Arizona Home Inspection & Construction Blog ACSI

Most people only think of getting a home inspection when they purchase a home. Locally someone may hire an Arizona Home Inspector to check out their home before it is one or two years old.

I want you to understand that Home Inspectors don’t just work for buyers or new home owners.

This is going to sound like a shameless plug but it’s being sent across the web and I obviously can do all the work so bear with me for a moment.

Lately the country has been hammered with wet and or cold weather, a professional Home inspector can check out all the systems in your hose and tell you what needs maintenance or repair before the component completely fails.

Home inspectors can provide tips on how to make your home more energy efficient. Do you know anyone that would like to save some money on energy costs.

A professional home inspector is a generalist, they look at all of the different systems in the home and evaluate there performance, It is possible your roof leaks and the moisture is not visible on the interior of the home yet, or maybe your vents are causing a problem in the attic. Are your water heater and furnace functioning properly? Do you have leaks in the walls, basement, windows or other areas?

Many professional home inspectors now have thermal imaging cameras. These infrared tools assist an inspector in finding problem areas before they turn into nightmares. You also must be aware that these thermal imaging cameras only detect temperature differences. When your wall, ceiling or floor is wet they will show up with the camera before you can visibly see the problem. Check out some of the images at my Home Inspection web site

Visable image of wet ceiling

Thermal Image of wet ceiling

Thermal imaging in the hands of a professional home inspector can identify areas you didn’t know were problems or help you understand just how big a problem is.

Hiring a professional home inspector may cost you a few hundred dollars now but this investment may save you thousands of dollars in the future.

Click here For more information on how to select a professional  home inspector

If your looking for a Phoenix Home Inspector, contact us, if your home is in a different part of north America contact ASHI

Lately I have been getting lots of calls about moisture issues. Everybody seems to have different issues and they all want to know how to handle them. The funny thing is most of the people are more worried about repairing the damage than actually fixing the problem. Lets face it there are several ways moisture enters your home. Every plumbing fixture is a potential leak. Other potential sources are the roof, condensation, vapor, cooking, breathing, showering, leaks at walls or windows, water heater leaks, and the list goes on and on.

I suggest if you are serious about addressing the moisture in your home, start by hiring an experienced home inspector. They should be able to identify most if not all the areas where problems exist. If the inspector has a thermal imaging (infrared) camera that could be even more beneficial. Thermal imaging (if done properly) can identify insulation issues, moisture and more. I recently inspected a home with 3 leaking windows and 5 leaks in the attic, however the home owners were not aware of any of the leaks as they had caused only minor damage so far. You may be in a similar situation.

A professional home inspection should identify the issues and give you guidance on how to properly address the issues. (Hint, caulking window and roof leaks is a band-aid, not a repair)

Patch vs. Repair
They are different terms because they mean different things. There are many products on the market that are designed to be a patch, until you can get the item repaired. Understand the difference. If you had a garden hose that had a leak, you might wrap some tape around it until you can get to the store and either buy the parts to repair it or replace it. I don’t think you would consider the hose repaired, since the next time you used the hose the tape would likely fail and you would have another leak. The same philosophy applies to your home.

Roofing
There are scores of so called roofers out there that will gladly charge you $200 to put a bucket of mucket on your roof and claim to have fixed the leak. Don’t believe them. Most roof repairs will require something more than a little plastic roof cement to repair the roof. You see plastic roof cement is a great product to patch a leak but to repair a leak the damaged materials need to be replaced.

Windows
Windows are a frequent area where leaks occur. Make sure the bottom of the window frame drains properly. Maintain the sealant around the window frame. If you have stained window sills or bulging baseboards under a window, you likely have an issues that caulk is not going to repair. You likely have a siding issue or a window flashing leak. These issues will require a qualified contractor to perform repairs.

Water Heaters
The water heater is probably the most neglected appliance in your home. Almost all of the new water heaters now require a pan be installed under them, however many people do not install pans. The strange thing is some people wont install a pan even after the unit leaked and caused damage. I suggest you inspect the fittings and valves on the unit and look for leaks and/or corrosion. If there is corrosion present, I suggest contacting a plumber to perform repairs before the situation gets worse.

Moisture Vapor
Understand as long as people are breathing in a home there will be moisture vapor in the home, however steps can be taken to reduce the amount of vapor. Open a window or turn on the exhaust fan when bathing. That is what the fan is there for. Yes it does help remove odor when that certain someone uses the bathroom, but its real purpose is to help control moisture. The same is true when you are cooking. Turn on the exhaust fan. Unfortunately, not all stove fans vent to the exterior. if this is the case in your home try cooking with a lid on the pan for as much as possible, the moisture condenses on the lid and drops back into the pan instead of adding more moisture to your air.

