mgbinspect

That's why I posted it. Randy, one of the miracles of giving is you can't outgive the Almighty. Somehow in someway it always comes back to you ten fold. Just have the faith to give, not even knowing how you can afford to, and it comes back at you. And frankly, when you're slow, what is your time really costing you? Give while you can. When an associate sees that you actually have a heart, that, as long as it's genuine, they never forget. I also give every past or current person in the military a 25% discount accompanied with a hand shake and a heart-felt personal thank you for your service. Everyone in law enforcement gets a 10% discount. These folks deserve our thanks and do you think for one minute they won't tell their collegues how we treated them? Have a marvelous week, Randy.

"If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another." ~Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama When I was a young boy, my folks were the leaders of our Lutheran church youth group. Many times we had young seminarians and missionaries, from all over the nation and world, stay in our home. They came from all walks of life, and it was an experience that I've never forgotten. I also remember going into downtown Washington, DC to bring Christmas presents to orphans. It was an exceptionally cold Winter evening, and I remember, along the way, noticing a row house that had a blanket for a front door. One house guest, 46 years later, I still remember by name, Aaron Mouton. I don't recall what inner city he was from, but I do remember, based upon things that he said and did, that our modest little three bedroom and one bath house might as well have been a castle. This afternoon I had the absolute pleasure of seeing the movie, Blind Side. It is the best movies I've seen in years and it greatly affected me. I couldn't even speak without tearing up until I was out of the theater and can't possibly say enough about this movie. Sandra Bullock outdid herself this time. It's a must see and be blessed movie. It reminded me of those days when I was young, and I found myself asking, "When's the last time that you really helped someone" - not just giving to the United Way, The Salvation Army, tipping your waiter or bringing cans of food to a center, but really doing something significant for someone because they needed help? When I lived in Purcellville, VA there was a very poor family that I used to leave grocery store gift cards or bags of food on their porch, when no one was around. They never knew who left them, but it felt grand to do it. I have to admit to myself it's now been 24 years since I've done anything quite like that. This economy has many of us backed in a corner, but we still have a lot to be thankful for - there's always room for worse. As Bill Cosby jokingly said in regards to the phrase, 'it can't get no worse' - "...but what about that last man, the one that no one has it worse than?" Maybe we can't afford to reach in our pockets and give at this moment, but we can always give of our time and talents. With that in mind, I'm starting a new program: I'm adding a "911" page to my business web site for those who may otherwise not be able to afford a home inspection. If a home buyer can't afford a home inspection, they DEFINITELY can't afford to be without one! So, if an agent has a client that is thinking of foregoing a home inspection because they lack the funds, or if a home buyer is in that predicament, they can navigate to the 911 page and call. I will make it happen. They merely need to tell me their situation and we come to a fee that works - no matter how small. My promise: No home buyer will purchase a home without a home inspection because they could not afford an inspection - period! The only thing I ask in return is that each time an agent and/or home buyer uses this program, they resolve to count their blessings, take an inventory of the ways they can change someone's life through a similar act of charity, and pass it on. One thing I know for certain, when you give the rewards are varied and countless.

New Construction inspection of a high dollar townhouse: When I turned on the vent fan in the built-in microwave I immediately knew something was wrong. The fan motor labored and air whistled slightly from the gap between the cabinet bottom and the microwave. I assumed that the installer forgot to remove a plate on the unit, but the filter held a piece of paper up against it and the exhaust louvers on the exterior of the building were indicating impressive air flow. Then, I realized that the installer screwed the exhaust flange to the shelf bottom of the wall cabinet leaving a 2" gap for exhaust air to swirl around in the void between the cabinet bottom and the microwave. This was of course causing some wicked turbulence. Having done disaster restoration work for several years, this is the stuff kitchen fires are made of. All it takes is a quick flash fire on the gas cook-top, for the vent fan to throw those lovely flames into that void. Then, you extinguish the fire and think all is well, but the cabinets are smoldering. Tick.. tick.. tick.. Ding! Kitchen fire!!! The really rewarding part of this find, was that the builder's rep told me from the start, ""I have mixed emotions about home inspectors inspecting new construction. You guys tend to be so picky. Blah, blah, blah." Well, he suddenly became surprisingly friendly, when I made this find and he came to the sobering realization that this wasn't the only townhouse in the development with this dangerous setup... oops... And, on top of that, the plug was never removed from the disposer to permit the dishwasher to discharge properly. Umm.. is that egg on your face? I LOVE IT when this happens. [:-monkeyd Click to Enlarge 85.16 KB Click to Enlarge 41.38 KB Click to Enlarge 34.94 KB'

My guess is that the origin of the moisture is, as you suspect, from inside the home, but the heavy condensation smacks of a severely under-ventilated attic. These banks really make a huge mistake when they elect to stop conditioning the home. Any potential humidity problem becomes all too real once the HVAC is unplugged.

I actually thought your original comment was funny, accurate and right on time - great comic relief. When I first read it, after a brief pause, I smiled thinking to myself, "Touche, Bob!" Loved it. Regarding genuine wit and intellectual humor, don't hold back on my account. Tee it up! [:-party] PS. I'm 58, so there!

