Chris Bernhardt

What's worse, making them nervous up front or having them financially injured and all pissed off at you later? You're thinking like a realtor. Also it doesn't do any good to put such information in the report unless you voice a recomendation to do something about it; I come from the land where I have to do so. In other words, lets say somewhere you put in your report the age of the water heater, which at the time of the inspection was working perfectly fine. Then somewhere else in the report you have a list of expected service life. When the water heater goes out as soon as they move in, do you think they will remember that you kinda warned them in the report? That they, if they had performed some quantitative anaylsis and added two and two together, that they would have come to the conclusion that the water heater was old and that they needed to be prepared to replace it? Hell no. Chris, Oregon

Ain't that the truth. I have always marveled at how much work is accomplished per inspection. At the corporate level that same work would be days to a week to get accomplished and still be of less quality. Let's say that IR cams drop in price tomarrow to the price of a moisture meter, if you knew it was going to increase your inspection time significantly but in return the quality and satisfaction would increase leading to more referrals would you employ IR or not? What happens when the next technology that significantly aids us in performing a visual inspection comes out, are we going to be having this discussion all over again? Will the use of powerful tools doom us on a path to performing some degree of quantitative analysis to uncover problems as some fear? I think the camel already has his shoulders in the tent where it comes to the use of tools in the context of a visual inspection. There's probably no going back. What I would like to see is more education in the use of the tools that we already have. I have seen very little education on the use of moisture meters? I use to hear, and sometimes still do, stories about erroneous conclusion some inspectors make with them. The same stories we hear about IR use. Lately, I have seen that the inspector mills are cranking more wannebees out then ever judging by their attendance at local chapter meetings. Whats more harmful to our industry these companys that promise the moon when they absolutely know better or a few HI's running around with tools without adequate education and training in their use? It's all a big problem. If I was dictator the first thing I would change is how these inspector mills do business. Maybe force them to put a warning on the package: Warning it usually takes someone three years under the best circumstances to generate enough biz to eat, all the while under the constant threat of having everything taken from you. If you were to survive that long, understand that being a successful inspector is akin to swimming with piranha and sharks. Chris, Oregon

I've wondered about that too. I think 40 - 50 is a teenager in this biz. Chris, Oregon

Musing further I will add that using an IR cam can only increase your on site time. I think the use of any tool tends to do this in what we do. Instead of shortening the inspection the tools help us find more things that almost always requires more time verifying their validity and importance. How does that shorten the inspection? I am looking forward to Jim Katens upcoming article on tools. There's a lot of visual means visual folks out there who say you got to hide your use of tools from the client and I love to destroy that premise as completely illogical and faulty muddled thinking. Chris, Oregon

My inspection time has actually gone up. I will admit that I was getting thru a typical inspection, without no talking, in a little over two hours. Since I have been using the IR cam my time has been around 3 hours, without no talking. It's not because scanning with the IR cam is taking up more time. It's because as a result of using IR I am being more careful and using my moisture meters a lot more checking, investigating, considering and learning as much as possible as I go. I don't think that my time on site will drop back to where it was. Chris, Oregon

The resolution of the Bcam is adequate for general HI work. It does a fine job on picking out insulation and air leakage issues but is a little weak when it comes to differentiating moisture related thermal anomalies. Where as insulation and air leakage tend to have delta T's of several degrees, moisture related thermal anomalies tend to be less than a degree and tend to have cloudy mottled looking patterns. A higher resolution camera would help image things better. With a low res unit you are going to see pretty much any anomaly that a high res unit can in general HI work. The difference is that with the higher res units you will be able to distinguish more quickly between anomalies besides being able to print prettier pics. But I don't think thats worth spending another $8k to $10k or waiting another year or two till you can afford it by which time your competitors will be eating your lunch with their low res units. Chris, Oregon

Thanks Les! That is what I am trying to show. I feel there has been some hysteria placed out there that using an IR cam without paying thousands of dollars in training will get you into trouble. I am trying to demonstrate that is BS. Thats why I am pushing for our best to get cameras so they can further demonstrate that it takes a mediocre HI like me and makes them better at performing visual inspections. Chris, Oregon

Now, let me add that I was not smart enough to consider that the roof might be leaking there. Nor did I purposefully target the area in the interior. At some point in each inspection I will stop the visual inspection and start scanning the house with my IR cam. It was on passing thru the bedroom that I picked up the anomaly and then checked it with my moisture meter then headed to the attic. Now when I got into the attic I decided to take a look at what it looked like on IR, which I normally don't do. Since it was indicating strongly, I forced myself out to the apex to take an up close look, again which I normally don't do. Why? because it hurts balancing yourself on knees and elbows on the tops of 2"x while holding flashlights and cameras etc. And they say that inspecting is not a physically demanding job. Chris, Oregon

I found another roof leak that I would have missed. Image Insert: 72.58 KB Image Insert: 73.2 KB Dead valley drains off to the right side of the house (chimney side) Image Insert: 72.94 KB Comes around the corner. Trim & fasica has decay. Image Insert: 75.14 KB Stains, streaking and blistered paint on eave. Image Insert: 61.82 KB View of bedroom wall behind path of runoff. Image Insert: 28.84 KB What IR picked up on wall. Hit it with my moisture meter and Bingo! Image Insert: 27.94 KB What IR saw above this area in the attic. Image Insert: 74.55 KB Forced myself out to the corner to take a look and sure enough the plywood roof deck over the skip sheathing is darkened and there are stains on the top plate. Now, I say I would have missed it. That doesn't mean a prudent inspector would have. I showed this to Jim Katen and Jim explained that he takes the time to consider how water is running off the building and where spaces are before he gets into the house, then pays attention to those areas. What IR is teaching me to do is what Jim already does without an IR camera. Chris, Oregon

