I know you guys have some way of inspecting crawls and taking tools with you. Crawling around trying to hold a flashlight, moisture meter, voltage detector, TIFF, camera and PDA is kind of hard to do. Wearing my tool belt means everything spills out of it and gets kicked around and lost.

I was thinking about a backpack so I could just keep it zipped up until I need something out of it. What does everyone else do?

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Principles don't change with circumstances. That's what makes them principles.
-George Colombo

I use one of my kids old lunch boxes. It usually gets a good laugh from the client, since it's a Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers model, circa 1990. It works great for holding the couple of items I may need in the crawl, and I can just put in the dishwasher when it gets dirty. I actually just started doing this, and it makes things much easier than my old method.

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Jim Robinson
New Mexico, USA

I made this, works very well:
I just push it along in front of me.

Forum Archives - The National Association of Certified Home Inspectors

What was the old method? (I have always enjoyed getting clients to chuckle - in one way or another.)
Bob

I take in a portable spot light which is good for leaning on as well as seeing far away clearly. A camera on a nylon loop around my neck and inside my paper suit but easily pulled out for pics and NEVER DROPPED. And my trusty Golf club iron with the head removed and a masonry bit glued in the end. The perfect hand rest and prod for testing Termite damage, Decay and knocking spider webs away in front of you.

Hey Bruce, wasn't your wife pissed when she found the kitchen drawer missing?

Flashlight, long screwdriver, voltage sniffer, camera. Optional: 44 Magnum.

I wear the disposable Tyvek overalls, carry a Streamlight, camera, cellphone / walkie-talkie, chalk and a awl.

I take no notes at all, use my camera only and my memory.

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Rick Hurst
Home Works Inspection Co.
5 out of 4 people have trouble with fractions

Hey Rick, What is the chalk for.?

And, for some of those wet crawlspaces A Folding Foldable Portable Fishing Boat And Dinghy By Porta-Bote Portabote Porta-Boat Portaboat Foldboat * Portabot

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Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Ormond Beach, Florida
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

Wayne,

I marked areas of damaged wood with "X" or areas of leaks. I write on notes on the wooden joists of where termite activity found. Then I take a picture and place it on my report. It assures the client also that I actually crawled under the home.

Another quirk I do is I alway write the date and my name, company name on a floor joist near the crawlspace entry and in the furtherest corners of the crawl so I have a reference if there is ever question how far I went.

If I can't go past a point in the crawl, I note it also.

I've went back on some homes that I inspected numerous years ago, and have still found my chalk writing still there. Kind of like the Egyptians I guess.

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Rick Hurst
Home Works Inspection Co.
5 out of 4 people have trouble with fractions

So you just carry all that around in your hands?

Great idea with the chalk btw.

__________________
Principles don't change with circumstances. That's what makes them principles.
-George Colombo

I use a fannie-pack let out as far as it will go and strap it around my neck and shoulder.

I carry a camera, one-million candle power light, drop a glow stick at the entry, a small streamlight in the fanny pak, wear a head-torch, wear a respirator, knee-pads, wear shin-guards (soccer type) on my forearms and crawl may ass off with blunt end of a 9-iron in hand.

No notes taken... all pictures.

Rich

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"If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?"
Richard Rushing, HCRI
Duncanville, Tx.

Richard,

Just out of curiosity,

"drop a glow stick at the entry"

Why do you waste a glow stick on every crawl? Isn't the light at the open access enough?

I like the shin guards on the forearms. That's a great tip as is the chalk.

Thanks.

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Tim Moreira
Suncoast Home Inspections
Suncoasthomeinspections@yahoo.com

That's what I need! Where did you get the head torch and does it light up enough?

I take photos only in the crawl and attic of every defect so I don't have to take the time for notes too.

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Principles don't change with circumstances. That's what makes them principles.
-George Colombo

Got the head-torch at HD-- you can go cheap or you can go the right way. About $50.00 bucks will get you a really kick-ass LED lamp that lights up VERY well... good snake and spiker locator!!

9-iron end is a multi-purpose tool that knocks down spider webbs, runs off bitch-dogs that have litters of pups and are madder than hell to see you, it can i.d. wood damage.

Rich

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"If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?"
Richard Rushing, HCRI
Duncanville, Tx.

mucho gracious!

I was at HD yesterday and did not see anything like that in the flashlight section. Perhaps I will find something online.
I had to purchase another, my third in two years, light for crawls and attics. I don't know what it is but those spot lights just don't last me very long. The last one was used twice and stopped working on me.

I need to pick up an old golf club and make one of those pokers you use. I think that's a great idea.

Thanks for all the advice.

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Principles don't change with circumstances. That's what makes them principles.
-George Colombo

Dude... the glow stick is both psychological and, at times, a necessity.

As Vince stated, the spot lights are unreliable and sometimes (without warning) let you know that they have used their last charge, while you are waaaayyy at the back of the crawl. Well, if that's the case and you have somehow forgot to charge the batteries on the streamlight... having that glow stick is a beacon in the dark and in my mind, certainly worth the .99 cents spent. Probably 90% of all my inspections are slab. So, the 30 (or so) glow sticks I buy a year are really nothing to speak of.

As far as the light shining down into the crawl from above, I have had times when I crawled right by the opening and wasn't aware of it.

Rich

__________________
"If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?"
Richard Rushing, HCRI
Duncanville, Tx.

Thanks

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Tim Moreira
Suncoast Home Inspections
Suncoasthomeinspections@yahoo.com

For your lighting needs, including head lights, try Academy Sporting goods if you have them in your area. Great selection, reasonable pricing.

A former broom handle with a finisih nail driven in is my choice of weapon under the house. However, when the snake, the raccon, opposum, or sewage leak is encountered, I'm out of there.

I cut the hood of a rain suit and use it. It's hot, but I feel more protected. Shoes with velcro straps, no laces. I drag the fanny pack.

I do all the plumbing stuff first and note the locations of the A/C and water heater before going under.

I think I'm nearing the end of my "dig a hole for access" days. When I actually get there, I won't do crawls anymore. That is, if my girth doesn't stop me first.

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The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.
- Paul Fix