What’s in this library
The following photos document electrical conditions during a home inspection. These images highlight safety concerns, maintenance issues, and areas where repairs or further evaluation are recommended. They are provided for your reference and to help illustrate the findings noted in the inspection report.
Free Use for Educational & Media Purposes
We believe in sharing knowledge. Students, content creators, bloggers, educators, journalists, and other media professionals are welcome to use these images for free — as long as proper credit is given.
How to Give Credit:
When using our images, please include:
- A visible credit line near the image or in your content footer
- A link back to our website
Example citation format:
Photo courtesy of Chicago Home Inspect LLC
Step-by-step:
- Download the image you’d like to use
- Add it to your content (blog, article, video, presentation, etc.)
- Place the credit line exactly as shown above, linking to our site
- If using on social media, tag @chicagohomeinspect in the caption
We appreciate your support in helping more people learn about home maintenance and inspection issues.
More than 6 breakers. This panel doesn’t have a single main breaker to shut off all the power at once, which can be confusing and unsafe in an emergency, so a main disconnect should be installed.
Several breakers are unlabeled, making it unclear which areas of the home they control, so each circuit should be clearly and permanently labeled for safety and convenience.
Tree branches are touching the service wires where power enters the house, which can damage insulation and create hazards, so the branches should be trimmed back safely by a professional.
This outlet tested with an “open neutral,” which means the neutral wire is not properly connected, so electricity cannot safely return to the panel. This can cause appliances not to work correctly and may create a shock hazard, so a licensed electrician should locate the loose or disconnected neutral and repair it.
Paint overspray is visible inside the electrical panel, which is not allowed because it can interfere with electrical parts or compromise their functionality, so the paint should be cleaned off or damaged components replaced.
The washer is blocking the electrical panel, leaving less than the 30 inches of clear working space required by code, so the appliance needs to be moved or the panel relocated to maintain proper clearance.