Cornerstone Home Inspections

Review: I was told via text by my home inspector Brian Lowery that my gas boiler was functioning properly. After moving in I discovered that the water circulating pump was broken and would not circulate any water. After fixing the pump myself with parts I ordered I then found out that the boiler was building up gas and shooting out large balls of fire. I was told by the gas company that the boiler was very dangerous and should be looked at by a professional. I called [redacted] to fix the boiler. He said every burner was extremely dirty and clogged. Therefore the combination of the broken pump and clogged boiler burners it is nearly impossible that the system was working correctly at the time of the home inspection. I have tried to contact the home inspector numerous times and my realtor says he also tried to contact him about the issue. I sent the home inspector a text stating that I feel like I need an explanation and or refund. I have not gotten a response. I think I should mention that the first time he tried to inspect the gas it was off. The day he returned to check the gas I was not able to meet which is the reason for communicating via text. I have saved the text messages. Thank you.Desired Settlement: At this point in time I don't see any way to make things right other than asking for a refund or at least a partial refund since only part of his job was completed. Thanks.

Business

Response:

In response to the complaint mentioned above: The said property was a foreclosure that had been sitting for a long time. The gas was turned off by Roanoke Gas Co. and the meter locked. Upon entering the property, there was a loud knocking noise. This turned out to be the boiler circulation pump. I was confident as to what was wrong, but am not a licensed HVAC technician. I 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 9.1 of my report. The complaintant was told "the house is a foreclosure and has been sitting, the boiler is old and needs to be serviced before use. This could be done by the HVAC technician who repaired the circulation pump." I performed a radon test free of charge. I also returned to the property two different times to see if the gas had been turned on, at no additional charge to anyone. Upon returning once the gas was turned on, the pilot light on the boiler and water heater had already been lit by either, Roanoke Gas Co. or by some other individual. FYI; I will not light pilot lights, as too much liability is involved. I activated the first of three different heat zones, and the boiler responded. While 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 temperature. I then went to the final zone and activated the thermostat and the baseboards came up to temperature. The old boiler had been sitting and not used for a long period of time in this foreclosure. The system should have been checked and serviced, as recomened by myself. This apparently was not done, and the circulation pump coupler that was making the noise finally gave out. I 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 permission. In one photo of the old boiler, there is a brand new coupler laying on top of the boiler in a yellow box. At first I thought this was a old used coupler until I took it out of the box. This coupler is what connects the electric pump motor to the actual pump that sends water through the baseboards. It was all functioning once the gas was turned on to the property( although noisy), and was on the verge of failure. The seller(the bank) wasn't going to fix anything at this property. I made the buyer aware of the situation, and what I said was, apparently not taken seriously. The boiler was not serviced and the coupler finally gave out once it began being used......All being considered, I normally charge $75 for a radon test which was done for free, and it would have normally been an additional $75 for the return trip. I do not feel any compensation is warranted.Sincerely,Brian P. LoweryCornerstone Home Inspections, LLC

Consumer

Response:

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,