Top 20 Home Inspection Photos from 2011

I post a new home inspection photo on the Structure Tech Facebook page six days a week, and this year I decided to put together a blog post showing my favorite photos from 2011. I hope you enjoy these half as much as I do. As with all of my blog posts, click on any of these photos for a larger version.

Ice Dams - Remember ice dams? They were nasty last winter. I'm enjoying winter in Minnesota much more this year; what have we received so far, two inches of snow?

Ice Dam-age 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.

Hack Ice Dam Removal - We've said many times that pressure washers should never be used to remove ice dams, because they tear up shingles.

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.

Hockey Puck Fascia Repair - Hole in your fascia? No problem! Just use a bunch of caulk and a hockey puck to fix it.

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.

Bad Shingle Repair - No explanation needed.

Bad Chimney Crown - 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.

Chimney with Facade Falling Apart - Three sides of this chimney looked just fine from a distance.

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.

Downspout Combustion Air Intake - 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.

Central Air-ish - This was someone's attempt at cooling a room where the AC unit wasn't installed.

Creative Heat Register - Interesting solution.

Heat Register in 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?

Garbage Can Sump Basket - Sump baskets are reinforced on the sides to prevent them from collapsing. Plastic refuse containers are not.

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.

Covered Outlet - No explanation needed.

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?

Mirror Tile on Kitchen Floor - This might be the most interesting tiled floor we've come across.

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.

Water Behind Escutcheon - My personal favorite. 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.

Ok, that was twenty-one photos. Close enough. If you enjoy these kinds of photos, please click "Like" on our Facebook page. Thanks!

Reuben Saltzman, Structure Tech Home Inspections - Email - Minnesota Home Inspector