Continued education and training combined with the right tools for the job help identify potential issues during a home inspection. Here are a few example of the tools I use and how they may be applied during a home inspection.
tools of the trade
drone
As a licensed FAA Drone Pilot there are times conditions require an alternative to view the roof. Steep pitches, weather, or roof materials that may be damaged by walking on them are all situations where a drone can help provide information. While my preference is always to walk on the roof, using a drone in the right situations is an alternative when other options are not feasible.
|
INSPECTION CRAWLER/ROBOT
co MeterA carbon monoxide detector or CO detector is a device that detects the presence of the carbon monoxide (CO) gas in order to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.Carbon monoxide (CO) is an invisible intruder that threatens lives in nearly every home and sends 20,000 people to the ER with CO poisoning each year.
|
Inspection crawlers, or robots, are another tool to assist in the inspection of areas that are often not accessible. Often crawlspaces have no access or limited access, may have debris, and low plumbing or ducting that would limit a visual inspection. While a hands on inspection is always the preference, the inspection crawler with 360 degree scanning allows inspection of areas that may not be accessible in any other way.
gas leak detectionMany workplaces and homes have gas powered appliances, yet never think anything of potential gas leaks once it's been installed. Unfortunately gas leaks happen fairly often, sometimes leading to detrimental accidents.
|
electrical anylasisElectrical testing of outlets, GFCI devices and AFCI devices helps identify issues that could be a safety hazard or a hazard to your electical equipment. In this picture we discovered an open ground in an outlet. This leaves no place for stray electricity to travel and could cause an electrical shock or damge to a computer or other devices.
|
trust and verify
Here are three tools telling us the same thing and it helps illustrate why often times we use more than one tool to help create accurate data. All three of these temperature checks indicate the water is a couple of degrees hotter than the 120 degrees that is recomended as a max. Any one of these tools would have told us that. In the case of thermal imaging it is almost always necessary to back up a thermal image with a moisture meter to get the straight scoop.