With all the inspection I’m doing on homes that have been empty for sometime due to bad loans. The infrared camera is showing moisture condition and mold condition like never before. The buyers are getting a better deal due to the infrared camera that is exposing these conditions.

Some agents are not happy about what we can find now. And others are just in shock over the findings. Agents new question are what do we do with the new finding and how do we correct these new type of finding?

The box is open!!!

Best

Ron

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Are you assumng that all colder areas show mositure and mold?

What do you think? For get the photos thats not the question or what the agents are asking.

Best

Ron

It depends on what you are seeing and your skill at interpreting it. Thermography depends very much on the skill of the Thermographer. What's the training background. What is the knowledge of building sciences and thermodynamics? Are you seeing an anomaly or reflection, is the delta T enough for good readings?

Given that conditions are right and you ARE seeing possible moisture, the standard is to VERIFY the cameras findings by other means. The camera only allows you to quickly pare down the areas of concern for further investigation. Now is the time to defer to moisture intrusion specialists, mold specialists and remediation people. Anything more and you are opening yourself up to huge liability.
I don't know about you but I'm insured as an "Industrial Photographer". I take pictures only. I don't interpret the findings to the client. I don't put myself forth as a "Moisture Intrusion Specialist". Careful wording of your findings as an "anomaly requiring further investigation by a qualified specialist" is pretty safe. This is where your skill comes in. If you report false data, you are not going to get much more work and may even kill the validity of Infrared in the eyes of the Realtors and clients.

__________________
"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an mainstream media,which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

Every time I see some crap like: "Is IR the future of home inspection?", I just need to heave.

I would really, really like to take the biggest one of these cameras made and stick it right into the lower socket of the next schmuck that posts something like that on this forum.

Give it a phuquing break, please!

Aaron

Dana, Very true, I agree.

Also many IR guys can expect to miss other important issues due to lack of time to do everything in the SOP and reluctancy to leave the camera laying out while crawling into the attic etc. to do what we normally do.

It's going to be an interesting next 5 years as this business continues to crawl out of the dark ages and clients get smarter about who to hire and who not to hire. It's not IR that will lead the changes, its excellent inspectors.

How many inspectors are still producing crappy checklist/scribbled reports that no one can read? Yes, they are still out there but slowly going away.


The next round that will cease operations is the guy's that bury important problems in inspector speak within the report where no one will notice.
They have no sample reports on their website and provide watered down realtor friendly inspections.

In my area we have guy's who do not adequately and properly report PB pipe, knob and tube wiring, FPE panels, Zinsco panels, old HVAC, old water heaters, old roofs etc.

The cost of litigation is the only thing saving them from major lawsuits.

Aaron you must get sick alot. I think you will need to have an open door with your Doctor. Just because other inspectors are taking things to another level is no need to get sick.Yuk. may be a good rag for your shoes will help.

Love ya.

Best

Ron

Aaron, put a sock in it. <grin> The future is in high tech, green homes, energy efficiency and those that take the time to LOOK at what's coming down the pike.
If you choose to do your inspections on a legal pad in #2 pencil and hand draw the pictures, no one is stopping you. But the new, savvy buyer is very tech aware and expects the same from the people he hires to do his inspections.

The dinosaurs became extinct because they could not adapt to changing conditions.
My advice is to not follow them into the tar pits.

I don't personally us my IR Camera on home inspections, it's against the SoP's But I DO sell it as a service and I DO find things that you just wouldn't see with the naked eye.
I can make $1000 in one evening doing a roof scan and saving some building owner many thousands of dollars for un-needed repairs and they love paying me for it.

IR has been around for many years and is heavily used in industry for predictive maintenance and non-destructive testing. It's track record is indisputable. The records show that for every dollar spent on IR inspections, $20 is saved in repairs that were unscheduled and undetected. Not just the cost of repairs but the much larger cost of plant and personnel down time while unscheduled repairs are being done.

This forum and many others are designed for OPEN discussion of ideas. Why would you want to stop that?

Dana Bostick, Certified Level 1 Thermographer, retired General Contractor and GEEK and proud of it!

__________________
"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an mainstream media,which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

I think any tool that can improve your inspection is a good thing. However it is getting away from home inspection and into more of a specialized evaluation, and should be marketed and sold as such.

I know I am certainly glad that there are medical specialists that have an arsenal of high tech non intrusive testing devices available. I sure wouldn't want to go back to the days when the barber was also the guy that took your teeth out.

