Toilet in a kitchen? The best of the worst home inspection photos of 2014

What were they thinking? Home inspector and Your Voices blogger Reuben Saltzman gathers the most confusing, dangerous and just plain odd home inspection photos of 2014.

By hominspector

January 8, 2015 at 6:11AM
Yes, this is a toilet in a kitchen. Yes, it blocks access to the drawers and the sink base. No, we didn't "test" it.
Yes, this is a toilet in a kitchen. Yes, it blocks access to the drawers and the sink base. No, we didn't "test" it. (Colleen Kelly/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

We share our favorite home inspection photos on our Facebook page and our Google+ Page with a feature we started back in 2009, called the Photo of the Day. Sometimes we make a game out of the photos, asking what's wrong in the photo. Other times, the defects are quite obvious. I've pored over all of our photos from the past year, and I've put together the Top 20 home inspection photos from the past year. Enjoy!

Don't tuck your raincoat into your rain pants

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Upside-Down Snorkel - that metal thing in the middle of the photo is always installed with the opening facing down. How does water not get in there? Snorkel is an unofficial term, but we like it.

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Tree in Attic, Holding Stuff Up

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Toilet in Kitchen - yes, it's functional. Yes, it blocks access to the drawers and the sink base. No, we didn't "test" it.

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Stacked Box

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

C-clamp pipe repair - we're not crazy about saddle valves to start with.

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Re-purposed radon fan

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Not a Loop Vent - island vents are used at island sinks, and they're perfectly legal. Because the vent makes a loop to the underside of the countertop, sometimes people call them loop vents. Someone must have heard that term and then took a stab at it, but this doesn't come close. The Family Handyman web site has an excellent cutaway photo showing how an island vent is supposed to be installed: Island Vent Photo

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Missing drain, smart water

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

;-o

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Hot Flush

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

"And... that's how you like to support your deck?"

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

All hail the electric panel

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Nobody's gonna see it behind the fridge

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Safety First

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

If one filter is good, four is... gooder?

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Smells like cooked mice.

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

"...Folgers in your duct"

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Bowed Deck

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Pinhole Leak - this has been leaking for a long, long, long time.

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

"Call us if the mountains turn blue" - from our recent caption contest. This winning caption was submitted by Eric Aune.

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

If you like these photos, please check out our Facebook or Google Plus pages. These photos go on and on. https://www.facebook.com/MinnesotaHomeInspections and https://plus.google.com/+Structuretech1/

about the writer

about the writer

hominspector