George Russell

Most all of the above but don't forget wet wipes and a decent first aid kit. You can get a good kit at Sam's for $20. I had an agent a few weeks ago that was impressed that I had bandaids to offer him when he cut his finger. I use the wet wipes often to wipe up smears and keep my hands clean.

Just the fact that it's against manufactures specs makes it wrong. Can't get around that....

As cut up as most of the roofs around here can be it's near impossible to a decent inspection without walking. I do have a 10/12 pitch tomorrow I'll pass on though. And I'll leave feeling like I did a sub-standard job knowing I did the smart thing by not walking it. I really hate half assing an inspection!

I inspected a mobile home with a panel that looked very similar. They had taken the panel out to make some other repairs and it looked like that when they put it back. They bought the home and made a lot of repairs based on my report but didn't do anything with the panel. Go figure...

Yes you can indeed be "on" Angie's list for free and thus are rotated periodically to "near" the top of the list. As a paid advertiser you stay at the top all the time. Or so I was told. They went so far as trying to rope me into a 12 month contract at $129 per month but I talked them into a 4 month trial and am so very glad I didn't commit to the full 12 months. So far it's been a tragic waste of money for me. They are acting sympathetic and making noises about things that MAY help but it all comes down to who has the most reports. I explained to them that I'm very good at what I do and if they were as good at what they do my phone would be ringing and I'd have no problem generating reports. I have a bunch on my facebook site and other places but those can't be transferred over because they aren't from Angie's list customers. Hey if it works for you then take full advantage of it and get your nickel's worth. I'm finding that what works for others may not work for me and vice versa.

I've been paying to be on Angie's list for several months now and have to date only gotten one caller who said they saw me on Angie's list. When they roped me into paying $129 a month they promised my phone would be ringing off of the hook. When I called them and asked why my phone wasn't ringing they told me it was because I don't have enough reports. My response was "how am I supposed to get you reports without you getting my phone to ring?" There is one other paying inspector in Austin and he gets sent ALL the leads because he's been around long enough, as the ONLY paying inspector, to build up 8 reports as opposed to my 2. If you get there first the payed advertising looks to work well but if someone is already established on Angie's list good luck getting any jobs from Angie. I'm very disappointed and feel I've wasted several hundred dollars but I'm happy it's doing good things for you!

Marc you sort of remind me of my grandson at supper time when it comes to something that's good for him. I don't wanna.....I don't wanna.....I don't wanna. Ok don't...but there is no point in constantly trashing things that don't work for you but does work for others. I've had tons of fun with facebook on a personal level and am getting results from my business site as well. Slowly but....results none the less.

411 locals.com is a huge scam. They profess to keep your info on the first page of the google map. Out of 3 or 4 months I've been front page just a few weeks. I've been sending them e-mails and the only response I get is "we're working aggressively to address your concerns". I've also been leaving phone messages which are not replied too. If you are contacted by these people (Doc Taylor seems to be the ringleader) hang up as fast as you can! If they have ripped you off as well please join me in giving them bad reviews on sites such as; http://411locals.pissedconsumer.com/ George Russell

Hey Ben, Just checked out your tutorial. Good stuff! I've downloaded audacity and am in the process of trying to learn it, your video will be a HUGE help. Thanks!! BTW close to 140 views in one week so far.

Just had a lady call this morning want a roof only inspection because the roofers ripped off her 80 year old mother. After a few questions, and finding out the house will be put on the market in a few months, I sold her a full inspection to be done in the morning. Turned a small fee into a much larger one.

Thanks Ben! I'm going to be real busy this week but will look at it when I can.

You are right Nolan. It may not help at all but it isn't costing me anything to try. I thought the youtube links might help with SEO.

Not gonna piss me off at all. I'm not one for telling millionaire clients how to dress though. I was just happy that he was kind enough to do it for me.

Check out the following video and tell me what you think of this idea. I have added this video review to my facebook and web sites. I have already learned that I need to shoot indoors and with something nicer than the front door in the background.

I walked the roof of a new construction home here in Austin last week and am damned glad I did. I found MANY damaged shingles. So many I feel that the roofer received a defective load. The builder was very surprised as well, he has a bum knee and don't inspect his own roofs. I would have never noticed the damage from the ground and it's likely I'd have not seen it through my bino's. Walk them if you can...do your client a great instead of good service.

I did an inspection just last week where I reported a water pressure of 100 psi. I noted in the report that it exceeded the 80psi requirement and should have a pressure reducer installed. The client was interested in hearing this as he has had the pressure checked in the past and it was always in the 40 to 80 psi range, which is what we are required to report on here in Tx, until last year when they built a large apartment complex right across the street. Then it shot up to 120psi and once the complex opened and rented out he's down to the reported 100psi. He's now considering having the city install a pressure reducer. My client was happy that this was reported...now he knows.

As an old custom builder here in Texas once told me "If you have more than 4 or 5 houses going at once you are NOT a CUSTOM builder." You just don't have time to do custom work..... G