Lots of talk from many home inspectors who claim they provide thermal imaging services and boast that they “just” use a Flir C2, “Seek” camera, or similar low quality camera (some of the cheapest and lowest resolution consumer-grade infrared gadgets currently on the market), and boasting that education such as level I, II, or III thermography certification is overrated. They claim that those of us who use high end professional equipment and are certified in one or more levels are just getting “carried away for up-charging our clients”…

It’s not about being carried away or up-charging… it’s about competence, professionalism, expert training, and using proper equipment in one of the most advanced and complicated applications known to thermal imaging!

Would you feel confident in the abilities of a “professional” plumber you’ve hired having only a 2 hour “training” in water flow course and showing up to the job armed with a plunger smartphone app, 6″ adjustable wrench, and bottle of draino to find your clog and clear it? After all, they don’t want to get “carried away” with professional equipment so they can keep their fees low for you!

Or would you feel more confident with a master plumber equipped with a $2000+ video reel, snake reel, and a truck full of dedicated plumbing equipment tools and parts?

Would you have hired the first plumber if they actually advertised their gross incompetence?

If you hired a framing carpenter to build your new home, and they showed up armed with nothing more than a small tack hammer and a pocket knife purchased from the discount bin at the local dollar store, they’d not only likely be laughed off the jobsite by the other tradespeople, but also be immediately fired by you for inability to perform the job they were hired to do. Sure these tools arguably perform similar tasks as a properly sized hammer and circular saw, but are they adequate for the job? 

It’s no different with an ill-equipped, under-experienced, and inadequately trained home inspector!

Would you feel confident in the abilities of a home inspector who claims they perform thermal imaging, but “just” uses one of the cheapest, lowest resolution cameras currently on the market, and claims proper education and competency is overrated?

Would you have hired them in the first place if they had accurately advertised their gross inadequacy in both professional equipment and training to actually find significant defects, let alone properly interpret them?

I know how I would answer these questions. Do you? 😉