December 2017 Reporter

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I n s p e c t i o n N e w s & V i e w s f ro m t h e A m e r i c a n S o c i e t y o f H o m e I n s p e c t o rs, I n c.

6 Being Frank: Jin Jang

8 Chasing Water With

Thermal Imaging, Part 2

14 Sales Techniques: Manipulation vs. Education

20 Smart Inspector Science 22 Never and Always 38 The Word: Attic Ventilation


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ASHI Reporter • December 2017

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12.17

REPORTER ASHI

December 2017

FEATURES 8

Please Support our Advertisers:

Chasing Water With Thermal Imaging, Part 2

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EMSL Analytical, Inc. Allen Insurance Home Inspector Pro Target Professional Programs America’s Call Center RTCA US Inspect 3D Inspection System IDEnergy NHIE Study Guide ASHI Print-On-Demand ASHI Online Learning Center OREP How To Operate Your Home Horizon Inspection Software Property Inspector Insurance American Home Warranty InspectorPro Insurance Sun Nuclear Corporation HomeGauge

Peter Hopkins, United Infared, Inc.

Live Streaming Chapter Meetings Ruben Saltzman, ACI 14 Sales Techniques: Manipulation vs. Education By Alan Carson, Carson Dunlop,

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www.carsondunlop.com, 800-268-7070

Home Energy Update Why not Offer the Home Energy Score? ASHI Staff

Smart Inspector Science

By Tom Feiza, Mr. Fix-It, Inc. HowToOperateYourHome.com

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Never and Always: 75 Tips From Experienced Home Inspectors By Keith Swift, PhD

26 START 2018 OUT RIGHT!

RE-ENERGIZE AT INSPECTIONWORLD Orlando By Michele George, Director of Education, Events and Chapter Relations.

38 The Word: Attic Ventilation By Bruce Barker, ACI

DEPARTMENTS

6 Being Frank Frank Lesh, ASHI Executive Director

Vol. 34, #12

2 emsl.com 5 allenins.com 7 HomeInspectorPro.com 11 TargetProIns.com 13 AmericasCallCenter.com 15 RTCA.com 17 844-268-2677 17 3dinspection.com 19 energyscoreUSA.com 21 NHIEStudyGuide.org 21 ASHIPrintOnDemand.com 21 softconference.com/ashi 24 OREP.org 29 htoyh.com 35 CarsonDunlop.com/tryHorizon 41 PropertyInspectorInsurance.com 43 ahomewarranty.com 45 inspectorproinsurance.com/ashi 47 sunradon.com 48 HomeGauge.com/CRL

M A N IPU L AT I V E S A LE S

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E DUCATIONA L SA L E S

30 ASHI Community

Chapter News, Listing and Education

36 Add to Your Membership Profile and Watch Your Business Grow

By Jennifer Gallegos ASHI Membership Services Manager

42 Postcards From the Field

It’s Wacky Out There

46 On My Mind

By ASHI President Howard Pegleow

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ASHI National Officers and Board of Directors Educated. Tested. Verified. Certified.

A SH I M ISSIO N S TATEM ENT To set and promote standards for property inspections and to provide the educational programs needed to achieve excellence in the profession and to meet the needs of our members.

Officers Howard Pegelow, President Gilbert, AZ, 414-379-4186 hpegelow@yahoo.com

Donald Lovering, Sr., Treasurer Indian Trail, NC, 704-443-0110 Stonehouse1@earthlink.net

Tim Buell, President-Elect Marysville, OH, 614-746-7485 tim.buell@gmail.com

Mike Wagner, Secretary Westfield, IN, 317-867-7688 mwagner@ralis.com

Scott Patterson, Vice President Spring Hill, TN, 615-302-1113 scott@traceinspections.com

Randy Sipe, Immediate Past-President Spring Hill, KS, 913-856-4515 randy@familyhomeinspections.com

Directors

Main Phone: 847-759-2820, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon. - Fri., CST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Frank Lesh, Executive Director, 847-954-3182, frankl@ashi.org Bonnie Bruno-Castaneda, Executive Assistant & Project Coordinator 847-954-3177, bonnieb@ashi.org EDUCATION, CE APPROVAL, ASHI ONLINE LEARNING CENTER, INSPECTIONWORLD, CHAPTER RELATIONS

Michele George, Director of Education, Events and Chapter Relations, 847-954-3188, micheleg@ashi.org MEMBERSHIP, BOOTH RENTAL, PRODUCT ORDERS

Jen Gallegos, Manager of Membership Services & U.S. DOE Home Energy Score Assessor Coordinator, 847-954-3185, jeng@ashi.org Janet George, Membership Services Supervisor, 847-954-3180 janetg@ashi.org George Herrera, Membership Services Assistant, 847-954-3196 georgeh@ashi.org

Bruce Barker 2015-2017 Cary, NC, 919-322-4491 bruce@dreamhomeconsultants.com

Bruce LaBell 2015-2017 Scottsdale, AZ, 602-765-2140 inspect@cox.net

Michael Conley 2017-2019 Anna Maria, FL, 941-778-2385 FLinspector@outlook.com

Reuben Saltzman 2017-2019 Maple Grove, MN, 952-915-6466 reuben@structuretech1.com

Mark Lester, Membership Services Coordinator, 847-954-3176 markl@ashi.org

James J. Funkhouser 2017-2019 Manassas Park, VA, 703-791-2360 jfunkhousr@aol.com

Bob Sisson 2017-2019 Boyds MD, 301-208-8289 Office@inspectionsbybob.com

ACCOUNTING

Bryck Guibor 2017-2019 Tucson, AZ, 520-795-5300 bryck@msn.com

Tony Smith 2015-2017 Cedar Rapids, IA, 319-533-4565 inspecthathouse@netscape.net

Beverly Canham, Financial Assistant, 847-954-3184 beverlyc@ashi.org

Ken Harrington 2015-2017 Delaware, OH, 614-507-1061 InspectorKen@kustomhi.com

Blaine Swan 2016-2018 Columbus, OH, 614-506-0647 goodeyeinspections@gmail.com

Richard Hart 2016-2018 Conyers, GA, 770-827-2200 Ashi1@comcast.net

John Wessling 2016-2018 St. Louis, MO, 314-520-1103 john@wesslinginspections.com

David Haught 2016-2018 Huntington, WV, 304-417-1247 inspector@wvchi.com

Speaker, Council of Representatives Hollis Brown, 2017-2018 Manassas, VA, 703-754-8872 Inspectors@ThoroSpec.com

Publisher: Frank Lesh Editor: Carol Dikelsky Art Director: Kate Laurent Assistant Art Director: George Ilavsky American Society of Home Inspectors, Inc. 932 Lee Street, Suite 101 Des Plaines, IL 60016

847-954-3179 Reporter calls only

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

Michael Krauszowski, Membership Relations Administrator 847-954-3175, Michaelk@ashi.org

Toni Fanizza, Accounting, Purchasing and Human Resources Manager, 847-954-3190, tonif@ashi.org

WEBSITE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS, DATABASE

Mike Rostescu, Assistant Executive Director & Director of IT 847-954-3189, miker@ashi.org COMMUNICATIONS

Dave Kogan, Director of Marketing & Business Development Advertising, Marketing, IW Expo Hall, Public Relations 847-954-3187, davek@ashi.org Kate Laurent, Design & Digital Strategy Manager, “ASHI Reporter” Art Director, 847-954-3179, katel@ashi.org Chris Karczewski, Social Media & Digital Strategist, 847-954-3183 chrisk@ashi.org

847-299-2505 (fax) Reporter only Email: frankl@ashi.org

George Ilavsky, Graphic Designer & Free Logos, georgei@ashi.org

Advertising: Dave Kogan Phone: 847-954-3187, Email: davek@ashi.org

THE ASHI SCHOOL

ASHI REPORTER – ISSN 1076-1942 – the official publication of the American Society of Home Inspectors, Inc. (ASHI), 932 Lee St., Suite 101, Des Plaines IL 60016, is published monthly. Annual subscriptions: $44.95 to non-members. Periodical postage paid at Des Plaines, IL 60016 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ASHI Reporter, 932 Lee Street, Suite 101, Des Plaines, IL 60016-6546. Copyright© 2017, ASHI. None of the content of this publication may be reproduced, in any manner, without the prior written consent of the publisher. Inclusion of or specific mention of any proprietary product within does not imply endorsement of, nor does exclusion of any proprietary product imply non-endorsement, by the American Society of Home Inspectors, Inc. Opinions or statements of authors and advertisers are solely their own, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or positions of ASHI, its agents or editors. See above for information pertaining to submission of articles, advertising and related materials.

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ASHI STAFF

Russell Daniels, Executive Director of the ASHI School 847-954-3178, Russelld@theashischool.com Michelle Santiago, Executive Assistant, 847-954-3198 Michelle@theashischool.com Tracy Vazquez, Sales Representative, 847-954-3181 Tracy@theashischool.com Avery Dinn, Sales Representative, 847-954-3191 Avery@theashischool.com


December 2017 • www.ASHIReporter.org

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BEING FRANK

JIN JANG By Frank Lesh ASHI Executive Director American Society of Home Inspectors Direct: 847-954-3182 Frankl@ashi.org • www.ashi.org

L

ast month, I wrote about reasons to be thankful for what we have. This month, I’d like to talk about the season of giving and receiving. The thing is, when you really need and receive all of the really important gifts, you’re too young to realize it. By that, I mean the overwhelming nurturing we all need before we even take our first breath. On the other hand, probably the first gift we give is the unequivocal love we show to our families. After my first grandchild was born, my wife said she knew that she would love him. What she didn’t expect was how much he’d love her. I clearly have some work to do. My mom and dad worked different shifts, so “Mumma” would get us ready for school in the morning while my dad was asleep. Then my dad would still be home to make us lunch. Imagine that? Going home for lunch! Growing up in a working-class family of seven, I never felt deprived. Well, that’s not completely true. My friend Wayne was an only child and he got everything. But in reality, I received a lot of cool stuff: an Erector set, a three-in-one Knight Kit, a Melvin Ott baseball mitt… you know, really neat stuff. As I got a little older, I found that it was fun to give gifts, too, although my sisters weren’t as fond of the cat’seye marbles, Pick-Up Stix or jacks as I was. But it’s the thought that counts, right? So, when you’re thinking about those around you, remember that ASHI members are like your professional family. When a new inspector first joins ASHI or their local chapter, that inspector needs a lot of help to get nourishment in their new life. Some don’t seem to realize how important that help is to them, but as each inspector progresses and develops success, most do develop an appreciation for those folks who paved the way. One of my favorite sayings is, “Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child.” That’s what ASHI does for us. It shows us the way and points us in the right direction. When I was ASHI’s President in 2007, my monthly article in the Reporter focused on some of the people who freely gave me the gift of their wisdom and knowledge. I could not have been the inspector I was without that support. Think about how you not only survived, but thrived, because of others in your chapter or in ASHI National.

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ASHI Reporter • December 2017

The tireless efforts of guys like Ron Passaro, John Heyn, Phillip Monahon, John Cox and countless others propelled ASHI forward to become the premier home inspection organization it is today. Go to http://www.homeinspector.org/Charter-members to see a list of these pioneers.

My suggestion is to reach out to a struggling inspector in your area or maybe a member of a competing home inspection organization. In the spirit of Christmas and Chanukah (or even Festivus, if you prefer), think about giving a gift to someone who might really make a difference in your life. My suggestion is to reach out to a struggling inspector in your area or maybe a member of a competing home inspection organization. Ask the inspector to go on a ride-along with you. Show the “tips” you use. Some of you may think that this would be professional suicide, but I believe it could be cathartic. And you may be pleasantly surprised to see that what goes around, comes around.


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Chasing Water With Thermal Imaging

CHASING WATER WITH THERMAL IMAGING, PART 2 By Peter Hopkins, ACI, Level III Thermographer, United Infrared, Inc.

A

s I stated in Part 1 of this article (in the November issue of the Reporter), chasing water is what I do for a living. I’ve found thermal imaging to be an excellent tool that complements any leak-detection strategy. With the understanding that water always chooses the “path of least resistance,” we use thermal imaging to help explain the often-mysterious origins of water leaks, which may be far from the physical evidence of damage. Thermal imaging technology has allowed me to expand my home inspection business by mapping water-related pathways with a completely noninvasive technique. Thermal imaging provides immediate visual results that can reveal the actual sources of leaks. This article details some of the ways that my company has helped clients solve “mystery leaks”, and gives you a sense of how you might use infrared technology as a way to expand and market your business.

