Bought a $400 inspection camera and it found a crack I would have missed

I was cleaning a chimney in an old house in Springfield last Tuesday. The owner said they heard a weird noise, but everything looked fine from below. I ran my new camera up there and saw a hairline crack in the flue liner about ten feet up. It was maybe an eighth of an inch wide, but you could see daylight. Without that camera, I would have signed off on a clean sweep and missed a real problem. Has anyone else caught something big with a camera that a standard mirror would not show?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade_miller622mo ago

That "signed off on a clean sweep" line hits close to home. I once missed a problem with just a mirror and felt like a real genius.

derekjackson2mo ago

Oh man, mirrors are the worst for hiding stuff. That little lip at the top can hold a whole secret world of dust and grime. You wipe the glass and think you're done, then light hits it just right and you see the fuzzy line. Happens every time with those bathroom cabinet mirrors too.

wendy2051mo ago

Wait, you could actually see daylight through the crack? That's wild. A mirror would never show that angle. It's crazy how something that small can be such a big deal. Makes you wonder how many problems get missed with the old way of doing things.