Residential                    

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                      Commercial 

Unique Home Inspections' "Hall of Shame"

The following pictures are examples of some of the findings documented by our inspectors 

The damage to this roof includes buckling of the plywood decking and a large hole into the attic space leaving the insulation and interior attic space exposed to the elements

This is a fire wall between two units of a town house and is intended to slow a fire's spread from one unit into the next. The large hole punched through for access in between the two units constitutes a violation of local and national fire codes and is a safety hazard. 

This AC duct found separated in this attic space was dumping conditioned air into the attic, costing the unwary home owners wasted money every month through higher heating and cooling bills.

The lack of a simple dielectric nipple caused this hot water heater to fail prematurely due to electrolysis between two dissimilar metals, the copper pipe and the steel tank.

This is a masonry block support for a mobile home that is no longer supporting the structure of the home due to settling.  

This is a two wire "Zip" cord (generally used as a lamp cord) used to pick up electricity from an existing light fixture and supply power to a light in another room. The reasons why this constitutes a violation of the National Electrical Code are to numerous to list in it's entirety. For starters, this creates a fire hazard through the use of undersized and improper wire and an unprotected cord not approved for this type of use. Note the nail used to support the cord driven between the conductors creating the potential for a direct short. Also note the exposed splice.

This is a picture of the power companies main service line run from the pole to the customers weather head leading to the electric meter. Note that the insulation on one of the two lines has failed, creating a direct short to the support cable (the support cable is used as a neutral line), leaving only one strand supporting the three cables supplying electricity to the home.  It is amazing that  total failure of the home's electrical system or a fire resulting from the overhead short circuit did not occur.  

You can clearly see the water ponding on the floor of this utility closet and the damage to the wall as a result. The problem is not with the water heater but what is above it. The evaporator coil and air handler to the AC system is directly above the water heater with a condensate pan under the evaporator coil to catch the water that condenses on this cold coil. A drain line is supposed to drain the water collected to a safe location but it is plugged,  providing no place for the water to go except to overflow the pan and work it's way into the living space of the home. Aside from the damage to the wall and floor of the unit, mold also becomes a genuine concern.