Associate Member of Ontario
Association of Home Inspectors |
Associate Member of CAHPI
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WE ACCEPT
CASH
CHEQUE | |
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Roofing | |
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This deteriorated flat roof, next to good looking shingles, is why we make every reasonable effort to physically get ON a roof. If this house had only been inspected from the ground, this costly deteriorated roof and amateur flashing between the shingles and flat roof would not have been discovered before it was too late for the purchaser. |
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This flat roofing material has been installed too tightly. With a snow load, it is likely to split and leak. This was an error on the part of the roofer and should be corrected as soon as possible. |
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This modified roof design does not promote good drainage of water. It was leaking inside. |
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This original roof design does not promote good drainage of water. Visible in this picture is an accumulation of snow the morning after a very light snowfall. This roof is vulnerable to ice damming and water leakage. It was not found to be leaking on the day of the inspection, but it should be monitored closely for excess snow accumulation in the winter. |
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This is a BAD location for a roof vent. This downspout will be pouring all its water at the vent, which could end up leaking into the house if there is enough water flow. Alternatively, an extension could be added to the downspout so it discharges its water directly into the lower eavestrough. |
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This flat roofing rubber membrane is full of cracks and could literally leak anytime. This material should be replaced now, to protect against the possibility of leaks and expensive water damage below this roof. |
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These roof vents had been 'attacked' by raccoons. They needed to be fixed/replaced immediately, or there will be expensive water damage consequences the next time it rains.
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| These tree branches are too close to the roof. Apart from the possibility for them to physically damage the roof. They can be used by squirrels, raccoons etc. to get on the roof and into the attic or chimney of this home (see previous picture). Tree branches should be pruned at least six feet away from a roof to allow good ventilation and hinder animal access. |
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This chimney damage could only have been discovered by actually going up on the roof. The exact cause of this damage remains unknown to the inspector, but the client was able to get it corrected while it was a relatively minor item to fix.
| | Exterior | Top | |
| These rusting propane tanks, which are requiredto be at least ten feet from any opening in an exterior wall (Note the kitchen window in the top right of the picture) These tanks should be replaced (because of their rusting condition) and relocated immediately (too close to the kitchen window) for safety sake. These tanks are also supposed to be on a stable base, like concrete pad or patio stones etc.
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| These tree branches are too close to the roof. Apart from the possibility for them to physically damage the roof. They can be used by squirrels, raccoons etc. to get on the roof and into the attic or chimney of this home. Tree branches should be pruned at least six feet away from a roof to allow good ventilation and hinder animal access. | |
| This picture of an interlocking stone walkway up to the front door of this home illustrates a relatively common error with this type of installation. The interlocking stone has been installed at least 12 to 15 inches above the home's original brickwork. Not only does it commonly cover the weeping holes in the brick work, which are necessary to ventilate excess moisture from behind the brick, but it also can hold large quantities of moisture against the brickwork. In this case, as is common, the bricks are clay. Clay bricks are vulnerable to rapid deterioration from water saturating the brick and then freezing inside the brick. This freezing water literally bursts the clay brick to pieces. That is why it is so important to NOT cover bricks when doing interlocking stone anywhere near a home. This home shows some visual evidence of spalling bricks. The extent of the damage can only be determined by removing the interlocking stone and digging down to the lowest bricks on the house. It can be quite costly. | |
| The damage to this chimney would be almost totally concealed by the vines in the summer. This November picture allows the inspector to more clearly examine the chimney. (Look closely and you can see the notable damage) Vines and extensive greenery close to, or against, a house is not really a good idea because they can hold a lot of moisture next to the bricks and/or woodwork. This level of moisture can do an awful lot of damage to the house while the vines or greenery conceal the damage until it is quite extensive (and expensive). | |
| This set of exterior stairs, apart from being in deteriorated condition, is missing handrails. If somebody falls down these stairs and sues the homeowner, it is a very difficult lawsuit to defend. The courts will ask what a prudent, or reasonable, person would have done, and conclude that a reasonable person would have had proper handrails in place on these stairs. This is apart from the obvious that none of us would want to see anybody hurt by this situation.
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| This wood window has been capped with aluminum, likely to conceal a rotting window frame. The aluminum capping on this window now makes it impossible to operate this window (Note the window crank) This was the only operating window in the room. | |
| This chimney damage could only have been discovered by actually going up on the roof. The exact cause of this damage remains unknown to the inspector, but the client was able to get it corrected while it was a relatively minor item to fix.
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| This fractured chimney was discovered behind a seemingly casually placed blanket on this garage work bench. Repair cost for this chimney will be in the +/- $6,000.00 range.
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| Brick missing in this brand new home. All the other trades came and finished their work. Lack of communication on this project leaves this home vulnerable to squirrels or mice. Finding this and having it brought to the builder's attention is another good reason to have your NEW home inspected.
