Software advice

[Terence McCann]

This might be a stupid question, but here goes... If one is going to completely rewrite the boiler plate why pay for it in the first place?

3D had some pretty good canned stuff out of the box and with a little bending here and there it works. Also a lot of the time boilerplate is specific to the location. Southern Florida doesn't have to worry much about ice damming but we do up here.

At risk of sounding like a walking advertisement 3D is much more than just boilerplate.

[Neal Lewis]

3D had some pretty good canned stuff out of the box and with a little bending here and there it works.

I use 3D and have changed 99% of the boilerplate comments. It can take me 1 1/2 to 2 hours to complete a difficult report, but the program does work well.

Here's one of their boilerplate gems:

"The power panel, as a container for safely covering electrical components, is functioning as intended, minimizing the risk of electrical shock.

[Bill Kibbel]

We dictate our reports onto a digital recorder. Then they're e-mailed to our typists (software!). Sure there's a "per report" cost, but the clients are paying for it.

A majority of my inspections are 200-300 year-old farms and commercial buildings over 100 years old. I spend about 30-45 minutes on each report. Old, single family homes are about 20 minutes.

[Terence McCann]

3D had some pretty good canned stuff out of the box and with a little bending here and there it works.

I use 3D and have changed 99% of the boilerplate comments. It can take me 1 1/2 to 2 hours to complete a difficult report, but the program does work well.

Here's one of their boilerplate gems:

"The power panel, as a container for safely covering electrical components, is functioning as intended, minimizing the risk of electrical shock.

I never saw that one - what a doozie [:-crazy]

[Marc]

The average time that I spend on my 3d Inspection software editing reports is likely around 2 hours but some 'problem dwellings' can be 6 hours. That's how much I put into my reports despite a completely customized boilerplate. For years, I've wanted something similiar to what Bill does except that the typist is an employee on the other end of a wireless voice connection with me and sits either in a van or in the dwelling being inspected while punching the keys in real-time fashion on a laptop. This idea didn't fly well on a previous thread, but I think it'll be popular eventually.

Marc

[Jim Katen]

. . . For years, I've wanted something similiar to what Bill does except that the typist is an employee on the other end of a wireless voice connection with me and sits either in a van or in the dwelling being inspected while punching the keys in real-time fashion on a laptop. This idea didn't fly well on a previous thread, but I think it'll be popular eventually.

There used to be a local inspector (retired now) who worked that way back in the '90s. He inspected the house while in constant contact with his wife, who was back at home, sitting in front of the computer. He dictated, she typed. It seemed to work fine for him.

- Jim in Oregon

[Erby]

I'm stuck on Homeguage (2nd reporting system) after I got tired of double entry stuff on the first one. Does everything I need it to do WITHOUT programming. VERY adaptable to different styles.

Comes with the same yucky boilerplate they all do, but I didn't buy it for the boilerplate.

I bought it for the ease of use and adaptability. Tried Word briefly but it's a pain in the butt getting all those auto comments and junk properly programmed.

And did I say "my clients love it!". Of course they do. They'll love whatever the inspector sells them on. I know guys who claim their clients love the handwritten reports on yellow legal pads. Yeah, some around here still do it that way.

Ain't it a wonderful world.

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[Terence McCann]

. . . For years, I've wanted something similiar to what Bill does except that the typist is an employee on the other end of a wireless voice connection with me and sits either in a van or in the dwelling being inspected while punching the keys in real-time fashion on a laptop. This idea didn't fly well on a previous thread, but I think it'll be popular eventually.

There used to be a local inspector (retired now) who worked that way back in the '90s. He inspected the house while in constant contact with his wife, who was back at home, sitting in front of the computer. He dictated, she typed. It seemed to work fine for him.

- Jim in Oregon

Didn't W.J. have an assistant sit at the kitchen table, entering information, while he went through the home? Thought I read that somewhere.

[Chris Bernhardt]

Longer reports are not better reports.

Prettier reports are not better reports.

The best reports are succinctly and clearly written with the fewest distractions, and they should look professional.

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

[mgbinspect]

And, HomeGauge's photo fetching, editing and inserting feature is outstanding. I wish I could use it stand alone.

[Neal Lewis]

Didn't W.J. have an assistant sit at the kitchen table, entering information, while he went through the home? Thought I read that somewhere.

Yes, he said that was his system and it worked well for him.

[Erby]

I decided to be a home inspector instead of a computer programmer so I went to HomeGauge.

I do some programming, but it's for fun, not for work.

