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Photo of the Day

Minnesota Home Inspection Photo
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Home Inspection Photo Gallery

 

Gap in fireplace flue
Cut I-Beam
We’re guessing it took someone quite a long time to cut through this steel I-beam to get the door to fit.
Flexible trap
“There, that oughta do it.”

Mast head on ground
Yes, there was power at this mast head.
Triple tap
Hazardous electrical wiring
Ice filled soffit
This is what ice dams do.

Improper drain repairs 2
Amateur drain repairs.
Improper drain repairs 3
Electrical tape is not an approved plumbing material.
Register inside cabinet
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?

Cantilevered Balcony
We pulled the vinyl siding away underneath this cantilevered balcony to find major water intrusion
Cut Closed-Web Floor Joist
Floor joists? We don’t need no stinking floor joists.
Hot Roof? Cold Roof? Not Sure.
Attics are supposed to be treated as warm spaces or cold spaces. Someone obviously didn’t understand the point.

Improper drain repairs
Duct tape is not an approved plumbing material.
Hoarder house 2
Another scene from the house that was too full for ‘Hoarders’
Mouse in panel
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.

Mushroom in attic
This mushroom was growing in an attic below an improperly installed butterfly roof.
Scorched aluminum conductor
Hazardous aluminum branch circuit conductors
Downspout in to return air
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.

Bad Shingle Repair
No explanation needed.
Ice Dam control
This is the only photo we didn’t take (thanks DKW3). This was someone’s solution to chronic water intrusion from ice dam leakage.
Cable through dryer duct 2
This dryer duct was being used as a convenient way to run wire out to the garage.

Missing Fuses
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?
Water Behind Escutcheon
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.
Hoarder house
This house was too full for ‘Hoarders’

Tree trunk or post
Yes, you’ve achieved the cabin feel alright.
Covered outlet
No explanation needed.
Holes in chimney cap
Someone had an idea here. We’re not sure what they were trying to do.

Garbage can sump basket
Sump baskets are reinforced on the sides to prevent them from collapsing. Plastic refuse containers are not.
Hockey puck fascia repair
Hole in your fascia? No problem! Just use a bunch of caulk and a hockey puck to fix it.
Mirror Tile on kitchen floor
This might be the most interesting tiled floor we’ve come across.

Meth supplies
We don’t know what was stored in these containers, but we’re thinking it wasn’t water.
Missing mortar at chimney
What’s keeping this chimney together? Inertia.
Central air-ish
This was someone’s attempt at cooling a room where the AC unit wasn’t installed.

Corroded conductor
One of the main service entrance conductors was badly corroded
Cable through dryer duct
Yes, that’s a live wire feeding through the dryer duct, underground, and out to the garage.
Bad Roof Installation
Looks great… but uh, the tabs are supposed to be staggered.

Attic insulation
Well, that’s one way to insulate an attic. Most people prefer to open the bags and spread the stuff around though…
Collapsed water heater
One of the worst water heaters we’ve seen.
Missing conduit
Unsafe service entrance conductors

Mast in valley
That’s a terrible place for an electrical mast
Bad Chimney
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.
Rotted window
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.

Caulked drain
Hmmm… needs more caulk.
Useless Shower Fan
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.
Hack Ice Dam Removal from pressure washer
We’ve said many times that pressure washers should never be used to remove ice dams, because they tear up shingles.

Chimney with facade falling apart
Three sides of this chimney looked just fine from a distance.
Rotted Roof Decking
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.
BX through plumbing vent
One of our best photos. This shows a BX electrical wire being fed through a plumbing vent down to the basement.

Cracked chimney
Cracked chimney
Hat on vent
Hats belong on peoples heads.
Stressed Column
The entire center support structure at this two-story house was supported by a single telescopic post.

One Angry Bird Away…
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.
No heat register
Interesting solution.
Ice in Attic
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.

Cut panel cover 2
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.

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We inspect homes in the following cities, and anywhere in between:

Apple Valley, Blaine, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Burnsville, Chanhassen, Coon Rapids, Delano, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Edina, Elk River, Lakeville, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, New Prague, Plymouth, Richfield, Roseville, Saint Louis Park, Saint Paul, Shakopee, and Woodbury.

Structure Tech  •  4205 Raleigh Avenue South  •  St. Louis Park, MN 55416  •  (952) 915-6466  •  WordPress Development: ClearPivot.com