International Association of Certified Home Inspectors
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| Interior Inspections Contains discussions about the interior portion of a home inspection. This includes stairs, walls, floors, ceilings, smoke detectors, etc. |
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#1
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Situation: No floor in attic, loose insulation covers joists, headroom limited to 42" to the bottom of the ridge beam of a hip roof. Access is through a hatch.
Question: Do you enter the attic or inspect from the hatch? |
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#2
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But..! I would probably weasel my way through like a squirrel monkey...! Dale Duffy Inspect Arizona Companies, Inc. Phoenix Home Inspectors, Inc. Scottsdale Home Inspectors, Inc. Infraspection Certified Thermographer 602.402.5305 Home Hints eNews
InterNACHI 2007 U.S.A Member of the Year National Association of Commercial Building Inspectors, Inc. |
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#3
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Please Note:
tneumann is a non-member guest and is in no way affiliated with InterNACHI or its members.
Weasel.....
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#4
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Most are to small in a closet with a loaded shelf. Never had a complaint . Roy Cooke If I can answer any questions please send me email Roycooke@hotmail.com On an inspection and need immediate help call my cell 613-827-2011 |
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#5
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Please Note:
dbelmont is a non-member guest and is in no way affiliated with InterNACHI or its members.
Given what you describe it's the hatch at best. Being 6'4" and 300 lbs means that I'm careful about wherre I crawl. But if I can get close then out come my trusty binoculars and ,my camera has a great zoom as well.
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#6
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From the hatch unless something made me suspicious. Weaseling through would compact all that nice blown in insulation and compromised its usefulness.
Helm Home Inspection David Helm, Owner/Inspector http//www.helmhomeinspections.com |
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#7
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#9
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Please Note:
mthomas2 is a non-member guest and is in no way affiliated with InterNACHI or its members.
Hatch first.
Then, depends on what I see. Probably I go at least *some distance* in around a quarter of the time in difficult attics - far enough to see around major obstructions and take a look at the chimney/roof junction if possible. At a minimum in that situation I take hi-res photos, then pull them into Photoshop, use highlight/shadows adjustment, and then enlarge (on screen) and take a *careful* look... that's on reason I don't do on-site reports. BTW, recently had a client stick their head up into the hatch and ask "What about that broken rafter?".... because of the angle it was only readily visible only from hatch level... *very* hard to see standing in the attic. Boy, would *that* have been embarrassing... Lesson (re)learned: always take a good look from hatch level first. |
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#10
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Thanks for all the responses. Here is what I think: it's folly to climb through an attic with no floor. Who will pay for the damage if you miss a joist and step through the ceiling (think about the dance you do when you bump your head!)
I had an inspection today where the client was disappointed because I told him I wasn't going to crawl through the attic since it had no floor. To me, thats' just unsafe. And unnecessary. I told him to call some of the other inspectors he had shopped, to see what they would do. He said three of them said "Sure, no problem... I'll crawl along the joists". Maybe he called some of you! If that's your pleasure, go for it... I won't do it. |
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#11
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Please Note:
tneumann is a non-member guest and is in no way affiliated with InterNACHI or its members.
I have yet to see an attic with a floor...so If I only crawled attics with floors...I would never crawl any attics......
I like em.....I like nasty crawlspaces also.....makes me feel like I'm earning my money... |
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#12
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If I can duck walk it, I get through it. Your description sounds about like the normal attic here.
I won't go over the vaulted ceilings though. At 6'1", 250 I would make a horrible sound when I slipped through the ceiling to the floor 15 feet below!! Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties. Abraham Lincoln www.qualityhomeinspectionsfl.com |
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#13
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SPACIOUS I'd do the crawl for the same reason I walk the roof. Most of the time I find something serious it's found in one of three places: under the house, in the attic or on top of the roof. I would not find most of them from the access point or top of a ladder. IHMO, don't do those three whenever possible, and you are shorting your client and setting yourself up for a trip to the courthouse. |
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#14
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Please Note:
Dave Morris is a non-member guest and is in no way affiliated with InterNACHI or its members.
I enter every space I possibly can. That is what my client pays me to do. Occasionally there are attics or crawlspaces that I cannot navigate and note it as so, but it is pretty rare in my area.
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#15
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I have only been doing them for eight years and always interested in improving my inspections . I take about Three hours and how long do you take . I also Charge $399;00 ,am I charging to much what do you charge Thanks for your Info . Roy Cooke If I can answer any questions please send me email Roycooke@hotmail.com On an inspection and need immediate help call my cell 613-827-2011 |
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