After 30 years as an electrician, I have recently expanded and have begun doing home inspections. Joined NACHI (of course) and have been taking the courses and learning the other trades necessary to inspect.
In the meantime, I’m learning by experience as well by inspecting… Well… the other day, I was in a house and turned on the kitchen faucet and garbage disposal and heard a terrible racket from within. I quickly turned it off and peered inside with my flashlight only to observe a couple of syringes!
Needless to say, the buyers were there as well as their agent and she was going to notify the seller’s agent immediately. I noted it in the report and moved on to the next item.
I can hardly wait to hear the horror stories this will cause others to remember…
Wait until you find one or two with bullets or shotgun shells down there on a foreclosed house. The first time you see that will teach you to look down the drain before you turn the disposal on.
Back in grad school I was repairing an 1890s home in a not so great part of Detroit for my church group. I’d go by and work on the place after work. On one of the first nights around 1 AM I’m headed back into the kitchen area, it’s the dead of winter and storming so the old house is creepy enough. Using my cell phone and looking for the light switch I find the switch for the disposal mounted where a normal room light switch would have been. It really wasn’t what was in the disposal as much as what wasn’t–that would be bearings. The thing sounded like an f250 diesel with open exhaust. I think it took almost an hour for my heart rate to come back down.