aaron

It is difficult to understand where to start with this picture. I am utterly amazed at the lengths people go to, to disprove the notion that there is intellegent life on this world Aaron Flook AM Inspection Services, LLC

I know that I am late in repling to this posting, however, I must agree with the way the others are handleing this. Having a death due to a situation that you could address is unacceptable. Be direct and state the facts and whys. Aaron Flook AM Inspections Services

I wanted to get to a site that could tell me the standard placement for Return vents. I know that this will change from area to area, I just need something that would tell me the industry standard for the placement of Returns. Specifically, if they are needed on each level of the house. Thank Aaron Flook A-Z Tech Home Inspections

Kurt, For all research, you still fall short of the truth. First let me tell you that we are not a Homesafe franchise. We have a license to use their equipment. We have approximately the same amount of money tied up in Homesafe as I do in fuel for my car a month. And we have done the feild tests and investigation of the other equipment, just as you have, and found that Homesafe gives us the best value for our money. My problem with your posts are that you offhandedly dismiss Homesafe equipment as "Gadgets" The cameras that I use are manufactured by Raytheon(the company that make the Patriot Missle Defense Systems. The are one of the largest and most respected high tech firms in the world. Not realy known for manufacturing gadgets. Also, Kurt, I can use the same argument with Flir and many other Infrared companies that you use. They disparage Homesafe, because Homesafe has made the one discovery that makes infrared usuable for home inspectors. Home inspections are better performed by home inspectors using infrared scanners they are trained to use. You can become a level three thermographer and still not be skilled enough to perform a home inspection. You have strong opinions regarding your perferred manufacture, that is great. So do I. Just remember, that my opinion is from using this equipment for an entire year,in the field every day, not a brief test period. The benefits of the Homesafe equipment to my operation has by far outweighed the cost. Aaron Flook A-Z Tech Home Inspections.

Kurt, With all do respect, you have no idea what you are talking about. I realize that you have no idea who I am, so I will give you some of my background. I have been a professional home inspector for over 15 years, with home inspections as my only business for that time. I am not a Johnie-come-lately. I am also the secretary of our local ASHI chapter. I have been using the Homesafe system for almost one year now, and it has more than doubled my sales and income. You say that the equipment is combersome and comical. I think that shows how little you actually know of the equipment. The harness improved the picture and helps to eliminate the necessity of resetting the equipment. Allowing the inspector to perform a scan without stopping. Greatly increasing the speed of the inspection. As for the resolution, you are again mistaken. The most important factor in an IR scanner is to be able to tell the difference between items thermally. This requires the ability of the camera to read to a very small temp. difference. The homesafe equipment can read to a difference of .08 degrees. The flir can read to around 1-2 degrees. That difference allows an experienced and trained individual to differenciate between an active and inactive water leak. Also the Flir system uses color coding that is not necessary to performing an inspection. The colors are so close that they muddy the picture and do not allow an inspector to identify what they see. I understand that technology may not be your thing, but do some research prior to spouting off. It will help you in the future. Aaron Flook A-Z Tech Home Inspections

I voted befor work today, I have voted in every election that I have been allowed to. Although I know no one at my election station, they all know me. I am only one of the two republicans in my ward. (my wife is the other) The republican monitor said he get special consideration because his ward is the only one in Pittsburgh with 100% turn republican turnout

Hello, I am a little late for this post but I do not get into deciding whether a crack in a heat exchanger is bad or okay. A crack in a heat exchanger is grounds for replacing the furnace( or heat exchanger). I do not worry about ppm's Dont make it seem like they are going to die, but get the dang furnaced fixed. Aaron Flook

Hello, The supply and return are definately too close to each other. Some separation is needed to allow the heat to properly cycle through the room. This will only allow the heated air to be drawn back into the return. Defeating the purpose. I would like to see how this will be finally finished. As for the water heater makeup air. There is not enough information. You need to know where the opening for the make up air is going to be located. You might want to make a note in your report telling the buyer to check whether or not the make up air opening is installed and how it is installed. Aaron Flook A-Z Tech Home Inspections

Hello everyone, We have an inspector here in western PA that did a house with copper clad aluminum. The house burnt down about 9 months after the inspection. This inspector is one of the old dogs in the area and considered as one of the best. Copper clad aluminum is very hard to spot. The easiest way to spot it is to see the end of the wire. This is not alway possible. The diameter of the wire will also be somewhat larger because of the properties of aluminum. This was not the most common type of wire but it will be something that you will come across once in a while. Aaron Flook A-Z Tech Home Inspections

Hello Back after a short absence. My company has invested in the infrared scanners. So far I am impressed with the devices. We did not become a franchisee because we already had a good business. The scanners are helping us get most of the "price" callers to go with our company over our competitors. But I agree with one of the comments. Nothing will ever take the place of the trained visual inspection. But the Infrared scanners do enhance the trained inspectors abilities. (that is what a tool should do) Thanks for the continued intrest in my post. Aaron

Thank you both for replying so fast. I was thinking along the same wavelength, but I like to have someone to bounce things off of. I hope the rest of your weekend is fantastic Thanks Aaron

I just did an inspection on a house in the old section of Pittsburgh. The house had a slate roof that has been pretty well maintained. The disclosure state that several of the shingles had been replaced in february . My inspection showed little deterioration of the edges of the shingles and only one missing shingle. I inspected the roof from the roofs edge. The inspection of the attic showed that the ridge shingles did not meet. they stay about 1/2 inches away from each other and there is no overlap ( open to the blue sky above) Someone had tried to seal the top with tar. (There were heavy tar inside on the planking.) I have not done that many inspection on slate roofs and I have Never heard of the ridge being open. Can anyone give me any idea if this is an appropriate installation or if this is not proper. I need to figure out how to address this issue. Thanks Aaron

Not to beat a dead horse, but I would not inspect it, and mark it that way in the inspection. However being scottish I would let the buyer know that I would be glad to return to the property, at a later date, when the roof was free of Ice and snow. (for a slight fee)

The IRC calls for 6" in ten feet from the foundation. I usually don't give any kind of exact measurements. I usually state that there should be a well developed slope away from the house. I will be on tomorrow with the exact IRC code. Aaron

Donald, I only have the IRC info which you still have. I will look through my archives to find info on water retention.

I have performed several multi unit inspections and have been doing commercial inspections for several years. I agree with the idea that commercial inspections can be a better type of inspection to do. The emotional expectations are usually not involved as with residential inspections. However the liability of missing something is much greater. Developing your own report format or altering a general home inspection report can help to make sure that you can limit some of the liability. I would be very carefull of just a verbal report

Thanks everyone for your imput.

We have been contacted by a company down south to use infra-red camera's during inspections. This also is accompanied with an audio program that can listen for and determine if there are termites by the sound frequencies. I was wondering if anyone has heard anything regarding either of these types of technologies aaron