Thermal Imaging/ Infrared

The Return of the Rains

Roofing, Thermal Imaging/ Infrared, , , One comment

The return of the winter rains have occurred in Salem, Oregon.    Although our wonderful indian summer was enjoyable, it prolonged my inability to find leaks effectively.

Now that a sufficient soaking rain has occurred I can once again find leaks that are not readily visible.

Check out this skylight I inspected recently:

Visual inspection of a leaking skylight on a Salem Oregon Home inspection

Looks good right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The visible surface of the drywall appeared to be just fine with no stains or bubbles or any tell tale signs of problems.  Thank goodness I have a highly advanced thermal camera:

Thermal image showing skylight roof leakage on a Salem Oregon home Inspection

Those blue areas are current moisture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am sad to see the sunshine go away but my effectiveness as a home inspector just went up a few notches!

Thermal imaging/Infrared helps to find Siding Leakage

General, Mold, Siding, Thermal Imaging/ Infrared, , , , , , , , , View all 4 comments

Siding systems are continually evolving, changing and sometimes improving as new materials are developed and new understandings in building envelopes are improved.

We are always looking for the sidings that need less maintenance, are inexpensive and, are easy to install with very little instruction. Those three attributes fuel the evolution of sidings and over the years some have been great and some have not been so good. In the last 20 years there has been a siding that has worked well in other parts of the country but has failed so consistently in the northwest it has actually been banned in Oregon! This wonderful siding is very adept at allowing water into the wall cavity while appearing visually good.

Synthetic stucco, Exterior Insulating Finishing Systems (EIFS), or even by the brand name “Dry-vit.”

Like most siding systems the problems arise with poor installation. Lack of proper installation training appears to be at the heart of the problems with EIFS. If EIFS is installed precisely and maintained aggressively, it can shed water properly.

Perfect installation is very rare. So rare, that I have only seen one home that had a proper EIFS installation and the home had just undergone a $100,000+ insurance claim siding remodel that involved forensic siding specialists!

If you are going to buy a home that is covered in EIFS you should plan on having an inspection that will include invasive probing. The foam boards that make up the substrate can be a very clever thermal barrier…

EIFS is still allowed on commercial buildings and on a recent inspection in Salem, my clients did not negotiate for invasive probing and thankfully the pictures that the thermal camera captured made the total replacement of the siding a compelling option:

Infrared finds leakage in Stucco
Leakage in Siding noted with Infrared/ thermal imaging
Visual view of the EFIS stucco siding      The blue is the moisture that can be located with infrared/thermal imaging
Blue = leakage noted with Infrared/ thermal Imaging
More Infrared located leakage

A River of Thermal images

General, Thermal Imaging/ Infrared, , Leave a comment

This is a short video I took while on a home inspection of the water in the North Santiam river.

My handy little thermal camera can show all sorts of nifty temperature differences.  Including electrical hotspots, structure, insulation, leakage, critters and apparently the water temperature in the river.

Looks a bit cold for swimming but I am sure the salmon and steelhead that are headed upriver find those temperatures just right!


Jim Allhiser President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321         jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

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Can you tell me how to get, how to get to find a roof leak

Roofing, Thermal Imaging/ Infrared, , , View all 3 comments

Can you tell me how to  find, how to find a roof leak ……..

While most people complain about our recent downpours they have been providing me with much-needed rain to make leaks light up.  One of the biggest benefits having a thermal image camera is the ability to see things you can’t see with your visual senses.  A recent inspection on a home on Sesame Street and no I don’t need you to tell me how to get there, I found a leak that wasn’t showing through the finished surfaces yet….

Although advanced in age the surface of the roof did appear to be satisfactory.  On initial scans from the kitchen and family room there did appear to be an interesting cool spot in the family room and upon further investigation this cool spot did in fact turn out to be a current wet spot. This was roof leak.

Although no Big bird or other Muppets could be noted during my investigation, I did provide some much-needed information for my clients.   Thermal Imaging again proved its value and ensured my client’s home would be a safe and dry place to live

Picture/Thermal Challenge for Salem Oregon home Inspections

Marketing, Thermal Imaging/ Infrared, , Leave a comment

I have been having so much fun with Perfection Inspection’s fan page and my picture challenge I decided to branch out and have it help me get some Google juice.

The idea is:  I post a picture, thermal/infrared or interesting visual picture that I capture on a recent home inspection.

Then you guess what the picture is.

  • I am toying with the timelines but for now I will post for 1 week and at the end of that week I will post the answer and the first closest guess gets a $5.00 Starbucks card.
  • Only one guess per person and the moderator will be the sole decider of the closest guess.
  • People that I think know the answer (because they were at the inspection where the image was taken) will be excluded

Now enough with the legal disclosures and on the the challenge:

What is it?

