Chris Bernhardt

It depends on how you are planning to use your camera in your business. If you just want to use one in everyday HI work and you are already a sucessful HI, then read and understand the operating information that comes with your camera, get a Tramex and a surveymaster and start using your IR cam. After a week or two call a few HI's using IR cams and riddle them with questions. If you want to do more than just that, then go take one of the expensive IR courses. Chris, Oregon

Like Kurt, my clients just assume I inspected the whole building. There's no need to break it down. If you feel you have to do it for liability reasons, then throw it out. If you have to do it because of an SOP requirement, then do the minimum that you have to do and put it as far away from your list of defects as you can. This stuff makes my eyes bleed. Chris, Oregon

Jim, Where you wrote more about an item, did you do that based on these particular clients, and would you write less if a client was more familiar with the problem you are reporting on? Chris

Others to add to the list Secure Remediate Call Pull Remove Ensure Adjust Other opening phrases Be prepared to ... Have a/an/the As part of planned maintenance, ... If you want ..., then you'll need to ... Ensure that ... Understand that ... Chris, Oregon

I wouldn't call it eccentric, since to me that conotes how it moves about center, and my grandmother would have no idea what I was talking about. If I had a situation where force had been applied evenly in rotation, I would tell my grandma that the force is now applied unevenly, which will cause a problem, i.e. vibration, out of roundness, etc. Chris, Oregon

I don't know. 314.20 says for non-combustible facings the box can be up to 1/4" recessed from the surface, but for combustible facings, it can't be recessed at all. If it can be recessed, why would you need an extender? An extender should be required for a box recessed more than a 1/4" in drywall for example. 406.4 (A) says ... shall be installed such that the mounting yoke or strap of the receptacle is held rigidly at the finished surface. Perhaps it's the AHJ call as to what he considers rigidly held. Perhaps Jim Katen can help us out. Chris, Oregon

Article 314.20 2005 NEC ... boxes will not be set back of the finished surface more than a 1/4". Article 406.4 (A) 2005 NEC where boxes are set back as per Article 314.20, the yoke of the receptacle shall be flush with the wall surface. Chris, Oregon

Is that grammatically correct? If something is missing, can you replace "it"? I know what you mean and it's understandable, but is it accurate to replace something that isn't there? Yes, I'm being a wiener, sort of......... The Walter Jowers version: The dishwasher is missing. If you want a dishwasher, you'll need to install one. I write it the same as Jim Katen. It makes total sense in these parts. Chris, Oregon

There's a lot of variables, but if there's a stain a Tramex ME+ moisture meter ($400) should be able to still detect moisture even if it felt dry to the touch the next day. If there's insulation above, maybe even upto a week in warm weather. The stain must be at a joint; it takes an amazing amount of water to create a stain in the field of a drywall panel, which would be easily detectable for quite some time with a moisture meter. Sounds like one of those clients from hell. Chris, Oregon

I'm unconvinced that the lack of initial rise in the vent connector is a problem, and I will not be writing it up. There are too many variables that can effect venting and there's no table or formulas that can take in all considerations. I think the only reasonable trip point to flag concern would be some sort of depressurization test. Chris, Oregon

Kurt, What is the IR pic of? shower pan? Above or below? What led you to think there was a problem before you conducted the test or are you conducting the test irrespective of any visual evidence of a problem? Chris, Oregon

Maybe the question should be not be what we might report on outside of our respective SOP's, but how do we decide to report on them at all. For me it's partly what I discern what clients expect in my area and what my fellow inspectors in my area are reporting on. The emphasis changes depending on a number of factors. In the end for me, it's whether or not it's good advice for that particular client. I used to bang my head against the wall and agonize over this stuff until I asked Jim Katen for help, and he turned me on to the "good advice" measure. Chris, Oregon

Except for the door stops, which get reported under "Doors", accessories, if I feel for some reason I want to comment on them, go under "Other" and it's usually in the form of a disclaimer. Chris, Oregon

