IR and missing insulation

[Chris Bernhardt]

One of the easier things to spot is missing or ill-fitted insulation. These are some pics from a McMansion I recently inspected which was missing insulation in the ceilings along most of the front of the house.

In the attic there was no access to these areas the way the roof was constructed. I probably would have missed it.

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Chris, Oregon

[BCINSPTR]

Question for you Chris,

Is the camera inspection part of the base price of your home inspection?

Thanks

[Richard Moore]

Chris...Grrrrr! How much is FLIR paying you to dangle these tempting photos in front of us and make us want an IR camera that much more? []

BTW...I dunno about down there, but no self respecting McMansion up here has less than a 3-car garage. Looks more like a standard 2500-3000 square-footer with a pretentious, wannabe entrance.

[hausdok]

What's with the dinky short eaves? Makes the house look like a kid with and 80's high cut.

OT - OT!!!

M.

[Chris Bernhardt]

A view of the back. Although it was a double wide garage it had that extra deep bay to make it a triple.

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I don't charge extra for using a moisture meter why should I charge extra for using an IR cam. If I was truly doing some sort of analysis and was spending the extra time to get good delta T's and depressurization of home, playing around charging suspect surfaces and if I was holding my self out as a some certified level 13 inspector, then I would charge separately for the service.

Yes, I am dangling pics out showing the basic utility of using IR in general HI work. As I said before I used the technology a long time ago when I was an egganeer. I spent the last two years considering its usefulness in general HI work and then took the plunge and so far my predictions for myself have turned out to be true.

I am discovering things that I probably would have missed. Maybe that makes me a bad inspector but it's giving me the opportunity to improve my visual skills and teaching me to consider things I haven't considered before.

In this same house they forgot to cutout an heat register opening in the kickout of the kitchen sink cab. I caught that with IR. Now, there are probably some guys out there who are really good at remembering the presence or lack of certain features as they inspect attics and crawlspaces relative to floors above or below them. I am not that good yet, but IR is teaching me that I need to be.

Chris, Oregon

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by hausdok

What's with the dinky short eaves? Makes the house look like a kid with and 80's high cut.

OT - OT!!!

M.

The house is too close to the lot line for the eaves to be any larger.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[BCINSPTR]

Chris, Thanks for answering my question...My reason for asking it was that I keep seeing presentations and offers for us to use these tools, and don't quite know which way to go...

Now I have two more questions for you...1) Does the arithmetic work for you, investment vs return? 2) In the marketplace, are you disclosing more info than the reelturds want you to? Do you find lots of insulation gaps in older homes? Does that turn people off? Bottom line, have you become the hero or the villain by using IR?

[Chris Bernhardt]

Does the arithmetic work for you, investment vs return?

No.

In the marketplace, are you disclosing more info than the reelturds want you to?

No.

Do you find lots of insulation gaps in older homes?

No, it's the newer stuff with the vaulted and tray ceilings that are so surprising.

Bottom line, have you become the hero or the villain by using IR?

Hero.

I never looked at IR as an add on service for me. After thinking about it for a couple of years, I became convinced it would improve my skills as an inspector and it's doing that. If that in the long run will pay for the investment, I don't know. I sure hope so.

Chris, Oregon