Top 20 home inspection photos from 2019

Here are 20 photos featuring the wackiest things home inspectors saw this year.

By Reuben Saltzman

December 31, 2019 at 12:10PM
(Casey Common/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

It's time for our favorite blog post of the year; the Top 20 Home Inspection Photos. These photos were all featured on our Facebook page over the past year. Enjoy.

Also, if you prefer a video version of this blog post, click the image below:

Work harder, not smarter. This might be the most labor-intensive method of insulating a bathroom exhaust duct that we've ever seen. Not that there's anything wrong with this.

Even gutter guards can fail.

Extension cord extenders? No, those two-to-three prong adapters are not handy extension cord extenders.

Say it ain't so. It had to take a lot of effort, but someone managed to install their furnace filter over the upper burner portion of the furnace. Oops.

I'm sure you do. Now put your hand down, I'm talking.

Odd arrangement. We weren't expecting to find the underside of the bathroom sink drain when we opened this kitchen cabinet door.

Ground control to Major Tom

Putting green included with home.

That's not how it's done. While PVC vents are commonly used for powervent water heaters, they're never supposed to be used for natural draft water heaters. The PVC is visibly scorched at the elbow fitting.

We try not to say that something is "shot"... but this roof is shot.

E is for effort.

Cactopus ductwork in the attic.

Salamanders in a sump basket.

Soapish. We're assuming that green goo was laundry soap that was spilled on the outlet, but we can't rule out the possibility of something evil trying to escape from the outlet. It's just good science.

At least the stairway has enough headroom now.

"I'm not talking to you either." Doesn't it look like a couple who just had a fight? Also, note the dryer duct with pantyhose on the end.

"I HAVE THE POWER!"

Finally, a pool for all of us.

Magic deck beams. Seriously, what holds up the beam?

Huh.

This home obviously has a rodent problem.

And here's one more bonus: our most popular gif of 2019. It's a sump pump discharging through an overhead door frame. Good times.

Ok, that makes 21. As always, if you enjoy this kind of thing, please be sure to visit our Facebook page. For plenty more of our top home inspection photos, please check out our Top 20 Home Inspection Photos from the past 8 years.

about the writer

Reuben Saltzman

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