How and why we use modern technology to better inspect your home

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.