thanks mr.havac & zl700 ~~ hadn't thought about the water heater ~ i now have it on my *list* i didn't know the name of the furnace i was thinking about was called a *high efficiency 90 plus* ~~ i put that into google & studied a million or so pages - or so it seemed! ~~ the furnace we have now is gas & is ancient ~~should have died long ago, but it just keeps on keeping on despite our cold chicago winters ~~ thanks, phyl

"The closet the gas furnace is in, is not ventilated. The closet does not have a roof, but opens up into the attic. He does not think there is enough fresh air making it down to the furnace, and he does not think the fumes from the furnace are making it up into the attic." the closet is actually very well vented if it is open to the attic at the ceiling (roof?) of the closet. "He has instructed us to nail some gutter pipe (gutter pipe, because it is square, and will fit the limited space better than round pipe, but to mee gutter pipe seems awfully small diameter) into the closet to increase circulation. One peice going 12 inches into the attic, and another peice 12 inches off the floor. To me this seems awfully suspicious, I cant see how this will work, and I'm scared." I usually install a ceiling in gas furnace closets using ductboard (doesnt burn) from inside the attic. Usually a 5 or 6" vent pipe from inside attic..12" above insulation with a bug screen. the pipe goes thru ductboard ceiling to where the air intake of the gas furnace is located. I've started putting an inline manual damper..open when furnace is in use..closed for cooling season. "He also noticed that someone has stapled fibergalss insulation to the inside of the closet door, and we should remove that. That the entire door needs to be replaced with a very tight fitting door." Someone was trying to overcome the temp transfer from top of heating closet being open to attic. Bat insulation is not a good idea..but ductboard works well. and door should be weatherstripped. while the venting will supply the air needed for the furnace, it won't vent fumes. there shouldn't be any fumes if furnace is operating properly..there are vent pipes attached to the equipment that vent out of the roof. as for the smell...it could have been a sealant that he used or many things. I would call the original person who did the install and tell him your concerns. Granted there are better materials to use but it sounds like he/she was on the right track. better to close in ceiling and make it air tight and bring fresh air to the furnace than to leave the ceiling open to the attic. just my experience here in hot humid La. it may vary if your area is different. best of luck.

I have examined your photo in detail and find a number of issues that would be code prohibited today, however given that we have not installed oakum & lead joint cast iron in the last 40years it must be assumed that it is all original to the structure and that it did pass code at the time of installation therefore you are not obligated to upgrade it unless you make modifications to the fixtures or piping in the downstairs bathroom. On the other hand, since the downstairs bathroom is venting off that stack you would not be permitted to discharge a watercloset into that stack on the second floor unless you first establish an auxiliary vent for the first floor bathroom. The problem here is that the line to the watercloset is a 4" line therefore it would require a 2" auxiliary vent.

Have you contacted your local gas fireplace vendor? They usually keep parts and pieces in stock for installs. I work a few shops here locally and know this from experience. Also you would be wise to find the manufacturers installation requirements to verify what they require in regards to elbows etc. It is usually never just throw an elbow on wherever you feel like, they have specifications. Do some research good luck