Holy Cow! 2016 has been a Whirlwind! 

It has been several months since I have posted an update. We have been so busy here at PiTi that I just have not had the time. Since my last update, We have completed over 100 inspections. The range and complexity of the homes have spanned from 11,000 sqft mansions to humble 900 sqft cottages. New construction to turn of the century.   To quote Brad Pitt....Cuzzin, bizness is a boomin'!

Here are some of the pictures that I think you will find interesting.

Thank you for stopping by!

Last week, the CEO (aka my lovely bride, Tonya) and I spent four days at the ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) Inspection World convention in beautiful San Diego, California.

It was a fantastic event! I attended 16 hours of continuing education classes and made some new friends. We also took a few extra days and we were able to see many of our long time friends that live on the left coast.

​The training was really top shelf. Things are constantly changing in the Inspection profession and you have to be pro-active to stay ahead of the curve. 

One of the most important classes that I attended was on Mold. That is the first step to my Mold certification. After that initial training, I purchased a testing kit and will soon be able to offer that service to my customers when necessary. I still have a few hoops to jump through, including some more training etc. but I am very excited to be able to offer this service.

More to follow!

Funny story to start the new year....

I was in house the other day that was pretty dilapidated. It had huge roof leaks and the interior was covered in mold. So I am doing an Investor Inspection that is designed to help the investor determine a repair/remodel strategy. Of course, one of the more important aspects is structural integrity.

I crawled into the attic as I always do. The home was built in the late 60's and the central air was added some time later. As I worked my way to the rear wing of the home, I found that someone had cut several trusses in a row to install the ductwork. The deeper I crawled, the more trusses I found cut. Then I realized........ I was stuck and could not turn around. 

I tried to back up, but that wasn't gong to work. I started to laugh at myself for getting myself in this predicament. I was seriously considering kicking out the drywall ceiling to get out. Most of the drywall in the home needed to be replaced because of the mold anyway, so I was not worried about destroying someones ceiling. It looked I might be able to crawl a bit farther and get to a place where I could turn around, so I just kept going. As I crawled, I found an attic access scuttle in the rear bedroom closet and was able to pry it open and drop down out of the attic. I could not help but to think of the imagery of the action movie hero sneaking into a building and dropping out of the ceiling... Made for a funny day.

But, in the end, the investor was very happy with the report as the cut trusses were a major concern for him. So it all worked out.

Last week, I was asked to do an inspection on a property that had been inspected a week or so prior. I did not know any of this until after my report was presented to the clients. They had asked me to do a subsequent inspection because they were not satisfied with the report that was given to them by the previous inspector. 

The clients sent me a copy of the original report and I am posting it here for you to compare that report with our report. 

While giving thanks this weekend, I am thankful that no one got hurt with any of these electrical issues!

Let's talk about the 80s... 

There were some great things that came out of the 80s...
Some fun music, I met my lovely bride, I bought my first car...

There was also some garbage that came out in the 80s...
Some horrible music, some terrible cars, and some defective building products....

I have posted before about one of those defective products, Polybutlyne piping. Today I want to talk about another one. Goodman Quietflex ducting. 

We affectionately call it Grey Flex. Although I have run across Black Quietflex that has failed as well. 

The extreme heat in the attic  causes the outer plastic to disintegrate. The interior fiberglass is now unsupported and starts to peel away. All that is left is an inner plastic tube. 
Even if this plastic is intact, your system is now extremely inefficient.  When you add in the fact that this cold tube inside a very of attic is a perfect situation for condensation, that leads to mold/mildew growth, you end up with a situation that must be rectified immediately. 

The next questions are always; Can it be repaired? 

In short.... No, it cannot be repaired. It must be replaced. I have seen many repair attempts,but they are only a temporary repair...

and How much will this cost? 

I have seen price quotes that run from $200-300 per drop... Of course, depending on accessibility, the price can be even higher... When you figure that there is at least one drop per room, the cost starts to add up very quickly. 

Back in June, I wrote an entry about the need for Kickout Flashing. 

Last month I inspected a two year old home that had all of the kickouts installed incorrectly. During the negotiations, the seller contacted the builder about the issue. He, in turn, contacted me. He went out and inspected the site for himself and found that every home in the 100+ unit gated community had been built incorrectly... He has since repaired the first home and is generating a plan to repair every home in the neighborhood. 

Yesterday, I re-inspected the original home. While I was there, the next door neighbor came out to thank me for pointing out this discrepancy and her home was going to be repaired next week.  

Hello again everyone.
It has been a busy few weeks since my last entry. Not just with inspections, but with meetings and some awesome personal time , as well.

One meeting was the Central Florida chapter of the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP) . The mission of the VAREP is "increasing sustainable homeownership, financial-literacy education, VA loan awareness, and economic opportunity for the active-military and veteran communities" It was a productive meeting and we are exploring ways that we can better help our Central Florida Vets. 


Another was the annual Affiliate Trade Show for the Realtors Assoc. of Lake and Sumter Counties. The picture is from the event. I am explaining how High Resolution Infra Red works and how it drastically increases the value of a professional home inspection. 


In the middle of all of that, I was able to take some time to go see my Son and Daughter in Law in Ohio, go to Jacksonville to my Grand-Daughter's birthday party, and a short trip to North Carolina to ride the motorcycle on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the fall colors. Like I said, it was a busy month.