I was inspecting a home today that was owned by an elderly widowed woman that passed away and her family was having to sell the house. I noticed that the house was full of all sorts of items that she kept instead of throwing away....old newspapers, boxes, many clothes hangers ect. She either was a hoarder or just remembered the depression too well. When I went into the attic to inspect it, I was shocked! She had kept all the styrofoam packing materials and packing peanuts she ever had and distributed them in to attic, I guess for insulation. I'm not sure how she was able to get them so far into the attic without falling through the ceiling. Styrofoam is too light to throw very far, but pretty much the entire attic floor was covered. I was still determined to inspect the attic, so I just kicked the pieces around to locate the ceiling joists to walk on. When I got to the furnace flue...sure enough, it was surrounded with the material. I took the time to move it away from the flue so the house would not burn down.

Scary what some people will do.

Kent Keith

Fort Worth Home Inspector