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Says The Attic Fan - Catch Me If You Can!

By
Home Inspector with Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC 3380-000723

Says the attic fan - catch me if you can!

It's hard to see why.

Tell be sure, without another sign in the attic space I would not have noticed why!

This attic fan is 18' feet high from where I am standing.

Once you see the whole picture you can look back and know the why.

Even showing the cropped section separately it is hard to see!

So, what was the big clue as to what's up with this?  Did it take a true detective to look behind the curtain?

Not really!

Even I could see that one!

Standing nearby and shining my flashlight up from the center of the bucket, the beam hit right on the gray drip spots at the lower end of the fan cut out.

The bucket is full of staining, old and new, and even debris.

It can catch the attic fan!

No longer can the fan say, "I run, run, run, as fast as I can, you can't catch me I'm the attic fan!", because the bucket really only needs to sit there, with impunity, showing how easy it is.

Come wind and rain and melting snow, any dripping seems to be handled!

While the sellers may have added this to their bucket list (ahem), the buyers don't want this to be a part of theirs!

My recommendation:  often things are hard to see!  You need to connect the dots!  You need to read a series of clues, one to the next, and carefully deduce how a chain of events ended up to reveal themselves as an ultimate sign of a problem or the problem itself.  The Best Practice is doing that!

But not here...

 

 

Posted by

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC  

Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia.

Office (703) 330-6388   Cell (703) 585-7560

www.jaymarinspect.com


Comments(14)

Raymond E. Camp
Ontario, NY

Good morning Jay,

The proverbial "bucket list" what may we add next!

Make yourself a great day.

Jun 29, 2014 09:47 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Thought I'd play on that one, Raymond!

Jun 29, 2014 09:48 PM
Suzanne Otto
Six Twenty Designs - Lansdale, PA
Your Montgomery County PA home stager

Well at least they were proactive and put the bucket there instead of having water leak all over the floor. 

Jun 29, 2014 10:22 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

At least Suzanne!  At least...

And fixing the fan?  That's for the next homeowner!

Jun 29, 2014 10:47 PM
Tom White
Franklin Homes Realty LLC (615) 495-0752 or www.FranklinHomesRealty.com - Franklin, TN
Franklin Homes Realty LLC, Franklin TN

Jay, without the bucket sitting there, this would have been a tough one to see. Do you see many attic fans and do they work very well if installed properly?

Jun 30, 2014 12:20 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

I see them Tom.  With a soffit/ridge venting system they are not necessary.

And yes, without the bucket this would have been hard to see!  This guy was very make-ready conscious - he had done lots of stuff to the house to minimize problems, that I found anyway, but he forgot this one.

Jun 30, 2014 12:22 AM
Than Maynard
Coldwell Banker Heart of Oklahoma - Purcell, OK
Broker - Licensed to List & Sell - 405-990-8862

It is amazing how many of those attic vents leak in heavy rain or wind blown rain.

Jun 30, 2014 03:03 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Any roof can leak at any time Than, depending on the direction and force of windy rain.

But, given the staining inside the bucket this happens a lot!

Jun 30, 2014 04:07 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Jay- in one word- ICK.  That was something the seller should have removed from his Bucket List all right!

Jun 30, 2014 11:50 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Sure would have been harder to "deduce" without the bucket, Kathy!

Jun 30, 2014 11:51 AM
James Dray
Fathom Realty - Bentonville, AR

You said it Jay that was difficult to see very difficult

Jun 30, 2014 08:32 PM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

But fortunately there was a big tip off below James!  Good thing for me and my client.

Jun 30, 2014 08:47 PM
Charles Buell
Charles Buell Inspections Inc. - Seattle, WA
Seattle Home Inspector

Jay is that thing sucking or blowing?  With the missing insulation in almost looks like it is operating backwards.  I kill thoses things every time I find one---just sent one packing yesterday.

Jul 04, 2014 09:25 AM
Jay Markanich
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC - Bristow, VA
Home Inspector - servicing all Northern Virginia

Hard to know Charlie.  It wasn't operating when I got there.  And it was hot enough that day for the thermostat to turn it on.

Here is a close up of the wiring, a different photo from a different angle.  It was another problem altogether.

The thing screamed excellence from start to finish!

I was just proud to be there in person!

Jul 04, 2014 11:53 AM