Cornerstone Home Inspectors

The duct off this range hood dead-ends in the attic. Somebody put on a new roof and just capped the old vent, so now the hood blows grease and steam right back into the kitchen. Feels like about one in three range hoods around here don't actually vent outside. Rerouting it is usually a same-day job for a handyman.

Dark stains across the roof sheathing up in the attic. Looks like the roof's been leaking for years, right? We put the moisture meter on every one and they came back bone dry. It's old news, a leak that already got dealt with. Stains stick around long after the water's gone. Worth asking the seller about, not worth losing sleep over.

The most common thing on our reports isn't some scary big-ticket repair. It's a missing or busted cover plate. We flag one on close to every house we walk.

Looks like nothing. Costs a couple bucks and takes two minutes. But an open box leaves bare wires sitting out where a finger or a dropped paperclip can find them.

Cheapest fix on the whole report. Knock it out.

Cracked, browned, and still hanging on the wall. The plate's a dollar. Why it browned is the part worth a closer look.

Somebody's already using this outlet. Cover's off, box is open, and there's a cord plugged right in. Works fine until a knee or a broom handle catches those side screws. Plate's a couple dollars. Put it on before you plug anything else in.

Junction box clamped to a pipe with a hose strap in the crawlspace. Somebody had a strap and a dream.

Somebody looked at an open chimney flue, grabbed a little wire grate, and called it a day.

Give it credit, it'll keep a bird out. It won't keep rain off the flue, and it won't do a thing for embers.

A real rain cap with a spark screen is a couple hundred bucks and bolts right on. Fixes both problems at once.

Cover plate lost a fight with something, and a night light's glowing right through the crack. Looks worse than it is. New plate's a couple minutes and pocket change. We flag it anyway, an open box is bare wiring.

Dark staining across the subfloor in a crawl space. First thing everybody thinks is mold.

Maybe. We don't test what it is, that's a lab's job. But staining like this almost always means the crawl space is holding too much moisture. Bad vent, a slow leak, groundwater, something.

Chasing the stain is backwards. You fix the water first, let it dry out, then deal with what's on the wood. Do it the other way and it comes right back.

Not the fun part of house shopping. Better found now than after you move the couch in.