Originally Posted By: jpeck This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Depends on what you mean by “no big deal”.
The water stains came from water. Which should not have been there.
There are also other water stains on that drywall, so the water MAY not have anything to do with the electrical, other than that light needs to be replaced.
Of course, if we keep that in "perspective", that el cheapo light is only about a buck and a half. 
Originally Posted By: phinsperger This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Jerry,
If I didn't keep things in perspective I would be of little use to my clients. That's half the reason they hire me.
1) To find the problems
2) To put those problems into perspective for them.
Perhaps you may call it something different from me but a rose by any other name....
Originally Posted By: jpeck This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
phinsperger wrote:
Jerry,
If I didn't keep things in perspective I would be of little use to my clients. That's half the reason they hire me.
1) To find the problems
2) To put those problems into perspective for them.
Perhaps you may call it something different from me but a rose by any other name....
I am hired to find the problems, and tell them about the problems, and explain the problems.
I AM NOT hired to try to make a problem seem less significant and "in perspective". It is what it is.
"Yep, that sure is an old roof, at 50 years old, but, you know, for a 50 year old roof is sure is in good condition." That is putting it in perspective.
"Yep, that sure is an old roof, and at 50 yeas old, IT IS ABOUT 20 YEARS PAST ITS NORMAL LIFE EXPECTANCY. That roof should have been replaced 20 years ago, but instead it was coated with an elastomeric coating." THAT is my "perspective".
Originally Posted By: phinsperger This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
jpeck wrote:
I AM NOT hired to try to make a problem seem less significant and "in perspective".
Putting something into perspective does not mean making it seem less significant. To me at least, it means getting the client to see the "real" significance (safety, monetary, etc) within the big picture. Sometimes the client may need get more concerned about something, other times less concerned. It all depends on how that client is viewing that defect at the time.
If I had a client walk away from a house because it was missing one cover I failed to properly educate my client. My client may use this as an excuse to walk for other reasons and that's fine, but please not really for the missing cover.
 Instead of coupons maybe I should just offer to hand out cover plates for boxes with ones missing. With my name printed on them of course
Originally Posted By: jpeck This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
phinsperger wrote:
If I had a client walk away from a house because it was missing one cover I failed to properly educate my client. My client may use this as an excuse to walk for other reasons and that's fine, but please not really for the missing cover.
"If I had a client walk away from a house because it was missing one cover I failed to properly educate my client."
or "My client may use this as an excuse to walk for other reasons and that's fine, but please not really for the missing cover."
And you may never know the difference.
Thus, to me, this ("If I had a client walk away from a house because it was missing one cover I failed to properly educate my client.") is an incorrect statement - because you may never "KNOW" if it was something else.
