Best of 2018 – A Home Inspectors Year in Review
HOME INSPECTION FINDS – BEST OF 2018
Here we are again. Another year in the books and another year of fun to review. If you are not already doing so, be sure and follow me on Instagram for a daily post of the crazy stuff I come across.
20. OLD HOUSES AND RUSTY PIPES
Old houses are great, but you must understand what you are signing up for when you buy one. Most of them have been cobbled together with varying bits and pieces of material over the years. Old pipes are one of the big ones. Here is a laundry sink that gives you iron-enriched water from rusty old galvanized pipes. Who’s thirsty?
19. NEW CARPET INSTALLED BY MR. FLIPPER
Great job Mr. Fipper! It helps when installing new carpet if you cut out for the HVAC supply vents. Some flip houses are the worst!
18. NEW CONSTRUCTION ROOF FLASHING WOES
“New homes don’t need an inspection, right?” I hear this all the time, and I belly laugh every time. This place was close to being “finished” when I asked the builder when he planned on installing the flashing on the roof.
He turned red in the face and whipped out his phone to call his “roofer.” The buyer just grinned at me. Houses are built by people, and people screw up all the time. Yes, your new construction should be inspected.
17. FROGS IN THE GUTTERS!
This was definitely a first. I see clogged gutters just about every day, but I’ve never seen them so clogged that they have wildlife living in them. How long does water have to stand before frog eggs get laid 10 feet in the air? Also, clogged gutters are a great way to wind up with a leaking basement. You must keep those gutters cleaned out and free-flowing.
16. FIFTEEN YEARS OF PAIN
This home was 15 years old and still owned by the folks who built it. The builder never insulated the attic. For 15 years they have been paying heating and cooling bills that were twice as high as they should have been. Given the size of the home, I estimate that over the course of those 15 years, they paid about $27,000 more in utility costs than they should have. This is just another example of why you want to get that new construction home checked out. Had these folks done so all those years ago, it would have saved them a ton of money.
15. MR. FLIPPER’S NEW SHOWER TRIM KIT
This one is a bit funny. I was trying to show how poorly the valve body and the trim kit had been installed by Mr. Flipper when the tub spout shot off from…wait for it…not being properly installed. I know you are as shocked as I am.
14. NEW CONSTRUCTION MANUFACTURED STONE WOES
I do a lot of specialized work with manufactured stone problems. There are thousands of homes that leak because of botched installs, but they normally take about 10 years to show this type of damage. It’s usually a slow burn with a little bit of water at a time. Not this place. This was a new build and leaking badly. Again, do you think a new home needs to be inspected?
13. NEWLY INSTALLED ROOF!
This home boasted a newly installed roof on the listing. And to be fair, there were new shingles. But what they failed to disclose was that the seller hired the cheapest roofer they could find to cover up massive water damage around the base of this chimney. You can see I’m able to move this chimney with very light pressure from one hand.
12. DIY ATTIC FAN
You just never know what you’ll find in an attic. They say necessity is the mother of invention. I say this fits that proverb nicely. This old home was likely really hot in the summer and the owners were trying to remove the hot attic air with a box fan at one end of the attic. It won’t work, but it is a nice try. You can’t overcome the thermal load of the SUN on your home with a 20″ fan from Wal-Mart.
11. WORST STAIRS EVER.
Not much to say here. This deathtrap was just plain scary to walk down. Yikes.
10. OLD SCHOOL COOL TV
I’ve been in thousands of home over the years, but this has to be the coolest old TV I’ve come across. It’s a Kuda Komet from Germany and according to this it was the ultimate home entertainment package available in the late 1950’s. Retail price new back then was $1200.00! This was a bit less than a new car.
9. MR. FLIPPER’S AIR CONDITIONING INSTALL
This time he was too lazy (or cheap) to use another 3 feet of PVC for the condensate pump in this Old Louisville cellar, so he grabbed a few rusty old paint cans and a brick to raise things to the proper height.
7. WE GOT ROOFS, WE GOT LOTS OF ROOFS.
Here is a prime example of what you get when you hire the cheapest contractor you can find. A roof structure can only hold so many pounds, and this one has to be close to the tipping point. You never want multiple layers of any type of roof if you can help it. A proper new install will always involve the removal of the old one.
6. WATCH THAT FIRST STEP…IT’S A DOOZIE
I have no clue how this was ever passed by the city inspectors. You can’t just have a door that opens to a 15ft drop. The house was less than 1 year old.
5. CARDBOARD? REALLY??
Mr. Flipper used a piece of cardboard to cover the hole in a furnace cabinet that was created to install a new fan motor. Cardboard. Jeez.
4. LEANING TOWER OF MOBEERZA?
Did they forget their level, or were there just too many beers consumed? The world may never know…
2. DISHONEST SELLERS EXIST
Here is a graph from a Radon test I performed this year. Do you see that huge drop-off? That is when the sellers decided to open up the house and “air things out.” They didn’t know my monitors have logging ability and I was able to call them out.
1. IT‘S GREAT TO BE TOLD YOU’RE GREAT
I get lots of great reviews on Google, Yelp, and Angie’s List, and I appreciate each and every one of them. However, when a client takes the time to tell you how much you excel over the rest, it means a bit more.
Thanks again to all the folks who put their trust in me for their inspections. I have a passion for helping people make the right decision when it comes to their home, and I hope that it shows in my work.
If I could ask for one small favor it would be for you to click that share button below. It would mean a lot to me if you would help spread the fun.
Here’s to an amazing 2019 and another year of fantastic adventures!
Ben Hendricks
Hi, I’m Ben, and I inspect houses. I grew up with a hammer in my hand, and have been a professional home inspector for 15 years. My blog is here for info about home inspections around the Louisville, Kentucky area, and just about anything construction-related.