Leaks were occurring at three brand-new buildings at this facility. The client had complained to the builder about many leaks, noted at windows.

THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE As a review, people tend to choose the path that requires the least number of steps or the fewest obstacles to achieve a goal. Computer navigation systems offer the shortest distance between points A and B, or provide a route with the least amount of traffic. As defined by Wikipedia.org, “the path of least resistance describes the physical or metaphorical pathway that provides the least resistance to forward motion by a given object or entity, among a set of alternative paths. The concept is often used to describe why an object or entity takes a given path.” Water, of course, is known to follow the path of least resistance. Unlike human beings, water doesn’t care how long it takes to get to its final destination, as long as it travels along the easiest route. This fact is often what confuses people when it comes to understanding where a water leak originates because they commonly assume that the leak must be near the area of visible damage. Having been in the building inspection business for more than 20 years, the number of times I’ve encountered people frustrated with “mystery leaks” is huge—it’s such a common problem that, as a keyword search on the Internet, it yields nearly 10 million results.

The builder was frustrated with the leaks coming in and had cut many holes in the walls in an effort to find the leak (left photo). Through our efforts, we were able to duplicate the leak and, as seen in the photo on right, the leakage was coming in just under the window flashing.

Here are some examples from my inspection experiences:

CASE 1: INFRARED TESTING IN A LARGE BUILDING Leaks come in all sizes. For one case, we were hired by the manager of a large commercial building to solve a mystery leak. The manager retained our services in an effort to see if thermal imaging could help give a clue. Once on site, we systematically used spray racks to simulate rainfall to try to identify the source.

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ASHI Reporter • December 2017

As we discussed in Part 1 of this article series, water often has to travel before it shows up. In this case, we needed to locate the source of entry. Thermal imaging of the building exterior helped us quickly identify an anomaly that captured our attention. On closer look, we confirmed that these anomalies were consistent with the cracks in the stucco.


Chasing Water With Thermal Imaging As you can see in the photo on the right, the stucco finish was nonabsorbent (that is, it had an acrylic finish). These cracks were actually a break that allowed the point of entry. This collective of water and evaporative cooling is what we identified with the thermal view. The finish of the stucco did not allow entry (except at a crack); it also did not allow the water to escape. Water simply took the path of least resistance and bypassed the window flashing, causing water to enter the building. Case 1, solved!

Destructive testing helped confirm the thermal imaging results, which showed drenched insulation above the location of the planter. Notice the worker wringing out water from insulation taken from wall.

CASE 2: THOUGHT TO BE A PLANTER, FOUND TO BE A GUTTER

We took our water testing efforts to the roof. While on the roof and focusing our efforts on the upper areas, we identified what appeared to be a new gutter system installation. After the contractor was questioned about this, we were able to determine that the gutters had been installed just weeks before the initial water condition first showed itself. My company was retained after a client experienced a failed attempt to identify the true source of a leak. As seen in the thermal image above, the moisture is still there.

The living room of this large custom home showed a leak at the ceiling. Directly above this leak, a decorative planter had been placed, as you can see in the center image. The right image is the view from the outside, which is just opposite of the earlier image of the man taking a moisture reading. The contractor completely removed and re-waterproofed the planter, believing that the stain was a direct result of the planter. They repaired all the ceilings of the living room and the adjacent room, only to find out that the next time it rained, the leak was still there.

How did we solve this mystery? We found that the water flowed from the roof, hit the splash block at the gutter, passed back to a supporting nail at the gutter, and then exited around a nail that entered the structure at the soffit. Case 2, solved.

MARKETING THOSE TOOLS IN YOUR BAG To make you fully aware of the importance of advancing this technology, I must admit that, although my brain is my primary tool, my infrared camera often is my primary marketing tool. It has frequently been the reason that my company gets the amount of work that we do. I have had jobs for which my brain really did all the work, but the client raved about…the thermal imaging tool instead! Of course, I am the one who is known to have this “magic tool,” so that raving is what has led me to more referrals. Thermal imaging of the walls showed us that the water extended above the planter (top-left image, blue arrow, at the adjacent bedroom above the round window).

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Chasing Water With Thermal Imaging

CASE 3: A LEAKY SHOWER, A MOISTURE METER AND A PET DOG

You can truly diversify your home inspection business by expanding into the forensics aspect of the stains that you are reporting on.

I often mentor new and existing thermographers so they can build their companies to be the sort that they would like to operate. Keep in mind that any business starts with what you like to do and what your talents are. If you are a home inspector, a contractor or a water remediation contractor, becoming a thermographer can be a great way to expand your business. Think of it this way: You can truly diversify JANUARY 21–24, 2018 your home inspection business by expanding into the forensics aspect Join us in Orlando, Caribe Royale Resort of the stains that you are reporting on.

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Peter Hopkins has operated a successful home inspection company since 1996 (www.inspecdoc. ASHI’s annual meeting and the largest education com) and has performed more than 7,000 property conference and expo of the year for inspections. The company expanded into infrared professional home inspectors. in 2005, with the opening of SoCal Infrared (www.socalinfrared.com), and has found success in many areas of diversification, but specifically in the ability to diagnose moisture conditions identified during property inspections. He is the co-founder of Go to www.inspectionworld.org for details United Infrared (www.UnitedInfrared.com), a national network of contract thermographers that includes application-specific training and business coaching in a multitude of applications related to infrared technology and other vision technologies like sewer cameras. Peter is a Level III Certified Thermographer, The client complained that the shower leaked; however, they had not used A special raffle will be held November 1, when three lucky registrants receive ICC Code Certified Building Inspector, Certified ASHI Certifiedwill Inspector, complimentary registration to InspectionWorld the shower in over a year. Thermal imaging did not easily identify the Orlando.HERS Energy Rater, and trained in Equine Thermography and licensed with condition; however, using moisture meters confirmed the elevated level of the California Horse Racing Board as an Assistant to Veterinarian. Peter lives in Southern California with his wife and two children. Contact Peter at moisture at the corner of the wall (not closer to the shower as we would 888-722-6447, email peter@unitedinfrared.com, www.unitedinfrared.com. normally suspect).

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— Caribe For this case, we finally JANUARY had to use 21–24, another 2018 meter—our nose!Royale What weResort found to be the source was not what the owner expected. Notice the arrow on left (dog bed) and notice the culprit on right (guilty!). Case 3, solved.

SUMMARY With the title of this article series, “Chasing Water with Thermal Imaging,” we felt it was appropriate to explain what people actually hire us to do. Many times, as described in the case studies, you can see clearly that thermal imaging is what helped us chase down the source. If you are a building professional in search of an excellent tool—not only for your bag, but to help with your marketing—an infrared camera is an excellent investment. 10

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

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TARGET PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS Insurance for Particular Professionals 11December 2017

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Live Streaming Chapter Meetings

LIVE STREAMING CHAPTER MEETINGS By Reuben Saltzman, ACI

M

y chapter, ASHI Heartland, offers live streaming of our chapter meetings. This is a great option for chapter members who live too far away to justify the drive to the chapter meetings. Chapter members can attend the meetings “live” from their phone, tablet or computer from anywhere. We also record our chapter meetings at the same time, which is a fantastic benefit to the chapter members who can’t attend the meetings online or in person due to scheduling conflicts. We began offering live streaming of our chapter meetings almost by accident. What really drove us to begin streaming was a demand from our chapter members to record the meetings. We’ve had a lot of fantastic local speakers come to teach at our chapter meetings and our most dedicated chapter members are very disappointed when they have to miss these meetings. They started asking me to record the chapter meetings, so I looked into software that would record a two-hour meeting without creating an unwieldy 20 GB file. I found a type of software to do this called Zoom (https://zoom.us). It does a great job of recording our meetings and it does it almost as an afterthought.

MEET ZOOM Zoom is online meeting software that also allows for online conference rooms. For hosting a chapter meeting online, their “Pro” package (current cost, $14.99 per month) is perfect. It allows for up to 100 participants, gives unlimited meeting duration, and provides the option to record the meeting on your computer or to the cloud. This price plan includes up to 1 GB of cloud recording space. A two-hour meeting gets recorded in MP4 format and only uses about 50 to 100 MB of storage. And no, that’s not a typo.

WHAT PARTICIPANTS SEE Online participants get to see the PowerPoint presentation and hear the audio. This is the same way that most presentations from InspectionWorld® are recorded and made available on the ASHI website. To see a quick sample of what the recording looks like, visit youtu. be/oWQD1W3uw7s or go to YouTube and search “ASHI Heartland.” I uploaded a five-minute clip of a presentation that I did for our chapter back in July. This is the same thing that online participants see on their screen.

HOW TO HOST AN ONLINE MEETING My chapter has been hosting online meetings for more than a year now and in that time, I think I’ve made just about every conceivable mistake that one could make. Here’s some advice to help you successfully host an online chapter meeting. Software: As I mentioned above, I use Zoom for my chapter, but there are dozens of competing types of software that will probably work fine. Pick one and test it out before a meeting to see if it will fit your needs. Invites: Schedule the online meeting using the meeting software and send out an online meeting link to the chapter membership. I send out chapter meeting invites to a few hundred home inspectors in my area, but I only send the online meeting link to the paid chapter members. They receive this in a separate email the day of the chapter meeting. Internet: To live stream a meeting, you’ll need a reliable internet connection. Our chapter’s meeting location has a very slow internet connection, so I tether my laptop to my mobile phone and use that. I have T-Mobile and it has worked flawlessly. Audio: This has been one of the biggest challenges. I started out using a lavalier mic that would wirelessly transmit the audio to a receiver that was plugged into the audio port on my computer. That system was nothing but problems. The transmitter wouldn’t sync with the receiver, the batteries would be dead, the presenter would pull the cord out of the transmitter and so on. Also, the microphone wouldn’t pick up any of the audience questions. We eventually purchased an external USB microphone and that has worked quite well. Mike Rostescu at ASHI recommended the Yeti Blue microphone, which currently retails for about $130 on Amazon. This microphone picks up the presenter’s voice from several feet away and picks up voices from the rest of the room quite well. It also comes with a 12-foot USB cable, which is long enough to put the mic wherever it needs to be placed. At first, I used the stand that came with the microphone, but I quickly realized that the microphone is way too sensitive. Every time anything touched the table that the stand was sitting on, it was extremely loud. To eliminate that, we purchased a $20 microphone stand that the microphone screws right into. This works like a charm. Webcam: Ideally, every presenter will have a PowerPoint presentation, which should eliminate the need for a webcam. Nevertheless, we recently had a presenter at our chapter meeting who didn’t use PowerPoint slides. In order to not completely lose the online attendees, I used the built-in camera on my laptop to stream live video. That worked fine for everybody except for me; I had to keep my laptop turned at a funny angle to record the presenter. In the future, I’m going to bring an external webcam to meetings. The meeting: Begin the online meeting five minutes before the chapter meeting begins and ask the online attendees to sign in by typing their name in the “chat” section of the meeting software. Assign the task of manually recording these names to the meeting administrator. Near the end of the meeting, ask the attendees to sign in again, and again, assign someone the responsibility of manually recording the names. This verification is needed to get continuing education (CE) credit and yes, participating as a viewer of a live stream educational session does count for earning CE credit with ASHI.

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ASHI Reporter • December 2017


Live Streaming Chapter Meetings

to the paid chapter members. I make all of the videos “unlisted” on YouTube, which means that only people with the link can see them. I could take it one step further and make the videos “private,” but I see no need for that.

WHAT’S NEXT? If you ask me for advice on hosting an online meeting a year from now, I’m sure I’ll have a completely different list of recommendations. This is new territory for my chapter, so our process is constantly evolving. If you start doing this for your own chapter and you figure out better ways of doing things, please share your ideas with me. No, better yet, get on the ASHI forum and share your advice there. I’ll be sure to thank you.

Recording: With Zoom, our online meetings are set to begin recording by default. I do this to help make sure that I don’t forget to record the meeting. Once the meeting ends, the recording is automatically converted to an MP4 video file. We upload this file to my chapter’s YouTube channel the day after the meeting and I send out a video link

Relax.

Reuben Saltzman, ACI, Structure Tech Home Inspections, Minneapolis, MN, is a second-generation home inspector, an ASHI Director (2017-2019) and President of the ASHI Heartland Chapter. Reuben presented educational sessions at InspectionWorld® in 2016 and 2017. Check out Reuben’s weekly blog posts at www.structuretech1.com/blog/.

