I have not posted anything on my blog for some time now. It has been hard to get some free time to write blog posts. Anyway enough about not having a enough time and lets look at some unsual plumbing and two potential dangerous situation I found during home inspections. Here take a look at these pictures and you will see some unsual plumbing installations.

Someone decided to plug up the pressure relief valve on this hot water heater. By doing this to the hot water heater the pressure can build up and it could blow up or fly though the roof like a rocket.

Duct is open and can let Carbon Monoxide into the living space, and hot water heater is on its last leg!

Duct tape sure not be used on HVAC ducts.

I just did a inspection for my client who just had her 2 family home totally redone 2 months ago. It was a nightmare I do not know how the town inspectors allowed it and did not shut down the job, and take away the contractors license. My client called me up asking questions about the renovation she had done to her home. She told me she had the house totally redone for herself and her mother to live in. I told her to contact the the contractor with her concerns and ask him to correct them, and said to her I hope the contractor does the right thing by you and your family and you do not need to call me again. But no the contractor was  long gone with they money over 280000.00 dollars "he does not return my calls" the client stated. Here are some pictures of the renovations take a look.

That one 20 amp breaker supplies 2 GFCI in the kitchen and the refrigerator on the same circuit. When I tested the GFCI's the refrigerator turn off, and there are no arc fault breakers in the panel box.

The cables were not installed to hold the bay windows in place.

No caulking around any window.

My client said my knees hurt walking up these stairs.

The deck and balcony

Hot water temperture.

All of the new hard wood floors are warping.

I was recently hired by my client to inspect his house not because he was selling it or buying a house. But because his family was getting sick with respiratory infection every month  from living in the house. The client told me over the phone that he just had a mold removed from both the basement and attic of the house, and wanted to known what was causing all this mold build up in his home. The following pictures show the cause of the mold problems in the home.

Most of the HVAC ductwork was crushed.

Bathrooms vent are discharging in the attic putting unwanted moisture and helping the mold to grow.

A active water leak from a valve.

This is the opposite side of that stucco wall.

The stucco and the synthetic stucco are in the earth allowing water to be sucked up into the wall and styrofoam.

The soffits were covered by stucco blocking air flow to the attic and the roof.

The grading around the house was sloped in the wrong direction.

The first thing I saw was the ledger board did not support the whole deck. Second thing no flashing to prevent water from entering the house. I started probing the wood with my screwdriver and almost lost it a few  times due to wood rot that was present. Then started shooting it with the infrared to see what it would detect? How much moisture was present? I wrote up the deck in the report as a improper installation  check for CO and permits for the deck.

This retaining wall is failing due to hydrostatic pressure. Be sure to find out who is responsible for the retaining wall? This can be a very expense repair. This wall was about 7 ft height and 50 ft long, the repair bill would be thousands of dollars. Make sure your client is not the one that is going to be responsible for this repair.

The missing knockouts on this main electric service panel box are exposing the main lugs. Which are live all the time, because wires coming from the meter base which is coming from the utility company. This situation is very dangerous, I all ways call out missing knockout because the hot bus is exposed. 

I recently had a inspection on a FSBO house other day. I got to the house about half hour early and introduced myself to the couple who owned the house. The wife looked and acted nervous asking if I pass or fail houses I inspect, I told her I report on present condition of the house and do not pass or fail a house  or building I inspect. After that was over I begun to ask the couple questions about the condition of their house. They stated the house had been newly renovated. I started inspecting around the house and saw all renovations were done only on interior of the house. Nothing on exterior of the house, there was no curb appeal to this house. If this couple had hire an inspector or engineer prior to putting their house on the market. They would have found out everything they needed to fix on the house. Second thing they should have done was hire a appraiser to find out what their house is worth. I personally would never sell any property without a real estate sales associate or broker. 

Windows frames need to be protected from the weather. Either with paint or caping to stop weather from getting at the wood and causing dry rot of the wood frames.

Poor ventilation to this attic is reason for this vegetative growth on the wood.

Pipes should be strapped every 4 ft for support.