I see. So what are the different colors and what conditions do they normally stand for?
Billy, just for your info. It’s a camera not a “gun”
Billy,
Here’s a link to a picture of missing insulation. Missing insulation
Billy,
Colors correspond to the temperature scale/palette used. You have to consider many variables to be able to determine what you are seeing. There are differences in what you see depending on inside verses outside(walls) or attic temperatures. This is one of the reasons why education is valuable.
Bill,
There are varied palettes and each Thermographer will utilize their favorite palette setting on their IR camera. Some Thermographers like the black and white palette while others feel more comfortable utilizing the iron palette (like myself). And there are numerous palette settings to chose from. It’s the Thermographers choice.
A Thermographer may also chose to have cold surfaces be the color blue, medium yellow and red as hot. Or you might want everything black and white with everything over 80 degrees F. to show up as red or you might want cold to be purple and hot to be yellow. It’s all left up to the Thermographers personal discretion.
The best thing you can do right now Bill, is to sign up for a Level one course before you start guessing on what you’re looking at in the IR images or the IR camera screen. By the time you successfully complete this course and pass their test, you will then be comfortable in going out and conquering the world with IR scans.
Not “indedible”, just what IR can do.
It is not the color. The color is just a scale. You can use different palletes for different types of inspections.
As previously stated (and I won’t post it again) I bought the camera and use it on every inspection that I do, for the above mentioned reason.
I didn’t have a “hard time selling the service” because I didn’t “sell the service”, I just did inspections.
I charge more for home inspections (about $75 more than the average) because of this and because I am fully insured. I do have people who complain about my fee (too high) but I just explain the difference. If they hire me, they hire me. If they don’t, they don’t. But I get plenty of business, so I am not concerned.
The difference between me and some others on this board (and this is not a slam).
- I live in a large urban area, with more houses and more sales.
- I market to the Northshore area, which is very affluent. Bigger houses, cost more, more well off clients, so I chage more. But, I try to do a better inspection than the average. My clients (and those who refer me to their friends) have come to respect me and my higher level of service.
There is no “secret” formula, Bill, no magic bullet or scam or trick.
I just do my job, trying to do better every day and stand out from the pack. I do thermal and most, in this area, do not. I work full time and most in this area do not. I also do mold, and offer sub-contracted WDO and Radon (from sub-contractors that I have really researched, gotton to know and trust) and most do not. I have developed real relationships with good Realtors and RE lawyers (both closing lawyers and trial lawyers who sue shoddy contractors) and gained their respect for being honest, objective and thorough and others do not. I have really worked to educate myself so that I can provide my clients with an inspection that is better than most others in this area and others do not.
And, pardon the religious reference, I really do try to do my job as if G-d were my client. Think about that. G-d knows when you are not doing your best and when you are not serving Him and when when you are not producing the best report that you can. He knows everything.
So, I just approach my work, every time, as if G-d was my client. In reality, His children ARE my clients, whether the client is a believer or not. If a really good, wise, loving and powerful friend of yours referred his kids to you for an inspection, wouldn’t you work extra hard to do the best possible inspection that you could for them, and for Him?
I work so that my work product will glorify Him. I have found that this is a great business plan, and it seems to be working. Whenever I hit a snag, I have found trhat it was because I was not concentrating on Him, but on myself. But, He is always fair, just and merciful and guides me back onto the path that he has assigned to me. Then he takes my hand and helps me.
No secret formula, no tricks, no scams or playing. Just do your best and let G-d show you the way. Love justice, show mercy and walk, humbly, with your G-d. Good words from scripture.
Works for me.
Hope this helps;
Thanks. Dave. That was, in part, what I was trying to say.
Too often, people spend a large amount of money on the camera and don’t have any left for training.
I remember my little brother, Chuck, who was soooo caugnt up in owning a car (when he was 16 and got his license) and did not take the time to realize that:
- You also had to have the neccesary money for gas, oil, maintenance, insurance and everything else.