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Heating | Top |
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This furnace heat exchanger is extensively rusted and could have a hole in it somewhere. Since the heat exchanger's design precludes a home inspector from seeing the vast majority of it, we recommended that this furnace be reviewed immediately by a qualified heating specialist for safety sake. In this particular case, the heating technician confirmed our suspicion that the furnace was leaking dangerous carbon monoxide gas into the home. The furnace was 'red tagged', which means that the furnace was condemned and the technician shut off the fuel to the furnace for the safety of the home's occupants. This furnace was immediately replaced. |
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Metal chimneys typically rust from the inside to the outside. The inside can collapse inward 'choking' the exhaust off, which then can leak
potentially deadly carbon monoxide gas inside the home. This is a serious safety concern which should be addressed immediately by a qualified specialist.
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| This chimney has had a basement gas fireplace added to it (bottom left). It already had the furnace and water heater connected to it. The chimney was not originally designed to handle all THREE connections. The concern here is the danger of carbon monoxide spilling back into the house if all three appliances (furnace, water heater & fireplace) operate at the same time. This installation should be reviewed and corrected by a qualified heating specialist - NOW for safety.
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| This is a set of very cleverly concealed pipes for a buried heating oil tank. This tank could not be inspected without an expensive excavation. Buried oil tanks can leak oil resulting in brutally expensive environmental cleanups. The worst case we have heard of here in Ontario has cost over $1 million dollars and the cleanup was still in progress at the time. | |
| This is a picture of a gas water heater installed next to a gas furnace. The opening in the furnace ductwork, in the center of the picture, is sucking a large volume of air into the furnace when the furnace fan is running. The problem here is that the air being sucked into the furnace at this duct opening can suck carbon monoxide from the gas water heater into the furnace, it then distributes it throughout the house. This is a very serious safety concern that should be addressed immediately, for the safety of the home's occupants. The most annoying thing about what you see in this picture is that the water heater was installed barely a month before the home inspection, by people supposedly trained in the safe operation and installation of gas appliances. |
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This picture of a furnace heat exchanger shows the burners covered with rust flakes from the wall of the heat exchanger. There is a very high likelihood that this furnace is unsafe to operate. The safety of the furnace can only be confirmed or refuted by a qualified heating specialist. This furnace was deemed unsafe and was immediately replaced. |
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This furnace filter was so dirty that it was sucked in toward the furnace fan and was cut up by the fan belt. Furnace filters should be cleaned or replaced every one to two months. Otherwise, the furnace fan has to work very hard and does not really deliver the heat to the house. This results in a large part of your heating dollar going up the chimney instead of into the house.
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| Cooling | Top |
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This three year old air conditioner has been literally destroyed by dog urine. The manufacturer's warranty will NOT cover this.
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This air conditioner is basically enclosed by the deck. This drastically interferes with the air flow that the unit needs to operate properly. The unit is working twice as hard to produce half the results. Low comfort levels for the occupants of this home and high utility bills, as well.
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Plumbing | Top | |
| This is a picture of a gas water heater installed next to a gas furnace. The opening in furnace ductwork, in the center of the picture, is sucking a large volume of air into the furnace when the furnace fan is running. The problem here is that the air being sucked in to the furnace at this duct opening can suck all the carbon monoxide from the gas water heater into the furnace, when then distributes it throughout the house. This is a very serious safety concern that should be addressed immediately, for the safety of the home's occupants. The most annoying thing about what you see in this picture is that the water heater was installed barely a month before the home inspection, by peopled supposedly trained in the safe operation and installation of gas appliances. |
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This picture of soot blow back on and around this water heater temperature sensor is an indication of a serious malfunction and deterioration inside this water heater. This is a serious safety hazard that should immediately be investigated and corrected by a qualified specialist.
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This plumbing pipe is leaking sewage gas inside this home. (which explains the not so funny smell in this basement) It should be capped immediately, for safety sake. Sewage gas cannot only sicken people in the home but, in the right concentrations, it can be flammable and explosive. | |
| The blue basin in this picture was not placed there by coincidence. It is catching the water that was leaking from the plumbing under this sink. At least, it was helping keep the kitchen cabinet from deteriorating. Obviously, this leak should be fixed immediately. |
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This plumbing vent pipe in the middle of a roof top deck is venting noxious sewage gas. It should be raised in height so that the tenants can safely use this rooftop deck again, without getting sick |
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This picture is of galvanized water supply piping. This piping is rusting and could leak any time. Galvanized pipe can attract insurance issues regarding price and even availability. |
Electrical | Top | |
| This house was being used to grow marijuana. A grow house consumes a lot of electricity. This is the patched foundation under the electrical panel where the grow house operators drilled through it to get unobserved access top to the underground hydro wires. This allows them to steal the electricity for the grow operation before it read by the hydro meter on the outside of the house. It is important for a home buyer in this situation to be absolutely sure that Hydro is completely satisfied regarding any outstanding amounts owed for electricity at this home. It is also advisable that Hydro be called in to dig up the wires and ensure that they are properly repaired after they were cut into by the grow house operators, for safety sake.
