David Meiland

On that one I would have cut the other roof plane, since it extends above the one that they chose to cut. And, what are we looking at there, it appears to be Cor-a-vent nailed over the top of the cap shingles?

Sometimes the answer is right in front of you. I already have a DG700, just need the dishpan. Thanks!

What if you had to take a reasonably accurate airflow measurements and write it on a report? The BPI energy audit standard calls for measuring the performance of installed fans.

I've bought from them a few times recently. What I am looking for is some advice on which type/model will be most useful (and reasonably priced) for what I want to accomplish.

Does anyone use or can anyone recommend a simple anemometer for measuring airflow from bath fans, range hoods, etc.? I'm looking for a way to approximate how well a vent fan works installed with its ductwork.

Friday Harbor, $3500. Just kidding... and at the rates you're quoting why not get the Everett guy to drive 30 minutes down to Seattle and split the savings with him? That seems like a major difference in cost.

I'm pretty sure that Milgard warrants glass seals for life.

Curious if any of you are seeing Pro-Press fittings on copper pipe, and if so, what if anything you've observed?

Training is really worthwhile. One of the things they really drilled on in my class was the difficulty in getting accurate temps on metals, especially shiny metals. Your imager has an emissivity table that may be useful. Here's an image I took today of a stainless flex connector on a hot water storage tank. The hot area of the connector is the manufacturer's label that's still on it, and is within about one degree of the water temp in the tank at the level of that connector. The adjacent area of bare tube reads much, much cooler because the reading is mostly reflected background. You don't always need accurate temps but there are times when they are really useful. The Snell Group offers training all over the country. Click to Enlarge 20.67 KB

When the meter is switched on, it comes up in "Search" mode, and says REL ))) in the upper right corner of the display, along with a reading of "- - -" (this is assuming nothing is against the bulge on the back of the case, including my fingers). If I place the meter against pretty much anything, I get a reading. Wooden stuff all around the shop and office shows in the high two-digit and low three-digit range, as does most drywall. If I put it against my forearm it pegs in the 900 range. Same with the dog. It reads "- - -" if placed against leather-upholstered furniture. The only anomaly I've gotten so far is on the office ceiling, which has a reading of "- - -" in many places. I only checked because I see a black spot there with the IR camera. Again, this is in REL mode with the cap in place. If I switch to %WME mode then I get typical wood readings that are confirmed by my lowly Mini Ligno. And yes there is a calibration device in the package and it reads 18.2 when in %WME mode, using the pins of course.

Just took possession of a new Protimeter Surveymaster, and have used it a few times. Yesterday I was checking a first-floor ceiling with conditioned space above, in Relative mode, and in many places the readout said simply "- - -". Everywhere else that I've placed it against drywall I've gotten reading in the high two digits or low three digits. How does this compare to yours?

Thanks again for all of the feedback. This is a fantastic group. You guys are making me think about what my role really is here. They did have a pest guy come out, he did use the term "moisture ants", and he failed to propose a solution. I have a call in to him now to see if I can get his comments directly, instead of from the owner. I rarely deal with pest issues and in this case my only comment to the owner was that their presence might indicate moisture. Found out yesterday that there are carpenter ants under the refrigerator on another job that we are starting in a month. Maybe it's warm and wet under that frig.... oh great. I'm still going to recommend that they remove sheetrock plugs and check for wet insulation throughout the floor framing, starting near the tub plumbing and working away. The basement area in question is fairly small, accessed only by a door from the exterior, is not heated, and is completely sealed--no ventilation. It's really more of a stand-up crawl space with sheetrock on the walls and ceilings. I'm wondering if this should be vented. It was sheetrocked several weeks ago and I can still smell the mud. The REAL rub on all of this is that I was asked initially to go over the house, read the HI's report, and price out the various repairs and corrections that he flagged. They did not hire me to do any of the work, the got a sheetrocker, a plumber, a painter, a flooring guy, and whoever else on their own. Now that the job has not been properly managed (i.e. the moisture problem was not fully remedied before the sheetrock was done) they are calling me back. I hate getting caught up in things like this. There are 2-3 HIs here and AFAIK none has a IR camera or a moisture meter of the type you guys are carrying. You really can't get a good prepurchase inspection unless you import Mike or someone else.

The closet wall behind the shower was opened up and a leak found and repaired... or so I was told! Of course there could always be an ongoing leak. If I get elected to drill the handholes, one will be directly below the valve wall and one will be directly below the trap. I think that drilling several inspection holes (I usually use a 5" hole saw for holes thru drywall) and leaving them open while a dehumidifier is run will take care of it. Obviously, any area where moisture is found would reqire removal of the drywall and insulation, but it would take a dozen or more inspection holes just to verify that the moisture is gone, if it is.

