Scottpat

Just write it up yourself? It should be a short with a few sentences. Ask for them to refer you to their clients. Add a few business cards and end with Thank you and I look forward to serving your clients. Short, simple and to the point? Keep in mind that it will most likely go in the trash so what you are wanting is for them to see your name and company name so when they see it again they will recall seeing it before.

I guess it depends on what you are using them for.. They work great for starting a fire! []

Jim nailed it. Gloria is a true believer, I know her story and she is a nice lady working hard for her cause.

Gas dryer?

Yes, what everyone else has said. Repair the leak or the cause of the moisture. Then have it cleaned up. As for the length of time, it sounds like a small clean-up job but if drywall is involved I would think that 3 days would be a good estimate of time to demo, clean and replace drywall.

Yes, adjust your price as needed if they call back. The first question I ask any caller is "Tell me about your new home", this breaks the ice and they usually tell me a few things about if ranging from the color to the granite countertops! I then have to pull the information I need from them to quote a price. Many times as I'm speaking with them I'm trying to pull the home up on the Internet if I have the address. I don't try selling myself, it is what it is and if they like me they will use me.

Yep, I've been on their mailing list for a year of longer. It now hits my Junk Mail folder.

You can see the spray pattern going up from the top of that sprinkler head.

To the OP, I would hire a good forensic type home inspector in your area. Several come to mind with Kurt being at the top of the list. It sounds like you have a few things going on.

Don't send it to anyone!

I'm not a fan of repair cost in a home inspection report. What I do tell my clients in the report on possibly expensive repairs is that they should obtain repair cost estimates for X prior to the expiration of their contingency period. It's not difficult to obtain generic repair cost estimates, now a days one can Google just about anything needing repair and you will have several sources to choose from.

On Amazon for $519?. http://www.amazon.com/Protimeter-BLD536 ... protimeter

Cedar has a good amount of natural oils that are most likely keeping the paint from adhering. The sun has most likely brought the oils to the surface more so than the other exposures.

I looked a two level shopping center a few weeks ago that was being purchased by a church to convert into a new church building. It all came to a grinding halt when I found split-face block on two staircase towers that had allowed water to seep in from the upper level and I could see the steel bar-joist were corroded to the point that several were no longer bearing on their ends. This building was 18 years old...

It would not make it to my report? Not an issue..

I'm not sure we have 8 national associations, more like two and a half. I have belonged to ASHI since 1997, I have seen many changes with some being good and some not so good. Kurt hit on the highpoint of ASHI. I will add that ASHI is the only HI organization that has a third party approved certification for its members. In other words, ASHI does not self certify that somebody is a home inspector. ASHI is run by a professional staff that is led by a former home inspector along with a volunteer board of directors. The other large organization is run by one individual. You just need to decide what you want.

Very strange? I can't say I have seen that before, but it looks like the spots also follow the framing to some extent. Over by the window it looks like the spots are lining up on the wall stud. My SWAG would be vapor migration, could be bad WRB or no WRB.

I have not been saying anything if I do not see any issues.

None that I have seen. Pretty much whatever has worked for 100 years will keep on working until somebody screws with it. With log joist you need to really look at their ends, this is where they rot.

Any band, quoin or horizontal detail must have a slope to allow water to flow off and to help keep rain from hitting straight on as it will wear that lamina coat off quicker. The slope should be around 5-7 degrees this way water will runoff and rain will hit at an angle.

Marc, have you never seen Barry's articles? He is syndicated across the country. He's a good guy.

I can see (hear) it now! You trip that GFCI and you can never find it but you hear it under the master bathroom tub that is all tiled up! Yep, it could be handy!

I use an iPad that stays in the kitchen. I use it to fill in my template with data from the inspection, by the time I leave about 95% of my report is done and all I need to do is upload photos and clean up verbiage when I get back to the office. I use a real camera for photos. It's kind hard to hold a smartphone or table with one hand and snap a photo. Plus my camera is waterproof, dirt proof and Scott proof! My iPad is not! I use HIP.

From what I understand, I am not an expert witness, though the attorney said that he wants me to write up a bill and give it to him after my testimony. I wasn't asked to do any type of research or re-visit the building. To be honest, I have know idea of how I can help his case or his client. This thing happened so fast. The subpoena came on Wednesday night and the trial is starting on Monday. The attorney called me yesterday to give me my scheduled time for testimony. From what I was told, I'll be in and out of there within an hour. I'm not really sure what to expect. If it was me, I would not go to the attorneys office prior to the trial. I would tell the attorney that you will be the custodian of record and that you will be at the listed time and date for the trial since you have not be hired as an expert or litigation consultant. At the trial I would not offer any opinion but only identify that I did write the report. As said in an earlier post, if you are asked for an opinion or additional information that is not in your report you turn to the judge and state that you have not been hired as an expert. The judge at this point will most likely admonish the attorney and tell him to hire you as an expert or change the line of questioning. Just so I'm clear on this, if this attorney wanted to hire me as an expert there would be some sort of contract spelling out the terms, correct? Thanks for your help with this. This has definitely been a learning experience Yes, you should have a contract that spells out your part in the process. Send me an email and I will send you one that has worked well for me for several years. It's not for everyone, you need to have an even temper and most of all you need to be able to understand that it is only a job and you can't take anything personally. Most EW's are paid very well for the work. Most EW's in our profession have fees in the $200 to $300 range, per hour. scott@traceinspections.com

From what I understand, I am not an expert witness, though the attorney said that he wants me to write up a bill and give it to him after my testimony. I wasn't asked to do any type of research or re-visit the building. To be honest, I have know idea of how I can help his case or his client. This thing happened so fast. The subpoena came on Wednesday night and the trial is starting on Monday. The attorney called me yesterday to give me my scheduled time for testimony. From what I was told, I'll be in and out of there within an hour. I'm not really sure what to expect. If it was me, I would not go to the attorneys office prior to the trial. I would tell the attorney that you will be the custodian of record and that you will be at the listed time and date for the trial since you have not be hired as an expert or litigation consultant. At the trial I would not offer any opinion but only identify that I did write the report. As said in an earlier post, if you are asked for an opinion or additional information that is not in your report you turn to the judge and state that you have not been hired as an expert. The judge at this point will most likely admonish the attorney and tell him to hire you as an expert or change the line of questioning.