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| The wires shown in this picture are the incoming electrical service cable at the top of the hydro mast on this house. The connections on the power lines are supposed to covered with a proper insulating material. This semi exposed connection is so close to the bare ground/neutral wire that it is obviously arcing across (probably in rainy weather only) and pitting the ground wire. If these two wires ever touch each other, (say, in windy weather) they will short and burn through each other, giving off a light show that the neighbours will remember for a long time and this house will then be out of power, possibly along with half the neighbourhood. The local hydro utility should be called in to correct this problem. Since it is the local utility's responsibility for the service cable connections at the top of the mast, there should be no charge to the homeowner for this urgent safety correction.
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The wire to the left of this main electrical shutoff switch is the system ground wire. It is supposed to be connected to the incoming water pipe for the house. This should be corrected immediately for safety sake so that a short to ground in the system will blow a fuse or trip a breaker instead of energizing the device box or the housing of the device that is connected to it. The correction should be done by a qualified electrician. | |
| This clothes drier electrical plug has no metal box to contain the wire connections. A person reaching for the laundry soap (blue and white box in the picture) could electrocute themselves. The correction of this problem involves less than $10.00 worth of parts. A small price to pay considering the alternatives. |
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This is an Air conditioner electrical supply cable hooked up to the 'street' side of this home's MAIN power disconnect. There is no way to shut off the power to this cable. It is a fire hazard that must be corrected immediately by a QUALIFIED electrician. |
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This picture is of knob and tube electrical wire. It was used in pre 1950 homes and will, if still active, attract insurance issues regarding price and even availability. |
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This electrical panel is mounted directly on combustible wood paneling. There is supposed to be a sheet of drywall (considered non combustible) between the electrical panel and the wood paneling. This oversight, which is relatively simple to correct, was found on a TWO MONTH OLD home. |
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This is a picture inside an electrical panel. At the end of the top row, you can see the side of a GFCI (personal safety) breaker. At the end of the bottom row, you can see the badly burnt and exploded side of the lower GFCI breaker. The breaker literally blew apart in the panel. Fortunately, it was at the end of the row. It may have caused a lot more damage if it had been placed between other breakers. This breaker provided personal safety protection from electrocution to the master washroom whirlpool tub. The question is: Is this just a GFCI breaker failure (+/- $ 150.00 to replace) or did it explode because of some failure with the whirlpool motor or wiring? This will require a qualified electrician to investigate and find out exactly what happened. Without taking off the cover of the electrical panel, It would have been virtually impossible to detect this problem. There were no visible clues outside of the panel, except for the breaker being in the 'tripped' position. |
Safety | Top | |
| The location of this light bulb inside a clothes closet could easily start a fire in this home. A better idea would be to have an enclosed light here (no exposed light bulb) or a fluorescent light fixture, which does not generate the kind of heat that an incandescent bulb does. It is not enough to tell people not to stack clothing or other combustibles like cardboard boxes too close to this bulb. It is better to make it safer in the first place. |
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These rusting propane tanks, which are required to be at least ten feet from any opening in an exterior wall (Note the kitchen window in the top right of the picture) These tanks should be replaced (because of their rusting condition) and relocated immediately (too close to the kitchen window) for safety sake. These tanks are also supposed to be on a stable base, like concrete pad or patio stones etc.
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| This is a picture of a gas water heater installed next to a gas furnace. The opening in furnace ductwork, in the center of the picture, is sucking a large volume of air into the furnace when the furnace fan is running. The problem here is that the air being sucked in to the furnace at this duct opening can suck all the carbon monoxide from the gas water heater into the furnace, when then distributes it throughout the house. This is a very serious safety concern that should be addressed immediately, for the safety of the home's occupants. The most annoying thing about what you see in this picture is that the water heater was installed barely a month before the home inspection, by people supposedly trained in the safe operation and installation of gas appliances. | |
| This third floor window at these stairs needs a railing to protect against someone falling through the window three floors to the concrete walkway between these homes. The window is a standard thermal window. It is not a plate glass window. The railing should be installed in front of this window immediately, for safety and legal liability sake.