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Sales Techiniques

SALES TECHNIQUES: MANIPULATION VS. EDUCATION

By Alan Carson, Carson Dunlop, www.carsondunlop.com, 800-268-7070

Sales techniques generally fall into two distinct camps: manipulative sales and educational sales.

MANIPULATIVE SALES Manipulative sales involve tricks to maneuver your target into agreeing to buy your product or use your service. Most of us have had this experience: You spend time negotiating with a car salesperson and you get down to a price you’re comfortable with. The salesperson says, “I’m fine with it, but I’ll have to check with my manager, who has to approve it.” The salesperson disappears into the manager’s office and comes out, head shaking, saying, “No, my manager will not approve the deal. We just need $500 more.” If you’re already in the mindset that the car will cost $30,000, the extra $500 won’t seem like such a big deal to you. But let’s step back for a minute here. How do you really think the conversation went in the manager’s office? They probably talked a bit about the weather, a game they saw last night or what they ate for lunch. But they probably didn’t talk about the price of the car you are trying to buy. That’s right. Talking to the manager is a sales tactic, a trick. It allows the salesperson to look innocent when he or she has to deliver the message that the price is $500 more than you bargained for. The manipulative approach to sales is considered old-style. This example may have reminded you how unpleasant it is to be manipulated.

EDUCATIONAL SALES A better sales technique aims to educate instead of manipulate. The educational sales process involves a two-part dialogue: • Your prospects educate you about their needs. • You educate your prospects about how your product or services will satisfy their needs. The sales process is a dialogue. Asking the right questions and listening carefully to the answers is the best way to learn what the person wants. Knowing this gives you an opportunity to show them how you can meet their needs.

14

More questions that might lead to your unique selling proposition and then to a commitment are as follows: • Do all your clients get an inspection? • How do they find an inspector? • Do you recommend an inspector? • Who do you recommend? • How did you choose that inspector? • Is your inspector always available? • Do they have geographical limitations? • Do they have insurance? • Do they offer free telephone support for your clients? • Are they specialists in any area? • Are you concerned about liability when referring an inspector? (Explain how your insurance policy covers agents, too.) • Are you concerned that your client would sue you if a problem cropped up with the house at a later date? (You could explain how the liability is transferred to the well-insured home inspector.) • Is there anything you wish your inspector would do differently? • Are you satisfied with your inspector? • Are your clients satisfied? Some of these questions are open-ended and cannot be answered with “yes” or “no.” Here is an example: “What could I do to help your sales go more smoothly?” This question encourages dialogue. Other closeended questions yield a simple “yes” or “no” response. Let’s say you ask: “Do you appreciate a home inspector who is sensitive to clients?” You are likely to get a response of “yes.” That’s nice, but you don’t have enough information to offer a list of benefits to the prospect. You also can ask a hypothetical question, such as “What if I promise to make myself available to do inspections on the weekend?” These types of questions open up the discussion and help deal with objections.

You have to get prospects to talk about themselves—telling is not selling! Everything you say should be in the form of a question. Asking questions rather than talking is the key to becoming a great communicator because it holds the attention of the listener.

Once you’ve engaged an agent by listening to their answers and addressing their needs, why stop there? Here’s an example of how to network, using the educational technique. If you are meeting with a top agent, ask the agent what she needs from the home inspector for her to run a better business. Listen carefully to what she says and then show her how your services can meet those needs.

For example, ask an agent if their current home inspector can complete an inspection within 24 hours of your call. If fast turnaround is important to the real estate agent, you’ll hear about it. You are then in a position to explain that you guarantee a 24-hour turnaround time. This might be your unique selling proposition.

If the agent is happy with what you say, ask if she can recommend you to another top agent who could benefit from hearing your message. If she says “yes,” then ask if you can use her name when you contact the agent. If she says “yes,” you have permission to contact someone you hadn’t reached before and you have the added bonus of being referred.

ASHI Reporter • December 2017


Sales Techniques

When you phone the agent, you can say something like, “Sally Smith suggested I call you.” You have not tricked anyone. Sally said you could use her name as a reference and she gave you the new agent’s name. You asked for permission to make the call.

M A N IPU L ATI V E SA LE S

Keep in mind, the goal here is not to relieve someone of their money. What you are doing is educating the agent about your services and showing how those services can meet the agent’s needs. What you are hoping for in return is a referral.

THE SALES FUNNEL As you get more comfortable with the education mindset, you should consider another concept called the “sales funnel.” The sales funnel acknowledges that your home inspection service is not for everyone. Imagine a large funnel. At the top of the funnel you have 100 real estate agents. If you phone all of them, 25 of them may say they are not interested in talking to you at all. Another 25 agents may tell you to send them information, but they don’t have time for you now. Ultimately, you may end up with 25 agents who agree to meet with you. You meet the 25 agents and find that only five of them agree to refer an inspection to you on a trial basis. The sales funnel means you will reach five of 100 agents or have a 20 to one funnel. Put another way, 20 “leads” yield one “sale.”

E DUCATIONA L SA L ES If you expect rejection, you can measure success just by the phone calls you make. In other words, you know that you are succeeding even when you hear “no” because you know that it’s part of the process toward hearing a “yes.” It means you are on the phone making a call. If you determine that your success rate happens in one of 10 calls, you’ll know that when you make a call on Monday morning and the real estate agent says that he has no interest in meeting with you, you can say, “One down, nine to go until I hear a ‘yes.’” Having this mindset can help you focus on success rather than rejection. Carson Dunlop - Consulting engineering firm devoted to home inspection since 1978. www.carsondunlop.com

The goal is to improve the sales funnel. Sales training helps you “change the shape of the funnel” or improve your success rate. If your success rate improves to 10 to one, you will grow your business twice as fast! Remember that small changes in ability can lead to dramatic changes in results. Even with extensive sales training, you may still get nine rejections before you get one “sale.” Successful salespeople recognize that a certain number of people will say “no” before you get one person to say “yes.” People successful in sales handle these rejections by determining, on average, how many times they have to hear “no” before they hear a “yes.” Over time, you’ll get to know this through experience. With this knowledge, you are better prepared for rejection. If you expect it, you won’t be disappointed. Rejection becomes part of the process. You must have courage and must not let fear of rejection hold you back. 15December 2017

• www.ASHIReporter.org

15


Leadership Training Conference 2017: “GAME PLAN 20/20” By ASHI Staff

The audience enjoyed a two-day workshop led by Tim Hosey on strategic planning, for business or chapter. ASHI members attended “Game Plan 20/20” and followed the steps to create an easy, fast and functional STRATEGIC PLAN.

LTC is an annual event, free to ASHI members. 120 members from across the country attended the conference this year in Des Plaines, IL. The event provides an opportunity to share ideas and successes from individuals and chapters.

16

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

A STRATEGIC PLAN offers three main advantages: 1. Creating direction and priorities for everyone in the group. 2. Simplifying and speeding up decision-making along the way. 3. Accomplishing goals and winning. Staying on the path.

Tim Hosey is the president of Timothy Hosey & Associates, a 34-year-old consulting firm assisting businesses and organizations throughout the United States and Canada in marketing and business management.


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17


HOME ENERGY SCORE UPDATE

WHY NOT OFFER THE HOME ENERGY SCORE? ASHI LEADERS ASK QUESTIONS, GET ANSWERS By ASHI Staff

VOICES FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY WEIGH IN ON A SURGING “SCORE” We do a lot of crowing in these pages about the success of the new ASHI/Home Energy Score partnership—about how our new “Fast Track” onboarding process coincides perfectly with homebuyers’ growing demand for energy efficiency information as a critical part of the homebuying process. Chapter leaders from around the country have been seeing to it that their members are aware of promising initiatives like this one and when those chapter leaders gathered in Des Plaines, IL, in October for the annual ASHI Leadership Training Conference, they came prepared to share both success stories and common questions they’ve been hearing about the program. Ken Slattery from the HES program and Brent Loya from ID Energy were on hand to get an occasional pat on the back, and to speak to the issues that have sometimes stood between ASHI members’ businesses and full adoption of the Home Energy Score. In this article, we will shed some light on these “Sure, it’s a great program, but...” issues that inspectors might consider as they shift into a well-deserved season of developing new business strategies.

members have even devised their own energy-efficiency reports to better present important but hard-to-understand energy information. That’s a key function of the Home Energy Score report—presenting energy efficiency information in the simplest possible way to a homebuyer who’s already drowning in data and details. If you’ve seen the Home Energy Score’s 1-10 scale, you know that the Department of Energy (DOE) has succeeded in that “keep it simple” mission, while bringing unmatched credibility to the table as well. What’s more, the automatically generated list of recommendations for improvements that comes with every report offers both actionable information to your clients and a critical “arm’s length” buffer from the liability of offering recommendations of your own.

“BUT” #2: “MY UTILITY OFFERS THE SCORE AND FOR CHEAP.” It’s true that power providers across the country are getting wise to the value that the Home Energy Score provides homeowners and homebuyers, and if the utility in your service area is one of those, then you’re presented with both a unique challenge and a distinct advantage. (Note: Make sure that your utility is actually offering the DOE Home Energy Score and not some other type of “energy audit.” Contact Jen Gallegos at ASHI; she will help you figure that out.) If it turns out that you do find yourself in “competition” with your utility for offering the Score, it’s important to remember two things: 1. The fact that your utility offers the Score automatically gives your client a level of comfort with its legitimacy as a service and, by extension, with your own expertise as an Assessor.

(left to right) Ken Slattery (Home Energy Score), Jen Gallegos (ASHI) and Brent Loya (ID Energy) are standing by to help ASHI members “energize” their businesses.

“BUT” #1: “I ALREADY DO ALL THAT STUFF ANYWAY.” Make no mistake, the fact that inspectors are out there gathering and reporting on energy efficiency information as part of their standard reports is unquestionably a good thing since it reflects ASHI inspectors’ propensity to remain in front of critical industry trends. Some 18

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

2. Your client is unable to take advantage of the utility’s Home Energy Score services when they need it most—at the time when they’re trying to learn all the intricacies of the home they’re considering for purchase. That means that you’re the only one who can offer them a valuable and utility-endorsed service, so take advantage of that opportunity!

“BUT” #3: “I HAVE TO PAY TO OFFER THE HOME ENERGY SCORE?!” Yes, there’s a small cost associated with offering the Home Energy Score as an ASHI member. Our partners at ID Energy do the important work of training, mentoring and measuring quality assurance that the DOE requires to keep the Home Energy Score a respected arbiter of home energy information, and ID Energy’s well-trained technicians can’t do it for free.


Home Energy Score Update

Keeping the Home Energy Score a respected brand means that you won’t ever have to contend with the industry’s bottom-dwellers as competition, for one thing. And all it takes is a quick look to other Home Energy Score programs in the country—Portland, OR, and the state of Wisconsin are examples—to see that ASHI effectively secured its members a tremendous bargain for these services. Depending on the number of Scores that you deliver, compliance services can amount to only a dollar or two per inspection, which leaves ASHI inspectors with one fewer excuse for not participating.

“BUT” #4: “NOBODY ASKS FOR IT.” Brent and Ken are the first to admit that the Home Energy Score isn’t yet a household name in most parts of the country, and that home inspectors waiting for direct customer requests for the service might end up waiting a long time. Still, it’s undeniable that homebuyers increasingly value the “green”-ness and energy efficiency of their home, especially the younger, savvier buyers who make up the industry’s biggest segment. And those buyers are starting to ask now, which means

that one approach is for inspectors to wait until the Score becomes an industry standard before jumping into the crowded fray, while the other strategy is to begin delivering better service for higher rates and more satisfied customers right now. The choice is yours.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Home Energy Score

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IDENERGY

Still, it’s undeniable that homebuyers increasingly value the “green”-ness and energy efficiency of their home, especially the younger, savvier buyers who make up the industry’s biggest segment.

Powered By

www. Energ y ScoreUSA . com

ID Energy is getting new Home Energy Score Assessors across the finish line in record time.

