Will I need a truck to run a home inspection business?

[Jbrow327]

I really dont plan on using a ladder at all if I can help it. I hear a lot of people just use a 30 foot pole with a camera attached for roof pictures. What do you guys think? If I need a truck, what is a reliable one between 20k and 30k? I currently drive a 2022 Honda Insight. 

[Bill Kibbel]

Quote

 I hear a lot of people just use a 30 foot pole with a camera attached for roof pictures. 

What lot of people?  Pull up to a property around here without a ladder and they'll likely call someone else to do the job.  In NJ, the license regs require a ladder, among other equipment.  

I've had numerous vans and suvs, but have been using wagons recently.  Lifting ladders up on the roof racks of tall vehicles for decades has done a number on a shoulder.  I still use a full size suv to carry my biggest ladder, but only when necessary.

[Jim Katen]

21 hours ago, Jbrow327 said:

I really dont plan on using a ladder at all if I can help it. I hear a lot of people just use a 30 foot pole with a camera attached for roof pictures. What do you guys think? If I need a truck, what is a reliable one between 20k and 30k? I currently drive a 2022 Honda Insight. 

Most of the inspectors who use pole cameras use them in addition to their ladders, not instead of them. It's very difficult to do a decent roof inspection without being on the roof. Pictures just don't tell the whole story. 

That said, you certainly don't need a truck - I dislike trucks and prefer small SUVs. You could carry a 24' ladder on your Insight; it wouldn't be ideal, but it could carry you though your first few years. (Spend money on a *good* rack.) 

There's a very successful inspector in SLC (a founder of the local ASHI chapter and a past president of ASHI), who loves to drive up to his inspections in his classic MG. He keeps a collapsible ladder in the boot. It gets him onto any one-story roof. Not for me, but it's worked well for him. 

 

[Jbrow327]

10 minutes ago, Jim Katen said:

Most of the inspectors who use pole cameras use them in addition to their ladders, not instead of them. It's very difficult to do a decent roof inspection without being on the roof. Pictures just don't tell the whole story. 

That said, you certainly don't need a truck - I dislike trucks and prefer small SUVs. You could carry a 24' ladder on your Insight; it wouldn't be ideal, but it could carry you though your first few years. (Spend money on a *good* rack.) 

There's a very successful inspector in SLC (a founder of the local ASHI chapter and a past president of ASHI), who loves to drive up to his inspections in his classic MG. He keeps a collapsible ladder in the boot. It gets him onto any one-story roof. Not for me, but it's worked well for him. 

 

I see. Thanks. 

[Tom Raymond]

My 15' folder and all my tools fit in the trunk of my wife's Honda Accord Hybrid Touring, along with luggage for three for a long weekend. A 22 folder would fit with one seat down.

That said, I drive a truck. I do more contracting than inspections and I pull trailers. I don't like having my tools inside the car with me, they make too much noise, so a wagon or SUV doesn't work for me.