Home Inspector Nightmares: Vol. 15

Elizabeth FlahertyUpdated: Mar. 05, 2018

This is a nice collection of some of the things that help home inspectors keep their sense of humor. (A few of them are more dangerous than funny however.)

1 / 10

Beer case insulation

Courtesy of ASHI

Beer case insulation

Uncle Cooter never minded living in the attic. Nope. Not one bit. Not sure what the R-value of cardboard boxes is, but I am sure that using actual insulation in the attic would be better.

2 / 10

Halloween decor

Halloween decor

Hmmm... Stephen King's attic? Other storage solutions might be less nightmare-inducing, but I'm not sure I'd go up there anymore. Never know what else you might find!

Photo: Courtesy of Structure Tech

3 / 10

Flue follies

Flue follies

Exhaust gases from a water heater flue are hot and go up, (think hot air balloon). This is a great way to get carbon monoxide backdrafting into the house. This is the kind of thing that really gets C/O detectors super duper excited. Photo: Courtesy of Structure Tech

4 / 10

Long and winding road

Courtesy of Structure Tech

Long and winding road

Bill and Susan decided they'd let family of moles do the fertilizing this fall. And I guess they should've set him up with a little more fertilizer.

5 / 10

Tree eats cable

Photo: Courtesy of Structure Tech

Tree eats cable

Trimming this tree would be a very delicate operation. And you might want to call up the power company for this job.

6 / 10

THE scene from Alien

Family Handyman

THE scene from Alien

If you gotta have power on the other side of the wall, this isn’t the way to go about it. And not only is it ugly, it would have been easier to add an outlet the right way. Photo: Courtesy of Structure Tech

7 / 10

Is this foam the fireproof kind?

Photo: Courtesy of Structure Tech

Is this foam the fireproof kind?

Perhaps this was supposed to be for plugging leaks around the flue. Recapping the chimney the proper way might be a better strategy.

8 / 10

Basement Oasis

Basement Oasis

But where will he live if the water heater gets fixed? Looks like it's about time to replace the old water heater.

Photo: Courtesy of Structure Tech

9 / 10

Another use for landscape blocks

Another use for landscape blocks

No WAY I’m paying for another two feet of ductwork! Guessing the real reason was that the furnace was shorter and this guy didn’t know how to extend the ductwork to accommodate a shorter furnace.

Photo: Courtesy of Structure Tech

10 / 10

Socket wrench hinge pin

Courtesy of Structure Tech

Socket wrench hinge pin

Wow! This is a huge improvement over the coat hangers in the other hinges! Brilliant! A lesson in garage door repair might be in order.

Want more home inspector nightmares? Check out volume 16!

Originally Published: November 13, 2017