Messages posted by: RD Welch

I REALLY WISH I COULD MAKE IT!!!

William Chandler wrote:asbestos but doesn't need to be replaced. It just needs to be re-coated provided it's not cracked/broken up. Pics look pretty good to me; just showing the coating is gone. They make a coating just for this tile - don't use paint. These tiles should last 200 years with a coating every 30-40 years.

I concur. If they aren't broken or allowing leaks, leave it. My comment in the report usually addresses the high cost of replacement, if needed, and the limited options for repair.

Nathan wrote:

RD Welch wrote:Somehow I don't think they've ended. Any comment that I make on here guarantees me to get a phone call from another lab.

Hahahaha...you too? Still?!?

Yesterday he spent the day stalking me on Facebook so I had to have my Florida counsel reach out to his new counsel that hasn't fired him yet to have probably the most embarrassing legal correspondence they've had in their career.

Different lab!

Somehow I don't think they've ended. Any comment that I make on here guarantees me to get a phone call from another lab.

Nathan wrote:Hence "at your discretion"...

Doh! I just realized that was a Nathan question. Sorry.

I would accommodate the client. I would state in the report something like "Per the request of the client, this air quality assessment was not performed to commonly accepted industry standards of practice."

"Other" labs have made it a point to tell me that Inspector Lab isn't accredited.
1) Is it?
2) Does it matter?
I'm doing some commercial mold assessments that may involve lawyers.

shhhhh!!! I hope it stays a USP!
I think one reason it has remained a USP is because, while you do market to the 80% (non-users), it seems that you focus more on growing the 20% (users). The classic 80/20 rule in full effect. Smart business, IMHO.

Pete Campbell wrote:PNT issued a nice discourse, but it strayed far off the course of the OP.

and then the OP thanked him for not answering his question.

I think that may be the gift of PNT.

Nathan wrote:

Matt Smith wrote:Nathan, had I known about that, I would have told them to take the name tag off.

There's a lot of stuff always going on in this industry, but at our show, I want to make sure that our members are getting their needs met, regardless of who is meeting those needs. ProLab and InspectorLab both fill a need in our industry. If ASHI, NAHI and InterNACHI can all play nice in Dallas, so should everyone else.

Let me clue you in on a few things:

1. I put the name tag there. It was bashing myself, because I have a sense of humor. Pro Lab guys and me were on good terms all week, despite their frivolous lawsuit and apparently Mike invited them back after leaving the Platinum members high and dry at the meeting in Fort Lauderdale. We can take jabs at each other, but still be respectful about it. I have respect for Jamie as a businessman, and vice versa. We have each other's cell numbers and they get dialed.

2. InterNACHI didn't play well with ASHI or NAHI. Last year, Nick walked around your vendor hall with a flashing nametag that said "NAHI SUCKS". This year he took the first two minutes of his speech to thank Frank Lesh for his support of InterNACHI...which wasn't what you think it was.

As much as Mike wants a utopia at his event, it's not going to happen. HON was lying to members to get them to shell out hundreds of dollars for their product at the expense of violating their alarm leads contract. Pro Lab was offering whatever they needed to offer to attendees to grab marketshare.

You guys see all this as a bad thing, but it's not. It's competition and the winners are always the inspectors.

Exactly! Vendors battle, inspectors win!

WOW! That video re-sizing rocks!

Loving it! The value that RWS/ISG provides is amazing!

This has been the problem with the "program" that I've been concerned about. A home inspector is not magically a mold assessor. Prime example, Juan, you're a GREAT home inspector for one reason..... you spent/spend a lot of time and resources educated yourself to be the best. Mold requires the same approach.
I've done several stand alone mold inspections that had no visible signs of mold, yet knowing what to look for led to MAJOR remediation.
I recently did one where the tenant of a rental unit was getting sick with allergy and respiratory problems. That suspected mold and called me in to investigate/sample. The air samples yielded NOTHING NEGATIVE! I had to find surfaces to swab that tested to be molds that produce harmful mycotoxins. The specific types of mold were ones that only go airborne at certain times and under certain conditions. NOW, let me say that Dr. Shane and Casandra were VERY prompt, professional, and helpful.
I've also seen cases where Stachy is hidden and dormant with virtually no way of detection until the "perfect" scenario occurred.
The point is that mold requires just as much research, training, and education as you've put into learning how to inspect homes. If you find it airborne, you'll have to develop a hypothesis as to the source/cause, then defer to a remediation professional. If you don't find it (because it's winter and undisturbed), then summer comes and the new home owner's children can't breathe in the house because the mold is now airborne, well then, I don't know what to tell you.
That's the main reason that I'm still on the fence with testing during a standard HI.

Hmm. What does this do to your relationship with Dominic and Kevin?

FYI, I still don't see the value of it for the inspector, the Realtor, or the consumer. Why spend resources to make a similar product?