Happy New Year! It’s been a few years since we shared our top “Feel Good” home inspection photos, but we had a ton of them to share this year. These were all things that made us smile. If you like this kind of thing, please check out our Facebook and Instagram pages.
9-Gang switch plate cover No cheap snap-together covers for these people. Very fancy. But they forgot to clock one of the screws! Noooo! Do you see it? Also, labels would be nice.
56 switches This takes the record for the most switches in one place. There were 56 switches, and 52 were clearly labeled. This home had a low-voltage wiring system, where 120 volts were supplied to the lights, but low-voltage wiring was used throughout the home to switch the lights on and off, using a system of relays. These systems are usually very messy and complicated, but this one was just complicated. The home was built in the 1940s, so someone put a lot of effort into rewiring the entire house this way. Wow.
Bath fan vented down We love this detail. Instead of venting the bath fan up through the roof, the builder is venting it down through the rim space and out the side of the house. This reduces the potential for condensation in the duct because it doesn’t have to travel through a large unheated space. Also, the vent terminal won’t be melting a bunch of snow on the roof, which can contribute to ice dams. Also, you won’t have the potential for the duct to accidentally become disconnected in the attic, turning it into a frosty wonderland. There are many good reasons to do it this way, but it’s rarely done.
Don Knotts fixes concrete If Don Knotts can fix concrete, you can too. We had no idea he was such a Renaissance man until we stumbled across this book.
Helpful notes The seller for this home left us these very helpful notes. Thank you, we love you.
Magic Eye If you focus on one spot…you’ll see it.
Clearly labeled switch there’s no mistaking the purpose of this switch.
Clearly labeled (?) pull chains there’s no mistaking the purpose of these pull chains.
Railroad track handrails strongest ever.
Reduce, reuse, recycle great use of old refrigerator shelves.
We just had to fix this We usually don’t fix stuff, but we couldn’t help ourselves on this house. The water heater was backdrafting like crazy because the vent cover was installed so low that it blocked the vent entirely. We kindly raised the vent cover a little bit (note the paint line), and the water heater started drafting fine.
Nice attic access The home buyer wanted a shelf here and the builder wanted the attic access right above it. So the builder made a nice hinged shelf just for us home inspector-type people. To top it off, the builder used a SkuttleTight attic access system. We love everything about this.
Spiral stairway this was the only stairway in the house.
Stainless steel throne
How to identify a triple-pane window
One for adults, one for kids
