Inspecting Wall Paper and What's Hidden Behind

[Chad Fabry]

A consumer faced with a mold behind the wall paper problem finds an ally in Barry Stone. Maybe ergotism has affected his judgment. Read the whole article here .

Read about ergotism here

[kurt]

Your piece is funnier than the article. Kind of a send up of Mr. O', in an inspectorly sort of way.

There is an interesting point in there, though. How many folks do what the HI did, i.e., not really pay attention to what the customer is saying(?).

I'm surprised at how many times they find stuff for me. I always pay very close attention when folks ask questions that look superficial on the front end. Often, I'll look closer, and they will have seen some really tiny spot that is something significant that I've overlooked because I was looking for the "big stuff".

I've had them save my ass on a number of occasions.

[Scottpat]

Originally posted by kurt

Your piece is funnier than the article. Kind of a send up of Mr. O', in an inspectorly sort of way.

There is an interesting point in there, though. How many folks do what the HI did, i.e., not really pay attention to what the customer is saying(?).

I'm surprised at how many times they find stuff for me. I always pay very close attention when folks ask questions that look superficial on the front end. Often, I'll look closer, and they will have seen some really tiny spot that is something significant that I've overlooked because I was looking for the "big stuff".

I've had them save my ass on a number of occasions.

I'm with Kurt, I have had my clients save me numerous times over the years. Paying attention to their questions, comments, and concerns can be very enlightening.

[SonOfSwamp]

Originally posted by Chad Fabry

A consumer faced with a mold behind the wall paper problem finds an ally in Barry Stone. Maybe ergotism has affected his judgment. Read the whole article here .

Read about ergotism here

I love Stone's critique of the HI: "His answer should have been something on the order of, 'I don't know for sure if there is a problem, but the condition of the wallpaper indicates that there could be a moisture-related issue below the surface. Therefore, I recommend that the wallpaper be removed prior to close of escrow to determine whether there is a problem in that area.'"

I say any HI who actually talks or writes like that should be stripped of his flashlight and put to work in a government job.

WJ

[hausdok]

Hi,

Yeah, one of Barry's past columns was so heavy with passive inspectorspeak that I actually took my S & W Elements of Style off the shelf and began typing a letter to him to beg him to stop perpetuating inspectorspeak and passive writing in the minds of his H.I. readers. My initial impulse was to send him the Elements of Style along with the letter; however, halfway through writing the letter I realized I was probably overreacting and I deleted it and put the book back on the shelf. We should get Bonnie to send him a copy of her book, The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier.

I guess we should try to minimize the thread drift though.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Erby]

Back on track is simple.

Pay attention to what your customer is asking questions about.

They'll save your ass and be happy at the same time.