated in my inspection report that the circulation pump was noisy and needed to be checked by an HVAC technician and repaired accordingly( section 9.3)The boiler was aged which was stated in section of my reportThe complaintant was told "the house is a foreclosure and has been sitting, the boiler is old and needs to be serviced before useThis could be done by the HVAC technician who repaired the circulation pump." I performed a radon test free of chargeI also returned to the property two different times to see if the gas had been turned on, at no additional charge to anyoneUpon returning once the gas was turned on, the pilot light on the boiler and water heater had already been lit by either, Roanoke Gas Coor by some other individualFYI; I will not light pilot lights, as too much liability is involvedI activated the first of three different heat zones, and the boiler respondedWhile the circulation pump was still noisy, I let the boiler temperature come up and checked the temperature at all baseboards on the zone, and all was good.( no fireballs at that time)I then went to the next heat zone and activated that thermostat and the baseboards came up to temperatureI then went to the final zone and activated the thermostat and the baseboards came up to temperatureThe old boiler had been sitting and not used for a long period of time in this foreclosureThe system should have been checked and serviced, as recomened by myselfThis apparently was not done, and the circulation pump coupler that was making the noise finally gave outI cannot provide a copy of the inspection report, as the report is the buyers private property, and I cannot give it to anyone else without his permissionIn one photo of the old boiler, there is a brand new coupler laying on top of the boiler in a yellow boxAt first I thought this was a old used coupler until I took it out of the boxThis coupler is what connects the electric pump motor to the actual pump that sends water through the baseboardsIt was all functioning once the gas was turned on to the property( although noisy), and was on the verge of failureThe seller(the bank) wasn't going to fix anything at this propertyI made the buyer aware of the situation, and what I said was, apparently not taken seriouslyThe boiler was not serviced and the coupler finally gave out once it began being used......All being considered, I normally charge $for a radon test which was done for free, and it would have normally been an additional $for the return tripI do not feel any compensation is warranted.Sincerely,Brian PLoweryCornerstone Home Inspections, LLC
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
First I would like to start with a response to the begining statement in Brian Lowery's response letter.My house was NOT a foreclosure. The seller DID pay for the other problems found with the houseprior to closing. It seems to me that Brian thought that my home was a forclosure and he could getaway with not checking my boiler system. The gas not being on the first time had nothing to do with mebut I offered to pay Brian and he said not to worry about it. The radon test was free for all of myrealtor's clients ([redacted]). He is just trying to justify his wrong doing. I was with him during theinitial inspection when we seen metal shavings all around the boiler pump and on the floor. He toldme he believed that the bearing was going bad. I understand he is not an HVAC expert. I being amechanic thought I would fix the problem myself after closing. Once I took the pump apart I seen thatthere was NO WAY the pump was circulating water because the coupler had been destroyed. I havephotos. Back to the metal shavings that we seen. These metal shavings were from the springs thathold the coupler together being ground up inside the pump. This is PROOF that the coupler had beendestroyed and the pump was not circulating water the day of the initial inspection. The metal shavingsare actually in the photo ¡n the home inspection report. I also want to note that I disassembled andrepaired the pump weeks before I had the gas turned on so it is not possible that it finally gave out afterusing it as Brian has stated. I have receipts for repair parts with dates. Okay now you can call the gascompany and ask the employee about the ball of fire that shot out. This happened when he came tolight the pilot. The roanoke gas employee said have a professional check it because it is verydangerous. I called [redacted] heating and cooling because this is who [redacted]reccomended. [redacted]'s employee came about 5 days or so later and tried to light the burnersresulting in a large fireball that scorched his arm hairs off. A few days after that [redacted] himselfcame to work on the boiler. [redacted] told me that the issue was the burners were so cloggedwith soot that it was never going to ignite without building up gas and shooting out balls of fire. Iasked Mr [redacted] if he believed it was possible that the home inspector could have operated it in thiscondition and he laughed and said NO. So after two people working on the boiler had balls of fire shotout at them and the pump not having a coupler I believe that it was impossible for Brian Lowery to haveoperated the system to find "every thing in working order" as stated in our text message discussion. Ialso still have these texts that I'm reffering to. This has put my family in danger, cost us money, andcaused us to live in the house without heat until the repairs were completed. This could have beenprevented if Brian Lowery would have completed his job upon returning to the home alone the secondtime. Brian Lowery has been caught in a lie and I have the evidence. I feel very disrespected andtaken advantage of. I want a full refund and for everyone to know what a lier he is. I am prepared togo to court if Brian Lowery does not compensate for his wrong doing.
