Sometimes, it’s lack of knowledge. Sometimes, it’s laziness or poor craftsmanship. Sometimes, it’s like we’ve stepped into an alternate dimension because what the Black-Mirror-Twilight-Zone-weird else could it be? But whatever the explanation, there can be no doubt that on the daily, a home inspector can be heard saying, “That’s not how this works.”
Dryer Vent Fail
That’s definitely not how this works. I want to see the video where a rat pops the OxiClean box off the dryer vent and proceeds into the house. (No, I don’t) It’s neat that OxiClean is such a perfect fit for a dryer vent though. Normally, you’d have the dryer vent hose attached to it. But even if they’ve moved out, they should have had a damper and a vent cover on the outside, which would have prevented water intrusion and critters from getting in.
Baking Pan Alarm
Speaking of using whatever’s handy, we’d have to say that a baking pan is not an approved material for an HVAC condensate pan. It’s got some stains, too, so it’s been there a while. The condensate drain pan catches all the humidity and excess water that is removed from the air by your AC. It also makes sure the water is safely disposed of outside the home through a drain line. So, while this baking pan, is, in fact, a pan, it’s not a sufficient replacement. Because when it fills up, it’s going to run all over the floor – which, given the stains, it likely already has.
Flipper Fix
This is a thing we see all the time at flip houses, newly renovated homes, and sometimes new construction. The people working on the house have been coming in and out, loading stuff, and rather than accidentally damaging the garage door sensors, they move them out of the way and set them up so they can trigger them easily if needed – karate chop! This all makes perfect sense except for the part that if home inspectors are finding garage sensors this way, that means the construction crews aren’t going back and putting them where they belong when the job is done. That’s not how this works.
Wrong Way Window
Continuing to prove that pros get it wrong sometimes, too, here we have a window on a new construction home that has been installed backward. You can probably see that the flashing tape around the sill has gotten wet.
Inspector Derek commented that he is always finding something with the windows on new builds these days, and another inspector joked, “That’s because windows come with instructions: 1. Do what you want.”
When it comes to building, renovating, and repairing homes, we’re all human, and we all make mistakes — some of us in more epic fashion than others. But whether it’s a professional or a DIYer doing the work, the fact is that mistakes do happen, and that’s what inspectors are for.
