Fogarty Inspection Services shows areas where the exterior of a Knoxville TN home can have hidden water damage.
Excellent job Sean!
Great stuff, Sean!
Great job Sean.
Nice job dude!!! I miss Knoxville so bad! I lived in Maryville for about 3 years!
Nice job Sean.
No WRB down in your area?
It would have been a secondary defense somewhat, to a point. 
Nice find Sean.
Not required till 2006 around here. Still doesn’t stop the water in many cases. I have found my share of wet wood behind the housewrap. 
That’s awesome! I’m all for stuff like this, however, I do have a few questions, for my piece of mind before I attempt.
How about a video showing us the peeling and putting back together of siding?
What if it breaks/cracks due to being cold or the nails/fasteners loosen?
What about houses you don’t do this at or what about siding under all the windows, penetrations, etc.or do you just check “suspect” areas?
Where do you draw the line (what if a client sees a video of you checking siding behind one area or at another house, but not other areas or their house and there was a problem)?
Higher liability?
Do you use TI? (for you TI users, this would be “seen”, correct?)
Do you make it a high priority on the installation of kickouts and potential for water damage for any siding with missing KO’s and/or should the lack of KO’s be making it into all of our reports/summaries as a high priority concern?
I can count on one hand the # of KO’s I’ve seen in 7+ yrs. I suggest installing at every house where applicable.
Thanks in advance.
I guess I’ll be the stick to the SOP guy here.
Clearly what you are doing is an “invasive” inspection.
Going that far beyond theSOP means you’re going beyond the legal protection that sticking with the SOP affords IMHO.
I would recommend checking with legal counsel on this Sean.
Another example how some of you guys seem to loose your minds over something as simple as this. I never have seemed to be tackful and so if I offend you, dont look at this too deeply.
We can spin this one in any direction we want, and worry about the legal what ifs also. For me its real simple.
Every house I now inspect gets a recommendation for diverter flashings if none are present in certain areas.
Every house I can reach safely gets checked at these areas. I do the best I can.
I also don’t get on every roof either, I do the best I can.
I have learned in my area, that this is a common area for water entry, so I check these areas when its possible. If I can get to it safely it gets checked. If not, I still note the need for diverter flashings.
For the record I have also made new builders tear off siding completely, or remove areas because they did not tape windows or install house wrap at all.
Peeking behind the vinyl siding is not an invasive inspection. Seperating a section may be, but its part of my inspection. If I break a section, then I guess I will pay for it.
If you don’t know how to work with siding, then you should go work with a siding guy a couple of days. You should also know how the stuff gets put on or you have no business inspecting it. It is your job to say its done right, and not knowing how it can be taken apart is not knowing your job. Its siding, not rocket science.
Not getting on a roof, and then finding out later it was completely nailed on improperly, will get you sued as well, but hey you stuck to the sop
For the record, I scanned the interior wall with my thermal, and a moisture meter. No issues were found, and it appearantly was not severe enough yet. Once it would be coming through the walls, you would have a far bigger mess to contend with. Not seeking behind the siding would have far worse implications once discovered then standing on the ground just looking.
I bet a wall full of mold and wood rot would have your buyer hotter than a 2 dollar whore, but all would be good once you told them that your SOP’s did not require you to do an invasive inspection.
Good luck pounding on vinyl and peeling it back in this part of the country.
Why?
Sean
I always peak under widows for this type of damage, but I have never done it in the area you showed. You really taught me something important here. Thank you.
Why?
Does vinyl not get brittle in ME.
Only the cheap stuff.
Is all your vinyl in your area cheap?
I am sure Sean knows the difference.
So why say it don’t work in your area?
It was 5 degs.on the last vinyl sided home I did. No I did not pound on it try or peel a piece off. That would be dumb.
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I know how smart *** and own the tool.
I want to know who you get the contractors to conceive the notion of what kick out flashing is and does…?
I get the “look” like I am ET with two heads!