The biggest red flag to look out for in a renovated kitchen, according to a TikTok-famous home inspector

• Home inspector Bryan Standley has become TikTok-famous for roasting flipped houses.
• Homeowners should look closely at their dishwasher when inspecting a kitchen, Standley told Insider.
• If the dishwashed isn't installed properly, it could get costly and lead to drainage issues.

Home inspector Bryan Standley has become a TikTok sensation for exposing the different ways that house flippers can cut corners to save time and money.

Based in Kansas City, Missouri, Standley, 35, has inspected thousands of homes over the course of his career and joined TikTok in January 2020 to share his tips and experiences.

When it comes to kitchens, improperly installed dishwashers are the biggest hidden problem Standley encounters. He spoke to Insider about how dishwashers can turn a home into a money sink down the road and shared his tips for how to identify installation issues.

Poorly installed dishwashers at best require additional servicing and at worst can damage a kitchen

Typically, dishwashers are the last element of a kitchen to be finalized, according to Standley, and might be overlooked if a renovator is trying to save time or simply doesn't know what they're doing.

"The flooring, cabinets, countertops, and plumbing all have to be in place before the dishwasher can be installed," he said.

If a dishwasher is simply not installed, the home buyer would need to make a service call to the plumber, which could cost around $200 depending on their location, Standley told Insider.

If it is installed, but incorrectly, that could lead to more costly issues.

In one video, Standley explains how dishwashers are often connected to the garbage disposal without removing the knockout plug, an essential step that prevents drainage issues.

"When it goes to drain, it just pops the hose off because it's deadheading against the plug, and it makes a huge mess all over the newly refinished hardwood floors," he said.

"There have even been a few times where I found the drain hose sitting inside, and surprisingly the water and power were both on," told Insider. "In that case, just pressing the button and running it could cause damage to the floors and cabinets. When the drain pump kicks on to drain the dishwasher, all of that water will be sprayed out under your cabinets and seep under the flooring."

According to HomeAdvisor, repairing floors damaged by flooding can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a few boards to $20,000 if the damage is extensive enough.

Standley follows 4 steps to determine if a dishwasher has been installed properly

Standley's first step when evaluating a dishwasher is to look inside. If you see paperwork on one of the racks, that's a bad sign, according to the home inspector. "That tells me whoever installed it didn't test it," he said.

After looking inside, Standley recommends scanning the outside of the dishwasher and looking for mounting screws that keep a dishwasher from falling forward out of a cabinet. "You can look for small metal tabs either screwed or epoxied to the underside of the countertop when you open the dishwasher door," he said.

In one of his most-watched videos, Standley walks viewers through cookie-cutter elements of flipped kitchens, showing viewers the uninstalled dishwasher that moves away from its spot under the counter when he presses on it.

Another way to check dishwasher functionality is "to open the door all of the way and lightly press down on the door," Standley told Insider. "If it feels like the dishwasher is going to fall forward, it isn't properly installed."

As a last step, he checks inside the cabinet under the kitchen sink to make sure the drain hose, water supply, and power cord are all connected and ready to use.

While Standley enjoys sharing tips with that can help future home buyers identify faults in a house, his main recommendation is to hire a qualified home inspector, since there are "hundreds, if not thousands of things that we're keeping an eye out for."

To see more of Standley's videos, follow him on TikTok at @bryanstandley. You can learn more about his home-inspection business on his company website, Inspect KC.