The image is a representation of what a thermal image could detect. This photo is of a current rental that a tenant had removed to paint the casing. When re installing visually you could tell the lack of sealant to prevent energy loss and air penetration. What do you think the thermal image would detect?
The below image is a thermal image from the nachi gallery of an electrical panel. Showing a circuit breaker under load. You should always turn lights and other misc objects on during an inspection with a thermal imager. Some can be potential hazards but should not be mistaken for an electrical malfunction.
This looks like a picture of a wall joining the ceiling. Without an infared camera, certain clues can be found here. In winter months frost can form due the the attic insulation being blown away from the edge of the roof line. If that isnt caught, yellowing can be found as the frost turns to moisture. These can be clues to thermal heat loss through the attic.
I looked at the infrared breaker picture. It shows a wire and breaker hotter than the rest. This indicates either a short in the line, or the breaker is failing to trip. This can be hazardous. A licensed electrician should be consulted.
This is a picture of a stain on a kitchen ceiling. A test with a moisture meter showed no moisture present. A thermal camera would be very useful in identifying potential areas of moisture surrounding that could easily be missed with the naked eye.
I read “collar ties vs. rafter ties” as my essay assignment for this course. Excellent information summarizing how and why they are essential in roof frames. With the specific installation requirements based on the type and slope of the roof, its easy to see that there are a myriad of potential defects that can be called out (or missed) when inspecting.
This image is of a fireplace chase, a manufactured wood burning fireplace with a metal wall flue. It appears from the image that heat from the attic is coming down through the gap around the flue, leading to energy loss. The walls around the chase should have been better insulated, as well as tightening the insulation around the flue, so as to prevent this intrusion of heat in the summer and cold in the winter. These are troublesome areas and need careful attention during construction. Using an IR camera during the construction phase would have caught the defect and helped prevent this problem.
I read the article in the Library about positioning houses at the correct angle to the sun to benefit from the warmth in the winter and the protect from the sun in the summer. It is ideal to take this into consideration when building and planning a home. Unfortunately developers and builders need to make money and most times streets and lots are determined by maximizing the amount of homes that can legally fit into a given piece of land. It would behoove buyers to consider lots in subdivisions that have the rear of the houses facing south so as to get the benefits of comfort and energy savings.
I recently inspected this Rheem water heater. It had a pressure relief valve but it appeared damaged and possibly not operational. The pressure relief valve appeared to be corroded and leaking. It was located outside the house luckily and the ground was wet at the base of the water heater.
We have a home in Joshua Tree, CA. We have owned it for about 4 years so I thought it about time to check and pump the septic. I called around and found a company who said they actually have a diagram showing exactly where the septic was and that it had been last pumped in 1990. It was a Bartlett septic which is a good one and had been poured in place, structurally sound enough to drive on, which is a good thing because we park on it all the time. When we opened it the iron inlet elbow had a hole in the top of it, apparently normal to help it vent. It also had a seepage pit instead of a leech line, so I found a picture of one in the photo gallery.
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The clearance of the siding at the flashing isinsufficient. This condition leaves the sidingvulnerable to rot. This detail isusually repaired when siding needs repair or replacement or when reroofing workis performed.
I read an article on Attic Ventilation that said the most effective method of ventilating the attic is the combination of the ridge vent and soffit vents. This allows air to enter from the soffit area and move through the attic and up to the roof ridge, providing good ventilation. Other methods of attic ventilation include Gable, Roof-Top, Turbine, and Power ventilator.
This is a picture of an old leak near the window. I confirmed it was old with a moisture meter. When I checked around the window from the outside, I noticed there was checking and missing paint. Recommend repainting the window frame to prevent moisture from re entering the home
Gutter Improperly Discharging onto Roof Was the picture I selected for this assignment. This illustration shows gutters with missing pieces of downspouts. This will most likely void the shingle manufacturers more importantly wear down the shingles within the path of water flow and ultimately decrease the life of the roof.
It is important to let your client know that when you are using a thermal camera to assist you with the home inspection that you are not seeing through the walls, but only seeing and analyzing a thermal bridging image of the area you have the IR camera pointing to
This is a Federal Pacific pane. These panels were known to have a defect which caused the breaker not to trip. Panels like this should be noted as a defect.
Best intentions don’t always translate to best practices. Here’s a photo of from an attic that had insulation added as an energy efficiency improvement effort. Soffit insulation baffles were appropriately in place. However, when the contractor installed the new insulation, t was blown into the space above the baffle that was supposed to remain open to provide insulation. So now, the soffit vents have been rendered ineffective. This will limit the attic ventilation and potentially contribute to a moisture problem in the attic.
The trend to increase home energy efficiency seemed to really kick in after the energy supply disruptions during the 1970s. The earliest efforts included attempts to increase insulation and reduce air infiltration. As houses got “tighter,” homeowners began to see problems associated with retention of both moisture and indoor air contaminants. Over time, better standards for minimum ventilation have been determined and adopted in construction requirements. This sometimes translates to the need for systems to intentionally exhaust inside air and replace it with outside air. In some cases, this equipment helps ensure that the energy used to heat the home is not lost, through the use of heat recovery ventilation systems.