Rick it looks like you are selling Cameras. and im not sure if this is the correct place to do that. at least you are converting a post that i put up sometime back it into a sales pitch.

Best

Ron

Rick,

Click on the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the page, I'm sure Brian (owner of this FREE site for home inspectors) will be glad to set you up with sponsoring an ad or a thread.

Brian keeps this FREE for us home inspectors through the ads placed by vendors such as yourself.

Brian should be contacting you soon to help you set that up.

__________________
Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

I find things al the time with my IR camera that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
I will not do an inspection without it.

__________________
Teleconference & On Site Infrared Training
http://www.infrared-certified.com
http://texas-inspection.com

I think the IR technology is fascinating and has it's place in our industry. That being said, I don't think that place is at a standard inspection.

I think it opens you up to huge liability to hand the client 3 pages of SoP and contracts that explain it's a visual inspection and then break out a tool that 'sees' behind the walls.

I watched a scenario unfold during the eifs hayday in my area. Guys came out with moisture meters, probes and all kinds of gizmos that could see behind the wall. They'd identify damage and recommend the wall be torn open. Sometimes there was damage, sometimes not. In the 'not' case the next logical question is "Who's paying to put this back together?" Enough people felt it should be the inspector to run a few of these guys out of the business.

Claiming to see through walls is a risky business. But it can be profitable so I guess it all depends on your business plan, risk tolerence and training/education.

First and for most home inspections are visual and not technically exhaustive. When you bring in technical equipment to find problems, that places you under a whole different inspection realm. I believe if you find a problem with something other than visual and there develops other technical problems in any other area such as low freon on the A/C unit, you could be sued for not being technically exhaustive in all areas of your inspection. If you want to use IR cameras, moisture meters, gas detectors, a/c gauges, duct cameras and the like you should become a technical inspector and leave the visual home inspector trade. I believe if someone used a IR camera on my house and found areas that were not insulated and I lost the sale I could own that home inspectors company, simply because efficiency's are not apart of the home inspection process. Second if you say that your IR camera found moisture on some part of my house that showed no signs of moisture without tearing out something. The buyer then insisted that the sheet rock be removed and I did it and found nothing once the damage was done and they still did not buy my house, I will own your company. Taking home inspections to a new level, that is way above the norm or SOP is not in any ones best interest. That's my rant, I'm greased and ready. Tony M.

copy that.

Tony,

List the tools you use, I can tell you if you do a truly "visual" inspection just by looking at your tool list.

ANY tool which is used to enhance what/how well you can see something puts you above doing a purely "visual" inspection.

I suspect you will come closer to doing a purely "visual" inspection than the rest of us, but I doubt even you are doing a purely "visual" inspection.

List your tools and test me, see if I am correct or not.

__________________
Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

Jerry...

I walk to my inspections and use a candle for light. I beat the panel cover off with a rock so I can check the wiring. I stick a bare wire in the GFCI outlet to see if it trips (it hurts but it works!). One time to check for a gas leak I put my mouth over the suspected leak and almost died but I found the leak.

You see...I can be as silly as you are by making outrageous statements. It don't prove anything but at least now I can be like you by trying to prove a point by using extremes.

I'm not making outrageous statements, you guys who say you do a "visual" inspection and will not use an infrared camera, but will use any other numerous tools and equipment, you are making an outrageous statement as what a "visual" inspection is - that it is "whatever you want it to be".

Fair enough, but then do not say another inspector is doing anything other than a "visual" inspection just be they chose to use *different* tools and equipment than you use.

Like it or not, *IF YOU* can define what YOU consider to be "visual", *THEY* can define what THEY consider to be "visual".

__________________
Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

Jerry has a very strong point on this issue.

I have another take on this part of being sued. I have look at plumbing pipes and saw a leak then another inspectors was behind me 1/2 HR later No leaks. ? Things can be there one day and gone the next and then back. My point is an IR scan can show something today and it may not look like it did the next...

Best

Ron

What Some of Us Carry.

What do you carry?

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It Might have Choked Artie But it ain't gone'a choke Stymie!
Billy J. Stephens HI Service
Memphis TN.

I use IR and it is not the answer to everything but it deffinitely enhances the inspection. Primarily used for my own convenience, great for checking in floor radiant. As far as someone owning my company, well I think there is something called insurance. Furthermore, 2 leaks were discoved in a heated driveway using IR on an inspection the other day. Cost to replace, $8,000. Next time the guy needs an inspection who do you think he will use? Probably the guys wanted to own my company Just a thought, don't want to ruffle and feathers. Would you want your inspector to use IR if you were buying a home?