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[kurt]

I think my system is different than anyone's.

The only information I put in on site is the descriptive stuff and SOP related stuff. It's all in pull down menus.

Occasionally, if there's a Stab-Lok panel, EIFS, or that sort of thing, I punch in the initial boilerplate telling them what they have, and fill in specifics later.

After that, all I do is take pictures. I write my reports later at the office.

My interface is set up with a scrollable archive of the pics, and on the left is a comment creation box. I look at a picture of the concern, create a comment, then drag the pic to the comment. Up to 4 pics per comment; I could make it as many or few as I want, but it's usually only 1 or 2 pics per comment.

I can select a boiler comment, but most times I just tab into the field and type a quick description. I've got a searchable comment library to go to for some stuff. There's no good reason to type something different about Stabloks or general EIFS stuff every time.

It all comes out as a numbered list, with various sorting options if I want to sort them out in a hierarchy.

I print, then do arrow and circle markups in Adobe when I'm proofing.

Each photo gets a very basic description......."The NW corner fascia is rotten". I do not say anything more than that. The report will have that comment, the picture, and a red arrow pointing at the condition.

Every comment has a pic; sounds crazy on the front end, but if you saw how it all interfaces, it's real simple. About the only comments that don't have pics are my comments about smoke and CO detectors, maybe GFCI's, although with GFCI's I usually show at least a few areas missing them, because there seems to always be some missing.

It takes about 1/2-3/4 hours to put together a report. Very simple, very direct.

I don't use all the pictures, just the one's showing defects; the others I archive in a photo file as a record of what I did, ID'd to the customer.

It's a remarkably simple and easy way to do it.

[Erby]

Gee, Kurt. That almost sounds exactly like HomeGauge except you can do the arrows and stuff when you drag the picture to the comment.

I usually don't bother captioning the photos unless there's a reason to like identifying one of several of the same items. That's what drove me nuts with Palm-Tech at the time. Insert a comment in the report and then caption the photo (which at that time appeared in a separate photo album).

I figure the photos right there next to the comment. If they don't get that, they won't get it any better with a photo caption.

Click to Enlarge

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[kurt]

It's very similar to HomeGauge, except I get to keep all the proprietary HomeGauge crap off my report.

I could make it look and act exactly like HomeGauge if I wanted, but HomeGauge can't be made to be Filemaker.

I can do arrows if I want, but I don't want. My comments are "over" the pics, just like yours. I can do a few things with embedded links in the comments that HomeGauge can't. Or at least, I don't think you can.

I can also set it up in other formats that you can't set up in HomeGauge, and create databases of all sorts of things. HomeGauge is a HI system, and Filemaker is real software.

I've sometimes suspected that HomeGauge is a runtime version in FMPro. I doubt it, but it could be.

What's best is being free of software vendors. I don't have to wonder if they're going to be around in 5 years. I don't think about support. There's about 15,000 Filemaker gurus around the country, with a lot of them based right here in Chicago.

[John Dirks Jr]

It's gonna be tough to get me away from my simple Word doc reporting technique. What I would really consider is a system that would let me capture the materials and general stuff on site with a PDA. Also, maybe have the software alow me to capture notes about different categories while standing in the same place

Then, pop that into a laptop back at the office and automatically set up the template and sort the various notes into thier respective places. From there I would write my own comments prompted by the captured notes and insert pics under comments or under numbered lists.

Is there a Word based program that will graft with the work I have already done in a way I have described?

[randynavarro]

I've not used it but InspectIt has a PDA version that sounds like it does pretty much what you're asking.

[Michael Brown]

It's gonna be tough to get me away from my simple Word doc reporting technique. What I would really consider is a system that would let me capture the materials and general stuff on site with a PDA. Also, maybe have the software alow me to capture notes about different categories while standing in the same place

Then, pop that into a laptop back at the office and automatically set up the template and sort the various notes into thier respective places. From there I would write my own comments prompted by the captured notes and insert pics under comments or under numbered lists.

Is there a Word based program that will graft with the work I have already done in a way I have described?

Inspect Express will do that but it feeds the Pocket PC data into the PC forms inside Word as you go through the forms it writes the info to the document. I'm pretty sure I looked at report template of yours a while back and it was pretty much the same format. No doubt it is faster and cleaner than what your doing. Inspect-it although a little different will also probably work for you.

Michael Brown

DevWave Software Inc.

