Recommendation for inspectors?

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=ybitz]Have you guys heard of the use of thermal imaging during inspection to find water leaks?
http://sdinspections.com/thermal_imaging
Useful or just a gimmick?[/quote]

I think it kinda depends on what you think you might find and how important that is to you. My wife has bad allergies to mold and we were looking at an older house, so we felt doing everything possible to find mold was critical.

The imaging found moisture under both sinks in the kitchen. Under one the mold was obvious, but the other was not. Also found moisture around the baseboards in the master bath. A visual inspection would have only found the mold under the main kitchen sink.

Due to the discovery of the mold/moisture, we were able to knock the price down about 7 or 8 grand to cover repair costs. So, from our perspective I would say the money for the inspection was well spent.

Worth noting, if you have concerns about energy savings, these cameras are very helpful at finding how well your walls and attic are insulated. So, that’s another possible bonus.

We used a different company, but I can’t remember their name off the top of my head. I’ll try to remember to post their name when I get home tonight.

[quote=urbanrealtor]
If there is enough mold to have an effect, then it will be detectable in other ways (like smell).
[/quote]

I’d have to disagree. In our case there was virtually no smell from the mold, as it was well contained under the cabinets. While bad mold can often be detected by smell, I wouldn’t count on that. (And btw, the house that made my wife very sick when we first found out about her allergies did not smell noticeably of mold or show any obvious signs. I doubt seriously that a regular home inspector would have found any problems)

XBoxBoy

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=XBoxBoy]
I’d have to disagree. In our case there was virtually no smell from the mold, as it was well contained under the cabinets. While bad mold can often be detected by smell, I wouldn’t count on that. (And btw, the house that made my wife very sick when we first found out about her allergies did not smell noticeably of mold or show any obvious signs. I doubt seriously that a regular home inspector would have found any problems)

XBoxBoy[/quote]
Perhaps I am spoiled.
The guys I use are mold inspectors and sit on the board of the moisture/mold inspectors association.

A large percentage of “detections” are bs.
EG: my next door neighbor had the flooring in his place pulled up because a mold inspector (who, conveniently, was available to do the work) discovered that the hardwood floors were “buckled”. They weren’t. They were put in slightly less than smoothly but there was no discernible difference between the post purchase condition and the condition the day after they were installed.
And these “detections” and “remediations” have a major psychological effect on home owners. LOTS of people start sneezing if they see mold. And many are cured after spending several hundred.

I don’t think all or most are fake. But I do believe many (a sizable minority) are fake.

That has been my experience.

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=XBoxBoy]
I’d have to disagree. In our case there was virtually no smell from the mold, as it was well contained under the cabinets. While bad mold can often be detected by smell, I wouldn’t count on that. (And btw, the house that made my wife very sick when we first found out about her allergies did not smell noticeably of mold or show any obvious signs. I doubt seriously that a regular home inspector would have found any problems)

XBoxBoy[/quote]
Perhaps I am spoiled.
The guys I use are mold inspectors and sit on the board of the moisture/mold inspectors association.

A large percentage of “detections” are bs.
EG: my next door neighbor had the flooring in his place pulled up because a mold inspector (who, conveniently, was available to do the work) discovered that the hardwood floors were “buckled”. They weren’t. They were put in slightly less than smoothly but there was no discernible difference between the post purchase condition and the condition the day after they were installed.
And these “detections” and “remediations” have a major psychological effect on home owners. LOTS of people start sneezing if they see mold. And many are cured after spending several hundred.

I don’t think all or most are fake. But I do believe many (a sizable minority) are fake.

That has been my experience.

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=XBoxBoy]
I’d have to disagree. In our case there was virtually no smell from the mold, as it was well contained under the cabinets. While bad mold can often be detected by smell, I wouldn’t count on that. (And btw, the house that made my wife very sick when we first found out about her allergies did not smell noticeably of mold or show any obvious signs. I doubt seriously that a regular home inspector would have found any problems)

XBoxBoy[/quote]
Perhaps I am spoiled.
The guys I use are mold inspectors and sit on the board of the moisture/mold inspectors association.

A large percentage of “detections” are bs.
EG: my next door neighbor had the flooring in his place pulled up because a mold inspector (who, conveniently, was available to do the work) discovered that the hardwood floors were “buckled”. They weren’t. They were put in slightly less than smoothly but there was no discernible difference between the post purchase condition and the condition the day after they were installed.
And these “detections” and “remediations” have a major psychological effect on home owners. LOTS of people start sneezing if they see mold. And many are cured after spending several hundred.

