Home Inspections and Infrared Cameras

Ever since Mike Holmes broadcast his first 'Holmes Inspection' program, home inspectors across Canada have been clambering to buy the cheapest Infrared (IR) Cameras and offer 'IR services' as part of their inspection process.

Now any press for the home inspection industry is generally a good thing, but I am afraid the Mike Holmes inspection show has done more harm than good, in that it portrays the services of an inspector in an unrealistic way (but more on that on a later post - back to the topic).

A home inspection is best performed by an individual with a broad base of knowledge of all the systems and components in a home. The inspection is visual in nature, as we as inspectors are not authorized to perform destructive testing/investigation. The addition of an IR Camera would seem like a godsend for an inspector, as it would allow them to 'see' behind walls.

However, as with most things, it is not that easy. The cameras that most inspectors are buying are at the bottom end of the technology and cheap (<$5K). They are very low resolution and a very narrow scope of field with limited accuracy. Even a professional would be hard pressed to use these cameras in anything but the most basic and focused of investigations. The concept that a home inspector can use these to 'scope the house' is ludicrous. The technology does represent an excellent opportunity for a home owner or purchaser to asses a dwelling from the standpoint of thermal bridges (missing or poorly detailed insulation), air leakage (poorly detailed air barrier), and even moisture issues (rain leaks, plumbing leaks, & condensation in the walls). However a meaningful and accurate result can only be accomplished by using professional equipment (Still priced in the $10K range) and utilizing an inspector who has the required training to operate the camera, understands the building science that indicates where and how to look, and has the overall experience and field training to interpret what the camera is 'seeing'. For single family homes this means having at the very least, a Level 1 ASNT certification. If the inspector is providing IR inspection on Multi-Family or Commercial properties, they are then required to have a minimum Level 2 ASNT certification. This represents an additional $2-5K in training on top of the camera cost. And in order to stay current on their skills, an IR inspector has to use the technology at least weekly (preferably daily) and must continually update their education and equipment over time. In fact the certification program requires the inspectors to continually update their training as part of the certification program, which is why you want to ensure your IR inspector has a current certification certificate.

A typical non-trained home inspector would look at this photo and state that the upper windows are cooler than the bottom windows, when in fact the upper windows are reflecting the night sky radiation off the Low-E coatings on the window, due to the viewing angle of the camera and are most likely hotter than the bottom windows, due to the stack effect that would be present in the tower.

The facts are, that in order to perform quality Infrared inspections you must have the right equipment and right training behind you, and then you must perform the inspection under controlled conditions at the right time of the day. Criteria very few home inspectors have met, have knowledge of, or can even afford if they do.

The 'IR' services that many home inspectors are advertising are really more of a marketing gimmick, as opposed to providing the client any real level of additional security against liability. The services usually represent negligence at best (providing a service they are not trained to perform) and sometimes even fraud at the worst.

At this point SENWI will not be providing Infrared Services and will instead leave it to the experts. We will instead provide the best visual inspection we are capable of providing and when warranted, recommend an independent IR inspection follow up by a contractor who performs IR inspections as their major business activity, and who has a current Level 1 or Level 2 certification.

One source of professionally trained thermographers is City Green Solutions

Should you wish to discuss the issues of IR inspections with us further, please feel free to contact us at mailto:inspector@bchouseinspections.ca?subject=IR%20Inspections

So, do not fall victim to those that claim to provide 'IR Inspection' as part of their home inspection services, but do not have the equipment or training to provide this service competently. Look for these warning signs that the inspector does not have the proper training to perform an IR Inspection:

1. They advise that they will be providing IR services during a brief 4 hour or less home inspection.


2. They advise that they will be performing the IR portion of the inspection during daylight hours (After sunrise or before sunset is required for accurate readings).


3. They advise that it will be easy to identify water related issues on the interior or exterior of the home. (nothing could be further from the truth)


4. They advise they will only do an interior or exterior scan of the home (not both as is required for accurate interpretation).

Why are these warning signs?

1. Ron Newport, Director of Institute of Infrared Thermography agrees with these sentiments and indicates a complete and thorough IR inspection of a standard single family residential dwelling will take in the order of 4-6 hours (this is just for the IR portion, the inspection has not performed any regular home inspection tasks yet). The City Green website indicates that their thermal imaging assessment overview takes on average - 2 hours.


2. Most thermographers will take any scans of the exterior of the home prior to sun-up or after sunset. The whole purpose of using an IR camera is to look for temperature differences (indicated by the infrared light that radiates from an object) between various building components and trying to determine if they make sense. Once the sun is out, much of the 'evidence' is wiped out as the surfaces heat up under the sun's rays. This will also very quickly effect the readings on the inside face of exterior walls and so even interior scans are often done before the sun has reached the particular wall(s) of concern.


3. Even a seasoned IR inspector, with the best equipment, will advise that finding moisture issues is one of the hardest tasks to perform with an IR camera. In order to perform this task, the technician usually has to artificially cause a significant temperature change to the structure of concern (often also accompanied by artificially lowering the air's humidity in the region). This investigation takes a very thorough knowledge of building science (something the vast majority of home inspectors due not have) and preparation, and even then can often not be conclusive.


4. In order to get a true 'picture' of the situation, a good thermographer will scan both the interior and exterior of a dwelling to allow a comparison between the two surfaces and allow the development of a hypothesis of what is happening within the building structure at that location. Just think, would a home inspector ever inspect just the exterior or interior of a home and advise that a given building envelope was OK based on only seeing only half of it?