It’s a Dry Heat
“This is a new one. Dryer vent tubing used as duct work connected to the furnace.”
Larry Transue
Integrity
Inspection, Inc.
Easton, PA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
I Need a Nice Hot Shower
“This shower stall permanently covers a sump pump. They kept the electrical receptacle where it was and built the shower around it! That takes the cake, but the icing is that the receptacle is incorrectly wired, with hot and neutral reversed, and with no GFCI protection.”
Ron Seiber
Ron Seiber Home
Inspections
Fairfax, VA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Rain, Rain Go Away
“Let’s use a plumbing vent boot to channel the AC lines through the roof, then mount it right next to the upper roof’s downspout. Nah, it won’t leak at all.”
Mike Leiden
Spectro Home Inspection
Strongville OH
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Just Hanging In There
“This deck was built using joist hangers directly nailed through vinyl siding. No ledger board, no lag bolts to carry the weight.”
Matthew Steger, ACI
WIN Home Inspection
Elizabethtown, PA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Sssssssssomeone Issssssss Watching…
“So, who do you call for this repair? A qualified framing contractor or a pest control specialist? Fortunately, I did NOT see this snake until the photos were being reviewed later!”
William Blake
American Home Inspectors and Engineering Assessments, Inc.
Hurricane, WV
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Don’t Get Your Feet Wet
“In case you need power in the bathtub, it is close by. Just don’t work on the breaker box with water in the tub.”
Gerry Loesch, P.E., ACI
Buyer’s Protection Group
Ballwin, MO
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Carbon Monoxide Delivery System
“This metal vent pipe serves a gas water heater, a gas furnace—and a bathroom exhaust fan.”
Mike Kimble
Accuspex Home Inspection Service
Eldersburg, MD
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Just Missed the Junction
“The point of a junction box is to provide a safe place to hook up wiring without causing a fire or shock hazard. But I guess it was too hard to get the terminal bars attached to the inside of the plastic junction box.”
Neil Brogren
A’N’B
Gold Canyon, AZ
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Giant Leap
“This frog must have had one revolting croak.”
Jay de Wolf
de Wolf Inspection Services
Burlingame, CA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Temperature Controlled Closet
“Just a small miscalculation by the HVAC guys left this bedroom’s register in the closet.”
Jim Porter
BPG Property Inspection Services
Loomis, CA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Watch Out for Splinters and Carpet Burns
“The top of the steps are a foot away from the deck/landing. There is no bottom step. No railings or handrail. These were about the most dangerous looking steps I’d ever seen…
“…until I saw this on the same home. A 2-foot drop from the house to a 6-inchwide top step ensures you will fall. Don’t wear shorts; first you’ll get splinters and then carpet burn!”
Professional Building Consultants
Prescott, AZ
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Work-Around 101, Part A
“I know this was a hard decision. Move the dryer or cut off the support post?”
Tim Hemm
Tim Hemm Inspections
Yucaipa, CA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Work-Around 101, Part B
“This is a garbage disposer switch inside a cabinet, with the cabinet door (on the left) open. Instead of moving the box back a couple of inches to clear the door, they just bored a hole in the cabinet door so it would close. Of course, you still have to open the door to flip the switch and turn on the disposer.”
Tim Hemm
Tim Hemm Inspections
Yucaipa, CA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
A Breakthrough Idea
“There was an ‘unnecessary’ piece of metal support beam in the way of new plumbing work; the concrete floor above will stay up just fine without it.”
Jeremy S Provan
Pro Vantage Home Inspections
Laytonsville, MD
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Gaming the System
“The only problems I see with this cleverly rigged support system is that the Yahtzee® box is not plumb, and the can of paint should be full before being used to hold up loose ductwork.”
Nate Stitzlein
Crow Home Inspection, LLC
Baltimore, OH
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Room with a View
“Egress? We don’t need no stinking egress! Besides having undersized window openings, this bedroom window opens to another room.”
Eric Syren
HomeGuard Inc.
Tracy, CA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Cooked Spaghetti
“Proper wiring is in no way meant to look like your plate at an Italian restaurant. Junction boxes would be a nice start.”
Brian Epperson
Action Inspection STL
O’Fallon, MO
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Mythic Copper Piping
“Disconnect fuses on a service panel’s main shutoff are designed to blow if there’s a power surge or an overload. This is copper piping used to replace those fuses outside next to the meter base, in an effort to keep the power flowing. I thought using copper in place of a fuse was a myth until now, and this is a serious fire hazard.”
Dave Maudlin
Indy Pro Inspection Service, Inc.
Carmel, IN
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
No Cover, No Problem
“If you don’t have a junction box cover, no problem—just turn the box around.”
Jay de Wolf
de Wolf Inspection Service
Burlingame, CA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Mouse in the House!
“The agent asked me FOUR TIMES…’Are you sure it’s dead???'”
Jack Koelling, ACI
Advantage Home Inspections
Bel Aire (Wichita), KS
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Just Missed the Junction
“Drain pipes don’t fit together properly? Enter the miracle product of plumbers’ putty. This seems to be more work than doing it the correct way; it still leaked.”
Matthew Smith
Ace Home Inspections
Cohoes, NY
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Unclear on the Concept
“This exposed box, wires and receptacle were located behind a child’s crib. Good thing the outlet slots are covered.”
Ken Mayer, ACI
Portico Home
Inspection LLC
Burlingame, CA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Ahoy, Matey!
“I was expecting to find a ‘sub’ panel behind the bulkhead door but, shiver me timbers, it only led to the crawlspace.”
Ken Mayer, ACI
Portico Home
Inspection LLC
Burlingame, CA
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Shortcut to the Ground
“Why ground copper water pipes the proper way, to a far-away building-wide ground? Here’s an adjacent water heater feed cable with a handy ground wire inside—just split the plastic protective sheath open and attach!”
Vonley Ford
MultiTech Inspection Services
Havre de Grace, MD
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
HVAC Guys and Electricians Should Talk
“The A/C disconnect switch box had condensate running out, which must have been from the furnace vent directly above it. I did not open it!”
Mike Moran
Able Home Inspection LLC
Ocean Gate, NJ
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter
Ladder to Hell
“How hard is it to put a ladder down into a crawl space? One side shorter than the other to rest on the foundation, plus the rungs are on the back side, and the first rung is over two feet from the floor above. Really???”
Jim Foss
Best Inspections, Inc.
Anchorage, AK
Courtesy of The ASHI Reporter