This is a rap that the Home Energy Score team will readily cop to. In past years, ASHI members were sent into the DOE wilderness to try to make sense of a complicated “Sim” online training. Then, if they were dogged enough to clear that hurdle, Assessor candidates’ options for securing a partner to keep them compliant with the program were slim and frustrating. Suffice to say that those dark days are now behind us: ASHI’s partnership with ID Energy, finalized this year and currently guiding dozens of Assessors through the ASHI Fast Track every month, provides always-available guidance from real people (like Brent!) who are committed to helping you improve every aspect of your business. They are building long-term relationships with ASHI members dedicated to getting through the Home Energy Score training quickly, and to adopting the program into their unique business model in a seamless and profitable way. The ASHI Home Energy Score team will be holding court next month at InspectionWorld®, so come by to say hello, share your experience with being an Assessor or offer up any new reasons you can think of (that list is getting pretty short) for not becoming part of the Home Energy Score brigade! Pats on the back are strictly optional, but always appreciated. For more information or to get your firm on the fast track to offering the Home Energy Score to your clients, please contact Jen Gallegos at jeng@ashi.org. or visit www.energyscoreUSA.com. 19December 2017

• www.ASHIReporter.org

19


SMART INSPECTOR SCIENCE

HOW DOES A

95% FURNACE WORK?

By Tom Feiza, Mr. Fix-It, Inc. HowToOperateYourHome.com

T

he efficiency of forced-air furnaces has changed dramatically. From roughly 1920 to 1980, the naturally drafted gas furnace was king. It operated at about 50% to 65% efficiency. With the flue gas maintained at about 350 degrees F, products of combustion and steam went right up the masonry chimney and there were no condensation problems. However, in the 1980s, energy costs increased dramatically and everyone expected an energy shortage. Change—that included flue dampers, electronic ignition, better heat exchangers and new control systems—created incremental improvements in efficiency.

CONDENSING FURNACE: ONE GIANT LEAP IN EFFICIENCY

Later came condensing furnaces, with dramatic improvements in efficiency (Photo). The furnace pictured here is 96% efficient, with three firing rates, and all electronically commutated motors (ECM) variable-speed, electric motors. With this furnace, 96% of the energy remains in the home and only 4% goes up the chimney.

Condensing Furnace – Three Controls, three firing rates

Today’s condensing furnaces use a secondary heat exchanger. It captures more heat by condensing the flue gas from 350 to 120 degrees and condensing the steam into water (Illustration H096). These furnaces use two PVC pipes for venting, making them easy to identify. Condensing steam captures the latent heat—that is, heat from the change of phase from steam into water—at a rate of 970 Btu per pound of water. If a furnace uses about one therm of natural gas (100,000 Btu), combustion creates about one pound of steam and we capture 8,080 Btu per pound. In a larger home, we could capture 10 times that amount of energy over 24 hours. Efficiency has increased from 60% to more than 90%.

ISSUES RESOLVED

Initially, the heating industry had lots of issues related to the slightly corrosive condensate. Manufacturers and repair workers had never dealt with corrosive water before. Now, about 30 years since modern condensing furnaces were introduced, most of those issues have been solved. As a bonus, the highest efficiency furnaces use ECMs, which turn at a variable rate, providing greater efficiency and better comfort as well as substantial savings on electrical power.

Home inspectors should love this development because the heat exchanger is sealed and not visible. But still, you must document the type of furnace, run the system, remove the access covers and check for signs of water leaks. Any type of leak in the furnace indicates a problem.

Tom Feiza has been a professional home inspector since 1992 and has a degree in engineering. Through HowToOperateYourHome.com, he provides high-quality marketing materials that help professional home inspectors boost their business. Copyright © 2017 by Tom Feiza, Mr. Fix-It, Inc. Reproduced with permission.

20

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

Btu – Condensing Furnace

MEET TOM AT INSPECTIONWORLD ORLANDO! IF YOU FIND TOM’S “SMART INSPECTOR SCIENCE” ARTICLES HELPFUL, BE SURE TO ATTEND HIS PRESENTATIONS AT INSPECTIONWORLD The Science Behind Great Home Inspections MONDAY 22ND 4PM – 6PM O RLA

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ASHIPrintOnDemand.com 21December 2017

• www.ASHIReporter.org

21


Never and Always

NEVER AND ALWAYS: 75 TIPS FROM EXPERIENCED HOME INSPECTORS (SOME LEARNED THE HARD WAY) By Lon Grossman, ACI Retired

NEVER

Assume the dog is friendly.

Stand, sit or squat directly in front of the heating system’s burner waiting to watch it ignite. Always stay to the side.

Keep your cell phone on when you are with a client and inspecting a house.

Put your ladder on a slippery, sloped or uneven surface even though you’re sure it’s safe.

Enter a house when only the seller’s children are at home. Wait for the real estate agent, the client or both before entering.

Go on the roof when you “think” the frost has melted.

Leave a door ajar (or let your client leave a door ajar) unless you are positive there are no dogs or cats in the house that could get out.

Go into a crawlspace that has wires lying on the ground and the ground is wet. Duh! Be looking up the chimney when you open the damper. Turn on the water in a house where the water is turned off at the shutoff or main valve. Let the real estate agent or client do it because if or when water starts leaking and ruining the ceilings or flooring, you don’t want to be the one held responsible. Test the TPR valve on a water heater. Pick at the rusting plumbing pipe to show your client it was caused by a small leak. Turn on the air conditioning system for testing when the outside temperature is below 65 degrees unless the system is equipped with a crankcase heater. Release the latch on a double-hung window without being prepared for the upper window to fall down on your hands or fingers. Get distracted and forget to write something down. Your client won’t remember that you told him or her about the problem unless reminded in the report. Answer a question with a guess. If you don’t know something, tell the clients you’ll find out and let them know. Forget to reset the thermostat. Be rude to a client or a real estate agent.

Allow your client to start fixing something you found to be defective. Take a hammer on an inspection. If you need one, you probably shouldn’t do whatever it is you want to do with it.

Lose control of your inspection or let anyone distract you.

Squat or sit close to a gas fireplace when turning it on. Always stay off to the side. Operate a whirlpool tub until you fill the tub well above the intake and adjust the jets downward.

Test for a GFCI-protected outlet unless the house is quiet (to prevent a time-consuming and embarrassing “hunt”). Stand directly under a pull-down staircase when you are lowering it. Always be ready to catch it. Operate a whole-house fan until you have inspected and left the attic (to prevent inhaling dust). Leave running water unattended.

Leave your tool bag unattended in a place where children or pets are present.

Park your vehicle on the property you are to inspect if the vehicle leaks oil.

Leave an open electrical panel.

Enter an unlit crawlspace without a backup flashlight.

Provide unprompted opinions on the room finishes and decorating.

Rush the inspection or your client. If you’re going to be late for your next appointment, pardon yourself and call that client to let him or her know you are running late.

22

NEVER

The first version of this article, with 45 tips, was published in the January 2005 issue of the Reporter. Twenty-one additions were published in the March 2005 issue of the Reporter. Lon Grossman, ACI AMI (ASHI member #190), and David Birenbaum, PE (ASHI member #205383), wrote the original articles; Lon Grossman submitted this new version, featuring some brand-new tips.

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

Let anyone come between you and the electrical panel. Touch an attic latch with dirty hands.


Go on the roof to inspect it, but only if it’s safe to do so.

ALWAYS

ALWAYS

Never and Always

Always trust your instincts.

Use your nose to smell the basement when you first get to the top of the stairway, as well as when you go down the stairway. Keep your eye on the garage door opener, lift arm and the top of the door as you test the safety reverse mechanism.

Look into the attic and crawlspace for animals and snakes before entering the area. Touch the back of your hand to the electrical service box cover before grabbing hold of it. Keep your cell phone with you when you are inspecting a house and no one is accompanying you on the inspection. Point out to your client any circuit breakers that are in the off position or fuses that are blown before removing the box cover. Inspect three-way light switches for proper wiring and operation; have your client help you. Probe and inspect windowsills and wood trim for rot, even (and especially) when it looks freshly painted. Move items on the kitchen counters to look for concealed burn marks or damage. Keep in mind that if anything of the homeowners’ that you touch or move breaks, it immediately becomes a priceless heirloom. Inspect ceilings by holding and shining a flashlight with your arm extended up to and along the ceiling; you will find every leak and patch made since the house was built.

Wipe your feet, remove your shoes or put booties on before entering a house. Dress professionally and be clean.

Remember that your client, not the real estate agent, is the purchaser. Remember that you are a professional.

Wear coveralls, booties and mask when entering a dirty crawlspace.

Wear a respirator mask when opening up attic scuttles and entering an attic. Verify that tripped GFCIs have been reset.

Use common sense.

Place a ladder according to the “4-to-1 rule”— for every 4 feet of height, move the ladder 1 foot away from the wall. Tie off tall ladders at the roof line.

Report on dirty fireplace flues and cracked liners.

Support blinds and shades with your free hand when lifting.

Be habitual when adjusting a thermostat; go up or down in 10-degree increments; consider putting your keys on the thermostat to force you to return to it. Report on washers and nuts absent from foundation anchor bolts.

Check that joists and trusses are properly fastened into metal hangers (the round holes are there for good reason and are many times overlooked).

Look carefully for water stains on the sill plates and joists at the top of basement walls. If you see staining, always pull the insulation to the side to investigate.

Check for loose toilets and leaks at the tank connection in addition to the supply line.

Get in the habit of putting your tools, jacket and ladder in the same place in every house. That way, you will be less likely to leave or forget something.

Check for plumbing leaks on the lowest level first.

Keep a spare flashlight, batteries and bulb in your car or case. Keep a couple of extra 15 and 20-amp fuses in your car. Verify that all circuit breakers are in the original setting after you replace the service box cover. Make a mental note as to move the thermostat is set before you change it.

Report on any dry moisture stains.

Bring another pair of shoes; prevent bringing the outside in. Use your own towel.

Lon Grossman has been inspecting buildings for over 45 years. He is a licensed builder, mechanical contractor and asbestos contractor, and holds numerous other credentials. He has mentored dozens of inspectors from around the country, generously sharing his knowledge and expertise.

23December 2017

• www.ASHIReporter.org

23


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By Michele George, Director of Education, Events and Chapter Relations

InspectionWorld® will be held at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando. Get ready for an invigorating experience at ASHI’s annual education conference and expo. You’ll go home recharged and motivated to begin the new year! Get the app! Check out the events schedule, activities and sessions, and create your own schedule for each day. This useful tool is available to registrants prior to IW for downloading on a mobile device. Make it your own—plan out and create your IW schedule on the app.

Get all the details and register on www.inspectionworld.com

Register Now for IW Orlando! Be prepared to soak up much more than the Florida sun. Contact Michele George at (847) 954-3188 or email micheleg@ashi.org for assistance.

26

ASHI Reporter • December 2017


Take home fresh-squeezed ideas to move your business forward. • Take in a pre– or post–conference course for additional training. • Don’t miss the Annual Luncheon and Awards Presentation beginning at noon on Sunday, January 21. • Get into the action at the Opening Night Reception on Sunday. Doors open at 3:00 pm. Meet up with old friends and make new contacts. Wine and dine while visiting the vendors and enjoying the entertainment. • Special event at 7:00 am Monday morning: Take a walk back in time to the “Early Days of ASHI.” • Begin Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings with a complimentary continental breakfast. • Design your own education schedule from the list of 45 sessions. Arrive to classes early. Choose from a fantastic lineup of class offerings on the IW Event app. • The “Earth, Wind and Water Track” provides a selection of nine classes that cover a variety of important topics relating to home inspection in the Southeastern U.S. region:

• Grab ’N Go: Grab your lunch and attend sessions on products offered by our vendors. Sessions will be held in classrooms on Monday and Tuesday, 11:30 am-12:30 pm. • InspectPAC Reception: On Monday evening, enjoy a cocktail reception and entertainment in a lounge atmosphere beginning at 7:00 pm. InspectPAC puts the “fun” in fundraiser. Contribute with others who believe in a strong home inspection profession. • Gala Reception/Dinner/Dance: Enjoy a special evening with a delicious meal and good times as you party and dance with friends to the lively music. The reception starts at 6:30 pm. • On Wednesday at lunchtime, Mike Crow will present “Seven Surprisingly Simple Ways to Get More Business Now.” • Tours for spouses will set out for some unique adventures. Visit Epcot Center, SeaWorld Orlando & Kennedy Space Center scheduled on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Everyone’s welcome. • Daily prizes! Check out the daily schedule of fantastic prize drawings.