I don’t think all or most are fake. But I do believe many (a sizable minority) are fake.

That has been my experience.

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=XBoxBoy]
I’d have to disagree. In our case there was virtually no smell from the mold, as it was well contained under the cabinets. While bad mold can often be detected by smell, I wouldn’t count on that. (And btw, the house that made my wife very sick when we first found out about her allergies did not smell noticeably of mold or show any obvious signs. I doubt seriously that a regular home inspector would have found any problems)

XBoxBoy[/quote]
Perhaps I am spoiled.
The guys I use are mold inspectors and sit on the board of the moisture/mold inspectors association.

A large percentage of “detections” are bs.
EG: my next door neighbor had the flooring in his place pulled up because a mold inspector (who, conveniently, was available to do the work) discovered that the hardwood floors were “buckled”. They weren’t. They were put in slightly less than smoothly but there was no discernible difference between the post purchase condition and the condition the day after they were installed.
And these “detections” and “remediations” have a major psychological effect on home owners. LOTS of people start sneezing if they see mold. And many are cured after spending several hundred.

I don’t think all or most are fake. But I do believe many (a sizable minority) are fake.

That has been my experience.

[urbanrealtor]

[quote=XBoxBoy]
I’d have to disagree. In our case there was virtually no smell from the mold, as it was well contained under the cabinets. While bad mold can often be detected by smell, I wouldn’t count on that. (And btw, the house that made my wife very sick when we first found out about her allergies did not smell noticeably of mold or show any obvious signs. I doubt seriously that a regular home inspector would have found any problems)

XBoxBoy[/quote]
Perhaps I am spoiled.
The guys I use are mold inspectors and sit on the board of the moisture/mold inspectors association.

A large percentage of “detections” are bs.
EG: my next door neighbor had the flooring in his place pulled up because a mold inspector (who, conveniently, was available to do the work) discovered that the hardwood floors were “buckled”. They weren’t. They were put in slightly less than smoothly but there was no discernible difference between the post purchase condition and the condition the day after they were installed.
And these “detections” and “remediations” have a major psychological effect on home owners. LOTS of people start sneezing if they see mold. And many are cured after spending several hundred.

I don’t think all or most are fake. But I do believe many (a sizable minority) are fake.

That has been my experience.

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=urbanrealtor]
A large percentage of “detections” are bs.
EG: my next door neighbor had the flooring in his place pulled up because a mold inspector (who, conveniently, was available to do the work) [/quote]

Urban,

Doesn’t surprise me that many inspectors might be less than honest. Rule one about this should be, that the inspector does NOT do the repairs. In our case, the inspector did not even recommend people who do repairs.

So, I would second your view. Getting a good/honest inspector is more important than anything. Having the thermal imaging device doesn’t make him good or honest, it’s just one possible tool. And certainly don’t hire an inspector who is going to generate work for himself.

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=urbanrealtor]
A large percentage of “detections” are bs.
EG: my next door neighbor had the flooring in his place pulled up because a mold inspector (who, conveniently, was available to do the work) [/quote]

Urban,

Doesn’t surprise me that many inspectors might be less than honest. Rule one about this should be, that the inspector does NOT do the repairs. In our case, the inspector did not even recommend people who do repairs.

So, I would second your view. Getting a good/honest inspector is more important than anything. Having the thermal imaging device doesn’t make him good or honest, it’s just one possible tool. And certainly don’t hire an inspector who is going to generate work for himself.

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=urbanrealtor]
A large percentage of “detections” are bs.
EG: my next door neighbor had the flooring in his place pulled up because a mold inspector (who, conveniently, was available to do the work) [/quote]

Urban,

Doesn’t surprise me that many inspectors might be less than honest. Rule one about this should be, that the inspector does NOT do the repairs. In our case, the inspector did not even recommend people who do repairs.

So, I would second your view. Getting a good/honest inspector is more important than anything. Having the thermal imaging device doesn’t make him good or honest, it’s just one possible tool. And certainly don’t hire an inspector who is going to generate work for himself.

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=urbanrealtor]
A large percentage of “detections” are bs.
EG: my next door neighbor had the flooring in his place pulled up because a mold inspector (who, conveniently, was available to do the work) [/quote]

Urban,

Doesn’t surprise me that many inspectors might be less than honest. Rule one about this should be, that the inspector does NOT do the repairs. In our case, the inspector did not even recommend people who do repairs.

