Welmoed

Thanks for posting. Donated and shared.

We use InspectIt and do like it. Like all the other packages, it has its strengths and weaknesses. It took us about five months to really get it customized to our satisfaction, including writing the comment library (we were starting from scratch, having used paper report forms). We still have to do maintenance every few weeks, adding new comments, tweaking the sections, etc. We use our iOS devices in the field to gather data in the software. The PC version is not nearly as polished, which is too bad. We'd love to be able to start our reports in the field and finish them in the office. Any decent software will be pricey. It's an investment.

I will miss his dry wit and ready smile. What a loss.

We're using InspectIt and it's great. We deliver our reports on-site; takes us about 10 minutes at the end of the inspection to fine-tune the comments and email it to the client as a PDF. No homework!

This one surprised me as I got up to the second floor of the log cabin. Every room had a variation of a dead deer in it. The song Gaston sings in "Beauty and the Beast" kept running through my head... "I use antlers in all of my decorating..." Click to Enlarge 78.94 KB

I would rather have that configuration than one where the closets are only accessed from the bathroom, so you have to walk through the bathroom to get dressed. I've seen a lot of those, especially in higher-end homes. Probably a case where too many doors in the Master Bedroom Enclave offends the senses.

When Bob started his inspecting business, I told him he'd never get me interested. Well, I had to eat my words seven years later because I joined him first as an office/marketing person, then took the training and became an inspector in my own right. I now do my own solo inspections, but sometimes we do team up on the monster houses so they'll go faster. It is certainly a challenge to separate work from our relationship, but we work at it. We do a lot of shop talk even when we're out to dinner; sharing ideas, etc. And of course, we show each other the pictures of the day's inspections. It is great to have someone around to bounce ideas off of. I am very lucky to have a spouse who recognizes that my contributions to the business mean I have less time to spend on household stuff. He is happy to do the cooking, and does his part with cleaning and other household chores. We're currently in the process of downsizing, and are looking forward to that. My only advice is to keep the lines of communication way open. Don't assume ANYTHING about how the relationship is going. It took us a year or two to iron out the details of separating our work and our personal lives, and to develop the "language" needed to communicate about both.

We just do an online search in the county's database, which is free. Sometimes permits don't show up there (like for gas permits... they're handled by the gas company, which doesn't make permits available for online search, but they're usually very good about tags on permitted work). It's just part of our pre-inspection preparation, and can often provide clues about less-than-ideal work (e.g. deck permit pulled but not finaled).

When we book an inspection, we always ask for a phone number where the client and agent can be reached the day of the inspection. We phrase this as "in case we get stuck behind an overturned tractor trailer," i.e. so we can contact them if WE are late.

I did a house with a ship's ladder into a loft space. Got to the top and discovered that the only thing holding the ladder up was two drywall screws, one on each stringer. Yeah, I went back down VERY carefully. Click to Enlarge 11.68 KB Click to Enlarge 24.3 KB

When would it be, exactly? One (or both) of us might be able to come, but we're both scheduled for inspections on Friday.

Inspected a 1967 house this morning that had electric baseboard heat (12 zones!!). Almost every baseboard had an electrical outlet above it. I couldn't find an reference to when these were prohibited; anyone have a clue? I wrote them up as hazardous, of course.

Oh my gosh, that pocket door... Drool!!!!

Uhm... Yeah.

My WAG would be in the neighborhood of $60K.

They are CertainTeed Grand Manor. I heard back from the manufacturer that this does indeed look like a manufacturing defect, and they said the owner should contact them for possible warranty replacement. I passed along that information to the client's agent to give to the listing agent and owner. What will probably end up happening is that buyer will hold onto the information, negotiate a price drop for the "bad roof", buy the house, then hammer CertainTeed for a warranty replacement.

The roof on yesterday's house had these black drips on about half the roof planes. They weren't sticky. Owner has been there 8 years and said the drips were there when he bought the house and have not changed. Roof was stated to be about 10 years old. A little research seems to show that this was a manufacturing defect, so it might still be covered by a warranty. But the owner has no documentation as to brand or who installed it. Buyer's concern is that the drips could affect the life of the shingle, or that it's easier for water to penetrate. Has anyone else seen this, and, if so, what did you report? Click to Enlarge 69.34 KB

Came across this site today and was just floored by the sheer volume of craptastic work in this flipper house. Hoodwinked House Some of the stuff just defies description. It's well worth scrolling through the entire page. --Welmoed

I'll probably get slammed for this, but doesn't this kind of take-it-apart inspection really go beyond the SOP? Is it really the job of the home inspector? Or do you guys just enjoy this stuff?

You have to hand it to them for creative spelling. Hooked on Phonics worked for me!! [:-graduat 1. Attic Lights 3. Washer 5. Bath 2 Lights Master Bath 7 Attic Outlets 9. Bedroom 5 lights 11. Bedroom 4 outlets 13 Bedroom 1 outlets 15 Dryer 17 Lights Hall 2 Furnace 4 Bedroom 4 lights 6 Bedroom 1 lights, Bedroom 2 lights 8 Bedroom 3 lights, bath 1 lights 10 Jacuzzi 12 Bath 1 GFI 14 Laundry 16 Bedroom, Bath 1 GFI Interesting that there appear to be two circuits for the Bath 1 GFI, and no circuits for any other bath GFI. Unless all the GFIs are on one circuit. But which one?? It is amazing to see what builders try to get away with, even on expensive houses. I'll collect the beer in Philly next January!

All I can think of is that it must weigh a ton!!

Holy cow, that's the exact one that was in the kitchen in my childhood home!!

Les, isn't that what the conferences are all about? I've learned as much from sitting talking with other inspectors as I have in the classes.

Good information, for the most part, about choosing a home inspector. http://consumerist.com/2013/11/19/how-t ... spections/