Gifford Home Inspection

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Defect of the Month from 2007

Defect of the Month from 2008

For both education and entertainment, I have added the following sample of photos of a variety of items which I have come across during my Home Inspections.  Enjoy!

December, 2009

This is a direct connection of a furnace condensate line going into the side of a main waste line coming from the bathroom toilet in an older house in Greenfield, MA.  This is expressly prohibited in the plumbing code.  It seems like a minor picky point but every code regulation is usually based on a problem which has occurred in the past.  In this case, having raw sewerage able to seep down this line to the furnace is more then unpleasant.  A variety of harmful bacteria can grow and prosper in the furnace condensate tank if raw sewerage is introduced.  Under certain conditions this bacteria can then be drawn into the heating system for distribution throughout the house.

November, 2009

This 3 bedroom ranch house in Shelburne Falls, MA had these accessible shotguns, pistols and ammunition in plane sight in a wide open cabinet.  Realtors, please ask your sellers to secure their weapons before the Home Inspector, the buyer's Realtor, and the buyer and his family with small children come marching through to inspect the house.

October, 2009

Here we have a forced hot air gas furnace where the flames were actually coming 6 to 8 inches out of the side of the furnace.  I first became aware of a problem when my personal carbon monoxide detector started ringing as soon as I entered this basement in Easthampton MA.  The safety controls on the gas valve were bypassed after they melted.  The seller was an elderly women who was not able to get down into the basement.  Unfortunately her son was "handy" and had gotten her furnace going again after the flames melted the controls.  The source of the problem was a partially clogged chimney.  After discussions with the Realtor, the gas company was called and they promptly shut off the gas service until professional repairs could be made.

September, 2009

This is a home-made support post under a home in Erving, MA.  It is supporting the center load bearing wall of this house.  This post should be replaced with a permanently installed lally column before someone decides to "borrow" the C-clamp for some other project.

August, 2009

I took this photo inside of a garage during a home inspection.  While it obviously has nothing to do with the actual inspection, it just strikes me as a sad commentary on the general state of common sense.

July, 2009

I was just in time to catch a picture of this garter snake crawling up into the back wall of a house in Amherst, MA.  I startled it (and it startled me) as I was examining the underside of a deck on the back of this house.  It was obviously living in the wall of this 10 year old custom built house as it immediately slithered up through an opening under the edge of the vinyl siding after I disturbed it.

June, 2009

Sometimes you don't need a home inspector. (Just kidding.)  Although this 80 gallon electric water heater in Holyoke Massachusetts was still functioning, it has obviously reached the end of its useful life.  In my experience, Vaughn manufacturing makes the longest lasting electric water heaters in the industry.  Although this one was obviously leaking, it was 43 years old.  Because they are "stone lined", the inside of the tank is well protected from corrosion.  Unfortunately, even the best water heaters will eventually rust through at the fittings where the pipes and electric heating elements enter the tank.

May, 2009

This a permit for a 500 gallon fuel oil tank.  It specifically states that the tank is located "Underground".  The permit was nailed to the basement rafters in a $499,000.00 house in Amherst MA.  Any tanks which have not been used in 24 months are required by law to be removed.  There was a newer tank located in the basement, however no one knew if the original underground tank had been removed.  The potential new buyers are strongly advised to research this with the town's fire chief as they are required to inspect the soil under a tank when it is being removed.  The cost to remove and clean the soil from a leaking tank can run into tens of thousands of dollars.  Also, many homeowner's insurance policies have a pollution exclusion so you are unlikely to get any help from them if you do end up buying a house with a leaker.

April, 2009

There were manufacturing defects in some roofing shingles produced in the last 15 years.  These particular asphalt shingles on a 1995 cape in Hadley MA looked fine from the ground.  On closer inspection there were a number of vertical cracks which were lining up with the joints between some of the individual shingles.  Apparently the adhesive on the back side of the shingles was too strong.  The shingles became glued together and effectively formed one large membrane.  The shingles could not slide and stretch and so they cracked right through due to expansion and contraction from heating and cooling.  The large temperature differences between a summer afternoon and a winter night were too great for the material to handle.  Although there might be a manufacturer's warranty, good luck getting any money out of the company, assuming you can find out who made them, how old they are, proving they were installed properly, etc. etc.

March, 2009

This wood floor joist was completely cut through under the kitchen floor of a house in Shelburne MA.  This resulted in a sagging and springy floor in front of the kitchen sink.  The plumber who sliced away should have had more concern for the structural integrity of the house during this remodeling job.

February, 2009

This wood rot and mold damage was in an attic in a 7 year old ranch house in Amherst Massachusetts.  The chimney is directly outside of the wall on the left.  The water was leaking in through defective metal chimney flashing.  There was no evidence of any problem in the living room below this area of the attic.  Make sure you home inspector walks or crawls through the entire attic.  This area of the attic was at least 40 feet from the attic entrance hatch which was located in a closet ceiling.  Some overweight inspectors will not go through (or fit through) attic ceiling scuttle openings.  They will report the entire attic as an inaccessible space.

January, 2009

These are 7 foot tall double pane glass windows or panels on a sun porch in Brattleboro Vermont.  Two of the windows on this sun porch have moisture between the double panes of glass.  The seal around the edges of the glass panes is leaking.  Unfortunately, once moisture gets between the glass panes there is no way to get it out.  This glass will get more and more hazy and streaked from the moisture.  The only solution is to have the glass replaced.  A glass panel of this size will cost a significant amount of money to replace.