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We’re guessing it took someone quite a long time to cut through this steel I-beam to get the door to fit.
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“There, that oughta do it.”
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Yes, there was power at this mast head.
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Hazardous electrical wiring
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This is what ice dams do.
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Amateur drain repairs.
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Electrical tape is not an approved plumbing material.
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While most people would have had to decide between a heat register and a cabinet here, this homeowner decided to have their cake and eat it too. Can you guess what city this house was in?
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We pulled the vinyl siding away underneath this cantilevered balcony to find major water intrusion
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Floor joists? We don’t need no stinking floor joists.
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Attics are supposed to be treated as warm spaces or cold spaces. Someone obviously didn’t understand the point.
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Duct tape is not an approved plumbing material.
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Another scene from the house that was too full for ‘Hoarders’
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Any unused openings in electric panels are supposed to be covered over, not only to contain any potential fire or sparking that could occur inside the panel, but also to prevent unwanted visitors from coming in.
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This mushroom was growing in an attic below an improperly installed butterfly roof.
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Hazardous aluminum branch circuit conductors
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That downspout connecting to the return air duct fed to the exterior of the home and was being used as the combustion air intake. It’s not conventional and it’s probably a little small, but hey, it works.
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No explanation needed.
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This is the only photo we didn’t take (thanks DKW3). This was someone’s solution to chronic water intrusion from ice dam leakage.
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This dryer duct was being used as a convenient way to run wire out to the garage.
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Apparently someone was tired of replacing those pesky fuses, so they replaced the fuses with a couple short lengths of copper tubing. Can you say fire hazard?
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I noticed water leaking out from behind the escutcheon, which is that decorative metal trim ring around the pipe sticking out of wall. I turned the water off, pulled the escutcheon away, got my camera ready, turned the water back on… click.
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This house was too full for ‘Hoarders’
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Yes, you’ve achieved the cabin feel alright.
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No explanation needed.
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Someone had an idea here. We’re not sure what they were trying to do.
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Sump baskets are reinforced on the sides to prevent them from collapsing. Plastic refuse containers are not.
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Hole in your fascia? No problem! Just use a bunch of caulk and a hockey puck to fix it.
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This might be the most interesting tiled floor we’ve come across.
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We don’t know what was stored in these containers, but we’re thinking it wasn’t water.
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What’s keeping this chimney together? Inertia.
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This was someone’s attempt at cooling a room where the AC unit wasn’t installed.
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One of the main service entrance conductors was badly corroded
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Yes, that’s a live wire feeding through the dryer duct, underground, and out to the garage.
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Looks great… but uh, the tabs are supposed to be staggered.
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Well, that’s one way to insulate an attic. Most people prefer to open the bags and spread the stuff around though…
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One of the worst water heaters we’ve seen.
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Unsafe service entrance conductors
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That’s a terrible place for an electrical mast
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We could tell this chimney crown needed repair just by looking at it from the ground, but we had no idea it would be this bad. This chimney crown obviously needs to be completely replaced.
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We’ve seen plenty of rotted windows, but this one was also filled in with expanding foam, trimmed to match the profile of the window, and painted to match.
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Hmmm… needs more caulk.
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Someone went to a lot of effort to install this bath fan above the shower, but without a duct… what’s the point? I can only scratch my head.
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We’ve said many times that pressure washers should never be used to remove ice dams, because they tear up shingles.
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Three sides of this chimney looked just fine from a distance.
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The roof decking was in horrible condition at this house, but that didn’t stop the roofers; they installed a new roof covering right over the top. That black stuff is the ice & water shield.
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One of our best photos. This shows a BX electrical wire being fed through a plumbing vent down to the basement.
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Cracked chimney
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Hats belong on peoples heads.
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The entire center support structure at this two-story house was supported by a single telescopic post.
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As I was typing up the insection report for this house, my wife saw this photo on the computer screen and said “Wow, that chimney looks like it’s about one angry bird away from collapse.” Good call.
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Interesting solution.
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The owner thought they had ice dams, and had already replaced their patio door because of all the leakage. The culprit? The furnace flue came loose when the roof was replaced several years ago. The exhaust gas caused massive water damage and ice buildup throughout the attic.
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The cover to this electric panel had been cut out to allow for cabinet door hinges to mount flush. Yes, that large black wire that gets pushed back by the hinge is the main service entrance wire.
