Tools to keep on truck

[Phillip]

Hi to all,

I am having a very slow week so I decided to clean out my truck and checking to make sure that the tools that I don't use often still work.

As I am looking at some of my tools there are some I haven't used in six months, some that been over a year and one or two that I haven't used.

This is the reason of this post. What Items do you feel that you need on your truck at all times?

[kurt]

Several high beam lights.

Electric screwdriver.

Moisture meter.

Ladders (3).

Digital Camera.

not necessarily in order of importance.......

[John Dirks Jr]

How many of you carry a nice long extension cord? It could come in handy if you trip a GFCI that had a freezer on it. If you cant find the GFCI to reset it you can always connect the extension to a working outlet untill you solve the problem. Saves food from spoiling.

[Inspectorjoe]

• Two clamp-on halogen lights, each with a 25' extension cord. These are for basements that don't have enough light fixtures, uh, I mean luminaires. For basements that are dark because of burned out or missing bulbs, I keep several compact 150 watt halogen bulbs in my carry-around bag (for some reason, this always seems to impress the buyers).

An emergency D cell flashlight with brand new batteries. I've haven't needed it in seven years, but it makes me feel good having it there.

An assortment of spare fuses. Way back during one of my tag alongs, I watched an inspector blow a fuse as he removed the deadfront. I've never needed them and I rarely see fuse panels any more

Spare camera, multi-driver, three prong tester, circuit sniffer, thermometer, etc.

Spare instrument/tester batteries

My crawlspace bag. Luckily crawlspaces are fairly rare around here, so it stays in the truck for most inspections

My homemade ladder strap thing device.

A big towel for cleaning up messes

[Les]

add:

shoe covers

Tums/Malox

Godiva chocolates

[kurt]

Yeah. Shoe covers.

I steal them from realtors @ open houses.

[allspec33351]

Toilet paper.

Captain

[allspec33351]

WD 40

[utube]

[/utube]

[Mike Lamb]

-a bucket

-levels: 2', 4', torpedo

-small piece of plywood to set my ladder on if on another flat roof

-big channel lock wrench for opening front yard clean-outs.

-garden hose. Used to. I don't bring it no more.

-big flashlight

-a couple of old bed sheets for tarps

-trouble light and all crawl space crap

-umbrella, rain gear

-spare shirt and socks. I've yet to use the socks.

-hammer and a pry bar for stubborn roof hatches and stubborn people.

-tons of batteries, every size. Ever run into a thermostat you can't work because the battery is dead?

-my basic tool box which has nearly every hand tool a handyman would need to fix something. I try to never use any of these, even at home.

[hausdok]

Well,

I see that Mitchell is really enjoying himself with the new feature.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Bill Kibbel]

- 4 ladders

- crawlspace gear

- boots, wellies, hip waders

- back-up: flashlights, spotlights, moisture meter, multi-tester, temp probes, shirts & shoes

- prybars, hammers, levels

- measuring wheel & 100' tape

- Liquid wrench

- shovel

- "Off" spray & first aid kit

Joe - most buildings I inspect around here have basements and at least 1 crawlspace.

[randynavarro]

Thread Drift:

Wow, that YouTube feature is amazing. I'm boggled just trying to figure how Mitchell got that in this board.

[Inspectorjoe]

Hip waders??? Let me guess - for inspecting mill races?

Bill, I'm lucky (unlucky?) if 1 in 10 houses I do has a crawlspace. I don't do nearly enough old buildings.

I do get some surprises now and then. A few weeks ago I did a house in Bethlehem in what was once the village of Altonah. The MLS said the house was built in 1930. It turned out to be an 18th century log structure with the second floor and attic added in 1930.

It had the most acrid, putrid smell in the crawlspace and basement. It even came through my respirator a bit, and that stops just about all smells.

Sorry for the thread drift Phillip. Now back to the tools ........

[hausdok]

Hi Randy,

Click the reply to topic button instead of using the quick reply and you'll see a new YouTube icon above the composition box. Get the URL from YouTube, click that box and then upload it. Mike Brown worked on the thing for damned near a day to get it to run on TIJ.

Please guys, there's a lot of stuff on YouTube which is home inspection, business, construction related, etc.. Let's try and keep those on the topic when we bring them over here. Okay?

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[John Dirks Jr]

Posted by Mike Lamb>> "-tons of batteries, every size. Ever run into a thermostat you can't work because the battery is dead?"