Regards,
[redacted]
In response to the complaint mentioned above: The said property was a foreclosure that had been sitting for a long timeThe gas was turned off by Roanoke Gas Coand the meter lockedUpon entering the property, there was a loud knocking noiseThis turned out to be the boiler circulation
pumpI was confident as to what was wrong, but am not a licensed HVAC technicianI stated in my inspection report that the circulation pump was noisy and needed to be checked by an HVAC technician and repaired accordingly( section 9.3)The boiler was aged which was stated in section of my reportThe complaintant was told "the house is a foreclosure and has been sitting, the boiler is old and needs to be serviced before useThis could be done by the HVAC technician who repaired the circulation pump." I performed a radon test free of chargeI also returned to the property two different times to see if the gas had been turned on, at no additional charge to anyoneUpon returning once the gas was turned on, the pilot light on the boiler and water heater had already been lit by either, Roanoke Gas Coor by some other individualFYI; I will not light pilot lights, as too much liability is involvedI activated the first of three different heat zones, and the boiler respondedWhile the circulation pump was still noisy, I let the boiler temperature come up and checked the temperature at all baseboards on the zone, and all was good.( no fireballs at that time)I then went to the next heat zone and activated that thermostat and the baseboards came up to temperatureI then went to the final zone and activated the thermostat and the baseboards came up to temperatureThe old boiler had been sitting and not used for a long period of time in this foreclosureThe system should have been checked and serviced, as recomened by myselfThis apparently was not done, and the circulation pump coupler that was making the noise finally gave outI cannot provide a copy of the inspection report, as the report is the buyers private property, and I cannot give it to anyone else without his permissionIn one photo of the old boiler, there is a brand new coupler laying on top of the boiler in a yellow boxAt first I thought this was a old used coupler until I took it out of the boxThis coupler is what connects the electric pump motor to the actual pump that sends water through the baseboardsIt was all functioning once the gas was turned on to the property( although noisy), and was on the verge of failureThe seller(the bank) wasn't going to fix anything at this propertyI made the buyer aware of the situation, and what I said was, apparently not taken seriouslyThe boiler was not serviced and the coupler finally gave out once it began being used......All being considered, I normally charge $for a radon test which was done for free, and it would have normally been an additional $for the return tripI do not feel any compensation is warranted.Sincerely,Brian PLoweryCornerstone Home Inspections, LLC
I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
First I would like to start with a response to the begining statement in Brian Lowery's response letter.My house was NOT a foreclosure. The seller DID pay for the other problems found with the houseprior to closing. It seems to me that Brian thought that my home was a forclosure and he could getaway with not checking my boiler system. The gas not being on the first time had nothing to do with mebut I offered to pay Brian and he said not to worry about it. The radon test was free for all of myrealtor's clients ([redacted]). He is just trying to justify his wrong doing. I was with him during theinitial inspection when we seen metal shavings all around the boiler pump and on the floor. He toldme he believed that the bearing was going bad. I understand he is not an HVAC expert. I being amechanic thought I would fix the problem myself after closing. Once I took the pump apart I seen thatthere was NO WAY the pump was circulating water because the coupler had been destroyed. I havephotos. Back to the metal shavings that we seen. These metal shavings were from the springs thathold the coupler together being ground up inside the pump. This is PROOF that the coupler had beendestroyed and the pump was not circulating water the day of the initial inspection. The metal shavingsare actually in the photo ¡n the home inspection report. I also want to note that I disassembled andrepaired the pump weeks before I had the gas turned on so it is not possible that it finally gave out afterusing it as Brian has stated. I have receipts for repair parts with dates. Okay now you can call the gascompany and ask the employee about the ball of fire that shot out. This happened when he came tolight the pilot. The roanoke gas employee said have a professional check it because it is verydangerous. I called [redacted] heating and cooling because this is who [redacted]reccomended. [redacted]'s employee came about 5 days or so later and tried to light the burnersresulting in a large fireball that scorched his arm hairs off. A few days after that [redacted] himselfcame to work on the boiler. [redacted] told me that the issue was the burners were so cloggedwith soot that it was never going to ignite without building up gas and shooting out balls of fire. Iasked Mr [redacted] if he believed it was possible that the home inspector could have operated it in thiscondition and he laughed and said NO. So after two people working on the boiler had balls of fire shotout at them and the pump not having a coupler I believe that it was impossible for Brian Lowery to haveoperated the system to find "every thing in working order" as stated in our text message discussion. Ialso still have these texts that I'm reffering to. This has put my family in danger, cost us money, andcaused us to live in the house without heat until the repairs were completed. This could have beenprevented if Brian Lowery would have completed his job upon returning to the home alone the secondtime. Brian Lowery has been caught in a lie and I have the evidence. I feel very disrespected andtaken advantage of. I want a full refund and for everyone to know what a lier he is. I am prepared togo to court if Brian Lowery does not compensate for his wrong doing.
Regards,
[redacted]