Buying a home is exciting. It is one of the biggest investments most people will ever make. It is completely understandable to want to bring family members, friends, or even a contractor to the inspection for extra opinions.

However, when it comes to the inspection itself, fewer people is always better.

Home Inspections Require Focus

A home inspection is not just a walkthrough. It is a detailed evaluation of hundreds of components throughout the property. Roofing, electrical systems, plumbing, structure, HVAC, insulation, appliances, and more all need to be carefully examined.

During an inspection, the inspector is climbing ladders, entering attics, navigating crawlspaces, testing systems, taking photos, and documenting findings. It requires concentration and a consistent process from start to finish.

Even small distractions can interrupt that process. When focus is broken, important details can be overlooked.

Distractions Increase the Risk of Missed Items

When several people are present, it often leads to multiple conversations and questions happening at the same time. While questions are always welcome, constant interruptions can make it harder to stay on track.

Home inspections are systematic. Inspectors follow a specific routine to make sure nothing is skipped. If that routine is repeatedly interrupted, the risk of missing something increases.

The goal is to provide a thorough and accurate report. Minimizing distractions helps achieve that.

There Is No Need to Follow the Inspector Room to Room

It is natural to want to observe everything as it happens. However, closely following the inspector from room to room can create unnecessary pressure and distraction.

Most inspectors prefer to complete their evaluation first, then review the findings with the buyer at the end. This allows for a clear, organized explanation of the home’s condition and gives buyers the opportunity to ask questions after all the information has been gathered.

Buyers typically get more value from a focused summary than from trying to track every step in real time.

The Smaller the Group, the Better the Inspection

In most cases, it is best to limit attendance to the buyer and their real estate agent.

Bringing extended family, friends, children, or additional contractors can create extra noise and side conversations. It can also make it more difficult for everyone to hear important explanations during the final review.

A smaller group leads to better concentration, a smoother process, and more accurate results.

A Focused Inspection Protects the Buyer

Limiting the number of people at the inspection is not about excluding anyone. It is about ensuring the inspection is as thorough and accurate as possible.

A focused inspector is better able to identify concerns and provide clear recommendations. In the end, that protects the buyer and supports a confident purchasing decision.

If there are any questions about what to expect during the inspection, it is always a good idea to ask ahead of time. Clear expectations help make the process smooth, informative, and productive for everyone involved.

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When it comes to home health and comfort in Louisiana, few factors are as underestimated—and as essential—as humidity control. With our subtropical climate delivering high dew points nearly year-round, excessive indoor moisture isn’t just a nuisance; it’s a threat to your home’s integrity, your health, and your HVAC system’s efficiency.

As a licensed Home Inspector with advanced training in environmental control, I can tell you with certainty: managing humidity is just as important as managing temperature—especially here in Louisiana.

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 The Louisiana Challenge: Constant Moisture Load

In southern climates like ours, we’re not just dealing with heat—we’re dealing with persistent ambient moisture. Humidity levels outside often exceed 70–90%, and without proper intervention, your home will absorb that moisture like a sponge.

What many homeowners don’t realize is that modern energy-efficient homes are sealed tighter than ever, which is great for conserving energy—but it also means moisture has fewer paths to escape. Left unmanaged, this leads to dangerous consequences.

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 What Happens When Humidity Gets Out of Control?
    1.    Mold and Mildew Growth
Mold doesn’t need standing water—it only needs humidity above 60%. Unchecked moisture inside your walls, attic, or HVAC ductwork creates ideal conditions for toxic mold colonies that compromise air quality and cause structural decay.
    2.    Structural Damage
High humidity can warp wood flooring, swell doors and windows, and rot framing components. Over time, this moisture can deteriorate insulation, drywall, and even electrical components.
    3.    Health Hazards
Elevated indoor humidity worsens allergies, asthma, and respiratory conditions. It also fosters dust mite populations—one of the most common indoor allergens.
    4.    Reduced HVAC Efficiency
When humidity is high, your air conditioner has to work double-duty: cooling the air and removing moisture. This overloads the system, shortens equipment lifespan, and causes energy bills to spike.