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| This gas fireplace vent goes through a closet filled with combustible clothes. Obviously, no consideration was given to fire safety or the welfare of the homes occupants. It is supposed to be contained inside a properly spaced enclosure. This installation needs to be correctly and safely completed by a qualified specialist, immediately. |
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This picture of a furnace heat exchanger shows the burners covered with rust flakes from the wall of the heat exchanger. There is a very high likelihood that this furnace is unsafe to operate. The safety of the furnace can only be confirmed or refuted by a qualified heating specialist. This furnace was deemed unsafe and was immediately replaced. |
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This gas meter, located in a driveway, should have a post or metal barrier in front of it to protect it from being hit by a vehicle. If it gets hit by a vehicle, it could leak natural gas and cause and sustain a fire. The protection should be installed immediately. |
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This picture of soot blow back on and around this water heater temperature sensor is an indication of a serious malfunction and deterioration inside this water heater. This is a serious safety hazard that should immediately be investigated and corrected by a qualified specialist.
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| The wires shown in this picture are the incoming electrical service cable at the top of the hydro mast on this house. The connections on the power lines are supposed to covered with a proper insulating material. This semi exposed connection is so close to the bare ground/neutral wire that it is obviously arcing across (probably in rainy weather only) and pitting the ground wire. If these two wires ever touch each other, (say, in windy weather) they will short and burn through each other, giving off a light show that the neighbours will remember for a long time and this house will then be out of power, possibly along with half the neighbourhood. The local hydro utility should be called in to correct this problem. Since it is the local utility's responsibility for the service cable connections at the top of the mast, there should be no charge to the homeowner for this urgent safety correction.
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The wire to the left of this main electrical shutoff switch is the system ground wire. It is supposed to be connected to the incoming water pipe for the house. This should be corrected immediately for safety sake so that a short to ground in the system will blow a fuse or trip a breaker instead of energizing the device box or the housing of the device that is connected to it. The correction should be done by a qualified electrician. | |
| This clothes drier electrical plug has no metal box to contain the wire connections. A person reaching for the laundry soap (blue and white box in the picture) could electrocute themselves. The correction of this problem involves less than $10.00 worth of parts. A small price to pay considering the alternatives. |
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This is an air conditioner electrical supply cable hooked up to the 'street' side of this home's MAIN power disconnect. There is no way to shut off the power to this cable. It is a fire hazard that must be corrected immediately by a QUALIFIED electrician. |
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Metal chimneys typically rust from the inside to the outside. The inside can collapse inward 'choking' the exhaust off, which then can leak
potentially deadly carbon monoxide gas inside the home. This is a serious safety concern which should be addressed immediately by a qualified specialist.
| |
| This chimney has had a basement gas fireplace added to it (bottom left). It already had the furnace and water heater connected to it. The chimney was not originally designed to handle all THREE connections. The concern here is the danger of carbon monoxide spilling back into the house if all three appliances (furnace, water heater & fireplace) operate at the same time. This installation should be reviewed and corrected by a qualified heating specialist - NOW for safety.
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This picture shows a very dangerous way to connect the air conditioning wires. The air conditioning wires (small red and black wires) are connected to the street side of the main disconnect. They are unfused and cannot be shut off. This is a fire and electrocution hazard that should be corrected immediately | |
| This picture shows another very dangerous way to connect the air conditioning wires. The air conditioning wires (small black and white wires exiting the panel at top right) are connected to the panels main bus. This bus is fused at 100 amps, the wire is only rated for 30 amps. This is a fire hazard that should be corrected immediately. |
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This house had a new electrical panel installed a few years ago. Unfortunately, the service cable conduit was not fitted with a box connector to properly connect it to the electrical panel. The conduit has moved back a bit leaving the service cable rubbing on the electrical panel casing. Should the wires ever short to the panel, there is a very real possibility of fire or electrocution. This item needs to be corrected immediately, for safety sake! |
Miscellaneous | Top | |
| This is a set of very cleverly concealed pipes for a buried heating oil tank. This tank could not be inspected without an expensive excavation. Buried oil tanks can leak oil resulting in brutally expensive environmental cleanups. The worst case we have heard of here in Ontario has cost over $1 million dollars and the cleanup was still in progress at the time. | |
| This house was being used to grow marijuana. A grow house consumes a lot of electricity. This is the patched foundation under the electrical panel where the grow house operators drilled through it to get unobserved access top to the underground hydro wires. This allows them to steal the electricity for the grow operation before it it read by the hydro meter on the outside of the house. It is important for a home buyer in this situation to be absolutely sure that Hydro is completely satisfied regarding any outstanding amounts owed for electricity at this home. It is also advisable that Hydro be called in to dig up the wires and ensure that they are properly repaired after they were cut into by the grow house operators, for safety sake. | |
| This house was being used to grow marijuana. It is referred to as a 'Grow House'. These are temporary ducts left in the attic that were being used to vent the excess heat and humidity that is part of a marijuana grow operation. Often, grow house operators will leave clues behind that help us to determine what was going on in the home. This is very useful information for home purchasers to have when making their home buying decision | | Photo Gallery Courtesy of Tim Purtill (Canspec Home Services Ltd) | Top | |
