moving away from CSST

[John Dirks Jr]

One of the major builders in my area has abandoned using CSST all together and has gone back to using black iron. Have you recognized any of the builders in your area doing the same?

I sometimes use this following document in reports to explain CSST to my clients. What's your opinion of including something like this in an inspection report?

http://hawkeyehomeinspects.com/document ... ANGERS.pdf

[Jim Katen]

I'd be more impressed if there were more than 5 documented fires caused by a failure of the product.

[Inspectorjoe]

That looks like an interesting document. I'll have to read it in detail when I get a chance, as this is turning out to be my busiest month of the year. This paragraph got my attention:

Each manufacturer requires a potential installer to take a several hour installation

course. The installation courses are required as part of ANSI LC1, and are an

attempt to insure only qualified installers make use of CSST. This arrangement

should prevent CSST from being available at home improvement stores.

I'm certified by a certain manufacturer to install their CSST products - certified, but decidedly unqualified.

This past winter, the power vent on my boiler seized up. Who knew it required annual lubrication? While I was at the supply house picking up a new one, I saw a sign advertising an upcoming free CSST certification class. I thought, what the heck - I might learn something, so I signed up. The class started at 5 pm. The pizza was late, so everybody just shot the breeze till it arrived around 5:15. We finished up the pizza around 5:35, and the 'class' commenced. The 'instructor' (a sales rep for the company) passed out a fairly short test. He spent the next 15 minutes going through it, giving the answer to each question. The certification cards were attached to the test answer sheet. He told us to fill them out, detach the cards and hand in the sheet. It was written that you needed to be a licensed plumber to achieve certification and there was a space on the sheet for your license number. Someone said he didn't have a license. The 'instructor' said "use any number - put down your driver's license number". By 6 pm there were about 15 newly certified CSST installers set loose in the world.

[Nolan Kienitz]

By 6 pm there were about 15 newly certified CSST installers set loose in the world.

Almost like some of the production HI schools in Texas and possibly other states as well. [:-bigeyes

[Chad Fabry]

I have never been asked for certification when purchasing CSST or fittings.

I still use black iron at my house because I like the way it looks. Black iron isn't cheap any more- add the cost of the fittings and the disparity in pricing compared to CSST is negligible. And, depending on the application, CSST can be 10X faster to install.

[Marc]

It's a good document. I've added it to three others that I have and will submit them together when I see CSST.

I haven't seen a CSST perforation case with my own eyes yet but a few months ago I was called out to inspect damage from a lightning strike and did observe a perforated flexible water heater connector. A branch of the strike came down via a flue pipe and reached the earth via a cold water bonding connector.

It's all I need to write up CSST.

Marc

[kurt]

It's like the cert for powder actuated nailers, or anything where there's some risk to the mfg. It's a class to show the mfg. is performing their responsibilities.

I've got a big length of it in my house, installed by the gas company when they moved the meter outside. I sleep comfortably.

[John Dirks Jr]

Metal chimney through the roof. Metal fireplace insert with CSST running through metal conduit and also in contact with fireplace metal cabinet.

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[inspector57]

One of the major builders in my area has abandoned using CSST all together and has gone back to using black iron. Have you recognized any of the builders in your area doing the same?

I sometimes use this following document in reports to explain CSST to my clients. What's your opinion of including something like this in an inspection report?

http://hawkeyehomeinspects.com/document ... ANGERS.pdf

I wonder, what is the date of that document?

The author does not mention the bonding of CSST which is what the manufacturers are hanging their hat on to reduce liability. This was also part of the settlement from the law suit.

One thing to be aware of is to consider the likelihood of lightening both in your area and the individual house.

In Frisco (on of the first areas to note the correlation of CSST and fire

damage from lightening) lots and lots of the homes have two or three

furnaces and a couple of water heaters along with metal fireplaces in a

two or three story house with most all of the CSST and equipment stuck

up in the attic. All of this is on the rolling prairie in a high lightening

density area.

I may be off base but I would think a single section of CSST

hidden in the crawl space or basement in an area without much lightening

would be at a far lower risk.

[Jim Katen]

The document is nothing but hocus pocus. You can build a case against anything on this planet with bogus numbers and extrapolations.

When discussing problems with CSST, begin with the actual record of failures. It's pretty slim.

[mlparham]

One of the major builders in my area has abandoned using CSST all together and has gone back to using black iron. Have you recognized any of the builders in your area doing the same?

I sometimes use this following document in reports to explain CSST to my clients. What's your opinion of including something like this in an inspection report?

http://hawkeyehomeinspects.com/document ... ANGERS.pdf

I suspect, but did not research, that a few more people die in auto accidents than from CSST failure from a near by lightening strike.

That reminds me of an agent that I have known forever. We were at an inspection recently and for some reason we talked around to lightening. It turns out that she is the only person that I have ever met that was struck by lightening. She said it was a terrible experience that took six months of physical therapy for recovery.

[ejager]

Looks like it may have been a paper presented in 2005.

http://www.lightningsafetyalliance.com/ ... ing%20.pdf