Seems like a number of inspectors got started in thermography thinking it would be just an additional tool to use during a home inspection, only to have thermography become a significant percentage of their annual revenue. This happen to you? How did the transition happen for you?
It is still just an addition. I am possibly the only inspector in my state or at least from the central part of the state to the North…which encompasses most of the state, to even be incorporating it in inspections. I may be the only certified inspector to date. We are a small bunch and I haven’t heard or seen of any of my colleagues using or marketing it. I have a residential and commercial drying back ground so it is something I have been using for a long time.
The IR bug attacked me the first day of my level one course and have not looked back since then. Some can see the big image and some never see it.
I got a call yesterday to do IR electrical panels in six hog barns. All I smell is money;-) Sure beats home inspections
You’re the only one in your state “certified” (?!) And it is still just an addition?
The only thing your certified in is being an idiot.
Have you happened to hear about “The Snell Group”?
Headquarters
322 N Main St
Suite 8
Barre, Vermont 05641
Tel: +1.802.479.7100
Fax: +1.802.479.7171
1.800.636.9820 (toll-free in the US and Canada)
Is it just a coincidence that you don’t mention thermal imaging one time in your website? But you come here and post being the top dog in Vermont?
I think you are a legend in your own mind…
I think that for every professional thermographer here, it is about the same; we purchased the appropriate equipment, we invested in actual education (not an online free course) and continued to pursue more education and experience beyond an introductory course.
The courses that you pay for get you in contact with and involved with individuals in this industry that teach you more than what’s in the book. When you buy a thermal camera from FLIR there is a large section in the equipment manual that teaches you the theory of thermography. Whether you can understand it and apply it is another story. You can’t just read the book.
Thirteen of us went on to form our own Association of building inspectors and thermographer’s. Others have followed. None of us know it all, but as a group we support one another across the United States and Canada.
I did my post Level II field assignment on an equestrian application because the vast majority of thermographer’s reside in electrical field and I wanted to do something different. Because the one person in FLIR that certifies your field assignment (a Canadian) was not as familiar with the equestrian application, he sought out their expert in New Zealand. That individual has a PhD and immediately contacted me because of my interest and we have been in contact for six years.
I had a client that needed horticulture areal surveys in Alabama. I was able to receive assistance from a PhD at the University of Nebraska that I had lunch with at level II training. He sent me all kinds of documentation and examples that he developed concerning areal vegetation scans. I also received an offer from a mechanical engineer at FLIR to build a thermal camera specific for the application we were working on.
At a FLIR convention where I was conducting my second clinic, I was interviewed for a position in Southeast Asia from one of the top thermographer’s from Sweden who was starting a new program in the petroleum industry. It was not my cup of tea nor do I ever long for another Vietnam experience.
When you go beyond thermal imaging as a marketing tool in the home inspection industry, these type of things just fall in your lap in this still evolving industry. It is very obvious that many many inspectors halfheartedly enter this field and for a lack of motivation and commitment to do what has to be done, and end up selling their equipment on eBay. These are the ones looking for the quick fix “if I have it they will come” scenario. They buy thermal toys never realizing that it takes more to analyze the scan then to take it.
Well he does have a fan club singing his praises, lauding his virtues and cheering about how no one can keep up with him, wherever he goes - Himself.
I bought my first 320x240 FPA imager in about 2007 and completed level-I training about the same time. I decided to pursue professional Thermography and use it in conjunction with home inspection from the outset. At the time there was not a lot of people doing it and even fewer with that class of equipment. Thermography related domain names were ripe and available for the picking. I think that I was one of the first, but not the only one, to emphasize thermography in their web presence. I was fortunate to shoot to the top of the SERPS for anything IR & HI related around Houston so I started getting requests for IR services with a high percentage of my inspection inquiries (I booked a lot of HIs because I offered IR). I have always charged an additional fee to perform thermography services when I do a home inspection.
This is starting to sound pretty interesting!
If I had to list just one thing that convinced me that IR was going to be a large part of my business was when I did a commercial roof scan up in Kansas from a helicopter.
How many “certified” thermographer’s do we have here with a 320×240?
This in of itself may cast a light as to who is who in this scenario.
I still have my BX 320…
I also have my first BX 320 and my first B cam they are just trophy’s on my shelf;-)
Someone is still using my B Cam and I still use my BX320, T400, T640…
I almost always carry a back-up, just in case…
I never paid full price for any camera I have purchased, so it’s not about having to be rolling in the dough. I got my last camera at a $16,000 discount.
Again, it’s about who you meet along the way when you take this stuff seriously.
I have a B cam but man, the resolution is pretty bad. Maybe it’ll improve once I start to learn how to adjust the settings. I’m taking the Infraspection intro course right now. Getting kind of excited about this!
I sure hope your not holding your breath waiting for better resolution from a B cam
Congratulations on your infraspection course you can not have a better course
Dave,
I have no doubt you are good at what you do, but why is it necessary for you to treat people so poorly?
Because the OP and I have a historical history of him persistently spewing BS which defies the space-time continuum and I don’t put up with BS without facts.
Chris, are you one of those that blindly listen to and believe every word spoken out of the mouth of Bill and Hillery Clinton?
Your buddy Jeff claims to do 5 Home Inspections/day throughout the State of Vermont, offering “Certified” Thermal Imaging Services throughout the state and is the top certified inspector doing it.
I’m sure it is “Clinton Truth”.
You just have to understand his perspective of “a day” and “Certified”.
Have you ever heard of the Snell Group?!
Have you ever done 5 Inspections a day in the State with the 2nd lowest population per capita, land locked against a large lake in the Great White North and Canada?
Don’t you even wonder how he manages to be the only “certified Thermographer” in the State without so much as a mention of Thermal Imaging on his web site? Oh, that’s right, he has that top secret marketing plan that he won’t disclose with anyone here. I understand it’s called, “Tell-a-Cow”.
“Those are the facts, and they are undisputed…”
Seems like, since thermography is really a tool, its necessary to develop some expertise in a specific area of interest in which thermography is benenficial. Without that, it seems kinda like developing an interest in tennis rackets without an interest in playing tennis.
Yes, someone recently asked about a “cheap” camera.
The reply was what are you using it for…
Every camera has a purpose and application it is suited for.
When you look at web sites, you see camera owners claiming they can do all the neat stuff that the camera builders say thermography can be used for.
Just because thermography can do something, you have to have the right camera and you (not the camera) must know “what” you are looking for and “when” to look for it so you can find it.
I spend hours on the phone formulating the plan (which is when to turn on the camera). Even then, you don’t find what your looking for, and sometime you find it when you think you couldn’t.
Your taught; don’t do it in the sun. Don’t do it in the wind. When in fact you may need the wind and sun to find what your looking for. But when you do, all the other rules are out the door. You must know the new rules or your toast.
In Lvl I you follow the rules.
In Lvl II you learn and bend the rules.
In Lvl III you make the rules work for you.
In the Infraspection Introductory course you fight to stay awake.
Might not be our cup of tea.