Why do so many inspectors think that finding rotten wood is “breaking” it?
We’re supposed to break it right?
How do we replace the rotten wood we damaged? Do we have to find wood that’s the same level of rotten?
Welcome to the forum, Chris!
I can’t tell what you picture depicts but I never needed to remove wood to determine that it was rotten.
No, I didn’t break it either.
I used an ice pick type tool to help determine the wood’s condition. So, it was virtually the same after inspecting it as it was before inspecting it.
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It’s a still from a video, of a leatherman sliding through a baluster like hot butter. Tapped all of them consecutively with no issue until that one. Majority of the comments are people and inspectors alike saying this is some sort of intentional damage to the home.
I remember inspecting a $4.5M home on Lake Michigan. It appeared beautifully maintained. The wife of the buying couple was tagging along with me and I said that the window sills were rotten and all I had done was touch several of them as she watched.
Long story short, I had an audience shortly that included the seller and needed to defend my statement. I knew the wood was rotten because of how it felt in my hand but I wasn’t about to grab a chunk of the exterior wood sill and rip it off to prove my point.
So. I pulled out my ice pick and rested it on my open palm with the point against the wood and pushed it in with only one finger of my other hand.
It proved my point and I didn’t “damage” the man’s house. YMMV
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PS: I can’t imagine @bgromicko1 encouraging breaking things:
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I dunno, ask Nick 
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Nice one. There is no reason to be a brute. Soft wood is SOFT, lol.
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Poor choice of words, “Doing Damage During an Inspection:” “Doing” was merely used as a teaser heading. “Doing” should be “Finding.”
A simple example is a light bulb. Bulbs commonly burn out with a bright flash when turned on. If this occured when you turned it on; did you do (create) the damage or did you find the damage? Point is an item can work for years and fail suddenly. Our protection is to use only common operating controls.
In the case of rotted wood it is often visible by its shrunken slightly deformed shape even under paint. A licensed state uses an SOP that stipulates “probing” to determine rot. Can’t make a case when the state tells you to do it.
This is why the client should always be provided with a copy of the SOP. The contract states that he accepted (agreed) to an inspection by those standards.
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If the GFCI receptacle was tested, and it breaks, and it won’t reset, I have found a defect. In this situation, breaking something is a good thing. There are many more examples like this. And that’s the spirit of the article Doing Damage During an Inspection: It's Your Job - InterNACHI®. And I do enjoy it when the chrome-plated brass p-trap crushes into pieces in my hand.
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Not in Indiana….
Licensees shall: (A) inspect:
(i) the structural components including foundation and framing; and
(ii) by probing a representative number of structural components where deterioration is suspected or where clear indications of possible deterioration exist, but probing is not required when probing would damage any finished surface…
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I use a big flat head screw driver as my probe and it makes a hole…thousands of holes in rotted wood over the years. So far, not one complaint which is good for them because I would embarrass anyone trying to hide rotten wood with paint and caulk.
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I have punched my hand through the shower’s tile walls many times, and I’ve pulled shower grab bars and soap dishes off the walls, too. That’s why I push on as many tiles as possible.
You go ahead and teach “punching” the tile walls, if you think that’s the way.
Personally, I think paying attention to word meaning would help. 
Like I said:
[quote="Larry Kage, CMI, post:11, topic:243128, username:lkage”]
to each their own, I guess.
[/quote]
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Im with larry on this. Doubt you’re punching anything.
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Imagine coming home from work and finding out the inspector punched a hole through your shower wall and ripped the soap dish off, lol. That probably wouldn’t go over well with me.
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Sorry in advance. 
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I’m not proposing we all drink monster energy and sell tickets to a smash room event.
But how can you “damage” something that’s already damaged or failing? Held together with paint or caulking? At least when an inspector applies pressure to a baluster or soap tray he’s braced for what may happen- would we rather it be an elderly person falling in the shower? A toddler falling from the second story?
I’d much rather a lawsuit over alleged “damage” than one regarding an injured or deceased relative.
I really don’t believe telling someone “hey this thing may need replacement” is sufficient if I know that literally any human can grab it and remove it without any excessive force.
People knowingly sell death traps every day and the inspector has to carry all of that liability.
I’m glad this post highlighted what I intended it to. The difference in opinions.
I’ll go with the guy who taught my classes for now until that gets me into trouble.
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I laughed way too hard
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