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

A view of the back. Although it was a double wide garage it had that extra deep bay to make it a triple. Image Insert: 79.46 KB 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

Shouldn't there be stop bead like in stucco installations around windows with stone veneer siding? Image Insert: 79.83 KB Shouldn't manufactuered stone veneer installations basically follow all the stucco guidelines? Chris, Oregon

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. Image Insert: 83.39 KB Image Insert: 36 KB Image Insert: 29.53 KB Chris, Oregon

I'll have to add Va. to my list of places where internet marketing works, cause it doesn't work here, yet. Does anyone have any theories as to why its working in some places and not others? Chris, Oregon

Like the sewer scope issue, not making some kind of recommendation to have the drain scoped, I have wondered lately if I shouldn't be providing a warning for basements that unless there is a working perimeter footing drain system yada yada yada, the basement could leak in a year with high rainfall or some other piece of adequate warning. Chris, Oregon

House was vacant. It's been empty for some time. The ceiling was dry to the touch and unremarkable. I only consider the IR image as showing a thermal anomaly that corresponds to elevated moisture readings from my moisture meter and a crappy roof above. It's my opinion that the roof is leaking. I hope to find out what they really find when they make repairs. Chris, Oregon

Thats what I have noticed. The few times I have found moisture related issues the images are soft without much contrast. Missing or ill-fitted insulation tends to show sharper more defined images. The corners where batts meet in vaulted ceilings if ill-fitted produce pretty defined circular anomalies. Chris, Oregon

Well I would have. It's not in my protocol to randomly sample walls and ceilings with my moisture meter. After this I will start thinking about it. I don't think Mike O. would have missed it. I think his wife scans everything. Discovery of an anomaly, hit it with the moisture meter, bingo - then go look at the roof. It could go either way and it has. Chris, Oregon

Good question. Last year the downstairs hallway light fixture in my house was filling up with water. It would happen when someone took a shower in the upstairs hall bathroom that was about eight feet away from the fixture. I scanned the ceiling with my moisture meter and traced it back to under the tub. There were no outward signs of a leak at the surface of the drywall. I opened up the ceiling and sure enough the back of the drywall was wet. Chris, Oregon

Found a roof leak that I would have missed without the IR camera. I would have called the roofing for replacement however. Image Insert: 81.6 KB Little ol remodel in Albany, OR Image Insert: 82.12 KB View of upstairs hall bathroom ceiling. Dry to the touch and unremarkable. Image Insert: 27.36 KB IR image of the upstairs hall bathroom ceiling. Image Insert: 84.11 KB Moisture meter pegged in the areas indicated by the IR cam and were normal elsewhere. Image Insert: 73.92 KB Messed up roll roofing job said to be 5 - 8 years old. It looked to me that the leak was at a plumbing vent. Someone had applied copious amounts of black sealant around it but I could see cracks and gaps in it still. Also that area over the bathroom looks like it would pond water in a downpour. Chris, Oregon

The metal and glossyness of the finish tends to play havoc. Making sure you scan it before you turn it on would be helpful, duh. Comparing the performance of similar models. Concerning comparing similar models, I have scanned this model several times and never found this anomaly. But what do I know. Even if I hadn't IR'd it, I would still be telling the client it's ancient and to have a follow up by an HVAC tech and to be prepared to replace at any time. Chris, Oregon

It was retro fitted with an automatic pilot. My bad I should have scanned it before I turned it on. I will do that from now on. I scanned it after the first couple of minutes but took the pics after about 10 minutes of operation. The contrast increased between the two times but I agree it usually is hotter where there is a cracked heat exchanger. I didn't take a physical measurement of the temperature nor did I try and calibrate the camera. I would't take the indicated temperature as real. Chris, Oregon

I have been scanning furnaces looking for anomalies like these. This was the first time I found something interesting. The furnace is in a crawlspace and is an 1978 lennox model. Image Insert: 81.51 KB Image Insert: 72.96 KB View of right side furnace Image Insert: 31.07 KB IR view of right side of furnace Image Insert: 30.88 KB IR view of back of furnace. Chris, Oregon

Thread drift - Ain't that the truth, My wife could have been killed last night. I gave her permission to go out with some girl friends and they (my wife wasn't driving but it was our car/truck) were coming home last night at 3:30am in the morning and wrapped our Surburban around a utility pole. Only the driver had lacerations. I bitch and bitch about how much that dam Suburban costs to drive but if it had been any other car it would have exploded! Chris, Oregon

Well, you can't. Actually you already own it. It's you. Just because a stain measures dry doesn't mean there's not a leak and vice a versa. You can use tools to gather information but you have to be very careful about using them as a decision point. When you're inspecting, try and take every opportunity to learn from the anomalies you're seeing. Many dumbasses just record their existence. Concerning the other question, are you freaked by spiders or is it for advice for a client? Luckily I am not at all afraid of spiders but I'm freaked by snakes. I have walked face first into more spider webs with the host clinging from me then I can count. Chris, Oregon