The IR cam does come in very handy for finding certain types of leaks that are otherwise not going to be easy to find. What are you going to do, scan the whole house with an SM? Even if you did, you'll still miss some leaks because the SM doesn't scan deep enough, and the anomalies that you do find, without any other supporting evidence, will make your head ache trying to figure out if they are a problem or not. When you get an IR camera, you'll probably spend the first year doing complete scans. After a while, you'll find that a waste of time given your knowledge about buildings and where and when leaks are likely to be detected. Chris, Oregon

WAG - Wild Ass Guess Chris, Oregon

Who do you think will ever read a preface page? Would they miss it if it was not there? I have never included one. The report is not a book. If feel you have to include one, a good model is Jim Katens. Chris, Oregon

I would tell the client flat out that the roof is installed wrong, who knows if it will leak or blow off, but if they want it installed right, they'll need to have it replaced. Chris, Oregon

Chris, Does it smell like chicken? Nope, but let's ask Jim what it tastes like. Chris, Oregon

That's why I use several different moisture meters. In that situation, I would have started with the Tramex ME+, but with 25% indicated, I would expect to get an elevated condition with both pin and pinless modes of the less sensitive Surveymaster, and If I don't , then it's more than likely not moisture. Just about everytime I find a bonafide moisture issue, I scan the area with both my Tramex and SM (both pin & pinless modes) and the IR cam so I can learn the subtle signs to discern the difference between bonafide moisture and other anomalies. That musty smell is probably soured particle board. It's either the floor underlayment or one of the cabinets. I haven't yet found that same smell with drywall. Moldy damp drywall has a different smell. Chris, Oregon

They are alarm sounders. They have no fidelity. The intent of their design is to emit the most anoying sound possible as cheaply as possible. My guess given their location to the cat 5 plugs is that the alarm system design was to include an alarm when any equipment became disconnected from one of the cat 5 plugs. Chris, Oregon

Realtors and clients think of the home in terms of its address, so I use the street address to name the report. I worked as a realtors assistant for about 6 months until I could get all licensed and certified up to be an inspector. Realtors files are labeled by client names. Inside the files the homes that clients have been party to are labeled by address. It was natural for me to use the address for the file name. Chris, Oregon

Like Jim Katen said, it's from rain. If it was from condensation, you would know; the place would be a wet, damp stinkin mess. What's probably throwing you off is that the water is in the middle of the crawlspace on top of the VP with absolutely no sign on how it got there. I'll tell you how it got there. The water infiltrated at the perimeter from under the footer, accumulated till it found a way on top of the VP then receded leaving the puddles trapped in the middle or anywhere else where it could not drain off. Chris, Oregon

It's probably working fine. Did you zero it first? The manual recommends zeroing it by holding it in the air in the environment that you'll be using it in and holding down the arrow button for three seconds. When the drywall is very dry, you'll get 0 or under 10 readings. Depending on what the drywall has been painted with, you can get readings above 10. If the drywall has be exposed to elevated humidity, it can permanently store some of that moisture and you'll tend to get higher readings. Don't use a Surveymaster as your only moisture meter for investigating IR anomalies. You really should have a Tramex ME+ in addition to the SM. The SM can't reliably indicate moisture on the back side of drywall. Chris, Oregon

Here, here! I recommend IE also. Another elegant and simple word based way of report writing is Jim Katen's. I wrote my own report writer using word's built in visual basic to do all the heavy lifting. If you want complete control, you'll have to write your own report writer. If your willing to fit your style and your way of thinking into someone elses, then buy one of the commercial report writers. Chris, Oregon

John, what are you listing exactly? All of the report writers out there, that I'm thinking of, allow only listing an issue. This is a problem that can make lumping things together confusing. The solution is to list the recommendation a la Jim Katen, not the individual issues. Chris, Oregon