My home inspection is better than yours!

Plumbing, Thermal Imaging/ Infrared, , Leave a comment

Thermal imaging has been an absolute game changer for the home inspection industry. About eight years ago my wife and I bought our first home in Salem, Oregon. At that time I worked in construction and I was a pretty hand dude but I knew very little about furnaces, electrical systems, plumbing and many other integral parts of a typical home.

The home inspector that we hired requested that we not show up till the end of the inspection. I didn’t really like that advice so I showed up went he began his inspection. That excuse for an inspector spent about 45 minutes in our 1950’s fixer and didn’t say more than a dozen words to me, even though I was asking him questions constantly. He didn’t even introduce himself!!

Upon moving in we realized that the furnace didn’t work, the bathtub had a leak and the shower head barely had enough spray to get you wet!

A year pasted before I learned of thermal imaging and how their were a few inspectors across the country that were using this wonderful technology to offer more and better knowledge for their clients. I took the leap and be and became home inspector.

Yup. Thats a leak in this new house

Yesterday I inspected a new home and with out my fancy little camera my clients would not of known about a plumbing leak. The leak was in the upstairs master tub and it had not caused any finish damage yet……

Equiped with the knowledge that I provided my clients were able to save the ceiling in their kitchen/dining room, the flooring in this area and all of the head aches that go along when you have to do major repairs to your home.

Bank Owned Problems

Environmental, Home inspections Salem Oregon, Mold, Plumbing, Thermal Imaging/ Infrared, , , Leave a comment

With more and more banks acting as the primary owner of homes I am starting to see more and more ridiculous decisions.  Issues that would never come up for a home owner are now manifesting due to the utter lack of common sense displayed by most banks when home ownership is their new responsibility.


Recently I got the chance to inspect a bank owned property here in Salem, Oregon.  It was cool the morning of the inspection but not unusual (the high 20’s).  The bank in their infinite wisdom turned the water to the home on, for the inspection.  But……some one forgot about the heating system…… The agent, client and I walked into the home and discovered a large pool of water on the floor of the kitchen and dining room and rain falling from the kitchen ceiling!

Although the leakage was awful, it was still manageable.  The water had not been there for very long and the wood flooring was not even warped, yet…..  I turned off the water and grabbed some towels to try to sop up the majority of the water.  We rescheduled the inspection and hoped that the bank’s reps would properly dry the home before serious damage occurred.

Three weeks later….the bank just got the heat on!!!!  During the subsequent home inspection I find typical water damage issues and ceilings, walls and flooring that is still wet!  A good general rule of thumb is: if water is uncontrolled in a home for as little as 24 hours, mold can start to rock and roll.  I did not do any mold testing in this home but I just can’t help but wonder what the second floor joist bays look like.  Hmmm…wet wood and paper for 3 weeks, I think it is probably very fuzzy with fungal growth.
As many of you may know, when dealing
with short sales and banks you have to leave
common sense at the door.  Even with this premise it is still disappointing that over
and over again it seems that banks
are so ill suited to be primary owners of homes that they spend dollars to save pennies.











Jim Allhiser President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321         jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

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Thermal Imaging/Infrared sees electrical issues before problems occur on a South Salem Home Inspection

Electrical, Fire Safety, Thermal Imaging/ Infrared, , Leave a comment

I was doing a home inspection the other day on a very nice, and newer home here in south Salem today.  The home had very few minor issues but one thing popped out when I used the thermal camera to scan the master bedroom.

The circuit did not appear to be hot enough to cause a fire however there was no significant load on this circuit and it should not have been heating-up.  As it turns out there was a loose wire in the heated outlet in the picture.  The heat was produced because of the looseness/resistance of the connection.

Just another issue that can be easily resolved with the help of thermal imagining/Infrared.


Jim Allhiser President/Inspector
http://SalemOregonHomeInspections.com
503.508.4321                   jallhiser@perfectioninspectioninc.com

“Always on the cutting edge”

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Thermal imaging finds Missing Insulation

Home inspections Salem Oregon, Insulation, Thermal Imaging/ Infrared, , , Leave a comment

I just did a home inspection on a fine home here in Salem, Oregon. Overall the home was a piece of cake, and very well taken care of. There was one little section of insulation in the attic that had fallen (from the cable guy presumably). It was impossible to see visually but thanks to the magic of my fancy little thermal/infrared camera my clients now know of an area that could use some additional insulation.

Very simple fix, in fact the fallen insulation is most likely sitting up there in the attic just waiting to be reinstalled and protect the home from the hot or cold of the attic.

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