Basements
The best way to keep your basement dry is to prevent the water from getting to the outside of it. Gutters, and downspouts that drain at least five feet from the home are recommended. Check the grading around the home and make sure it drains away from the home. Don’t plant items that require a lot of water next to the home. I honestly can not count the number of times I have seen foundation damage caused by watering plants next to the home.

There are many other items I could discuss however I think the best recommendation I can give you is to simply hire a experienced professional home inspector. They can provide you with the information you need to make the corrections on your home.
To find a professional home inspector in your area go to www.ashi.org

With all the rains we have been having across the country, roof leaks are not hard to find.
But how should a roof really be repaired. To you simply run to the local hardware store and buy some roof patch? Do you call a roofer and pay them to go on the roof and apply a bucket of mucket? What should a real repair entail?

To answer this question we need to look at what issues are caused by roof leaks.

1. It leaks. Duh, there is water dripping from the ceiling creating a slippery surface below. So a repair must stop the moisture from getting in. But is that all?

2. Insulation looses its R-Value when it is wet. That’s right, if the roof leak soaked the insulation before it made it to the ceiling to drip on the heads of unsuspecting people, the insulation might as well not be there at all, in fact, no insulation would be better than wet insulation.

3. Wet insulation deteriorates materials it is in contact with. If your roof is wood or metal,the wet insulation will cause decay and or rust, effectively reducing the life of the entire roof.

4. Moisture trapped under the roofing can and will turn to moisture vapor and find a way back out of the roof, often causing additional areas for moisture to enter at a later date.

So what should a roof repair entail? In my opinion the repair should include removal and replacement of wet insulation and any damaged building materials.

To often, the entry point of the moisture is not even located. Someone makes a guess where the moisture is coming in and spreads some stuff on the roof, collects a check and leaves.
Wow, no leaks, (until it rains again)

Thermal imaging can be performed on many roofs to locate areas of moisture under the roofing. The wet areas change temperature at a different speed than the dry areas making it possible to locate problem areas and mark them for repair.
Here are a few examples:

What you see on the roof

What the Thermal Imager sees

The the top photo is what a roofer or inspector sees simply looking at the roof. Notice that there are several patches visible, but was the roof actually repaired?

Thenext image is what the thermal imaging camera sees using infrared technology. The red and yellow areas indicate a difference in the temperature, This area is then scanned with a moisture meter to determine if this a moisture issue.
Moisture is trapped under the surface and is holding the heat, thereby making it visible to the thermal imaging camera.

Here is another example:

Evidence of patches on the roof

Wet area under roof shown with Infrared camera

The top photo shows that someone has tried to patch this area of the roof before.
The image on the bottom shows the temperature difference caused by the moisture trapped under the roofing. This moisture can turn to vapor when heated by the sun in the summer or your furnace in the winter. The vapor will dry to rise up and can cause blisters on the rood surface as well as weaken or even separate seams of the roofing materiel.

The moisture trapped under the roofing will also damage the building materials it is in contact with.

Think of this the insulation is like a sponge, it absorbs moisture until it can not hold any more, then the moisture drips down. If you had a leak under your sink would you dry out the area under the sink? I would hope so. As an inspector I have seen lots of shelves under sinks that are damaged or have been replaced due to leaks.

I have also seen lots of roof sheathing that has been damaged from roof leaks that someone simply patched. If there is no insulation against the roof deck then most of the time the deck can dry. If the insulation is against the roof deck and gets soaked, damage can and will occur.

If your building has a flat roof that is fairly new, I suggest finding someone experienced to perform a thermal roof scan. If the roof is older and has a history of leaks, I strongly suggest having the roof scanned and making the needed repairs now before more damage occurs from the moisture trapped under the roofing material.

If your in AZ, contact us to perform your roof scan. If your in a different part of the country, you can still contact us and we may be able to assist you in finding someone in your area.

We can be reached at www.acsillc.com or 480-283-3392
Scott is an AZ Home inspector with years of experience in the Arizona Home Inspections industry. He has taught Phoenix Home Inspectors, Gilbert home inspectors and professional home inspectors across the country.

The hard truth about infrared (Real Estate Agents Read This)

I recently had a real estate agent ask me if infrared was a good thing and should she recommend it to her clients, my answer was a definite maybe, here is why.