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 How to Keep Humidity in Check

Maintaining optimal indoor relative humidity—ideally between 45% and 55%—requires a multi-pronged approach:

1. Install a Whole-Home Dehumidifier

Unlike portable units, whole-home dehumidifiers are integrated into your HVAC system. They remove excess moisture proactively and efficiently, helping your AC focus solely on temperature control.

2. Use a Smart Thermostat with Humidity Sensors

Advanced thermostats can monitor humidity in real-time and adjust your system accordingly, optimizing both comfort and performance.

3. Ensure Proper Attic and Crawl Space Ventilation

Many homes in Louisiana have poorly ventilated attics or crawlspaces, which trap moist air and feed it into the home. Professional sealing and venting solutions are essential.

4. Seal Ductwork and Insulate Properly

Leaky or uninsulated ducts pull humid air from unconditioned spaces, contaminating your entire system. Duct integrity is a critical—and often overlooked—component of humidity control.

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 What Homeowners Can Do Right Now
    •    Use exhaust fans in kitchens and bathrooms.
    •    Check for signs of condensation on windows or HVAC registers.
    •    Don’t ignore musty smells—they’re red flags for hidden moisture.
    •    Schedule a professional inspection that includes HVAC performance, ductwork integrity, and thermal imaging to identify hidden moisture.

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Why This Matters in Home Inspections

At Southern Source Inspections, we understand the stakes. Moisture control isn’t just an HVAC issue—it’s a whole-home health and safety priority. That’s why every inspection we perform in Louisiana includes a close evaluation of conditions that lead to elevated humidity: from stucco vulnerabilities to insulation gaps and HVAC stress.

If you live in Louisiana, humidity control isn’t optional—it’s essential.

​What do people look for when choosing their Home Inspector? I often find myself asking this question in my head when thinking about ways I can better serve my clients and grow my business.

7 years ago when I first started out in the Home Inspection Industry, I struggled to find things that would “separate myself” from others to make me stand out and ultimately get people to trust me enough to hire me. I tried everything from discounting my fees, to being available on weekends, to working late evenings to accommodate people’s busy lives. And while those things may seem like a great place to start, over the years I have found that those things are not what clients are generally looking for when hiring a home inspector.

They want to know how you can benefit them. And rightfully so. They are the ones buying the house, putting a lot of money on the line, and they want to hire people who will help them make an informed decision. Once I finally realized that is the most important thing to focus on, it made “separating myself” from my competition much easier.

Every inspector in the history of the industry will say things like:
“Oh, I am thorough”
”I show up on time”
”I don’t miss anything”
”My prices are the best”
”I have experience and know what I’m doing”

However, there are only a handful of inspectors across the entire State of Louisiana who actually do this full time and stay busy, with me being one of them. That did not happen by mistake. Yes I am thorough, I show up on time, and I do all the other things I just mentioned, but those are things that we as inspectors are supposed to do. Any business in any industry should do those things if they want to be successful. I don’t feel the need to tell anyone that because it is expected of me and I deliver it, every time.

So this brings me to the title of this blog post: What makes my company unique?

This answer is actually much more simple than I had imagined and here are 3 things I came up with:

1. I strive to be a “one stop shop” when it comes to inspections. I provide 3 types of inspections for my clients: General Home Inspections, Stucco/EIFS Inspections, and Sewer Scope Inspections (also known as Video Plumbing). My goal is to eliminate the need for inspections to drag on for multiple days waiting on multiple different parties to arrive and perform their inspections. By providing all 3 of these commonly requested inspections, I can save my clients money by discounting their fee when they bundle services with me. I can also save their Agents time by being able to do everything at once on the same day.

2. I leverage technology in my inspections. I use speciality tools such as an Infrared Camera to see hidden moisture issues (amongst many other things), speciality type moisture meters for Stucco, Drones, Foundation Elevation Levels, and much more. Even my reporting software is modern and tech savvy, making the reports much easier to read and significantly less alarming. They’re also ready faster and are sent shortly after the inspection ends on most occasions. 

