Replace Your Air Filter Regularly! OR The Mystery Of the Rotting Door Trim

Sometimes things are found during home inspections that should not be there.  And the reason has to be investigated.  This can be a regular Hardy Boys mystery sometimes and can be a lot of fun!

It has been dry and on a patio not otherwise wet I saw the water you see here and the rotting wood.  Whatever this problem was, it had been happening for some time.  This part of the house is on a slab.  It would be unusual, but not impossible, for water to be coming from under the door.  There was no water source nearby.  So what caused it?  Sometimes, instead of looking down, you have to look ... up!

 

 

 

 

This is the water running to the drain rotting the wood trim under the patio door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the AC condensate tube which is dripping water onto the patio splattering onto the wood and rotting the wood trim under the patio door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the drip pan under the AC unit so full of water it is draining into the condensate tube which is dripping water onto the patio splattering onto the wood and rotting the wood trim under the patio door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the absolutely frozen line on the AC unit dripping water into the drip pan under the AC unit so full of water it is draining into the condensate tube which is dripping water onto the patio splattering onto the wood and rotting the wood trim under the patio door.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the air filter so dirty air can't flow through it which is freezing the absolutely frozen line on the AC unit dripping water into the drip pan under the AC unit so full of water it is draining into the condensate tube which is dripping water onto the patio splattering onto the wood and rotting the wood trim under the patio door 50 FEET FROM THE AC UNIT !

One thing leads to another...

 

 

 

This is a foreclosure.  Apparently the air conditioning, and perhaps previously the heat, has been on every day for some time.  The filter had not been replaced -- for some time!  The thermostat was set on 70F!  The temperature generally was 83F.  The unit was trying so hard to reach the demanded temperature that it was running continually and freezing from the effort.  I turned off the AC unit and called the listing agent, whom I know.  I DID NOT REMOVE THE FILTER!  Why not?  Because it was soaking wet and getting sucked in toward the coils.  Sometimes Good Samaritan efforts can cause other damage, which I did not want to do.  That foils anything else I might find on the inspection.  Then the selling agent hears, "Well, that was fine until the home inspector broke it!"

When I first saw the dripping tube, I knew it was either a condensate line or from the drip pan under a washing machine.  As there was no washing machine in the house and that pan dry, I knew where to look.

My recommendation:  especially on listings that sit for a while, but certainly in your own home -- replace, or clean, the air filter regularly!  How often is "regularly?"  If the system is operating every day, then the filter should be replaced, or cleaned, every month!