So I'm doing a Home Inspection and I'm in a crawl space in Kankakee IL the other day. The buyer tells me he brought coveralls and he would like to go in the crawl with me. After I picked my head up from the floor from disbelief and reattached it on my shoulders, I told him to be careful and follow only where I was going, wondering why anyone would want to go wandering around a crawl space anyway. But you never know. I never had a client of SLS Home Inspections even hint that they were eager to go into the crawl. That's why we get paid the big bucks, right?

 

   I see an unusual colored dirt floor about 10 feet to my left. I toss a pebble at it and realize it's not dirt. It's water, and the mini lake is about 20 feet x 8 feet covered in some sort of silty grimy funk. I tell Mr. Buyer to stay where he's at which is right inside the access door. As I shine my 2,000,000 lumens flashlight to the left, I see the reason for the title of my blog. There is a group of the service electrical wires coming through the foundation wall and in the middle of the wire run is some sort of junction box. SITTING IN THE WATER. I tell Mr. Buyer to get out of the crawl and I do the same thing, except I'm moving a little faster than when I entered.

 

 

 

 

 

Obviously a very potentially serious situation that could have had a tragic ending. I informed the buyer and sellers that they should not enter the crawl for any reason and get an electrician out to correct this as soon as possible. My recommendation is to poke your head into your crawl space every so often just to make sure you have no dangerous surprises lurking down there.

 

 

 

Home Inspectors face decisions like this every day and I for one am always very aware of my surroundings, whether it's using my ladder, on the roof, or in the crawl. I would like to continue inspecting in Kankakee, Bradley, Bourbonnais, IL and other nearby communities for a long time. SAFETY FIRST is not a catchy lunchroom poster at SLS Home Inspections, it's a daily ritual.

 

For a safe and complete Real Estate Home Inspection please contact Scott Seaton at www.SlsHomeInspections.com   or visit my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SLSHomeInspections  I can be reached at 815-644-6271.