3. Service does not stop at the inspection. I provide continued support for my clients and their agents alike. To put it simply: I answer the phone when you call.


Based on my experience, these 3 unique points are the keys to success for my business. These 3 things all put the clients best interest first, ensure that I can do a thorough job, and ensure that my clients receive the support and answers that they deserve.

In today’s world, technology reigns supreme. It quite literally runs many daily aspects of our lives. This can be both a positive and negative depending on which way you look at it. In the Home Inspection Industry, it is nothing but a positive. Keep reading to find out why.

When the Home Inspection Industry first came to light, it consisted of a small pool of Home Inspectors who inspected the homes on site with a flashlight, a ladder, a screw driver, and an electrical outlet tester. That’s it. They would carry around a note pad and a bulky camera, jotting down notes they see and taking pictures of defects they see. They would then go home, type out a report, print it, and deliver it to their customer a couple of days after the inspection. That worked well for quite some time and is the foundation of the Home Inspection Industry that we know today. However, as time went on, more and more technology came out and customers expectations changed. Most people now are used to getting things done more quickly and efficiently. That has had a major effect on the Home Inspection Industry.

Gone are the days of hand writing notes on site and getting pictures developed and/or SLOWLY uploaded them onto your computer to drop into your antiquated PDF report. The biggest change to the Home Inspection Industry that has had the greatest impact in my opinion is modern day software. I personally use Spectora as my reporting software. It is the most modern Home Inspection Software on the market and is far and away the easiest for me to use, easiest for my customers to read and understand (a huge key), and easiest for their Real Estate Agents to go through and negotiate items on their clients behalf. Spectora allows me to report items as I see them during the inspection by using their mobile app. I can take a picture of a defect, drop it into the correct section of the report, quickly type out what is wrong and how to fix it, then just like that it is in the report and I am on the next area of the house. This saves a tremendous amount of time in report writing, thus allowing me to get the report about 90% completed on site. This allows me to pull up the report on my iPad, review it with my clients on site, it allows them to see CLEAR pictures of the issues, hear me explain them in person, and we get to discuss possible solutions to these issues. Once I leave, then its a few quick edits and proofreading, then the report is sent. So because of technology, clients no longer have to wait 2-3 days for their report. They get it the same day as their inspection and can begin digesting it and negotiating  things from the report sooner. That’s a win-win for both of us.

Another way that I leverage technology on my inspections is through the use of speciality type tools that allow me to perform a MUCH more thorough inspection that if I didn’t use these tools. For instance, I walk every roof that is safe to do so. However, there are plenty of houses where the roof pitch is too steep to safely walk, or its raining, or the roof is too high to reach with my 15 ft ladder (such as on large 2 story homes), or maybe there is a chimney that you aren’t tall enough to see on top of while walking the roof surface. Whenever I come across this situation, instead of disclaiming the areas I couldn’t access (like many other inspectors had to do back in the day, and unfortunately many still do now), I simply get out my drone and fly it to all the areas that were not accessible. My drone is expensive. I am not saying that to brag about how much money I spend on tools. I am saying that to demonstrate that the cost for good tools is 1000% worth it if you want to deliver your clients a good product, which is what they expect you to do (as they should) when they hire you. My drone has a phenomenal camera— it takes pictures just as good (if not better) than my iPhone 15. It can get places I can’t. It can see on top of chimneys. It can see even the smallest defects on the roof because of the camera. It also ensures that 100% of every single roof I am hired to inspect, is inspected completely.

Another tool I use is an Infrared Camera. This is one of the most beneficial tools I own (also one of the most expensive). A good infrared camera is about $5,000 (I can hear the old school inspectors gasp as I type this). Again, I am not sharing the cost to brag, but to show you how dedicated I am to my business and providing my clients with the best inspection possible. I use a FLIR Infrared Camera, which is the gold standard of infrared technology. This camera shows heat differences that cannot be seen with the naked eye. It will show me electrical circuits that are overheating (sometimes to a dangerous level), it shows me air leaks in the building envelope and HVAC system, it shows me sources of water that haven’t been visible to the naked eye, and can even spot missing insulation with the enclosed wall cavities. I cannot tell you how many problems I have walked by 2 or 3 times during an inspection without blinking, only to discover them with the infrared camera during that portion of the inspection. I would never do an inspection without my Infrared Camera.

