thats pretty bad yuck

Yes, and I can only imagine the smell!  Was this a do-it-yourself fix-up?

Oh the things that you must come across!!! Thank you for all that you do! Inspections are so important.

Eric, it was and you are right.

Joan, not sure who did it but it certainly was not a plumber. A bozo I assume.

Bridget, there are lots of odd things, for sure

That is gross!!!

wow

Disgusting? Yes!!

Shocked? Sadly, no.

Steven - Thank you for this post, it has been bookmarked and will be shown to any buyer who ever think of forgoing the inspection.  What a mess!

Ugh, ugh, ugh!

Carolin Benjamin
Bob and Carolin Benjamin
The Benjamin Team
Keller Williams Integrity First Realty
Gold Canyon Arizona

Steven....  it's disgusting and sad. But as Tom mentioned and meant, we wouldn't be surprised if anyone was shocked for the reason that people knew about this and probably was hoping to get away with this... because of the cost to repair....even if it wasn't costly, they still would have to put money out.

My sister and brother-in-law had a home inspection done.....   4 years ago..... they are ready to sell now and are being told that they need more AMPS installed in order to add an air conditioner. This should have been upgraded and caught the last time around. There is more to the findings, but it could cost them a total of $1,500.

Nice cross-thru ventilation as well. I'm sure the soffit vents are clear and unobstructed!...YIKES!

Thanks for the bit of education.  And the gruesome pic :)  I always seem to learn something new with posts from home inspectors!

This is a great photo to show how important it is to have inspections performed by a licensed professional!

that is sick and Wrong

As sad as it is, stuff like this really happens. In the very first home I bought, I went to change out a light fixture in the basement. When I pulled the old fixture down from the electrical box, I found extension cords spliced into the wiring! After further investigation, I found that this "splice" had been used to wire and electrical outlet on the main floor! I called an electrician and had the whole house rewired!

I actually argued with a buyer over a home inspection last month. When we wrote the offer, he wanted it. When he was reaching his deadline, I was calling thim to tell him that he only had "x" days. He had decided that he didn't want to spend the $$ on it. If only he understood how much he could be saving in the long run.

Steve - thanks for this post.  And thanks for reminding us that there is no shortage of candidates for the Darwin Awards.

This is one nasty revelation.  I hope your summer goes better than this!   :) 

Steve,  ya just never know what you are going to run into.  People do strange things.  Nice post.

Looks like a DIY gone very very wrong......... stinky in fact!!

hehehehehe.....

Someone call the "Toolman" for this one!!

=-)

I can only imagine that horrible smell.  I think I would have prefered that something got into the attic and died.  Yuk!

Unbelievable that someone would even think of doing that.

What a mess, Steven.  I guess some people must just like the smell of sewer.   Not for me, thank you.

yikes!! that is some kind of nasty! great post.

That is really funny.  It looks like it's attached to the sewer vent with Duct Tape.  Just one more reason to always get a home inspection.

"Do-It-Yourself" addiction has consequences. Thanks HGN!!!

Now this post just plain STINKS!  lol  Great evidence as to why a home buyer would want to spend the money for an inspection.

All I can say is EWWWWWWWWW! Why would someone do that?

Christy,

Doing this kind of good work saves lots of money on air fresheners. Who needs them?

That was so nasty that I could smell it through the picture! Okay...little exaggerating but can't people just do things the right way...who could live with that smell! Well, thanks for sharing...have a home inspection on Tuesday and we'll let the home inspector know to look for that if we smell anything. 

Steven,

That's an ugly example of what can happen without an inspection. The money an inspection costs is money well spent. A good inspector can also point out soft spots that can become future problems. Every house I buy has an inspection.

That did disgust me you were right. YUK!

Great Headline! You made me look. I wonder how long they lived with that smell before they had you inspect? This is exactly the reason to have a home inspection. ewwwww.

Steven, I think it is disturbing, as well as disgusting, that someone who represents themself as a professional would have so little regard for the safety of the people they pretend to serve. Who knows if someone could have or already has been made ill because of this situation.

Jana,   I do not think any professional was involved in this installation. I sure hope not. I think a homeowner was responsible for the whole thing. And I do not think it was intentional to have such an unsafe situation. With wiring and plumbing there are so many problems because people just do not get it. They think that as long as the pipes fit, it is okay. For example, this person probably knew the bath fan needed to vent outside.He did not want to cut a hole in the roof, saw the vent pipe and figured it had nothing passing through it but air and thought that all that would happen is his fan would exhaust into it and go right out that roof vent. He probably never thought that the gas from below would go into his ducting when the fan was off. Obviously the odor should have been a clue. But maybe the person who did it moved right after. 

Not only is it ugly and smelly, but sewer gas is dangerous.  A concentration of it can not only make a person sick, it can be explosive.  Imagine a pilot light coming in contact with a concentration of sewer gas. Ugly!

I was just perusing my blogs. Thanks for all the comments on this one folks.