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Here are some things found during inspections. Would you have found these if doing the inspection yourself? Let a professional do it for you!
This panel has aluminum wiring which most insurance companies want to have repairs made or the home re-wired. See the silver colored wires in the terminals? This can cost you a lot of money!
Someone here with no plumbing experience, has cut off the bottom of a plastic water bottle
and installed it on the sink drain. If the trap get plugged, water will run over the top of the bottle!!
It would have been just as easy to install the proper waste pipe.
This was on an older home where someone removed the fuses and replaced them with copper pipes! If there is a short or overcorrect coming into the panel, the power will not shut off but the wires will overheat and cause a fire. VERY DANGEROUS!!! Needs immediate repair.
Here someone has used a car heater hose on the main water supply pipe to the home. Brilliant but not a good idea. Have a plumber provide the proper connection of these pipes.
The main power wires to this panel have overheated from a lightning strike or a power surge. (See red wire) The homeowner had no idea this had happened. This should be repaired by a licensed electrician.
This mast was bent by a falling tree. It is now a hazard and should be replaced with a new mast.
This "Hot" wire is the service drop cable from a power pole. This damaged bare wire is almost touching a grounded piece of metal. This is a life safety hazard and should be repaired immediately by the power company.
A power cord should never be placed around a sink or anywhere where there is water! This is also why a GFCI should be installed around all sinks.
These are old knob & tube wires connected to new Romex wires on a detached garage. The wires run to the insulators are over 50 years old and should have never been used. Hazard! Remove immediately.
This A/C intake was covered by a grate, but when removed shows the duct installer made the opening 1/3 the size it should be. This will severely restrict air flow in this home as well as cause high energy bills!!
The black pipe in the middle of this picture is a waste vent pipe that should have been run thru the roof to vent. It has been venting sewer gas into the attic in this home for lord knows how long. You never know what you'll find!
There was a leak inside a wall at the rear of this garage, which also leaked onto the master bedroom wall and carpet. This is copper pipe that is prone to pinhole leaks. This is why a moisture meter is an indispensable tool for home inspectors!
This is an improper (amateur) duct connection that was made to air condition a room addition. This taped connection will eventually come off and blow all the cold air into the attic!
Crawl spaces should always be inspected if accessible. The plumber who re-plumbed this home ran the water lines through the middle of this opening to half of the crawl space, so it was not all accessible. The lines had to be moved to access the rest of the crawl space.
The insulation around the wires running into the top breaker is very old and cracked. Bare "Hot" wires are visible right next to the braided ground wire. "Hazardous!! Repair needed by electrician.
These are old gray flex duct. The plastic around these ducts deteriorates from UV radiation. Eventually the insulation will fall off the duct and all that is left is a clear plastic tube in the middle. This duct will have to be replaced.
The floor joists (supports) for the floors in this crawl space, have been eaten up by termites. The sub-floor is also badly deteriorated. The floor was sunken over this area and I was afraid we would fall through the floor! The buyer did not buy this home as it needed major structural repair.
Many times there are damaged areas on the roof that are not visible from the ground and should be inspected.
How would you know that this roof needed repair?
Most inspectors don't open up the air handler to see if there is evidence of mold. I do! These blower fins
need cleaning.
Some had to add a wire inside the home and ran this romex wire through the floor so it is touching the metal waste pipe.
This is dangerous! Wires should not be touching metal pipes!!
This old house has had several repairs done to the pipes over the years. The metal pipe is old galvanized pipes that should
be replaced, the white pipes are pex which is one of the types of pipes you should use to re-pipe with, and the gray pipe is
polybutylene which is not good pipe and should also be replaced.
This home had the A/C ducts under the home, and as you can see, this large ducts is badly disconnected and blowing all the cool air under the home!
The coils on this A/C unit are frozen over with solid ice. The unit will have to be defrosted and the repaired by A/C contractor.
This sink was installed with no P-trap. Obviously, not by a licensed plumber. With no P-trap, sewer gas can come up through the drain and into the home. A P-trap needs to be installed here.
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