Some other speciality type technology tools that I use include but are not limited to: pinless moisture meters, insulated pin moisture meters for testing stucco, sewer scope cameras to inspect underground plumbing, a digital foundation elevation level to accurately assess how much a building has moved, combustible gas leak detectors, and much more.

My point is, all of these pieces of modern technology both benefit me and my clients equally. They help me do a better job of inspecting houses, help me report my findings easier and more efficiently, help me do more inspections, and most importantly: help my clients make an informed decision about the home or commercial building they are planning on buying or selling. 

Sewer Scope Inspections, also known locally as Video Plumbing Inspections, are a crucial part of the home inspection process that most home buyers seem to skip out on. Why is that? Is it because it costs a little extra? Is it because they are ill-informed? Is it because they assume that the home has never had a sewer line issue so it gives reason to believe that everything is fine? These are all questions that I don’t know the exact answer to, but I am starting to believe the answer is simply because home buyers don’t know that they need one.

I inspect homes all across Southeast Louisiana from Baton Rouge to Slidell, up to Kentwood, over to Bogalusa, and down to New Orleans. I cover a significant amount of ground in my home inspection endeavors. The only one of these areas where Sewer Scope Inspections are the norm is New Orleans. New Orleans is far ahead of everyone else when it comes to Inspections before buying a house. So why are Sewer Scope Inspections the norm in New Orleans? Well, we can start by simply knowing the fact that New Orleans is a very old city with very old houses……and very old plumbing. The New Orleans area knows the importance of having these plumbing systems checked with a Sewer Scope, and the Real Estate Professionals are great at informing their clients about this service and recommending them to have it done. 

I think most people would agree that a Sewer Scope Inspection is needed on old homes, but what if I told you that sewer line problems are just as common on “newer” homes as they are on “older” homes. Would you believe me? You should.

I have found issues on New Construction homes, 5 year old homes, 15 year old homes, all the way up to 100 year old homes. Don’t think that just because a home has PVC plumbing and the sellers claim to never have had a plumbing issue (that they know of), that you are in the clear and don’t need to get that Sewer Scope Inspection done. 

Sewer line repairs are expensive. It’s plain and simple. It doesn’t matter if the home is 6 months old or 70 years old. Any repair to the plumbing lines in the slab or underground are going to be EXTREMELY expensive. Why would you take the risk of not having these pipes checked out before you buy a house? It blows my mind that people skip this. Out of all the issues we find during a traditional home inspection (some of which are quite costly), a sewer line repair can likely be the most expensive repair a homeowner can face.

Think about this: you buy a house without getting a sewer scope inspection and everything seems fine for the first 5 months you live there. Then all of the sudden, month 6 rolls around and you notice that raw sewage is backing up into your bathtub. Your toilets won’t flush. You smell sewage inside your home. You call a plumber and they come out, stick a camera down your sewer line, and find that tree roots have made their way into your sewer line and have caused your pipe to clog, break, and offset. The only way to fix this is to dig up the sewer line in the area of the problem and replace it. This means your yard gets dug up, anything on top of that sewer line gets dug up (a driveway, a walkway, landscaping, a patio, a deck, etc). Once the sewer line is repaired, all of those items that were dug up have to be replaced. So not only have you paid to have your sewer line repaired, you also have to (in some instances) have to pay to have your driveway or other flatwork replaced. That’s an additional expense that you did not expect. Things can add up rapidly, and for most people, that can hurt your finances pretty quickly. LETS AVOID THAT AT ALL COSTS.