Just curious about this. Is it normal for the HI to replace batteries in control units in order to be able to proceed with inspecting a particular system?

[Phillip]

Les,

What are the Godiva chocolates for?

Bill, do you use the shovel to dig out so you can inspect more of the crawlspace?

I see that some folks carry drop cords/lights to use in the crawlspace and basements. I would like to ask why? With the flashlights thats make today that can light up a lot of space to view.

How many of you open the front yard clean outs like Mike L. does? What is the benefit of doing this?

John I will replace the batteries so I can check the unit. I don't want to hear that the only thing wrong with the AC was the dead batteries and someone want you to pay for the HVAC tech that came out and all he had to do was replace the batteries.

I am surprised no one said any thing about reference book (code check, IRC and others)

[Phillip]

One day I will have to get at a place I can get hi speed INTERNET and take a look at youtube and other videos on this site. Being on dail up I cannot see them with taking a long time to download to my computer.

[Les]

Chocolate is for real estate agent or neighbor's dog. Depends on who is nicer.

[Mike Lamb]

I see that some folks carry drop cords/lights to use in the crawlspace and basements. I would like to ask why? With the flashlights thats make today that can light up a lot of space to view.

I drop the trouble light into hole and leave it there just to serve as home base. If I have a problem with my flashlight I can somewhat see my way out.

How many of you open the front yard clean outs like Mike L. does? What is the benefit of doing this?

If I see any water or waste standing at the bottom of the tee I know there is problems. This is not always apparent from running the house plumbing.

[Bill Kibbel]

Originally posted by Phillip

Bill, do you use the shovel to dig out so you can inspect more of the crawlspace?

No, it's used to dig out the crawlspace access. For example, I recently inspected a farm that breeds dogs, horses, ponies, goats, sheep & birds. Every building and every square inch of the property was inhabited by domestic creatures. Each wall of each building was one side of a pen. I had to dig out 1.5' of poo to get the crawl access covers off. I also had to wear my Wellies all day - indoors and out.

I am surprised no one said any thing about reference book (code check, IRC and others)

It's all searchable in my laptop.

Hip waders??? Let me guess - for inspecting mill races?

Well, I have worn them in converted mills that still have the stream running through. I found the submerged well pump hidden in one.

Chocolate is for real estate agent or neighbor's dog. Depends on who is nicer.

Oh yeah. I carry assorted sized Milk Bones.

[Brian G]

In addition to stuff others have already mentioned, I keep a water meter key, a few old bath towels, and a 4 ft. wooden staff for tapping on ceramic tile floors. I rarely use the key, but the staff sees some playing time.

In the glove box I carry a bag of large, individually wrapped, peppermint Lifesavers. Great for dry mouth and they don't get gooey no matter how long they're in there.

Bill, I hope you were paid very well for digging out the poo. I just did a house where the drain line from the kitchen had long since broken in two, and the daily supply of waste water created a small pond under the house. I had to crawl through it to see all I wanted to see, and it stunk. [:-yuck]

Brian G.

Oh To Be a Buckethead & Disclaim Such Things []

[Brandon Chew]

Hmmm....

...realtors and neighbor's dogs

...Milk Bones and wooden staffs

Yep. Multiple purpose tools sure are handy. []

This reminds me of something I haven't seen mentioned yet. I carry a leatherman.

[fqp25]

4 way lug wrench & floor jack, or AAA Card. Sorry to be a smart ass, but had a blow out today. Some kind of jagged, twisted piece of metal. Luckily I was able to pull over to a Dairy Queen parking lot. Haven't had a banana split in years.

But seriously; I have a small 1/4", assorted bit, ratchet and drive set. I recently did an inspection on an older house where the electrical panel had a torx head screw. This little set came in handy that day.

[rfitzwa]

I like to carry a small shop vac and extension cord for popcorn ceiling debris and also an older bed sheet for under my ladder for use in the home.

[Jeff Beck]

After seeing that You Tube bit, I added a nice big fire extinguisher to my truck.

Actually I've had it in the truck for about a year. Bought it right after I saw a box van on fire on the interstate. I don't know if it would have put out that fire but it might have helped that poor driver until the FD arrived.

I also have a ladder stand-off/stabilizer but I keep forgetting to use it[:-paperba.

I also just added a 2X4X24" for testing garage door operators.

Jeff Beck

Foresight Home Inspection LLC