So, I would second your view. Getting a good/honest inspector is more important than anything. Having the thermal imaging device doesn’t make him good or honest, it’s just one possible tool. And certainly don’t hire an inspector who is going to generate work for himself.

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=urbanrealtor]
A large percentage of “detections” are bs.
EG: my next door neighbor had the flooring in his place pulled up because a mold inspector (who, conveniently, was available to do the work) [/quote]

Urban,

Doesn’t surprise me that many inspectors might be less than honest. Rule one about this should be, that the inspector does NOT do the repairs. In our case, the inspector did not even recommend people who do repairs.

So, I would second your view. Getting a good/honest inspector is more important than anything. Having the thermal imaging device doesn’t make him good or honest, it’s just one possible tool. And certainly don’t hire an inspector who is going to generate work for himself.

[Anonymous]

As the owner of a company that uses thermal imaging, I have to put in my two cents.

Without question our thermal imaging cameras have detected moisture that would otherwise have gone un-noticed. This is particularly important in flip and bank owned houses that are freshly painted.

We have informed our clients, and avoided huge liability for ourselves and the agents involved. These are sensitive, expensive tools that do work in the hands of trained inspectors. They are not divining rods.

I encourage interested people to visit our website for information http://www.sdinspections.com. We do not charge extra for this technology, so why wouldn’t you use an inspector that has an Infrared Camera?

The only people who don’t like it are listing agents afraid that a thorough inspector will identify moisture. These agents don’t yet realize that a good inspection protects them too.

P.S. It is against the law in California for a home inspector to work on a house he has inspected. Period.

Philippe Heller
President
The San Diego Real Estate Inspection Co.

[Anonymous]

As the owner of a company that uses thermal imaging, I have to put in my two cents.

Without question our thermal imaging cameras have detected moisture that would otherwise have gone un-noticed. This is particularly important in flip and bank owned houses that are freshly painted.

We have informed our clients, and avoided huge liability for ourselves and the agents involved. These are sensitive, expensive tools that do work in the hands of trained inspectors. They are not divining rods.

I encourage interested people to visit our website for information http://www.sdinspections.com. We do not charge extra for this technology, so why wouldn’t you use an inspector that has an Infrared Camera?

The only people who don’t like it are listing agents afraid that a thorough inspector will identify moisture. These agents don’t yet realize that a good inspection protects them too.

P.S. It is against the law in California for a home inspector to work on a house he has inspected. Period.

Philippe Heller
President
The San Diego Real Estate Inspection Co.

[Anonymous]

As the owner of a company that uses thermal imaging, I have to put in my two cents.

Without question our thermal imaging cameras have detected moisture that would otherwise have gone un-noticed. This is particularly important in flip and bank owned houses that are freshly painted.

We have informed our clients, and avoided huge liability for ourselves and the agents involved. These are sensitive, expensive tools that do work in the hands of trained inspectors. They are not divining rods.

I encourage interested people to visit our website for information http://www.sdinspections.com. We do not charge extra for this technology, so why wouldn’t you use an inspector that has an Infrared Camera?

The only people who don’t like it are listing agents afraid that a thorough inspector will identify moisture. These agents don’t yet realize that a good inspection protects them too.

P.S. It is against the law in California for a home inspector to work on a house he has inspected. Period.

Philippe Heller
President
The San Diego Real Estate Inspection Co.

[Anonymous]

As the owner of a company that uses thermal imaging, I have to put in my two cents.

Without question our thermal imaging cameras have detected moisture that would otherwise have gone un-noticed. This is particularly important in flip and bank owned houses that are freshly painted.

We have informed our clients, and avoided huge liability for ourselves and the agents involved. These are sensitive, expensive tools that do work in the hands of trained inspectors. They are not divining rods.

I encourage interested people to visit our website for information http://www.sdinspections.com. We do not charge extra for this technology, so why wouldn’t you use an inspector that has an Infrared Camera?

The only people who don’t like it are listing agents afraid that a thorough inspector will identify moisture. These agents don’t yet realize that a good inspection protects them too.

P.S. It is against the law in California for a home inspector to work on a house he has inspected. Period.

Philippe Heller
President
The San Diego Real Estate Inspection Co.

[Author]

Posts