What were they thinking?

The latest edition of my blog about all the crazy things I find on home inspections.  The first one was from a recently renovated property (aka flipped) where they really only concentrated on the cosmetics.  This cast iron drain line was readily visible in the laundry room, and was a clear sign that the flippers didn't know much about renovation.  (Or maybe they just didn't care).  The rust stains are from the pipe corroding from the inside out, and there was a crack about 6 inches long.  What you can't see is that this was the drain line off of the two bathrooms.  Not exactly what I want dripping down on my laundry!

This next picture is from a foreclosed row home in Baltimore.  Thankfully the power company had disconnected power on the outside, since someone had taken some scrap wire and jumped the meter brackets.  They had used 14 gauge wire to do it, which is only rated for 15 AMPs, so this was a fire waiting to happen, not to mention quite illegal.

From the same row home, we get this nice view of a furnace.  The rust coming out of the hole and piled up is what was left of the heat exchanger.  Hopefully this happened after the previous owners moved out, since this would be a very dangerous situation (Carbon Monoxide poisoning).

You know it wouldn't be a post on this blog without pictures of bathroom venting gone wrong!  These next two pictures are from the same house, and are yet another flip (flop?).  The sellers were actually upset that I called this out.

This next picture is from a home where I was asked to check up on some contractor repairs as part of the OverSeeIt program.  My client was continuing to have major water intrusion issues in one corner of her basement.  When I checked outside this is what I found.  The PVC pipe is from the sump, and then there are two downspouts also running into the black pipe.  Unfortunately, all of the water was dumping right back next to the foundation and coming right back in to the basement.  Seems the contractor was hoping that gravity didn't apply in this small area.

The last one is just for a good laugh.  From the outside, it appeared there was a triple flue chimney.  When I got inside, there were no appliances requiring a chimney, and no fireplace.  Once I hopped up in the attic, I saw this!  I guess a previous homeowner wanted people to think he had multiple fireplaces.  The chimney was completely unused, but still causing problems as you can see around the top where water is penetrating the flashing.

That's all for now folks.  Stay safe out there, and remember to hire the best home inspector you can find.  For more on our services, check out www.vhillc.com