I have it on good authority that the plumbing leak was repaired. The shower valve was the culprit. I'm assuming that any moisture is residual, but there could be a lot of it--a leaky shower valve can send water down thru the drilled holes in the bottom plate of the wall where it lands on the drywall below, and from there it travels widely, in addition to getting the top of the subfloor wet. It does seem like the Tramex meter is the one that might work in this situation, but if I'm going to spend a thousand on something I'm just going to spend several thousand and get a thermal imager. I have frequent situations where I could use one, but I'm not going to pull the trigger until business is up a little more. So, for now... handholes are us.

First off, I'm not a HI, I'm a GC, and occasionally I get asked to solve problems. A few months back a customer of mine bought a 1960s home. They hired a flooring contractor to remove carpeting and install hardwood. The flooring contractor found a stained area of subfloor in a closet that backs up to a shower. My customer asked me to look at it. In the basement directly below the shower, in an area with a partly-sheetrocked ceiling, I stuck my hand in and found wet insulation. I told the owner he needed to have a plumber find the source of the leak and fix it... which he did. I also told him he needed to have all the wet insulation removed, allow the area to dry thoroughly, and then replace the insulation and sheetrock.... which he did not. What he DID do is have part of the insulation removed and replaced, and then had sheetrockers complete the lid and tape it all. Fast forward to today: he calls again, there are ants cruising around in the basement. IMHO that means there is a source of moisture, so I went to look. Based on the description today of what was done, I suspect they accidentally left an area of wet insulation--a miscommunication occurred between owner and sheetrocker, who was charged with pulling out the wet stuff and later replacing it. Anyway, from below there's a newly finished sheetrock ceiling, from above there's plywood subfloor awaiting flooring. I would like to find out if there are areas of remaining moisture without drilling a bunch of big handholes in the subfloor or punching them thru the lid. It occurs to me that a moisture meter with a probe might be useful. I own a Mini Ligno that I use for metering lumber, flooring, etc., but I do not own a pinless meter or one that takes a probe. If I can drill small holes thru the subfloor, and insert a probe, seems like I could first meter the fiberglass, and then the top/back of the sheetrock. Any comments on this strategy? Recs for a meter? FWIW the owner hired a HI in this transaction. He didn't do much careful evaluation that I could see....

One of the reasons for me to be licensed, even if I might not really perform the service they are trying to license, is to be able to get E&O insurance. The CGL carrier that writes my general contracting business does not do E&O, and there is probably little chance of getting E&O elsewhere if I'm not licensed correctly from their point of view. Now, we might be able to split hairs on an internet forum but an underwriter won't bother, they'll ask if I have a license or certification and won't be inclined to see shades of gray. I am not inclined to provide any service of any sort without insurance. FWIW my broker has told me that I am within the terms of my existing policy with what I am doing, but he would like me to get a separate, specific policy if I do more than a couple of inspections per year. As was mentioned above, many generals do a little bit of review & report.

Mike, there are two guys I have direct knowledge of who are active in this market, and I think there's a third also. I am definitely not the person the realtor mentioned. One of the inspectors recently did a prepurchase inspection for a client of mine, and I was hired to follow up on some of the items he flagged. His report was adequate but we differed on some important things and he's completely wrong about a couple of others. The second inspector is the one I hired when we bought the house we have here. He is a little better, I think. Our lender required an inspection so we got one. I will look into the Bellingham Tech offerings. Going to BC is much more time consuming. I am not thinking about getting into inspection full time, but am thinking about broadening what I do by doing some HI and some energy audit work.

What's interesting to me is that I have a contractor's license in this state by virtue of sending them $100 and a certificate of insurance, but would/will face a new, significant barrier to providing HI services. The barrier is partly financial but mostly logistical, since I am in a remote location and cannot easily travel to a training location. There are a few inspectors in the local market and I do not know a whole lot about their skills, but I like to think that what I do for customers is valuable and that I should continue to offer the service (FWIW, I am a general contractor and do not offer the types of inspections you folks do, but rather review specific problems that homeowners bring me). If there is any question that separate licensing is required for this, I'll either comply or cease. Not worth working outside of my classification.

Does that mean it's going to be an entirely fresh crop of trainers who are newly in business?

Hey Mike, what do you know about training vendors in northwest WA? Any that you would recommend... or avoid?