Gallery of Home Photos from Quality Assurance Home Inspections, Middletown, NY
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A main beam with significant splitting.

Washing machine and water softener discharging into an open fitting. Very serious health risks here.

My client came across this while he was going through the kitchen cabinets. Electrical splices should be in approved junction boxes. This is an accident waiting to happen.

Running AC lines directly into sewage vents creates the risk of contamination of water borne bacteria such as legionella (legionnaires disease)

Here a TPR valve has been rendered useless by crimping the piping.

Another brand new home with a double tap in the panel.

Infrared image showing poor insulation.

Inrared image showing hidden moisture from poorly flashed window. These findings were confirmed by a moisture meter.

Bathroom Vent terminating in attic This is a brand new home with a C of O, and I found the bathroom fan vent buried under insulation. This is an ideal condition for mold to grow.

This General Electric panel specifically says to only use GE type breakers....

.....Yet this same panel is loaded with Square D breakers. This not only voids the warranty, this configuration is probably not UL tested. Note the electrical inspectors sticker.

Same panel continued... Grounded conductors should terminate within the panelboard on an individual terminal, that is not also used for another conductor.

Same panel continued.... This main panel is supposed to be bonded, yet the bonding screw is not installed. All this should have been caught by the municipality, specifically the electrical inspector.

I always pull up on electrical grounding rods, because they're supposed to be 8' long. I pulled up on this one and it was only 14" long. These five photos were all of a brand new home, complete with C of O

TPR Valve: This Temperature Pressure Relief Valve does not have the required discharge piping installed.

Fire Hazard? A perfect example of why home inspectors should always open panel boxes. A direct 220 tap right into the main disconnect.

Federal Pacific: This is an old Federal Pacific fuse box, still going strong after 47 years. The Federal Pacific circuit breakers, on the other hand, are not so reliable.

Soot stains: Soot stains around any combustion appliance may indicate combustion spillage, as seen here in this oil fired furnace.

Galvanic corrosion: Here, a galvanized steel plug was fastened to a copper fitting. These are two incompatible metals and what you see is the resulting corrosion. Eventually this fitting will fail, causing a water leak.

Severe water damage: On the right side of this photo you can see the water damage resulting from a negative grade where the driveway meets the garage. Water collected here and just wicked right up the wooden doors, rotting them from the inside out

Unfastened deck post: This is one of two posts that support a deck 20 ft in height, yet neither is mechanically fastened to the footing. The potential for this post to be knocked away is significant....and deadly.

Cut floor joists: I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't want to be taking a bath in the tub above these cut floor joists. Nevermind the fact that it's not trapped.

Life Hazard: If you or someone you know lives in a house with window bars installed, make sure they're easily opened from the inside without the need for tools, keys or special knowledge.

Improper Ground: If you're not going to bother and strip the wire, it kind of defeats the purpose. Perfect example of good intentions, coupled with lack of knowledge.

Improper TPR piping:The TPR (teperature/pressure relief) valve discharge piping should terminate within six inches of the floor

Uninsulated wire:This is new construction. Here, the plumber followed the electrician, and accidentally cut sheathing off the wire while cutting holes for the pipes. After the sheetrock is up, this becomes a matter of when.

Improper use of extensions:This guy should have read my newsletter on extension cord fires. Notice the hose nearby. Definitely not a situation you want to add water to.

Ungrounded & exposed exterior receptacle:A guy actually rigged this up outside so his mother-in-law could plug Christmas lights in. The Christmas light may not be the only thing glowing this winter.

Cake pan panels are not allowed!Here, some do it yourselfer thought it was just fine to use a cake pan as an electrical panel cover. Try getting at those breakers in an emergency.

Can anybody spell "electrocution"? If you ever happen upon any type of electrical receptacle or outlet within arms length of the tub or shower, don't walk....run!

The person who hired me for this inspection had plans to tear the house down and rebuild. He wanted a nice home for his newly married daughter. See next image

As it turned out, the seller was trying to pull a fast one. The property the house was sitting on floods under three feet of water for two months out of the year. (which explains the horrible condition of the house)

During the inspection, the property showed no signs of flooding. My client could have lost big on this one, were it not for an honest neighbor who filled us in. A perfect example of why you should talk to your future neighbors before you buy.

Here is an underground abandoned oil tank being removed. It had residual oil in it, that had been leaching into the ground. The bill to take that tank out had alot of zero's on the end.

Mold growing on the ceiling? What steps should you take if you encounter this in your home? Click here for more info on Mold.

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This deck collapsed because the ledger was not properly fastened to the house. This is the #1 cause of deck collapse. Could you imagine if there were children playing under that deck?

Here is another example. By the way, decks usually collapse when there are a bunch of people standing on them. Don't let this be you!
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Obviously, anyone can see that this is a potential mold problem. Fact is, there not all this easy to find.

This is a brand new house. Free of defects? No. This builder had to come back and add a Carbon monoxide detector on the first floor, ARC Fault interuptors in all the bedrooms, and more.


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