Yeah, I'd want to see a slope there. I hate it when I see this - drives me nuts.

I'm out in the field and can only speak from my past experience as a journeyman mason (years ago). If it was merely a garden or retaining wall, the specs never called for flashing. If it was, however, a parapet wall, then yes details always called for heavy gauge polyvinyl or (back then) fiberglass reinforced bitumen impregnated copper-clad fabric flashing laid into the the bed joint just under the rowlock. The flashing was held short of the edges by1/2". Those were the standard details on schools, prisons, etc. Interestingly, weeps were never called for in this detail, which actually makes sense. Remember, unlike a window sill, this is solid masonry (no cavity), so a weep would not do much. A pitch on a rowlock top was not called for back then and could tend to look bad if both sides are exposed. Hope that is helpful.

Hmmm.. Anti-Marketing Ellen?...

If they didn't buy the previous house, it's because you protected them from it! Why would they even want to penalize you for doing that? I will, under duress offer a small discount, to keep them on the hook if I feel it is absolutely necessary, but not much. On a side note, I admire your candor, inspectorchris - been there done that - drinking behind the keyboard can be almost as devastating as drinking behind the wheel... maybe more?...

The most effective marketing tool you have is you! What you want to do, is make whatever sacrifice is needed to get a Realtor or Home Buyer to actually try you! It isn't about pens or brochures as much as it is about what you deliver. That is the ONLY thing anyone will ever remember about you. There are a lot of home inspectors that concentrate upon being funny or entertaining on site. Rest assured all of that quickly fades away with only one fact remaining - either you DID or DID NOT do a good job. And the real irony is that if you did a good job you MAY be remembered and referred to others, but if you didn't do a good job, you become IMMORTAL - they never forget you. [:-bigeyes Save your money on gimmicks and spend it doing what is necessary to get people to give you a try. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Thanks Jim. It's an honor! Nice to be back. Enjoy your weekend.

"Good writing is clear thinking made visible." —Bill Wheeler Kurt, that's the way I do it as well - A straight foward Summary as the first thing seen, assuming that after a page they're probably going under... I always ask myself, "If this isn't in the Summary, will I be hearing from these folks?" That endless question has insulated me from a lot of trouble. When I first transitioned to software, I spent about four solid days surgically purging it of horrific language. Have a great weekend all!

There will always be room for improvement...

Bob, you took the words out of my mouth, but I decided to just move on.[:-bigeyes

Early in my career, any call regarding an alleged omission caused a considerable blood pressure spike. I have, over time, become confident in the fact that, when those rare calls come in, I will direct my client to the page where the condition was, in fact, reported. There have even been times when people called with unusual or unique alleged omissions that had me beginning to doubt myself, but to my relief, even these oddball conditions are typically in my report. The seasoned home inspector is a methodical machine operating in a real time and sub-conscious mode all in unison. Through training and practice we simply don't miss much. The real remaining challenge in inspecting homes is making certain that: 1. what we saw makes it into the report. 2. the client reads the entire report. Most of us realize, through past calls, that this second point is the greater challenge. Clients are historically guilty of not reading the whole report. I first heard this statement in 1984 at a Fred Pryor Career-Track Seminar - Business Writing for Results and time has repeatedly proved it to be absolutely true: "If it's over a page they won't read it." A one page inspection report is, of course, mission impossible, but this is the mindset we are up against. The sad fact is the longer our report is the less likely our client is to actually read all of it. With this in mind, my inspection reports have always been pretty condensed and concise, but even so, history repeatedly confirms that if it isn't in the Summary it probably won't get read. A good home inspector is like a fine bottle of wine - constantly getting better with age. We seem to experience two distinct and significant learning curves during our careers. The first learning curve - the particularly expensive one - is learning how to efficiently and completely inspect a home. Eventually, we become that impressive methodical inspection machine that I touched upon earlier. Then, we begin to realize there is only one remaining way to significantly improve the quality of our service - our writing. In reviewing reports one can easily see that there are those who write to edify themselves and those who write to edify their reader. If we hope to move to the next level, we must be centered in that second category - those who write to edify the reader. This means that we may need to pause and rethink the way we write. When is the last time that you actually asked yourself, "How readable and interesting is this?" I suspect most of us rarely do that. By the time we get to writing the report, we are more like a surgeon cleaning out and closing up the operation. But, this question is the very threshold to the second significant learning curve - presenting our findings in the manner most beneficial to our clients. In the end, most seasoned home inspectors are very good at what they do in the field. That being the case, it stands to reason that the inspector who successfully gets his client to actually read his entire report comes closest to perfection. The journey continues...

I'm going to carry this discussion over to a new thread called "If it's over a Page"

I just caught wind of these heat pump water heaters a few weeks ago, while doing an exhaustive search on the efficiency of electric on demand water heaters. It was a pleasant surprise, and I'll definitely be considering one when mine needs replacement. If anyone has real life experience with them, please clue us in. I'd love to learn more.