• 4-Point Inspections • Elevated Houses • Tile Roofing • Hurricane Mitigation • Air Conditioning • Stucco Failures • Disasters • Pools & Spas • Florida home inspection

27December 2017

• www.ASHIReporter.org

27


INSPECTIONWORLD ORLANDO EVENT SCHEDULE FRIDAY, JANUARY 19TH

TUESDAY, JANUARY 23RD Location

7:00am – 6:00pm

Pre-Conference – Certified Residential Thermographer (16 hours)

ANTIGUA 2

7:00am – 4:00pm

EXPO HALL OPEN

Pre-Conference – Radon Measurement (16 hours)

ANTIGUA 3

7:00am – 9:00am

Continental Breakfast

8:00am – 5:00pm

SATURDAY, JANUARY 20TH 8:00am – 5:00pm ASHI Board of Directors Meeting

GRAND SIERRA A

Pre-Conference – Certified Residential Thermographer Class (continued)

ANTIGUA 2

Pre-Conference – Radon Measurement Class (continued)

ANTIGUA 3

Pre-Conference – Home Energy Score Assessor Training (8 hours)

ANTIGUA 4

6:00pm – 8:00pm

Board Dinner – (Invitation only)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 21ST 7:00am – 8:00pm

Registration/Info Desk open

FOYER

8:00am – 12:00pm Pre-Conference – Marketing Success and Report Blueprint (4 hours)

ANTIGUA 2

Pre-Conference – NHIE Exam Prep Part 1 (8 hours total)

ANTIGUA 3

Pre-Conference – Building Dampness and IEQ Control (4 hours)

ANTIGUA 4

Pre-Conference – Sewer Line Inspection (4 hours)

BONAIRE 1

Council of Representatives Meeting

BONAIRE 3 & 4

12:00pm – 2:30pm

Annual Meeting Luncheon & Awards Presentation CARIBBEAN I-III

3:00pm – 5:00pm

“Welcome to ASHI” Event (New ASHI Members & First -Timers)

BONAIRE 1 & 2

5:00pm – 8:00pm

EXPO HALL OPEN

GRAND SIERRA BALLROOM

6:00pm – 7:00pm

Military Veteran’s Assembly

EXPO HALL

7:00pm – 8:00pm

The ASHI School Instructor Meet & Greet

BONAIRE 5

8:00pm – 10:30pm

President’s Leadership Reception (by invitation)

ANTIGUA 2, 3 & 4

MONDAY, JANUARY 22ND 7:00am – 6:00pm 7:00am – 5:00pm

EXPO HALL OPEN

7:00am – 9:00am

Continental Breakfast

7:30am – 8:30am

Special Event: “Early Days of ASHI”

8:30am – 4:00pm

Spouse Tour: Epcot Center departs at Porte Cochere

9:00am – 6:00pm

Spouse Lounge open

9:00am – 11:00am

Educational Sessions (5 tracks)

FOYER GRAND SIERRA BALLROOM EXPO HALL BONAIRE 6, 7 & 8

HIBISCUS CLASSROOMS

“Marketing Your Business” in Spouse Lounge

HIBISCUS

11:00 am – 1:00pm

Lunch for purchase

EXPO HALL

11:30am – 12:30pm Grab N’ Go Sessions

CLASSROOMS

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Educational Sessions (5 tracks)

CLASSROOMS

2:00pm – 4:00pm

New Board Orientation

BONAIRE 5

3:00pm – 4:00pm

3:00pm – 6:00pm 4:00pm – 6:00pm 7:00pm – 8:30pm

Refreshment Break Military Veterans gather for photo Illinois Testing Room

EXPO HALL REGISTRATION DESK BONAIRE 1

Educational Sessions (5 tracks)

CLASSROOMS

InspectPac Reception (Register at Reg Desk)

MARTINIQUE FOYER LOUNGE

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

7:00am – 8:00am

New Committee Chair Breakfast

BONAIRE 5

8:00am – 9:00am

PR Committee Meeting

CURACAO 1

8:30am – 2:30pm

Spouse Tour: SeaWorld® Orlando departs at Porte Cochere

9:00am – 11:00am

CLASSROOMS

Educational Sessions (5 tracks)

9:00am – 12:00am

Illinois Testing Room

BONAIRE 1

9:00am – 6:00pm

Spouse Lounge open

HIBISCUS

9:00am – 6:00pm

Past Presidents Luncheon

BONAIRE 5

11:00am – 1:00pm

Lunch for Purchase

EXPO HALL

11:30am – 12:30pm

Grab N’ Go Sessions

CLASSROOMS

1:00pm – 2:00pm

Allied Association Meeting

CURACAO 1

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Educational Sessions (5 tracks)

CLASSROOMS

2:00pm – 4:00pm

Home Inspection Associations Meeting

CURACAO 1

2:00pm – 6:00pm

NHIE Exam Prep Part 2

CURACAO 5

3:00pm – 4:00pm

Refreshment Break

EXPO HALL

3:00pm – 6:00pm

Illinois Testing Room

BONAIRE 1

4:00pm

Expo Hall closes

EXPO HALL

4:00pm – 6:00pm

Educational Sessions (5 tracks)

6:30pm – 7:30pm

President’s Gala Reception

7:30pm – 8:30pm

President’s Gala Dinner

8:30pm – 10:30pm

Dance Music

CLASSROOMS CARIBBEAN I TO III FOYER CARIBBEAN I TO III CARIBBEAN I TO III

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24TH 7:00am – 4:00pm

FOYER

Registration/Info Desk open

7:00am – 4:00pm

ASHI Booth / Cyber Café

FOYER

7:00am – 8:00am

Continental Breakfast

FOYER

8:00am – 6:00pm

Spouse Tour: Kennedy Space Center Day Trip departsfrom Porte Cochere

8:00am – 10:00am

CLASSROOMS

Educational Sessions (5 tracks)

8:00am – 4:00pm

Spouse Lounge open

HIBISCUS

10:00am – 10:30am

Refreshment Break

FOYER

10:30am – 12:30pm Educational Sessions (5 tracks)

9:00am – 11:00am

3:00pm – 3:30pm

28

Registration/Info Desk open

FOYER GRAND SIERRA BALLROOM EXPO HALL

Registration/Info Desk open

CLASSROOMS

1:00pm – 2:00pm

Allied Association Meeting

CURACAO 1

1:00pm – 3:00pm

Educational Sessions (5 tracks)

CLASSROOMS

12:30pm – 2:00pm

Lunch for purchase

FOYER

12:30pm – 5:00pm 12:45pm – 1:45pm

Illinois Exam Room

BONAIRE 1

Mike Crow presents: “Seven Surprisingly Simple Ways to Book More Inspections Now…Guaranteed”

CURACAO 5

2:00pm – 4:00pm 4:15pm

CLASSROOMS

Educational Sessions (5 tracks)

Closing $500 Grand Prize Drawing

FOYER

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25

TH

8:00am – 4:30pm

Certified Pool/Spa Inspector™ Certification Course

ANTIGUA 2

THURSDAY, FRIDAY & SATURDAY, JAN 25, 26, 27TH 6:30pm – 7:30pm

(3-day class) Post-Conference Commercial Building Inspection Course

ANTIGUA 3


GET TO KNOW INSPECTPAC

InspectPAC is ASHI’s federal political action committee (PAC).

SUPPORT INSPECTPAC AT IW!

Established to allow ASHI members the ability to exercise their constitutional right and need to participate in the political process. Join Us for a Fundraising Reception on InspectPAC does this work in a way that is controlled and that Monday, January 22, 7:00 pm

allows for full disclosure and openness in the campaign finance process. With ASHI members’ contributions, InspectPAC focuses on and coordinates efforts to generate important political support for members of Congress who share ASHI’s views. Some of the areas InspectPAC engages in are as follows: • Soliciting positive messages about home inspection from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) • Increasing homeownership • Ensuring consumer protection • Ensuring protection for small businesses • Continuing the prohibition of banks in real estate • Keeping up with Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) reform

Plan now to attend the InspectPAC reception during InspectionWorld® Orlando. Enjoy a cocktail reception and entertainment in a lounge atmosphere.

InspectPAC PUTS THE “FUN” IN FUNDRAISER. JOIN US AND CONTRIBUTE WITH OTHERS WHO BELIEVE IN A STRONG HOME INSPECTION PROFESSION.

OR

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262-303-4884 29December 2017

• www.ASHIReporter.org

29


ASHI Chapters and Council News

NORTH CENTRAL ASHI Central PA

www.ashicentralpa.com Second Monday, 6 pm, except Jan. & July, Hoss’s Steakhouse 1151 Harrisburg Pike, Carlisle, PA Kevin Kenny, 717-226-3066 info@midpennhomeinspections.com

Keystone (PA)

www.keystoneashi.org First Monday, 5:30 pm The Crowne Plaza, Reading David Artigliere, 610-220-1907 artihi@gmail.com

Ohio

www.ohioashi.com Ken Harrington, 614-507-1061 ohioashi@yahoo.com

North Central Ohio

www.ncohioashi.com Paul Wancata, 216-571-1074 inspectionsunlimited@cox.net

OHIO SOUTH ASHI Meeting: Last Sat. every month, noon @ Frickers, North College Hill, OH P.O. Box 532197 Cincinnati, OH 45252 Chris Green, 513-939-4036 Email president@ohsoashi.com

Pocono-Lehigh (PA)

www.pocono-lehighashi.org Third Tuesday, Tannersville Inn, Tannersville Ronald Crescente, 570-646-7546 amerispec@pa.metrocast.net

Heartland (IA, MN, ND, SD, WI) www.ashiheartland.org Reuben Saltzman, 612-205-5600 reuben@ashiheartland.org

Indiana ASHI

www.inashi.com Quarterly Danny Maynard, 317-319-7209 danny@inspectinc.net

Iowa ASHI

www.iowaashichapter.org Fourth Tuesday, 7:00 - 9:00 pm Clarion Inn, Cedar Rapids Craig Chmelicek, 319-389-7379 elitehomeandradon@gmail.com

Kentuckiana (IN, KY)

www.ashikentuckiana.org Allan Davis, 502-648-9294 elitehomeinspections@ insightbb.com

Mid-Missouri

www.midmoashi.com Second Thursday, 12:00 pm, even months of the year; Columbia Board of Realtors office: 2309 I-70 Drive NW, Columbia, MO Mark Kelsey, 573-356-5305 mark@inspectcolumbia.com

Northern Illinois

www.nicashi.com Second Wednesday (except Dec.) 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm Allegra Banquets, 237 W St. Charles Rd., Villa Park, IL 60181 Jeremy Meek, 630-854-2454 jeremy@discoveryinspector.com

PRO-ASHI (PA)

www.proashi.com Second Wednesday of Jan., March, May, July & Nov. Ray Fonos, 412-461-8273 southpittsburgh@hometeam.com

Arkansas

Tri-State (DE, NJ, PA)

Great Plains (KS, MO)

www.tristateashi.org Second Tuesday except April, Aug. & Dec., Dave & Buster’s Plymouth Meeting, PA Jules Falcone, julesfalcone@me.com

SOUTH MIDWEST Lonnie Moore, 479-530-5792 mhinsp@cox.net www.ashikc.org Second Wednesday of even months The Great Wolf Lodge, Kansas City Doug Hord, 816-215-2329 doug@firstchoice.com

Midwest PRO ASHI (KS)

MIDWEST Great Lakes (IL, IN, IA, KY, MI, MN, OH, WI) For monthly meetings: www.greatinspectors.com/ schedule-of-events/ Carol Case, 734-284-4501 carol@greatinspectors.com

Greater Omaha (NE)

www.ashiomaha.com Jon Vacha, 402-660-6935 jon@hsinspections.com

30

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

Ray Fonos, 412-461-8273 rfonos@hometeam.com

St. Louis (MO)

www.stlashi.org Second Tuesday, 6:30 pm Spazios Westport 12031 Lackland Rd. St. Louis, MO 63146 Frank Copanas, 314-456-0783 Acropolis-inspection@live.com

MOUNTAIN Arizona

www.azashi.org Bryck Guibor, 520-419-1313 bryck@msn.com Quarterly education on azashi.org

New Mexico

www.ashinm.org Bi-monthly meetings are held on the second Saturday of the month at LePeep’s Restaurant (Jan., March, May, July, Sept.) located at I-25 and Jefferson in Albuquerque. Meeting starts at 8:45 am; Breakfast starts at 8 am. Lance Ellis, 505-977-3915 lellis@amerispec.net

