A fireplace is such a desirable asset when purchasing a home. As a purchaser, you can imagine yourself enjoying the warmth and ambience as you sit by your fireplace or woodstove with family and friends.
When you walk through a house that you’re hoping to purchase, existing problems may not be evident, and that’s why homebuyers get a professional trade person in to do a home inspection before going through with the purchase. As you put in your offer to purchase for that “home of your dreams”, also include a clause about having a WETT certified technician perform an inspection. Since you want to be assured that the fireplace or woodstove you want to use is compliant to code and in good condition, your offer to purchase should reflect that it is conditional on a satisfactory WETT inspection report.
Wood Energy Technology Transfer Inc. (WETT inc.) is a non-profit training and education association. It provides training to those who offer wood energy products, installation and maintenance services to the public. It also issues certificates of qualification to those who have the knowledge, skills acquired through field experience and successfully complete WETT courses.
When a WETT certified technician of The Chimney Swift does a WETT inspection, he also sweeps the wood burning fireplace or wood stove if it requires cleaning. He’ll sweep the areas where you burn the wood as well as the areas where the smoke and gases vent out to escape at the top of the chimney. While doing this, he’ll be inspecting the areas he sweeps as well as the area surrounding the wood burning system. He’ll be verifying the condition of the various components, compliance to manufacturer’s installation instructions and to the current codes. The chimney, on the outside of the house, will also be inspected to determine its condition and compliance to appropriate building codes.
When issues are discovered BEFORE buying a new home, the information provided to you, the prospective purchaser, might make a difference in your negotiations with the seller. So don’t wait until after you’ve purchased your home to get that WETT inspection.
The last thing you want to find out AFTER you’ve bought your home is that you’ve incurred additional expenses because you decided to forgo the preliminary inspections and now you have to spend thousands of dollars if you want to enjoy your fireplace.
