Shorts stories about the people we help...
I’ll Find That Damn LeakI was recently contacted by a frustrated wife who had reported that her husband was punching holes in their basement paneling looking for a leak. She had asked me if I could help. I felt that I could since the camera would see where the paneling was wicking up the water and show a distinct pattern. Missy The Missing CatI was called into a home to do a normal home inspection for heat loss. Because my camera is so sensitive to temperature change it can actually see liquids like water evaporating from the environment (This in physics is the property of the latent heat of fusion) I saw a pattern of droplets evaporating on a very expensive tapestry. Knowing immediately what it was I asked the owners if they had a cat of dog. The woman responded proudly why yes we have Missy.
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When he asked about the cost of my services his wife said she was handling it. I then told him I would find the problem in approximately 5 minutes (allowing 4 minutes for the camera to turn on and calibrate itself.) This made him even crankier.
When I pointed out the spot and indicated that “Missy” had done her thing the husband became immediately irritated. Through out the house the old cat left “tracks” in her favorite spots that I faithfully pointed out. Spots were located in the carpet, the couch, the stair well, and so on. They were in so many places that I noticed the tension building between the couple. The next morning I phoned the couple and his wife answered and I asked for Harold. She indicated that he was not there and would be back in a short time. Apparently the cat got out last night and she had sent him out first thing in the morning to try and locate Missy.
Emma’s Dead HusbandOn one of my inspections I was trying to help a lovely elderly widowed woman lower her heating bills. She did not entirely understand the process but had heard my name on the Glenn Haege program and figured she would give it a go. Her home was immaculate, everything in its place as she walked into the bathroom with me with the lights off she immediately started to scream hysterically and proceeded to run out of the house.
Billy's Cold RoomI received a phone call from a home owner about a concern they had about their sons bedroom being unusually cold. Although these are quite common after asking the usual questions about the location of the room relative to the furnace, the potential of insulation that could be missing I continually came of with answers that did not support my hypotenuse simply that is room had exterior walls, was located on the opposite side of the house and was on the second floor. In fact his room was located on the first floor, close to the furnace (so the run was relatively short) and the home was relatively new and insulation was consistent.
After pointing the camera in the room it became obvious what was wrong in a matter of seconds. The heat/air duct entered Bill’s room from the basement from an interior wall. (the key here is there is no insulation in the interior wall) That is neither good or bad but in this situation it was bad…. Apparently the heat duct was partially disconnected and the heat was flowing thru the studs up to the heat vent and then continued up the studs past the ceiling. Enough air was entering the room to give you the feel that the register was working properly but the volume was a fraction of what it should be. Upon inspection of the upstairs interior wall it was noticed that the heat continued up the wall past the ceiling of the second floor. It continued spilling into the attic. Wasting heat. After a simple fix Billy’s room is warm and comfortable.
From the picture right, you can see the heat continuing up the inside wall to the ceiling beyond that is the attic where it is being wasted. |
Since my camera is sensitive to heat and blind to light it had immediately picked up the reflection of heat from my body from the glossy tiles in the back of the shower. That heat reflected to the camera of my image and Emma had seen it as we entered the room. Unfortunately she took the image as it being her dead husbands ghost (watching too much late TV) and ran into the street screaming her husband was back. It took several minutes to calm her down and convince her that she had actually seen my reflection of heat and not her dead husband.