Our neighbours recently installed a new high efficiency furnace. The alleyway between our homes is fairly narrow so their exhaust pipe blows directly onto our wall causing a lot of moisture build up and I assume eventual damage to the brick. I plan to bring this up with them but before I do I wanted to get the facts on what was allowed and not allowed by code. We live in Ontario, Canada but I'm sure the regulations are similar elsewhere.
The distance of the exhaust opening to our wall is 26". A big patch of frost has built up on the wall where the exhaust hits it.
Once upon a time you could have used the B149.1 Gas Code Clause 8.14.8(a),
QuoteClause 8.14.8 - A vent shall not terminate
(a) where it may cause hazardous frost or ice accumulations on adjacent property surfaces;
For whatever reason, this Clause was revoked from our Gas Code.
Overall that looks like a real hack job. I can just imagine what the inside looks like. Did they even use coated strapping around that vent?
You could contact your municipality. Sometimes there are Bylaw's that require a certain distance from vents to a property line.
Without knowing what model of appliance they have I can't check the installation manual to see if there may be something preventing them from doing this. There is also likely an alternative termination arrangement that the installation manual approves. They may be able to turn the exhaust elbow sideways instead of directly at your house, opposite the way the intake elbow is facing. Some manufacturers allow the use of a tee so the exhaust would blow up or down.
The best thing to do would be to first show your neighbor, then ask them for the appliance model number and report back. Someone here will let you know what your options are.
Unfortunately in Ontario there is legal precedent that may in fact protect your neighbor.
http://www.aaron.ca/columns/2009-12-26.htm
The exhaust will damage your brick wall. I'd get on it ASAP. Definite hack job.
Well at the very least, one can simply cut off that 90 as high as possible and install a new 90 on a 45 degree angle and it may blow down the alleyway and have enough time to dissipate without causing issues on either brick of either property. That would be a very simple, easy, and cheap solution then what it's currently doing. As it stands, it will definitely rott out those bricks it's blowing directly on.
You're on the right forum with your location. Almost everyone here is in Ontario.
Did they use pieces of pipe to strengthen the tension? I've never seen it done that way. Made me chuckle.
It's not ... completely and totally horrible. I've seen a lot worse. But yeah. Definitely easy enough to make the exhaust blow sideways down the pathway, instead of directly against your brick wall. The exhaust will need to blow far enough from 'his' wall to not damage his brick and far enough from 'your' wall to not do the same. Which seems very doable from where I'm seeing it.
There is no doubt in any way that the current configuration will damage your brick.
But before you go to the city and check bylaws, I would advice to simply talk to your neighbor. If this is a recent installation and it was done by a non fly by night company (it might've been), they will return and redo the termination without any excessive prodding.