Is HomeSafe The Way To Go ?

[Dov]

Is Homesafe the way to go for IR or will a souped up Flir/Fluke with good training do just as well. The homesafe program is kinda pricy,but may be worth it.

[kurt]

No, it's not worth it. It's a sucker shot.

[Dov]

Thank you so much for answering my post but I was hoping for something more than"its a sucker shot" Do you have knowledge about either Homesafe or other IR makers and giving me facts or your gut feeling? I'm looking to grow my company and I know that IR is the future.

[kurt]

Sorry.

I've been studying Homesafe for several years, and find them to be exactly the sort of organization that is ruining this profession. A couple business school grads/MBA types "discovered" the home inspection business several years ago, and decided they were going to come in big guns and organize it along the lines of what they thought was appropriate. The problem is they see a business, and I see a profession. There's a difference. A very big difference.

Their focus on "magic tools" is a distracting tangent to the sorts of things individuals who want to become professionals should be thinking about.

I think you would do much better getting a Fluke/Flir camera, and getting next to knowledgeable individuals who understand IR and it's applications in building science. But, before getting all gung ho on IR being "the future", you should understand several more important things. I also had the same thoughts about IR several years ago. I think it is a component part of the future, not "the" future.

Homesafe is trying to establish themselves as the "standard", like Kaplan. Their association with Kaplan makes them dangerous as far as I'm concerned. What I've seen thus far from the goofballs that buy into Homesafe's ideology is a bunch of nuts running around ignoring fundamental aspects of building science and construction technologies and imagining their magic tools can see through walls and find the hidden defects.

That's a really, really dangerous approach to this business.

Kaplan and Homesafe are founded and operated by suits in shiny towers downtown, who see us as profit centers and exchangable assets. They want folks using their report systems, tools, and educational offerings. They don't understand or care about what it means in the field. They have very talented marketing departments; I will say that for them.

Kaplan does not care about the profession. They care about keeping suckers walking through the door and spewing out bumwads for the economy.

If you care about this profession, you will separate yourself from the folks looking for a second job to fill in on weekends (the folks Homesafe/Kaplan pitch to), and begin a long hard march to competency by schooling yourself in all aspects of building science, technology, and industry practice.

[Brian G]

Originally posted by kurt

..... a bunch of nuts running around ignoring fundamental aspects of building science and construction technologies and imagining their magic tools can see through walls and find the hidden defects.

That's a really, really dangerous approach to this business.

I couldn't agree more. There's a relatively new guy here who goes around telling realtors and clients he can "see through the walls" with his IR camera. What a distortion. I await his inevitable professional demise with both amusement and disgust.

Brian G.

Not If, Only When [:-skull]

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by Dov

Thank you so much for answering my post but I was hoping for something more than"its a sucker shot" Do you have knowledge about either Homesafe or other IR makers and giving me facts or your gut feeling? I'm looking to grow my company and I know that IR is the future.

I've followed a local Homesafe inspector a few times. I wasn't favorably impressed. All hat, no cattle.

However that was one guy. I haven't studied Homesafe in any depth.

If you want to get into IR, I'm quite sure that you can do it without Homesafe.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Chris Bernhardt]

I know that IR is the future

No more than a moisture meter is the future.

Chris, Oregon

[Scottpat]

I have to agree with everyone.

I do know about the Homesafe company and their operations in Oxford MS. Their head technical person served with me on the MS State Home Inspector Board. He is the brain behind the equipment and a heck of a nice guy.

One kicker with Homesafe (Unless their business model has changed) is that you do not own the equipment. It is also very awkward and cumbersome to use, in my opinion. You would be better off buying a real IR camera from Flir or Fluke.

[kurt]

Last time I checked, Homesafe got rid of that ridiculous contraption mess that they originally offered, and now push a 2nd tier camera, not Fluke/Flir.

They still push their acoustical termite stuff, and market it all together as technologies that allow you to "see" through walls.

Here's some quotes from their website......

"Trainees will also learn how to use IR in combination with HomeSafe's specialized acoustic (listening) sensors to, in effect, "see" and "hear" through walls, floors and ceilings. This infrared/acoustic process uncovers "invisible" problems."

"A handful of organizations have followed the path originally blazed by HomeSafe and now claim to offer IR home inspection training. Unfortunately, these courses are rudimentary and rushed".

The ideas being.......

1) We, and only we, have magic equipment. All others, like Fluke and Flir, are newcomers to the field, and are a dog and pony show compared to us.

2) All these silly (multi-national) organizations, that include the largest manufacturers of the equipment, and developers of the bedrock foundation of education related to IR, are all rudimentary and stupid.

I find this approach offensive in the extreme. They disparage all university building science and architectural study programs, the manufacturers of the best equipment, and the established training regimens.

It is arrogance and snake oil.