Crazy Home Inspector Finds

Shocked woman

At IM Home Inspections, we see crazy home inspector finds all the time. Here are a few.

Garage Door Death Wish

Garage door photosensors are essential for ensuring the safety of both people and pets. The photosensors prevent accidents and injuries caused by preventing the garage door from closing on babies, pets, people, or anything else that can get in the way of a garage door. By mounting the photosensors at the ceiling, they are rendered useless. Therefore, the door can close without any regard to anyone or anything that might be in harm’s way.

Garage door photosensors mounted at the ceiling.
Garage door photosensors mounted at the ceiling.

Hamster Trail Drain Lines

These drain lines look more like a hamster trail setup than a water drain line system. The line from the garbage disposal should not tee off with the sink line, as the disposal will send water (and anything else) back up the sink. Coupled with the water from the sink can bypass the drain and go to the disposal. On top of that, soft corrugated drain lines are not allowed in plumbing codes due to they tend to clog easier and break easier than solid pipes.

A non-professional drain line under a sink.
A non-professional drain line under a sink.

A heater to make you sleep and not wake up

This heater flue is disconnected. Which means dangerous exhaust fumes, including carbon monoxide, into the surrounding area. Additionally, the top portion of the flue is an older transite pipe, which is not rated for modern a modern heater. Another problem with transite pipes is they often contain asbestos. Lastly, these pipes can develop small hairline cracks that are not visible to the naked eye that can leak fumes.

A disconnected heater flue pipe
A disconnected heater flue pipe

Hide and Go Seek Foundation

As discussed in this previous article on 3 problem foundations, brick foundations are problematic in Los Angeles. Sometimes unscrupulous people will try to cover the brick with concrete to give the appearance the foundation is newer and in better condition than it really is. However, the concrete rarely sticks to the brick consistently. Our inspector spotted this bit of brick showing through the concrete cover-up job.

Concrete applied over a brick foundation
Concrete applied over a brick foundation

Adventures in Finding the Jurassic Heater!

This Payne-brand heater was found in a home listed as being built in 1925. To the best of our research, this heater was original to the home! This made it among one of the oldest furnaces we have found in a home. A true flashback to a previous era!

A gas furnace from 1925
A gas furnace from 1925

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