People always ask me, “What’s the very worst thing you’ve seen during a home inspection?” This is what I tell them:
Yes, that's a dead mouse on the circuit panel.
One of the parts of a Home Inspection is opening up the main electrical panel and inspecting the wiring inside it. This particular house wasn’t very old — less than 20 years or so — and there were no particular indicators that there were rodent issues. So I was pretty surprised when I removed the cover from this panel and spotted the very dead mouse lying on one of the circuit breakers. It had gotten into the panel via openings in the cover where old circuits had been removed.
This picture illustrates several important issues that highlight the importance of a professional home inspection:
- The mouse could have caused a short circuit just by touching bare wires; any feces or urine could also cause shorts and possibly even triggered a fire.
- Mice like to nibble on things. He could have caused damage to the wiring.
- The average homeowner would probably never remove the cover from the electrical panel, so the mouse could have remained undetected until it caused electrical problems.
- The only indicator from the outside that anything was wrong was that there were openings in the cover. The cover of an electrical panel is designed to be a sealed environment, protecting the circuit breakers.
- Anyone reaching in and trying to remove the mouse could have inadvertently been electrocuted, since the panel was still live.
I recommended that the panel be inspected and serviced by a licensed electrician. It was possible that the mouse had contaminated the panel enough to warrant significant repairs. Most manufacturers state that unless a contaminant can be removed with a dry cloth, the panel should be replaced.