Problems such as the one mentioned above can take years before they actually show a symptom and cause an issue that you are aware of. This is why it is crucial to have that Sewer Line checked with a specialty camera BEFORE you buy the house. Your Sewer Scope Inspection will cost you $225 if booked with your home inspection. The going rate for this service from most plumbing companies in Southeast Louisiana, is anywhere from $275-$400. The reason I can offer it at $225 with a home inspection is because I am already on site doing your home inspection. It doesn’t take me an extra trip to come out there, so I pass those savings along to my clients. So for $225, I can find you a problem that can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000. The benefit to you as the client is that you now know about this sewer line issue (again, that can take a long time to show symptoms) and you can negotiate this in the contract you have on the home. Sometimes you can even have it repaired by the sellers before you buy the house! That is a major WIN!

It does not matter the age of the house. Get a Sewer Scope Inspection. Louisiana is known for having poor soils, and poor soils can cause issues with your sewer line. The soil below the line may not have been properly compacted, causing the soil to settle, which then causes your sewer line to develop a belly that holds water (and can eventually back up). Or even worse, it could cause your sewer line to break or offset at a joint. It’s impossible to find this without scoping the line with a camera.

Let’s just say the cost is the reason you don’t want to add a Sewer Scope to your home inspection. You are already spending $400 or so (give or take) on your home inspection, and you don’t want to add another $225 to that. I get it, times are tough. Every dollar counts. But that exact way of thinking is why you SHOULD spend that extra money and get a sewer scope. $225 extra wouldn’t hurt most peoples finances who are in the market to buy a house. $8,000 on a plumbing repair probably would. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU.

The best case scenario for the client is that they pay me to scope their sewer line and I come back and say everything is fine. Your sewer line looks great and there are no problems. You can sleep easy at night. And it only cost you a small fee for that peace of mind. THAT IS WELL WORTH IT. And in the case I do find something, that small investment just saved you thousands in repairs. It is a WIN-WIN.

I am not in the business of trying to convince someone to get something done that they don’t need just so I can make a buck. That is not who I am and not how I run my business. I am in the business of helping people and protecting them from buying something that is a money pit. Please believe me when I tell you, YOU NEED A SEWER SCOPE INSPECTION. 

Over the years, there have been many furnaces manufactured that have had recalls due to documented evidence that they present a fire hazard, carbon monoxide hazard, or both.  These are obviously something that a potential home buyer needs to know during their inspection period.  One of the most well known furnaces that has had these issues is one manufactured by Consolidated Industries.

Consolidated Industries is actually no longer in business.  They went bankrupt after issue after issue crippled their business.  The most notable time period that they were manufacturing defective furnaces was between 1983 and 1994.  Now, you may be reading this thinking to yourself, "that was a long time ago, and there probably aren't hardly any of those furnaces around anymore."  Think again. There are thousands of those furnaces still in use today by many homeowners, and the scary thing is that they probably have no idea of what kind of monster is sitting in their attic.

Consolidated Industries has manufactured furnaces under numerous name brands throughout the years, such as: Amana, Coleman, Kenmore, Premier, Sears, and Trane just to name a few.  The furnaces they were making that were problematic were the horizontal furnaces mounted in the attic, that had the burners on the bottom.  The problem with these furnaces that was creating a fire hazard, was that they were mounted on plywood attic decking, and although they were rated for installation on combustible surfaces, heat was passing from the burner compartment through the bottom panel of the furnace and igniting the wood decking or ceiling joists below it.  This was not the only problem, however.

The methods of manufacturing and design of the furnace was the underlying issue.  The design of the burner tubes, gas manifold, combustion gas valve, and pilot assembly were all problematic.  Small cracks were developing in the metal webs between the gas port openings and individual burner tubes.  Once the cracks are there, continuous use of the furnace only causes them to grow.  Continued expansion and contraction of the metal added to the stress on the furnace components that lead to failure.  The larger the cracks became, the more likely it was that flames from the burners could escape and grow very large, some of which were documented to be up to 9 inches in length, which eventually would cause the heat exchanger to crack.  Once the heat exchanger is cracked, is when all hell can break loose.

Combustion gases, such as carbon monoxide (which is odorless, by the way), are now being drawn through the cracks in the heat exchanger, where it mixes with the air that is circulating through the ductwork of the home, and is being dispersed into the living space.  This is a very, very bad situation.