Tom Breslawski

I'm about the same as last year as far as number of inspections. Gross and net are up due to price increase. Business should be much better. Same area as Chad. Nearly every 250k and below sale is waiving contingencies. We are one of the hottest real estate markets in the country right now.

1/4 inch hardware cloth.

Holy crap. I can't believe anyone would write that. It's just a bunch of poorly articulated thoughts about insulation. Textbook definition of "bad boilerplate."

Link added to signature.....

A tandem breaker is one throw. Do you have a picture of the panel with the cover off?

There was no fire suppression system. The CMU wall separates the units but doesn't extend into the attic. Doesn't look like there was a sprinkler system. There may have been a payoff though......

I inspected this townhouse today (6 units, the one I inspected was an end unit). There was no fire wall or fire separating in the attic. I've never seen this before. Is it ok? Building was built in 1974. 6 units all share a common attic.

We bought a house last year. The insurance inspector contacted me three times by email (no phone call, no letter, just email). I deleted the first two emails because they were one poorly written, non-punctuated sentence asking for an inspection. No mention of the company or any credentials. Turns out the barely literate inspector was being paid a whopping $27 to come and "inspect" our house. He promptly reported that we have two unlisted wood stoves in the house and flagged our policy for cancellation. One phone call and two pictures of the data plates on our brand new, permitted woo

I have the same Fenix flashlight that Chad has and have been using it for the past 5 years with no problems. Just recently added a Craftsman headlamp that I use in basements and crawlspaces. It's rechargeable, 500 lumens and keeps my hands free.

Having a wife who is "gainfully employed" will be critical to your venture. Get the Electrical Inspections of Existing Dwellings book, the code check books, read this forum, inspect houses of family members or friends to get a little practice at the beginning and keep reading and learning. The learning curve in this business is huge and most of the learning you'll do is not in a traditional class room. Try to find someone who will let you ride along with them and/or let you learn from them and don't be afraid to ask questions even if you think they are stupid.

Count me in on this.

I wouldn't use that thing as an extension ladder. Too worn out. Just replace it for a couple hundred bucks and save yourself the broken back/leg/hip. I use a 13' Werner and 22' Werner and wouldn't use them if they were worn like that.

Save a spot for me!

I take 400 or so pictures at each inspection too. Sometimes I like to take several different angles of a particular problem so that it can be better explained. Many of them make the report, but nowhere near all. I use the hand signals and establishing photo as my notes as well. It costs nothing extra and takes very little time. I'd rather have too many pictures instead of too few.