Northern Rockies (ID, MT) Steve Jenicek, 406-949-6461 Steve@taskmasterinspections.com Secretary: Kelly Campeau 877-749-2225 Kelly@inspectormt.com

Rocky Mountain Fourth Tuesday, 6:30 pm Brian Murphy, 303-791-7824 brian@murphyinspection.com

Southern Colorado

www.ashi-southerncolorado.org Second Thursday each month, 6:30 pm Valley Hi Golf Club, 610 S. Chelton Rd Colorado Springs, CO 80910 Daniel Noteboom, 719-332-9660 SCCASHI@gmail.com

Utah

www.ashiutah.com First Tuesday, 7 pm Marie Callender’s, Midvale Fred Larsen, 801-201-9583 Fred.larsen@pillartopost.com

PACIFIC Alaska

Golden Gate (CA)

www.ggashi.com John Fryer, 510-682-4908 johnfryer@gmail.com

Inland Northwest (ID, WA) Chris Munro, 208-290-2472 chris@peakinspections.net

Orange County CREIA-ASHI (CA) www.creia.org/orangecounty-chapter Third Monday, 5:30 pm Hometown Buffet 2321 S. Bristol, Santa Ana Bill Bryan, 949-565-5904 bill@rsminspections.com

Oregon

www.oahi.org Fourth Tuesday, 6:30 pm 4534 SE McLoughlin Blvd., Portland Jay Hensley, 503-312-2105 jay@carsonconstruction.com

San Diego CREIA-ASHI First Tuesday each month Elijah’s Restaurant 7061 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard San Diego, CA 92111 Dennis Parra II, 619-232-1100

San Joaquin Valley (CA) Third Thursday, 6 pm 1736 Union Avenue, Bakersfield, CA Raymond Beasley, 661-805-5947 rbinspector@aol.com Mail: 3305 Colony Oak St. Bakersfield, CA 93311

Silicon Valley ASHI-CREIA (CA)

www.siliconvalleyinspector.com Skip Walker, 650-873-4224 homeinspection@sanbrunocable.com

Southwestern Idaho Second Monday David Reish, 208-941-5760 dave@antheminspections.com

Los Angeles-Ventura County ASHI-CREIA

Meeting dates: Jan. 1, March 1, Aug. 1, Nov. 1 Location varies each meeting David Mortensen, 907-243-4476 dave@discoveryinspect.com

First Thursday, 5 pm Holiday Inn, Woodland Hills Bob Guyer, 805-501-0733 guyerinspections@roadrunner.com

ASHI Hawaii

South Bay (CA)

www.ashihawaii.com Alex Woodbury, 808-322-5174 Woodburya001@hawaii.rr.com

California Randy Pierson, 310-265-0833 randy@southbayinspector.com

Central Valley CREIA-ASHI Peter Boyd, 530-673-5800 Boyd.p@comcast.net

Webinar meetings Randy Pierson, 310-265-0833 randy@southbayinspector.com

Western Washington

www.ashiww.com Chapter Meetings held at chapter seminars in March and Sept. Karl Nueffer karl@G4inspections.com


NEW ENGLAND Coastal Connecticut

www.coastalctashi.org Third Thursday, 6 pm, Westport VFW Lodge, 465 Riverside Avenue, Westport John Hamlin, 203-912-1917 john.hamlin@pillartopost.com

New England (ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)

Greater Rochester (NY)

www.ashirochester.com Second Tuesday, 6 pm, Jeremiah’s Tavern, 2200 Buffalo Rd. Gates, NY 14624 Jim Brennan, 585-520-5575 jbrennan@independentinspectionservice.com

Hudson Valley (NY)

www.ashinewengland.org Fourth Thursday, 5 pm The Lantana, Randoph, MA Michael Atwell, 617-630-5629 mike@jmhi.com

Second Tuesday, 6 pm Daddy O’s Restaurant 3 Turner Street Hopewell Junction, NY 12533 Michael Skok, 845-592-1442 ashistatewide@yahoo.com

Northern New England (NNEC) (ME, MA, NH, VT)

Long Island (NY)

www. ashi-nnec.org Third Thursday of Jan., April, June and Sept. Tim Rooney, 603-770-0444 homeviewnh@comcast.net nnec.ashi.2016@gmail.com

Southern New England (CT) www.snecashi.org First Tuesdays, 6:30 pm Billy T’s, 150 Sebethe Dr. Cromwell, CT Richard W. Hall, 860-281-4238 rhall@usinspect.com

NEW YORK/JERSEY/ DELAWARE Capitol Region (NY)

www.goashi.com Third Thursday, 7 pm, Doratos Steakhouse and Pub, Guilderland Robert Davis, 518-885-7949 rdavis@home-inspection.com

Central New York

www.cnyashi.com Third Wednesday each month, 6 pm, Tony’s Family Restaurant, Syracuse Richard Alton, 315-415-4847 dick@altoninspect.com

First State (DE)

www.firststateashi.org Third Wednesday, 7 pm The Buzz Ware Center 2121 The Highway, Arden Mark Desmond, 302-494-1294 mark@delvalleyhome.com

Garden State (NJ)

www.gardenstateashi.com Second Thursday The Westwood, Garwood Ernie Borsellino, 973 761 0050 gsashipresident@gmail.com

www.liashi.com Third Monday, 6 pm, Domenico’s Restaurant, Levittown Steven Rosenbaum 516-361-0658 inspector@optonline.net

New York Metro

MAC-ASHI (MD, VA)

www.mac-ashi.com Second Wednesday, Rockville, 6 pm Senior Center, Rockville Mark Mostrom, 301-536-0096 pivotalinspections@comcast.net

NOVA-ASHI (MD, VA)

www.novaashi.com Fourth Tuesday, Associate hour 6-7 pm, Membership meeting 7-9 pm, Northern Virginia Resources Center, Fairfax Tony Toth, 703-926-6213 tony_toth@msn.com

Piedmont ASHI (VA) Robert Huntley, 540-354-2135 rwhuntley@cox.net

SOUTH ATLANTIC ASHI Georgia

www.ashigeorgia.com Shannon Cory, 404-316-4876 shannon1943@comcast.net

www.nyashi.com Last Thursday, 5pm Travelers Rest 25 Saw Mill River Road Ossining, NY 10562 Chris Long, 914-260-8571 pres@nyashi.com

East Tennessee

Southern New Jersey (NJ)

Ray Baird, 615-516-5511 bairdr@comcast.net

www.southernnjashi.com Third Wednesday, 6:30 pm Ramada Inn, Bordentown Rick Lobley, 609-208-9798 rick@doublecheckhi.com

Western New York Second Thursday, 6:30 pm Tony Rome’s, West Seneca Andy Utnik, 716-636-9676 esimail@aol.com

MID-ATLANTIC Central Virginia

www.cvashi.org Second Tuesday, 6:30 pm Keegan’s Irish Pub 2251 Old Brick Road Glen Allen, VA 23060 John Cranor 804-873-8537 cranorinspectionservices @gmail.com

Hampton Roads (VA) Second Thursday, 7 pm, Cypress Point Country Club, Virginia Beach Gregory Murphy, 757-535-4355 gmurphy@coastalinspect.com

www.etashi.org Third Saturday of Feb., May, Aug. and Nov. Paul Perry, 866-522-7708 cio@frontiernet.net

Mid-Tennessee

Mid-South (TN) Steven Campbell, 901-734-0555 steve@memphisinspections.com

North Carolina

www.ncashi.com Meeting TBA Andy Hilton, 336-682-2197 hiltonhomeinspection@gmail.com

South Carolina First Saturday of Feb., May, Aug. & Nov., 8 am Roger Herdt, 843-669-3757 herdtworks@msn.com

Gulfcoast (FL) First Thursday, 7 pm, The Forest Country Club, Fort Myers Len Gluckstal, 239-432-0178 goldenrulehi@comcast.net

Lone Star (TX)

www.ashitexas.org Bud Rozell, 214-215-4961 goodhomeinspection@att.net

Louisiana Quarterly Meetings Michael Burroughs 318-324-0661 Mburroughs2@comcast.net

Suncoast (FL)

www.ashisuncoast.com First Tuesday, 6:30 pm; Please see our website for meeting locations. Steve Acker, 727-712-3089 buyersally@gmail.com

Southwest Florida

www.swashi.com Serving Manatee, Sarasota & Charlotte Second Wednesday, 6 pm Holiday Inn, Lakewood Ranch 6321 Lake Osprey Drive, Sarasota Michael Conley, 941-778-2385 FLinspector@outlookcom

CANADA Home Inspectors Association BC

www.hiabc.ca Sean Moss, 604-729-4261 sean@homeinspectorsean.com

CAHPI Atlantic

www.cahpi-alt.com Lawrence Englehart 902-403-2460 inspections@eastlink.ca

CAHPI Ontario

www.oahi.com Rob Cornish, 613-858-5000 robc@homexam.ca

Prairies (Alberta) (CAHI)

GULF ASHI South (AL)

www.ashisouth.org Quarterly, Homewood Library Homewood John Knudsen, 334-221-0876 jgknudsen111@gmail.com

www.cahpi-ab.ca Chris Bottriell, 780-486-4412 api94@shaw.ca

Quebec AIBQ

www.aibq.qc.ca Pascal Baudaux, 450-629-2038 info@almoinspection.ca

Florida Wiregrass

www.ashiwiregrass.org Second Wednesday, 6:30 pm Sleep Inn Hotel, Wesley Chapel Nancy Janosz, 813-546-6090 ProTeamInsp@aol.com

December 2017 • www.ASHIReporter.org

31


ASHI Chapters and Council News

NEW YORK METRO CHAPTER — 2017 FALL SEMINAR WRAP-UP Submitted by Glenn Woertz, gwoertz@aol.com

ASHI’S NEW YORK METRO CHAPTER, THE FOUNDING CHAPTER, HELD ITS ANNUAL EDUCATION SEMINAR ON SEPTEMBER 8-9 IN TARRYTOWN, NY. More than 100 inspectors attended the seminar, which was renamed “The 2017 Victor J. Faggella Memorial Education Seminar” and dedicated to the memory of Victor J. Faggella, the dedicated and much-loved Cox award winner. Victor G. Faggella, also a Cox award winner, once again led the organization and planning of the event, expertly carrying on the tradition and service of his late father. Mike Cotter, Doug Kaufman and Metro NY President Chris Long man the registration desk.

Among the highlights of the seminar was a presentation by Jim Mailey and Norm Hall of Simpson Strong-Tie on the topic of deck inspection and evaluation. Attendees had the option of taking a test Friday evening to qualify for certification as deck inspectors under the standards of the North American Deck and Railing Association. Our new seminar banner

Other presenters included Aaron Menlove of InspectorPro on the topic of risk management, NY Metro members Evan Grugett on the topic of in-progress inspections and Chris Long on the topic of radiant heating. Presentations on solar panels and roofing, log home construction and geothermal systems rounded out the two-day program. Chris Long congratulates Steven Tyler, winner of the raffle for free attendance at next year’s seminar.

32

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

Presenter Aaron Menlove of InspectorPro chats with attendee Ken Dolan.


ASHI CHAPTER EDUCATION

Louisiana ASHI When: December 2, 2017 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Topin: Infrared Inspections and Sewer Line, presented by United Infrared Website: Mike Burroughs, 318-324-0661

ASHI Central PA Chapter Spring Education Seminar When: March 3, 2018 Location: Radisson Harrisburg West, Mechanicsburg, PA Topics: Report Writing, Asphalt Roofing Plumbing Systems and Components 6 CE hours CEUs: 8 ASHI CEs Contact: pwreilly@comcast.net

NC ASHI Educational Event When: January 26 -27, 2018 Location: Tar Heel Basement Systems Winston-Salem, NC CEUs: Earn 16 NCs & 16 ASHI CEs Topics: ASHI Standard Deck Inspections, Predrywall Inspections & the North Carolina Mandatory class. Contact: Bruce Barker, bruce@dreamhomeconsultants.com

IMPORTANT REPORTER DEADLINES: • FEBRUARY 2018 ISSUE -12/7/17 • MARCH 2018 ISSUE -1/7/18 • APRIL 2018 ISSUE -2/7/18 • MAY 2018 ISSUE -3/7/17 • JUNE 2018 ISSUE -4/7/17 The Reporter is produced 6-8 weeks ahead of the week it arrives in your mailbox.

