Thread: This is who I am.

Just introducing myself.
I have been in construction for 20 years, about 15 of them as a licensed carpenter. I enjoy carpentry but my body (esp. my shoulder and wrist) is saying: "No more"! Since the beginning of July I have been taking the HI course by Carson Dunlop. It is going well. The part I am not familiar with is heating. I find it overwhelming.
I finished that section of the course and passed with good grades but when I went back to refresh, I was amazed at how much I forgot. I will have to do a lot of "mock" inspections on furnaces etc to make things stick.
I can foresee this forum being of great help.
Thanks guys.

Welcome Bert.
The more you dig into it, you will find out how much you don't know that you thought you did.

It's funny, ours is a profession where you have to continuously "sharpen the saw". No matter how long someone has been inspecting, there is always something new to learn. The ones that think they know it all, are only fooling themselves.

You're taking a good course. Try to find another inspector that might be willing to mentor you, or take you on some ride along inspections. If there is a local home inspector organization that has chapter meetings (ASHI, NAHI, etc), go to the meetings and meet other inspectors. You will likely get a lot out of it.

Welcome to the profession Bert;

I totally agree with Jack. The longer you're in this business, regardless of your background, the more you find you don't know or have forgotten. It's a great life.

Originally Posted by Bert de Haan

Just introducing myself.
I have been in construction for 20 years, about 15 of them as a licensed carpenter. I enjoy carpentry but my body (esp. my shoulder and wrist) is saying: "No more"! Since the beginning of July I have been taking the HI course by Carson Dunlop. It is going well. The part I am not familiar with is heating. I find it overwhelming.
I finished that section of the course and passed with good grades but when I went back to refresh, I was amazed at how much I forgot. I will have to do a lot of "mock" inspections on furnaces etc to make things stick.
I can foresee this forum being of great help.
Thanks guys.

Welcome Burt,
It's been my experience that "book lernin" does nothing more than make you aware of the areas where you need more work/field training. I've done many courses only to discover that they had little relevance to the real world. Experience in the trades at least gives you a basis and familiarity with the area and concepts.

When you see something wrong, at least you will know that it is wrong and have a good idea of WHY it is wrong. Knowing how something should be goes a long way toward working out how it needs to be corrected.

All competence aside, where the rubber hits the road is in dealing with the clients. Messing up in this area totally over rides any competence and bonafides you may have. The key is in HOW to tell the client what is wrong (if anything) so that they GET the concept and it's importance to them. You can list, in fine detail, every fault you find. If the client does not understand why it is important (or the words you are using) and how it will impact them personally, they will glaze it over and not deal with it. This leads to possible legal action later when they try to find someone to blame for their lack of understanding. FLUNK on your part for not making sure they understood what you were saying. It is the Inspector's (or anyone trying to communicate information to someone else) job to make sure the receiver gets it. Watching the person in front of you while you talk to them and observing their reactions, or lack, will tell you if they are getting it. Are they paying attention? Looking at you? Participating by asking questions? Or are their eyes glazing over at the terminology you are using? If they are not, rephrase it and try again until they DO get it. You will get a lot less phone calls asking for more information after the inspection. If you are getting calls, you didn't do your job at the inspection debrief.

Most of us have spent many years in the trades. Unfortunately, that alone does not translate into being a good inspector any more than it translates into being a good business man or women. How many guys have you known that tried to put down the tools and start their own business and succeeded? Not many I bet.

Good Luck,
Dana