- A person, in Illinois, cannot “own:” a car (or anything else, legally) unless they are 18 years old. He was so sure (because he wanted to believe it, not because it was a fact) that all you had to do was pay someone else for the car and have them sign the title. He never got the title change registered or bought the plates or bought the city sticker, etc.
- He was just a stupid kid who was SOOOOO focused on getting a car that he let lost his focus on what all the other necessary and needed things were also necessary.
And then, ge got caught driving a car that he didn’t (legally) own, without insurance, right after he rear ended a rich trial lawyer in his Mercedes because he was relying on his emergency brake to stop the car (because the breaks were real bad and he had a “hot date” that night). It took my parents 8 months to settle that case, along with my God-Father who was a curcuit court judge.
Chuck was “grounded until he was 35”, to quote my Dad.
Many HI’s, in this area, have bought cameras, but few have paid for and received the necessary and needed training. I run into them, all the time, when I testify against them in court.
To be brief, Bill, it’s not just the colors and the camera does not tell you averything or even most things. You MUST have the old standard Mark I brain, properly filled with the necessary knowledge, in order for the camera to be a good tool.
And it is just one more tool.
And, this board, while really full of great information, is NOT a substitute for proper, qualified and professional training. Sure, the training can be expensive, but thats the price (i.e., business expense) of running a sucessful and professional business. Nothing worth doing can be done on the cheap and cutting corners is just stupid.
Many at NACHI, including John McKenna and myself, offer good, level I training at a price that is much lower than many vendors. Consider yourself lucky that you are a NACHI member.
Hope this helps;
Level I classes are, to some, an outdated class that was not designed
for the needs of a home inspector. It is an excellent class for what it
was designed for…IMHO. FLIR received so many complaints that they
developed building courses to deal with the emerging building market
that has emerged in the last few years. This is why InterNACHI created
INFRARED CERTIFIED training and qualifications for the home inspector.
Linas -
My thoughts exactomo
As a point of information, Level I training classes are not outdated. While I cannot speak to Level I classes offered by others, I can speak to the content of training courses offered by Infraspection Institute.
Infraspection Institute’s Level I Certified Infrared Thermographer® training course is a 32 hour course for the application of qualitative thermal imaging for P/PM, Condition Assessment, Condition Monitoring, Quality Assurance, Forensic Investigations, and Building Sciences.
This course covers infrared theory, heat transfer concepts, equipment operation and selection, standards compliance, image analysis and report generation. It is designed for those who wish to expand their services beyond its use solely as a tool for home inspections.
Should one opt for a Level I certification, thermographic inspections for commercial and industrial facilities can provide a cash flow in excess of $200,000 per year.
For those who wish to focus on thermal imaging exclusively for home and building inspections, we offer a 16 hour course titled, IR Inspections for Home & Building Inspectors.
This course is a 16 hour theory and application course for the use of thermal imaging for residential and commercial properties. Designed specifically for home and building inspectors, students are taught how to locate common deficiencies in building envelopes, insulated roofs and building subsystems.
Both courses qualify for continuing education credits from NACHI and are available through open enrollment classes or via our Distance Learning Program.
NACHI members who have additional questions or require further information are welcome to contact us directly. My numbers are listed below.
Couple of points:
- I had my first IR Camera paid for within the first six months of offering IR services.
- I have always offered IR as an additional service for residential inspections and have averaged about 10-15 clients a month who get the additional service.
- I’ve been able to earn 18-20K p/year in additional revenue just for the additional IR scan with a standard home inspection.
- I’ve been able to earn 60-80K p/year in additional revenue from offering IR services in Residential and Commercial Applications.
Most people do not hire me because I took a simple two day course on the Internet. They hire me because they see the value in hiring an experienced, qualified, and TRAINED professional.
If you want to be successful in this business, do yourself a favor and get the proper training. It will more than pay for itself in the long run.
Kevin
Agree!
Great post, Kevin! And to bump Jim Seffrin, Infraspection training is amazing. I started out with their building and inspectors course and I have to be honest that course was prob. the most I have learned in quite some time and an extremely good start in ITI for the price offered to NACHI members. Get the training and then start doing the work, not the other way around.
