Too Far and Over the Edge

In certain situations one may be told they have gone too far or have fallen off the edge. The person has pushed the limits of acceptable behavior to the tipping point. While this scenario does not actually involve the physical, being an almost exclusively verbal act, one can imagine an individual, arms wildly whirling like a out of control windmill, struggling to regain balance near the edge of a precipice, before plummeting Wile E Coyote fashion.

Being in the home inspection business I see and find edgy stuff all the time. Contractors push the limits of what is acceptable or sensible with astounding regularity. A great example of this would be the A/C compressor for a newly constructed townhouse condo.

Let me repeat;

Newly constructed townhouse condo.

Notice the unit and its companion have been placed on top of a wall. When I look at this, I picture a man on a ledge, his feet larger than the building ridge he’s standing on. The view from below gives you the illusion.

What’s wrong with this installation besides the obvious?

Well for starters, because there is little room on the cliff, the unit is almost against the building. A/C Compressor should be at least a foot away from any obstruction. This one, and I’m being generous, is three inches…at the widest point.

The other really goofy thing about the location is that the compressor is an entire building unit away. The wall in the picture is the neighboring townhouse. Not only is the plenty of room at the back of the building, there is also no drop off. Additionally the mechanical room wall is at the back, so all that had to be done was cut the hole through that wall directly into the house, run the line set up to the air handler and the wiring down to the electrical box. Simple and easy. This tipsy install took way more work to do wrong.

While this compressor will work, it pushes good sense to the edge.

James Quarello
Connecticut Home Inspector
2010 - 2011 SNEC-ASHI President
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

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