To have your chapter seminar listed here, email all information about your chapter seminar to: micheleg@ashi.org.

May 23-26, 2018 Los Angeles/Ventura County Chapter AND San Diego County JOINT CREIA & ASHI CHAPTER Level-1 Thermography Certification Class Taught by Mr. Bill Fabian of Monroe Infrared. Presented at the Downey, CA Board of Realtors Conference Room.

Registration information TBA.

BE SURE TO INCLUDE ALL INFORMATION: seminar subject, when, where, CEUs & a link for more information or contact information.

33December 2017

• www.ASHIReporter.org

33


ASHI Chapters and Council News

HONOR YOUR PEERS!

NOMINATE AN INSPECTOR WHO’S EARNED YOUR RESPECT NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN FOR AHSI’S T WO ANNUAL AWARDS. Submission forms can be found on the ASHI website (www.homeinspector.org) under the tab Members-Only/Documents and Forms. Submit completed forms to Michele George at micheleg@ashi.org by December 15, 2017.

Recipients of the Philip C. Monahon Award and the John E. Cox Award will be announced at ASHI’s Annual Business Luncheon and Awards Presentation, held during InspectionWorld® in January in Orlando.

Submissions received after this deadline will not be accepted.

PHILIP C. MONAHON AWARD

JOHN E. COX MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD

All members are encouraged to nominate an ASHI member who is dedicated to the goals and ideals of ASHI, and who has rendered outstanding contributions to ASHI for a minimum of five years. Contributions can consist of time, talent or expertise, which has been beneficial to the Society, its members and the general public that ASHI ultimately serves.

Each chapter may submit the name and biography of one individual for the John E. Cox Award. The nomination should include how the individual has contributed to the chapter’s development, as well as other vital information as to why the individual should be considered for the award.

Nominees are evaluated by the PHILIP C. MONAHON AWARD COMMITTEE, which consists of three previous recipients of the award.

Nominees will be submitted to ASHI’S COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES for a vote by secret ballot.

REPORT OUT OCTOBER BOARD MEETING: MOTION: To officially approve the BVI Logo. Passed MOTION: Extend current Chapter Referral program to July 31, 2018. Passed MOTION: To establish a Task Force to investigate an alternate chapter referral program. Passed MOTION: Approve submitting the proposed draft Auxiliary Standard of Professional Practice for

Inspecting Radon Mitigation System Components (ASHI Standard) for approval by the voting members. Passed

MOTION: To accept the 2018 standing committee chairs. Passed MOTION: To accept the task force - home inspector organizations and allied group task force. Passed MOTION: To create a task force to research COR Roster maintenance options. Passed 34

ASHI Reporter • December 2017


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35


ADD TO YOUR MEMBERSHIP PROFILE AND WATCH YOUR BUSINESS GROW By Jennifer Gallegos, ASHI Membership Services Manager

I

t’s that season again, the weather is cooler (or maybe even freezing, depending on your location) and families are getting together to celebrate the holidays. This also means that your home inspection business may be slowing down for a bit, freeing up some of your time.

If you are an avid reader of the Reporter, you may recall that last month we described how to update your Find an Inspector Settings profile. I hope those instructions helped many of you to take on this challenge, but for those who haven’t updated your profile yet… what are you waiting for? Jump in! Now’s the time to update your information and sell yourself to potential clients who are looking for a home inspector in your local area. That said, I’m going to jump in myself and talk about another part of the ASHI website with which you should become familiar—the Membership Profile page.

Here’s what you should do. Hover your mouse over the Members-Only tab and click My Membership from the list. This will take you to the page with My Membership links. Click on the blue link called Membership Profile. For all you Facebook users, the Membership Profile page is very similar to Facebook’s “About” page. ASHI’s Membership Profile page allows you to edit your password, address, phone number and email. You also can add your business web address and select the chapter you belong to.

You’ll notice that on this page you have the option to upload your business logo, add a picture of yourself and write a short biography statement. This information is not public and it’s only available to other members for networking purposes. For example, if you are a new member and you want to learn more about the current President or board members, all you have to do is go to the membership directory and click on Board of Directors and, Voila! You have a list of members with biographies, pictures and contact information, and you can reach out to them. Besides updating your personal information for networking purposes, you’ll notice that there are eight drop-down fields that say Expertise 1, Expertise 2 and so on. These fields offer a myriad of choices from which to select. You can select a language as an expertise; there are 11 languages from which to choose. Do you perform inspections on historic homes? There is a selection for that, too. There are more than 60 topics of expertise from which to select, and you can choose up to eight to display on your profile.

The lists of your expertise not only show up on your membership profile, they will also show up when a client is looking for a home inspector on the Find a Home Inspector search tool. A client or real estate agent also could look for a home inspector by using the More search options and selecting an expertise.

Want to add some special expertise to your skillset and your profile? The ASHI School offers ancillary courses you can take to broaden your services. The ASHI School offers classes about mold, radon, commercial and four-point inspections and wind mitigation classes. Please contact Tracy Garcia, Sales Representative for the ASHI School, at tracy@theashischool.com for more information and to sign up for classes. Also, ASHI is a partner of the U.S. Department of Energy and Inspection Depot’s ID Energy program, which offers Home Energy Score Assessor training. For more information on the Home Energy Score Training program, visit: www.homeinspector.org/Become_a_Home_Energy_Score_Assessor or contact me at jeng@ashi.org.

With all of these options to broaden your services and gain more clients, why wouldn’t you take advantage?! Add your expertise to your profile and see your business grow!

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ASHI Reporter • December 2017


FREE ASHI Member access to past IW sessions. 1. Go to www.ASHI.org 2. U nder Education & Training 3. C lick on:

ASHI ONLINE LEARNING CENTER

CURRENT ASHI MEMBERSHIP ASHI Certified Inspectors: 3,644 Inspectors: 230 Associates: 4,583 Retired Members: 119 Affiliates: 83 Total: 8,659 Members as of 11/3/2017

ASHI MEMBERSHIP BENEFIT PROGRAMS ASHI-ENDORSED PROGRAMS ASHI’s E&O Insurance Program: Target Professional Programs www.targetproins.com 860-899-1862 ASHI Personal Lines Insurance Program: Liberty Mutual www.libertymutual.com/ashi ASHI’s Protecting Home Inspectors From Meritless Claims Program: Joe Ferry – The Home Inspector Lawyer 855-MERITLESS (637-4853) contact@joeferry.com www.joeferry.com/ashi ASHI Service Program BuildFax Tricia Julian, 877-600-BFAX x161 TJulian@BuildFax.com www.buildfax.com http://go.buildfax.com/ASHI ASHI Customer Appreciation Program: Moverthankyou.com Brent Skidmore, 864-386-2763 www.moverthankyou.com Brent@POWRsoft.com HomeAdvisor.com Brett Symes, 913-529-2683 www.homeadvisor.com ashi@homeadvisor.com LegalShield Joan Buckner, 505-821-3971 buckner.legalshieldassociate.com buckner@legalshieldassociate.com InspectionContracts.com Dave Goldstein, 800-882-6242 www.inspectioncontracts.com david@inspectoreducation.com

Dece mber Anni versa ries

OneSource Solutions 877-274-8632 www.osconnects.com/ashi/ Porch.com Eliab Sisay, 206-218-3920 www.porch.com Eliab@porch.com ASHI Rebate Program Quill.com Dana Fishman, 800-634-0320 x1417 www.quill.com/ashi dana.fishman@quill.com ASHI-ENDORSED EXAMS ASHI Standard and Ethics Education Module Go to www.homeinspector.org, click on Education, then click on the link for the ASHI Online Learning Center. NHIE Exam: 847-298-7750 www.homeinspectionexam.org

Thirty-five Years

Ten Years

John Palczuk

Nicholas Boekenoogen Clay Dial Greg Eckert Alan Fisher Bradford Johnson Bob Johnston Dominick Laurita Paul Lucien Chad Parra Stephen Porter Gary Price William Staniland Allen Tapp Clarence Van Horn John Weiburg

Thirty Years Carl Fowler

Twenty-five Years Charleston Colin Albert George Basista Rick Bowling Douglas Burgess Kevin Burnette Mike Scanniello Forrest Sutherland

Twenty Years Shane Dollman Ken Moon Carol Powers Rudy Ringel Tom Saladin

Fifteen Years Benny Choy Larry Conway Gary Monfeli Peter Waraksa

Five Years Eric Bertsch Jon Bradley Hans Cramer Timothy Demski Paul Dolynny Justin France Justin Hardy Aaron Hunt Bill Nast Timothy Smith

ASHI-ENDORSED TRAINING PROGRAMS ASHI@Home Training System 800-268-7070 education@carsondunlop.com The ASHI School Russell Daniels, 888-884-0440 Russelld@theashischool.com www.TheASHISchool.com PLATINUM PROVIDER Millionaire Inspector Community Mike Crow www.mikecrow.com dreamtime@mikecrow.com Mention that you are an ASHI member.

37December 2017

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The Word: Attic Ventilation

THE WORD: ATTIC VENTILATION By Bruce Barker, ACI

O

nce again, The Word invites you to travel into the dark realm of subjects that are sometimes misunderstood by home inspectors. The Word hopes you will find this trip informative and maybe a little entertaining. Our subject this month is attic ventilation. The Word finds this subject interesting because there is a lot of misinformation out there, some of which comes from building codes.

WHY VENTILATE ATTICS? The reasons for attic ventilation depend on where the house is located and on the season. In cold climates during the winter, attic ventilation helps keep the roof sheathing near the outside air temperature to reduce ice dams.

Ventilation also helps remove water vapor that enters the attic to reduce condensation. In warm climates during the summer, attic ventilation helps remove heat from the attic to reduce the cooling load, although there is some controversy about how much the attic temperature is reduced. Some claim that heat removal helps reduce premature failure of asphalt-based roof coverings; however, there is some controversy about this, too. Of course, heat removal occurs in cold climates during the summer, and temperature equalization and water vapor removal occurs in warm climates in the winter. It’s just that the need for these is less.

Where do heat and water vapor come from in the winter? Some enters the attic from below. Heat enters by conduction and, to a lesser extent, by radiation, especially where insulation is poor. Heat also enters by convection. Water vapor enters mostly by convection, traveling with air leaking through openings in the ceiling and through openings in the framing. Water vapor can enter directly through vapor-permeable membranes such as drywall, but this method is usually less important, especially when compared with convective transport. 38

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

Heat and water vapor also enters the attic when HVAC appliances or ducts are located in the attic and when exhaust ducts, such as bathroom exhaust ducts, deposit air in the attic. These can be a significant source of heat and water vapor, which is why it is much wiser not to locate these components in ventilated attics.

During the summer, heat enters the attic by conduction and radiation through the roof. Water vapor enters the attic by convection through the ventilation openings, which can create an interesting paradox when HVAC appliances or ducts are located in the attic. The benefit of heat removal may be offset by the addition of water vapor. The water vapor can condense on the appliance and ducts, and on the condensate disposal pipe. The resulting liquid water can damage components in the attic, including insulation.

ATTIC VENTILATION A LA CODE The International Residential Code (IRC) default minimum attic ventilation is 1 square foot of net free ventilation opening area per 150 feet of attic floor area. Ventilation opening location is not specified in this default provision, so code-compliant ventilation openings could be all at the eaves, all at the ridge or some combination of these. Net free opening area is the total opening area less space occupied by screens, louvers or other means used to keep critters out. Note that no authoritative source recommends locating all ventilation openings in the eaves or at the ridge, but the IRC allows it. The IRC ventilation exception allows a ratio of 1 square foot of net free ventilation opening area per 300 square feet of attic floor area if all of the following factors are present:

• Between 40 and 50 percent of the opening area is not more than 3 feet below the ridge. • The rest of the ventilation opening area is at the eaves.

• A Class I vapor retarder (for example, polyethylene) or a Class II vapor retarder (for example, Kraft paper) is installed on the conditioned space side of the ceiling in climate zones 6, 7 and 8.


The Word: Attic Ventilation

Given the code requirements and the stated reasons for attic ventilation, two interesting questions arise. Where did the code ratios come from? Do the code ratios work? The answer to the first question seems to be lost to history. The answer to the second question is that it depends on who you ask, where the house is located and several other factors. What is certain is that it is difficult to apply one prescriptive rule that applies to all houses.

ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL So, here’s the problem with a one-size-fits-all approach: It is best applied to the type of house that was commonly built when the original code requirements were adopted. This house is a simple box with a flat ceiling, relatively few openings in the ceiling, a simple roof and no HVAC equipment or ducts in the attic. The IRC ventilation exception has worked in these houses for many years when properly implemented. One problem is that this description does not apply to all houses, especially newer houses. Another problem is that ventilation often is not properly implemented. Let’s look at a few examples where the one-size-fits-all approach may not work.

Let’s change the flat ceiling to a vaulted ceiling with the finish (drywall) applied to the rafters. To ventilate this system, the ridge and eave ventilation must be continuous across each rafter bay, and the rafter bay must be uninterrupted from eave to ridge. There must be at least 1 inch (2 inches is better) of space between the insulation and the roof sheathing for air to flow.

It can be difficult to effectively insulate rafters and maintain adequate air space, but that’s an issue for another day. Let’s add complexity with a skylight. Now one or two rafter bays have an interruption between the eaves and ridge that stops ventilation. This is a really tough nut to crack.

Let’s add even more complexity by adding recessed lights. Unless the can is air-sealed and the opening around the can is also air sealed, we have added a hole for heat and moisture to enter the attic. Compound the felony by locating the recessed light in a rafter bay that is interrupted by a skylight. With any hole in the ceiling, you have the potential air leaks that can result in condensation, water damage and mold. Recessed lights are not the only holes between the attic and space below. There is often an opening around every pipe, vent, chimney and electrical cable that penetrates the ceiling. While, in theory, these openings should have been sealed for fire-blocking reasons, enforcement was sporadic in many areas and still is in some. These openings can add up to several square feet in total area, especially if there is a big opening around a masonry chimney, which there often is. These openings can be a big problem in crawlspace foundations because they can provide a direct path between the warm and moist crawlspace and the cooler and dryer attic. The stack effect will move this air. By the way, there are lots of openings between the crawlspace or basement and the house. Think about that 1 square foot or larger hole that the plumber hacks to set every bathtub and the slightly smaller hole for every shower.

Let’s change the simple roof to one with lots of intersecting hips and gables. Ventilating these more complex structures usually can be done; it just takes more care. Care is often in short supply on residential building sites. Let’s put HVAC equipment or ducts in the attic. Actually, let’s not, but because the attic is far less expensive square footage than conditioned space, it’s done anyway. There’s no practical way to completely air seal the air handler and ducts, and to keep them sealed over time. Leaky HVAC components cause several problems. The obvious problem is putting warm, moist air into the attic during the winter. Hello, ice dams and condensation. A less obvious problem is pressure imbalance. If the leak is on the return side, the house can be at positive pressure with respect to the attic, potentially pulling (negative attic pressure) and pushing (positive house pressure) heated, moist air from the house through the holes into the attic. Again, hello, ice dams and condensation, not to mention the energy penalty. 39December 2017

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The Word: Attic Ventilation

Geographic location and house orientation matter. Wind-driven rain and snow can enter ventilation openings. Few gable ventilation openings are without evidence of rain or snow infiltration.

Speaking of pressure imbalances, let’s put a power attic ventilator in the attic. They were once the rage, but they were found to be both inefficient and problematic. They often depressurize the attic, more so than all but the leakiest of return ducts. They can disrupt attic ventilation, especially if ridge and gable ventilation openings are present. The fan may draw air mostly from the high openings, leaving dead air low in the attic. They only run when the attic is hot, which makes them useless much of the year. They use energy, sometimes more energy than they save. Finally, they don’t last long. If one gets seven to 10 years from a power attic ventilator, this is good. Bottom line: Attic ventilation that relies on a power ventilator may not work well. Geographic location and house orientation matter. Wind-driven rain and snow can enter ventilation openings. Few gable ventilation openings are without evidence of rain or snow infiltration. In addition to stains and sometimes damage, compressed insulation is often found near ventilation openings where rain or snow has entered. Compressed insulation has a much lower R-value. Ventilation openings that face west can be, in many areas, more prone to rain or snow infiltration. Ventilation openings increase the risk that a house will catch fire in areas that are prone to wildfires. 40

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

INSPECTING VENTILATED ATTICS We are required to inspect attic ventilation. Our inspection is visual and is not technically exhaustive; therefore, we are not required to measure attic ventilation openings. We are not required to determine the adequacy or effectiveness of the attic ventilation. We are required to report if there is no attic ventilation, if ventilation is obviously inadequate or if ventilation openings are damaged, not functioning (turbine ventilator is stuck) or blocked by paint or other material.

We are required to report visual evidence that could indicate an attic ventilation problem. Examples could include evidence of condensation (such as widespread staining of framing members and rusted nails) and evidence of water intrusion such as localized staining, water damage and insulation that appears compressed by water.

SOLUTIONS FOR ATTIC VENTILATION PROBLEMS Home inspectors should not recommend how to fix problems. Assuming the liability for recommending repairs is far beyond what we should do. That said, we are often asked for recommendations. Here are some options that may be considered. 40


The Word: Attic Ventilation

The current recommended solution is the conditioned attic, also called the unventilated attic, the closed attic and the sealed attic. In this solution, the insulation is installed at the roof sheathing instead of on the attic floor. The only openings into the attic should be an HVAC supply and return to allow removal of moisture that inevitably migrates into the attic. The insulation may be applied under the roof sheathing, above the roof sheathing or a combination of both. Design and installation of a conditioned attic is a complex undertaking. Insulation type and location, vapor retarder type and location, climate zone and roof covering type are all factors that need to be considered. The presence of combustion appliances in the attic is another complication. A highly qualified and experienced insulation contractor is required and a permit is required in some jurisdictions. This is an expensive solution. Another solution is air sealing the attic floor. In many cases, air sealing can be more effective at both improving energy efficiency and reducing attic moisture problems than just adding insulation. Ideally, all of the old insulation should be removed; it’s usually pretty worthless in older houses anyway after initial poor installation and years of abuse. Foam insulation can be sprayed on the attic floor to provide air sealing and some insulation. The remainder of the insulation can be blown-in insulation to the recommended R-value. A qualified and experienced insulation contractor is required for this, too, especially if combustion appliances, combustion vents, chimneys or recessed lights are involved. Although it is less expensive than the conditioned attic, this is not an inexpensive solution.

Other, less expensive solutions involve air sealing large visible openings, replacing old recessed lights with new airtight IC-rated lights, repairing and improving installation of existing insulation and adding insulation after air sealing. These solutions may have the best return on investment.

THE BOTTOM LINE An alert reader may have noticed that The Word has not mentioned improving attic ventilation as a solution for attic ventilation problems. Improving attic ventilation may well be part of the solution, but often it should not be the only part. The attic is a system and ventilation is only one component of the system. Air leaks and heat transfer are other important components. All components should be evaluated when designing solutions to attic ventilation problems. Memo to Hestia (goddess of the home and hearth): The Word does not reside on Mt. Olympus (just at its base) and welcomes other viewpoints. Send your lightning bolts or emails to Bruce@DreamHomeConsultants.com. The thoughts contained herein are those of The Word; they are not ASHI’s standards or policies.

Bruce Barker, owner of Dream Home Consultants, in Cary, NC, is the author or editor of several books, including Everybody’s Building Code, Deck Codes and Standards, The NHIE Home Inspection Manual, Codes for Homeowners, The Complete Guide to Wiring and The Complete Guide to Plumbing. Bruce is an ASHI Certified Inspector who currently serves on the ASHI Board of Directors. Bruce has been building and inspecting homes for over 29 years. He is an ICC-certified Residential Combination Inspector, a licensed contractor and a licensed home inspector in multiple states.

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NEW POSTCARDS EMAIL!! Please send your name, city, state, photos, headings & captions to: postcards@ashi.org

Postcards From the Field

Note: By sending in your postcard(s), you are expressly granting ASHI the right to use the postcard and your name with it in the ASHI REPORTER and in other publications ASHI may select.

Found the Bat Cave!

Coffee Junction

Duane Serrano Tri-Star Inspection Services San Jose, CA

Sometimes You Have to...

Don Bracket Bracket Home Inspection Princeton, MN

...Peak Inside.

Chris Green Complete Home Reliable Inspection Service Cincinatti, OH

Hobbit Door

James Brock Boston Home Inspectors Boston, MA 42

ASHI ASHIReporter Reporter •• December December 2017 2017

Ken Meyer Portico Home Inspection, LLC Portland, OR

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Postcards from the Field

NEW POSTCARDS EMAIL!! Please send your name, city, state, photos, headings & captions to: postcards@ashi.org Note: By sending in your postcard(s), you are expressly granting ASHI the right to use the postcard and your name with it in the ASHI REPORTER and in other publications ASHI may select.

Toilet VS. Door

Chuck Mangio Jigsaw Home Inspections, Inc. Middleboro, MA

James Brock Boston Home Inspectors Boston, MA

Stairway to Heaven

Stairway to Hell

Roger Baker Dwelling Diagnostics, Inc. State College, PA

Ken Meyer Portico Home Inspection, LLC Portland, OR

DUAL, DUEL, FUEL!

Clay Ridings Preferred Inspections Arden, DE 44

ASHI Reporter • December 2017

Got a Wire?

Squirrels + Wires = Fire!

Jeremy Provan Pro Vantage Home Inspections Columbia, MD


December 2017 • www.ASHIReporter.org

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ON MY MIND

GLEANING SOME GEMS FROM ASHI’S PAST-PRESIDENTS By ASHI President, Howie Pegelow

BILL LODEN, 2014

First, on a personal note, I close out the year as ASHI President for 2014 with mixed emotions. At times, the job has been exhausting, with long hours of face-to-face meetings and many more hours of teleconferences. There have been many days away from home, and business traveling from California to New York and from Tampa to Canada. Interspersed within all of this activity, there have been articles to write, crises to address and challenges to overcome.

O

ne of the things that happens to every ASHI President when they’re obligated to write a monthly column for the Reporter is the proverbial writer’s block. Like all ASHI members, ASHI’s Presidents have to work for a living, in addition to handling the “big-picture” side of running our association. Well, after 11 months of writing articles, I admit that I’ve hit that “cement masonry unit.”

So, I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you some gems written by my predecessors:

RANDY SIPE, 2016

As I finish up my last weeks as ASHI President, I find myself looking back on my experiences as a leader and recalling all the people I’ve met on this journey. My message to you this month is that you don’t have to be a “big player” to make this journey—you only have to start by being involved.

ALDEN GIBSON, 2015

One person asked: In hindsight, would you serve as president again? Yes, I would. My home inspection business has provided a good full-time living for 23 years, and I also present seminars to realtors and first-time homebuyers. ASHI has given me and my business the direction required to be successful. I’ve received advice and knowledge by attending InspectionWorld® and chapter meetings and by holding chapter and national offices. I’ve learned practical information from my colleagues at events and activities. Home inspectors are willing to share their successes and failures—all you have to do is ask.

But the job has also been extraordinarily rewarding because during those meetings, teleconferences and trips, I have had the opportunity to meet and work with some amazing people. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that, among the list of amazing people, are the Past-Presidents of ASHI.

BILL JACQUES, 2013

When we perform a home inspection, we look for signs. What kind of signs? There are many: new work; old work; incomplete work; caulked-up areas around old repairs; fresh paint; old peeling paint; stains on walls, ceilings and around doors and windows. How about stains in attic roof sheathing, around plumbing vent stacks, in valleys and around the chimney? What about old plumbing repairs or new plumbing repairs on old plumbing systems? Several types of plumbing supply lines: poly, copper, PEX and PVC. There are flex drain lines under kitchen sinks and wash basins. There are rubber drain lines and lines spliced together with taped connections. Don’t forget plumbing waste or supply lines that aren’t supported properly.

MARV GOLDSTEIN, 2012

Sharing interesting experiences always enlivens an interview while making a point. I shared several on the radio show, including the time I climbed out of an attic and said to an owner, “I see you have a roof leak.” When the owner countered that he knew of no such leak, his 10-year-old son added, “Dad, don’t you remember the last time it rained, you said it was a result of the roof leaking?” From the mouth of babes.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these timeless quips and quotes from my fellow ASHI Presidents and don’t consider this column to be a copout on my part. Think of it this way: We all build on the foundation of others’ work and I’m no exception! Here’s hoping you have an enjoyable holiday season, and we’ll talk next month.

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ASHI Reporter • December 2017


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ASHI Reporter • December 2017


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