And PLEASE don’t just include it in its entirety in a standard inspection. I charge additional just like Kevin, and I would say 15-30% of my clients decide to get the additional service, which means additional revenue. I do verify hot water temperature readings, heat/cooling distribution temps, and a couple other small parts in a standard inspection but that is only to verify data in an image otherwise impossible in the past, and to limit my liability and prove the items were functioning during the inspection but nothing else and unless the client pays. If you don’t charge and think you are going to get all of this business because you include it in your inspection you are doing a disservice to your pocket book and the industry. Prices have come down in cams, and I have a feeling just like you see in some areas you going to get HI’s who are going to play the low-ball game, and all it does in the end is hurt us all. Learn how to use it, market it, and make more revenue. 
To further up on that, Kevin what services are you all offering in commercial and residential that is allowing you to be so successful? Also, congrats on the success. Can we get any insight into any areas that are more succesful, or any marketing tips for the rest of us? Thanks!
I have never had a person ask me what kind of IR training I took in order to hire me. I was trained with FLIR-ITC, but to the consumer, they know almost nothing about that or any other type of training.
Level I does not deal with the needs of a home inspector and that is the reasons a person is encouraged to take another class after they take Level I.
FLIR-ITC got so many people complaining about this several years ago, that they developed a separate building certification coarse geared for the building applications.
Promises of big money are nice, but most home inspectors want a course that will help them get started in the field they are in at this time… and then expand into more areas as the business expands.
Like I said, Level I is a good class, but not for home inspectors. I have had too many tell me this over and over. Inspectors are tired of paying for training that was developed during years in which inspectors were not even using the IR camera for home inspections.
John,
I don’t think anyone would deny that level 1 training isn’t geared specifically at home inspectors but yes it is a great course and most offer training courses now geared at our crowd as you expressed in the case of ITC. I personally started out with the building and inspector training course with Infraspection Training Institute and absolutely loved it, and it always nice when your an InterNachi member and get a nice discount! I think the most important part no matter what is you get proper training for the applications you intend on using it for.
If you are going to use if for home inspections get a class geared at home inspectors if you are going to be performing commercial applications get more training.
John,
I disagree to some extent. I did take the Building Science course with Flir and found this particular course chock full of building science information that I had already had knowledge of. I found myself very bored at times because this particular information was information that I had learned through inspecting homes over time.
If a home inspector is new to the HI field and wants to practice IR, then I highly recommend them participating in the BS course first. Other than that…if an HI has been practicing HI’s for a few years and is interested in gaining thermography experience, then I highly recommend taking the Level One course because it is more geared towards the IR camera itself, and it’s functions and how to properly interpret the IR images.
Several at FLIR-ITC have told me that the building science course was
created for building inspectors and contains 80% of everything that is
in the Level I course.
Of course anyone who has already been in construction is going to
find much of the building science material familiar. It is the lack
of building applications in Level I that makes some inspectors upset,
after they have spent so much money to take the class.
What you heard from others is simply not true and I’m not going to sit here and argue about what course contains what. It is all well defined here.
I can say that each course is completely different from each other and they absolutely do not mimic each other in any way. If that were the case, and I found that any of material in one course was mimicking another course, I’d be right at the top of Flir’s administration dept. to complain. That’s just not the case and many attendees can say the same.
Building Science teaches building sciences and is recommended for newby home inspectors and all others who are new at walking through buildings and diagnosing issues within a building. It simply teaches students “How a building works”.
Level One is geared towards the individual who wants to learn more about the IR camera itself, the many applications that can be applied with an IR camera and properly interpreting IR images. There is also a lab there where the student will experience with live real-world applications.
I can also say that the lunches they serve are outstanding. We even went out for a lobster lunch and brews on our last day there. That topped it all off.
I have to agree with you Dave, the ITC training was outstanding. One point I would make is there was a fair amount of IR theory in the building science course.
This winter I have to get EPA lead paint certified then hopefully level one next year.
Not to mention CEUs for the state of NH