Question about an upcoming inspection

#1

I received a phone call the other day from a gentleman that just had a custom home built about 200 miles away from me. He said he has noticed that a couple of rooms on the north side of the house seem to be draftier and colder then other rooms in the house. He is suspecting that the builder may have taken some short cuts and he would like to have a Home Inspector take a look. He wants me to do what I normally do for any inspection and see if the home has any issues before he moves in. He has offered to pay me double what I normally charge and will pay me 50 cents a mile for travel. I think he might be getting his ducks in a row for any future legal issues, and if so, what would you charge for your time if you had to go to court?

My question is is there any tricks of the trade to check insulation. I told him that the inspection is non-invasive and he understands that. I was thinking that if the homeowner is game we could take off a piece of window moulding and look to see if we can see insulation around some windows. Also thought of taking off the faceplate on a few electrical boxes to see what we see.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

#2

$195.00 per hour with an eight hour retainer, billed in quarter hour increments. I charge the same hourly rate weather performing research, depositions, mediation, court testimony or any other service relating to expert witness proceedings.

#3

I had a client I did an inspection for who also had drafty areas of the home. I suggested they have the builder remove some trim and sure enough, insulation was minimal to nonexistence.

#4

Sounds like a good job for an IR camera…

#5

I was going to say the same thing. Since he’s paying you double maybe you can find a buddy in the area with an IR camera and pay him to go with you.

#6

This is some good advice.
I charge $150.00 per hour for all of the above and I have not raised my rates since 1994 so… I need to raise my rates.

I also charge for “down time” or being “On Call”