Saturday’s Louisville Ky home inspections really opened up a neat bag of ‘look what we found’ items.  When the buyer looked at the home the first time it was not raining, and as you know this past Saturday it was raining pretty good.  As an inspector, I actually like the rainy days since it tends to show more potential issues that will only arise when it is raining.  Most of the issues can be resolved fairly easily, but it is best to know those before making a purchase.

As we were getting into the home, the buyer and I discussed the trees overhanging the roof line and the need to cut those back some to prevent branches from falling on the roof and damaging it.  We stepped inside to drop off my computer and set up the inspection when noticed that the ceiling was wet and actually had a drips coming from it.   The roof on this home looked almost brand new, but did have some leaves and other debris from the tree lying along the valley.  The buyer and I went back outside to see if there was an issue, and guess what-a tree branch had fallen from the tree and punctured the new roof.  There was only about an inch or two of the branch sticking out of the roof and on first glance, and the roof having debris on it, the branch was not obvious.

This is actually an easy repair of the roof, but there was some damage to the homes plaster (this was a 100 year old home still had plaster ceilings) and it would have to be removed to see how much repair was needed.  A lesson here is to keep your trees trimmed above the roof line.

On the last inspection in Elizabethtown last week a potentially serious issue was uncovered.  Where the power lines run from the pole to the home, the lines were actually in contact with the homes aluminum trim. Over time, wind and vibration could cause the wire to rub on the siding and damage the insulation on the wire.  This damage could allow the aluminum trim on the home to become electrified and a potential shock hazard would exist.  It is an easy repair that the power company will make, but left unattended it could have a potential for danger.

The attic of homes offer a great deal of ‘home inspection finds.’  This is one of the areas that home owners try to make repairs, and out of sight out of mind really applies here.  On my Saturday inspection I saved the attic space for last since it was an older home and I expected to get a little dirty. The attic had a set of  stairs present so the attic had easy access and when things appear easy, they usually are not.  I was greeted at the top of the steps with the wire you see in the picture.  This wire was directly above the attic access entrance and if I had not been alert, this live wire could have easily caused a shock and possible fall from the attic.  Had the buyer been placing items in the attic, it could have been a tragic situation.  There are a few repairs that should be left to professionals and wiring is one of those. 

Now this is an easy repair for the sellers electrician to make as this wire should terminate in an approved electrical.  When buying a home, new or older, please get it inspected to ensure you do not get shocked, either literally or by chance.

When home inspectors venture into crawl spaces, attics and other contained spaces, we never really know what we will find. Many of my friends have found snakes in crawl areas (I HATE snakes), some have found interesting things in attics as well. None of the attic finds give us more pleasure than the attic ‘bucket.’ On Fridays inspection the home looked good overall and the attic had an easy access door so up I went. Nothing really scary to discover, but back in an addition section of the attic I thought that I saw a bucket. Attic buckets always give us cause to pause and ask why a bucket. The first and automatic thought is a roof leak, and 9 out of 10 times that is the case. While this bucket is strange to find in the attic, it is just something a person left behind as there was not a detectable leak present. Who knows why, but it is always fun to find an attic bucket.

Plumbing can be one of the bigger concerns for a home buyer. Most of the plumbing is hidden behind walls and under floors. On this inspection we discovered a small plumbing back-up. Normally we do not get this lucky to find these during the inspection:

The following video will show you one reason whay you should get a home inspection. This is a home owner that tried to put in a new drain line. He did the best he could, but this is not the best way to handle this.