Home Inspection News & Articles

From the Trenches: Hilarious Home Inspector Photos

Ah...the do-it-yourselfer age! It has given us Home Depot, Bob Villa and (unfortunately) the botched handyman project! If there is one common pastime all home inspectors love, it would have to be sharing home inspection photos of bizarre, and sometimes downright dangerous, problems they come across during a real estate inspection.

Home inspection websites and journals never fail to publish humorous photos from their home inspection contributors. And just as no two snowflakes are alike; it seems the same holds true for any two messed-up home improvement jobs. When you become a home inspector, expect you'll come across a few memorable home owner quick-fixes by.

This Old House's website has gotten into the act as well, publishing 23 gems on their website. Without giving away too many surprises, these photos will show you how a radiator hose from a 1945 Pontiac, a dead rodent and aluminum foil all factor into some funny photos. Click here to check them out.

Although it doesn't take too much expertise to see that something is wrong in extreme situations, most common home inspection problems aren't as easy to spot. And that's why a solid home inspection program is essential for anyone who wants to start a professional home inspection career. And these days you don't need to go much further than your laptop to get the necessary training, because online home inspection courses are just a mouse click away.

Starting a home inspection business will involve lots of serious steps on your part, but at least you know they'll be humorous moments when you can put your home inspection checklist down and have a laugh.

You Can't Insulate Yourself from the Insulation Inspection

Many people mistakenly think that insulation is only for homes in cold climates; and while this was true as recently as thirty years ago, everything has now changed. These days you're as likely to find insulation in Miami as you are in Maine, and the reason is the same in both cases - energy efficiency. And if you want to become a home inspector, this is an important development to keep in mind.

So for home inspectors in warm climates, one of the first tasks in the home inspection process is to learn if the house has insulation, which is becoming more important as larger numbers of Americans rely on air conditioning to cool their homes. Proper insulation in a warm-weather home will help reduce a home owner's energy bill. When looking at your new home inspection checklist, this question won't be as pressing because all new homes, wherever they are built, will have insulation.

There are three spots where one will find insulation: attics, walls and floors. To check out the attic, locate the crawl space opening in the ceiling and take a look and see what's between the rafters. Generally it shouldn't be necessary to climb up into the attic, but if you must, then be sure to wear a face mask.

Determining whether there is insulation in the walls is a bit trickier. Overall a good strategy is to take off one of the plates covering an electrical circuit box (make sure you first go to the circuit breaker box and cut the electricity). There's usually a little gap between the wallboard and the circuit box where you can slip in a screwdriver and learn if there is any insulation present; a flashlight may even spotlight the furry pink stuff as well. If you have no luck, try another electrical circuit box in the room, if that too turns up empty, you probably have your answer.

Finally, home inspectors must check to see if the floors are insulated. This is much easier than checking the walls, for all one needs to do is get into a crawlspace to see if there are insulation bats in between the floors joists. If the house has a basement, it's as easy as taking a stroll down the cellar steps and looking up at the floor from below. Starting a home inspection business means you'll cover the house from top to bottom.

Just as a home inspector must be insulated against the vagaries of weather, prospective home inspectors must protect their future careers by enrolling in an accredited, home inspection program. Online home inspection courses come in all shapes and sizes, so it is important that a distance education home inspection school be an accredited member of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC).
Allied Schools, www.homeinspectioncourse.com