EXTERIOR "There is contact between the exterior cladding and grade. This kind of contact can cause moisture damage to cladding, underlying sheathing and framing, or result in insect infestation. There needs to be at least six inches of clearance between siding components and grade, and leaves, vegetation or other debris should not accumulate against any part of the exterior. I recommend correcting this right away." Jason, Everyone writes differently, but permit me to apply active voice implied command (explained in the thread We are Writers) to the above statement, which you may find more helpful in the Summary: "Modify the grade as needed to achieve the recommended minimum of six inches clearance between exterior cladding and grade." Now, this statement is bare bones extreme to make a point. Through active voice implied command this 19 word sentence essentially says with far more impact what the 64 word statement above says. You may wish to add some of your statement back into this direct concise sentence. According to two sources on business writing, fifteen to eighteen words should be the target maximum for a sentence. Again, everyone writes differently, but consider first person active voice implied command, which highlights the action (what to do) and backs it up with the observation. All the best, PS. As a followup on something Tom suggested, as a double-check, after reading through your work, glean it backwards. That may sound crazy, but it's recommended by some good business writing experts. There are things that our brain will easily read right over, like "the the" or "a a", which are easily caught in a backward glance. It just takes a few extra seconds.

Good call, Marc. The sentence is poorly worded - composed out in the field. I removed it, but my point is that a professional, as in a big corporate CEO that does a lot of business writing, could get side-tracked and annoyed in dealing with a report that is poorly written. The reports that I've recently had to read and follow behind were good thorough inspections by reputable inspectors, but the reports were just entirely too wordy.

I did disastor restoration work for State Farm, Nationwide and others from 1989 - 1993. If the carpet and pad got drenched, then normally the pad gets pitched and the carpet treated and thoroughly dried. Back then a lot of carpets were backed with jute, which would pretty quickly fall apart if it remained wet for very long. That's no longer a concern thanks to newer fiberglass backings. So, fungal growth is the big concern now, but usually if they treat it and dry it quickly everything will be fine. It should be professionally cleaned when dry. If you had someone like Servepro or ServiceMaster come in, they're probably doing it right. Disaster restoration work is a science all its own. And, rest assured that those companies usually make a strong case for overkill, with both revenues and liability in mind. If the carpet just became damp, there may not be a legitimate case for replacement. But, for what it's worth, in the insurance industry, the pain in the a** squeeky wheel definitely gets the grease whether it's needed or not. I saw a lot of people get free upgrades and new stuff just by being unreasonable and unbearable, which I always knew we ALL pay for in the end. ;-D Let your conscience be your guide. (Pardon the previous typos. I'm typing with two thunbs on my phone.)

Thanks for the input, Mike! Even technical stuff can be written without passive voice. Use words like: is; are, did, did not, will not, constists; remains; retains; shakes; vibrates; leaks; leaking; fails to; etc. Make informing merely a component of directing. Enduring a rambling report is painful!

I write my Summary Action Items so clearly they can literally be cut/pasted right onto the Request for Repairs Addendum to the Contract to Purchase, which is great insurance that what you wrote, on behalf of your client, is precisely what gets asked for. Some agents actually do cut and paste it and I'm perfectly fine with that. Sometimes I'm amazed by how poorly agents ask for repairs, if they author their own request. I'm sure we've all seen some whoppers fall through the cracks that way.

Recently, I've had to review some inspection reports resulting in the following thoughts, which may help new inspectors avoid bad habits and seasoned inspectors to reform. Of course, this is my own opinion, but it is shared by many educators regarding effective business writing - Fred Pryor Career Track Seminars, being one of them. The greatest single pitfall and challenge of writing an impressive narrative style home inspection report is the avoidance of second person passive voice language, which tends to result in a meandering river of superfluous words. If your writing is heavy laden with words like: have been; was; that; should be; etc., you're most likely wasting a lot of words along with your reader's valuable time and effort. Sifting through such vague language to extract the point is mentally exhausting! Writing in first person active voice implied command has long been revered as the champion of effective business writing. It can reduce our words by 25% - 50% while forcing us to be crystal clear. It's not easy in the beginning, but the transition forces us to become very thoughtful and concise "writers" instead of cut-n-paste boilerplate quilters. And, in the end you will find it humorous to restructure a sentence and thereby remove 25% of the words without loosing any of the genuine content. It's sobering! Boilerplate statements are typically full of this type of language. The CYA, no doubt, needs to be inserted, but consider re-writing it to be as easy to read and understand as possible. We write to and for the reader and must make the reading of the report as effortless and productive as humanly possible. This aim will give birth to a true "writer". We want our readers to finish the report saying to them self "Wow!" rather than "Whew!"

One has to wonnder if the leak has not been fully addressed. Or, could it really be an insulation issue, as in the lack there of behind the shower causing some wicked condensation. Just a couple of thoughts...

It's been probably 15 years since I had to eliminate moles, but there are these brutal spring loaded spikes that you put over a smashed down portion of the run. That's how I got rid of them. It ain't pretty though...