Every few years a new trend comes along that affects the home industry. These trends include mold, lead, radon, asbestos, moisture meters, microwave leak detectors and now infrared or thermal imaging. These trends come with the homeowners protection in mind, however there are always people there trying to make a quick profit from the latest trend.

Allow me to start by saying I am a home inspector and many of the home inspectors that read this will be very upset with me because they feel that the proper training and programs are not necessary, I will let you decide. I will also state that I believe mold, lead, radon, and asbestos are all items that may need to be checked, however any testing needs to be performed by a trained professional and not someone that bought a sampler and attended a eight hour class and now calls themselves “certified”.

Anyone in the US can purchase a thermal imaging device for a price starting around $3,000 but most quality units start in the $7,000 range. These units are incredible; however, just because you can buy a camera, does not make you a thermographer. Real training is needed to properly operate the thermal imager and to interpret the images. (this is why inspectors charge more for this service.)

Limitations

Like any tool these units have their limitations: They only measure surface temperature. (They can’t see through walls) There may be issues in a wall like moisture or missing insulation that effect the surface temperature of the wall and the thermal imaging device may detect those differences but infrared is not an X-Ray.

Missing or disturbed insulation viewed with infrared

Insulation is missing. 10 degree difference in an 18 inch span

Many surfaces are reflective and if not properly addressed can provide false readings. For example the heat from ceiling lights can be viewed on a wood laminate floor, Glass and ceramic tiles have a mirror effect when scanned with a thermal imaging device.

The units are so sensitive that they can measure 1/10 of a degree F. This leads the inexperienced operator to spot items that appear to be major issues, only to discover later that there was a temperature difference of <1°F. I have been called to many projects where someone had an infrared camera and called out issues. When a contractor is hired to address the issue they are told “everything is fine, I couldn’t find a problem.” That is when I get called in. I will look at the pictures from the first person and try to recreate the conditions preset when they did their work, then determine if there is a real problem. Most f the time the problem is the previous operator.

Training

Here is the short version. Most people with infrared cameras have had some training and many will call themselves “Level One thermographers”, however even they don’t understand what that term means. A true “Level one certification is a single component of a Thermography program Standard that follows the American Society of Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) guidelines for certification. That program needs to be overseen by a Level three thermographer. If someone tells you they are “Level One Thermographer” simply ask them who the level 3 thermographer is in their program; If they don’t have an answer than they are not meeting the ASNT standards. You also need to be aware of the certification stamping companies. Some are no more that a pay and be certified, some provide minimal training but there is no one there to verify who took the training or if the student can field demonstrate how to use the thermal imaging device.

There are also ASTM standards on how to use thermal imaging to perform different inspections, for example, there is a standard for an insulation inspection on wood framed buildings. That standard requires several things like recording the interior and exterior temperatures and making sure the difference between those temperatures meets the standard. The inspector needs to measure the wind speed and direction, the solar conditions, The building construction, levels, orientation, surroundings etc. If your inspector is not recording this data then they are not meeting the standard of care set up by ASTM.

A qualified and ethical inspector will also understand building science and apply that knowledge while performing the thermal imaging. Simply put the infrared unit will not see moisture if it is not there so if it hasn’t rained in two weeks, it may not find the leaks. If the interior and exterior temperature are the same (very common in the spring and fall) then it is likely the camera will not be able to identify insulation issues.

Now I return to the agents question: should she recommend it to her clients?

Yes if the person performing the thermal imaging is properly trained to do so and you are aware of the conditions needed to properly conduct a thermal imaging inspection.

If If your inspector is charging extra for scanning walls with infrared and it has not rained for a month and all of the windows of the home are open, then it is time to find someone else..

Scott Warga, is the Qualifying party for ACSI American Construction Specialists and Investigations LLC,(ROC216772) a dual licensed residential and small commercial contractor. He is also a qualified home inspector certified by the Arizona Board of Technical Registration (#38062) and was appointed to the Arizona Board of Technical Registration’s Enforcement Advisory Committee. He has 9 years construction experience and has performed residential and commercial property inspections for over six years. He has specialized in forensic inspections, investigating failed, damaged and defective construction for over 4 years. He is a member of the American Society of Home Inspectors, (#205826) and currently sits on their board of directors. Scott is also a member of the International Code Council (#5095644). He has been an instructor of home inspection at Mesa Community College and Arizona Sun-Tech Home Inspection School. He is an instructor for Inspection Training Associates, a Kaplan Professional School. He has served an District Chairman & Vice President for the Arizona chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors and an approved instructor for both them and the Arizona Department of Real Estate.