[Michael Brown]

I personally don't like the look of the sample there - the borders are way too thick around photos and stuff, but it can be customized to look however you like - including numbered paragraphs.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

That sample was created completely on the Pocket PC and it is html not a doc or pdf format. Yes you can customize the borders, colors etc.. John was looking to feed the Pocket PC data into his Word report which he can also do.

Michael Brown

DevWave Software Inc.

[Erby]

Yes, Kurt. You can do a whole bunch of stuff with embedded links, either typing them in or save them one time in the insertable comments.

You can do other formats, but I'm sure not as many as Filemaker.

It does lack the database capacity you mention, which would be a nice addition.

It is an HI system. And it works great for that. I find other things to do with real software. I use HomeGauge for HI stuff.

The only HomeGuage marking on my reports is one line at the very bottom. Something short about "prepared using Homegauge software."

If I'd spent the time you have to develop such a versatile system, I also wouldn't bother with HI software, just keep what I have. BUT, I want to do home inspections and reports, not computer programming.

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[kurt]

Yes, the line at the bottom. Yek. I couldn't figure out their numbering thing either, but probably because I didn't care. And, all the HG reports "look" the same, kind of. I guess I just don't want to look like the other reports.

True, I started developing mine in the early 90's. There wasn't anything available. I had an old HP tablet that weighed about 7 pounds. It was comical.

For the most part, my Filemaker system is good, could be better, and it's a work in progress.

Folks mistakenly misunderstand that it's no more about "programming" than HomeGauge is. It's learning how to format a software program, very similar to yours.

I've been working on a reference module for a few years that will be the final step in putting my system together. Filemaker has the ability to store .pdf's, music, quicktime movies, graphics, and other useful things in container fields.

I have a searchable "Graphics Library" that links to the report system in various ways.

Does HG have a Graphics Library option wherein one can link to it and auto fill certain container fields with the appropriate graphics?

[mgbinspect]

I believe HomeGauge has an add-on graphics package, that appears to be pretty similar, in detail, to the ones on CD you can purchase at seminars and conventions. I'm betting, based upon what little of the surface I have scratched so far, that one can build their own graphics library as well. It seems to be able to do anything you wish, and the online instructional videos pretty much walk you click by click through any operation as close to real time as you can get. Telephone support has also been outstanding as well. During my first few weeks they actually logged on to my pc and showed me a few things right then and there, which was very helpful.

So far, I can't think of anything that I wish was different.

Of course, I'm not out to sell HG. It sounds like a lot of folks here have found a system their satisfied with, which is all that matters. Of the four programs that I downloaded and seriously considered, I'm glad I chose HG. [:-thumbu]

[kurt]

Yes, HG is a contender in the database type report systems.

I never intended to sound like it's "bad". It works just the way they say it does.

It's just that, if I have to learn a software system and personalize it, I want to "own" it. I've fiddled with it enough to see that formatting it takes just as much time as my own.

I've got one more trick that, if I ever get it finished, will give me something HG can't.

If I ever get it finished........

[mgbinspect]

In all honesty, Kurt, I set out a year or two ago to go down the path you have with Word, but the learning came too slow for me, which says more about me than the program. I learn much better "hands on" with a tutor than I do with manuals. I would be ecstatic to be where you are with Word for a lot of good reasons, not the least of which is the ability to crank out print ready articles. That's a nice skill to have under your belt. Wish I had it...

[John Dirks Jr]

This pdf sample has better quality I think. Im talking about the clarity, sharpness and whatnot.

http://www.inspectexpress.com/samples/ASHISAMPLE.pdf

I'm getting better with my Word template all the time. I've been using Nuance Naturally Speaking to dictate my narratives. I don't think I'll ever want to rely on boiler plate. I like to treat each inspection as an individual. The way things tie together makes every inspection unique. I find many times, the same common problems on different houses relate to each other in different ways. I need the freedom that you can't really get with boiler plate.

Doing a narrative allows me to put pieces together the way I think is best for each unique whole. The same type of problems are not always presented the same way on different houses. It's everything individual piled inside of the whole thing that puts me on different paths of presentation.

I have been looking at the Inspect Express on and off for some time. By the way, can dictation software such a Naturally Speaking be used in the Inspect Express templates?

My latest delivery is numbered lists followed by pictures. I do a new list followed by a group of pictures in each section. I think its better to have the pictures closer to their descriptions and spread out throughout the report than have them all bulked at the end.

The main way a software program might help me is in collection data on site. I'm still struggling to decide if it would help me all that much. So far, paper, pencil and camera have not failed me but I'm trying to find a way to get more efficient when moving around the site. I'm probably walking twice as far as I really need to be.