About two to three times a month, I get a call or email from someone who is interested in becoming a home inspector.
"What kind of training is required to be a home inspector in Minnesota? What type of background is required to be a home inspector? Are you hiring?"
I always call people back to chat about this business and give the long answers to all of these questions; there is no such thing as licensing for home inspectors in Minnesota, so there is no 'right' answer to these questions. I'm happy to share my time chatting about this stuff, but I end up giving different suggestions every time. Like so many other frequently asked questions, I've found it's nice to have a document already put together to direct people to for a well-thought out answer, not just the first stuff that comes to my mind.
To do this, I asked several successful ASHI Certified Inspectors in the Twin Cities area about their background, and what advice they would give to anyone who is interested in this profession. I appreciated hearing their advice, and I hope you do too.
Me: When did you start your business?
Fred: I began inspecting homes in 1990. Being a fourth generation building contractor, many friends called me for advice and asked me to look at houses they were thinking of buying. Expanding my construction business into home inspections seemed to be a natural progression.
Me: How did you get your phone to start ringing?
Fred: I began at a time when we had this thing called a phone book, so I thought having an ad in the phone book would help, it didn’t. I tracked a few calls to my yellow page ad, but not many. Most of my business came by way of referrals from friends or face-to-face meeting/networking with Realtors. It was slow going for many years, but as referrals increased so did the business.
Me: Thank goodness phone books are gone. How long did it take to start doing home inspections full time, and what did you do in the meantime?
Fred: Thankfully I was in the construction business, which supported my family. I quickly discovered that performing home inspections required considerable technical expertise that was far beyond what I knew as a contractor. I devoted about 5 years time and energy into educating myself about the home inspection industry before I was comfortable inspecting homes for paid clients. It took another 5 years before it became a full-time business.
Me: What kind of training, formal and informal, did you go through before your first home inspection?
Fred: I read books and technical journals that taught electrical, plumbing, heating, architecture, structural support, cold climate weatherization and more. I went to the library and read building codes. I traveled and attended weekend-long intensive seminars taught by experts in their field. I joined multiple national organizations including the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) which held both national and local monthly seminars.
Me: What kind of training would you recommend someone have before doing their first home inspection?
Fred: The list is long and goes far beyond the basic “house” knowledge; inspectors need good business, legal and writing abilities. I highly recommend joining a national home inspector organization such as ASHI, which has online learning opportunities. In MN, we have local inspector organizations including ASHI, NAHI and MSHI that offer low cost classroom style monthly seminars. I also recommend getting to know local inspectors, someone you can call when you have a question, someone you can ride along with and watch as they perform an inspection. When the time is right, test your skills by taking the National Home Inspectors Exam.
Me: When did you start your business?
Pat: 2007
Me: How did you get your phone to start ringing?
Pat: It took a long time, mostly word of mouth, family and friends mostly, and my website.
Me: How long did it take to start doing home inspections full time?
Pat: Two years
Me: What did you do in the meantime?
Pat: I did home inspections for another company, approximately 1,800 with their understanding that I would be going out on my own in a few years. I already had my training prior to working with them.
Me: What kind of training, formal and informal, did you go through before your first home inspection?
Pat: At that time I had about 20 yrs in the building industry, Penn Foster Inspector training, ASHI certification.
Me: What kind of training would you recommend someone have before doing their first home inspection?
Pat: Formal and ASHI inspection training and as many ride-a-long's as they can get.
Me: When did you start your business?
Barry: Back in the early 80s I studied pre-architecture at the U of M and then architectural drafting at the St Paul TVI. I took a two week class at TVI in Home Energy Auditing and after passing the test became a certified energy auditor. This allowed me to do home energy audits as a sub contractor with NSP (now Xcel Energy).
By about 1986 the energy audit demand was dropping and I started looking for something else to do. Someone suggested that I look into the Truth in Housing programs of St Paul and Mpls since I was already inspecting many of the home components of a TISH inspection while doing my energy audits. I didn’t know much about plumbing, electrical, structural or building codes however, so I bought all the code books for each trade and started to study. At that time there was no place that offered training classes for home inspectors that I knew of.
Me: How did you get your phone to start ringing?
Barry: I had some business cards printed up and started going to real estate offices to promote my services. I got a couple neighborhood agents to start using me and slowly expanded my business. It wasn’t long before some of my TISH customers started asking me to inspect the houses they were buying and I had no idea how to begin.
Me: How long did it take to start doing home inspections full time?
Barry: I still wasn’t able to make inspections much more than a part time job, so I called around and got offered a job as an independent contractor with one of the few large home inspection companies in town. There I got more hands on training. After a few years I left there and started my own company.
I wasn’t able to get inspections to be much more than about ¾ time work for the first 10 years or so, but that was OK because I was also very active in the parenting of my three children at that time. About the time the kids were getting through school I introduced moisture testing services to the Twin Cities area and with that additional work I was finally fully employed.
Me: What kind of training, formal and informal, did you go through before your first home inspection?
Barry: I flew out to Virginia to attend an ASHI seminar called “Back to the Basics” that covered what a buyers inspection should include. Along the line I have gone to countless seminars and home inspector conventions, always learning more. I sometimes regret not having had much formal education in home inspections, but think that in the end I know more than anyone who has only taken a two week class.
Me: What kind of training would you recommend someone have before doing their first home inspection?
Barry: If I had it to do over again I would take the Building Inspection Technology classes on becoming a Certified Building Official. Although home inspections are not code inspections, there is a great deal of overlap. This would be a great credential, and there are also more jobs available working for the various cities as a building inspector if a person didn’t want to go out on their own. Very few home inspection companies hire employee inspectors because they struggle to just keep themselves busy.
Me: When did you start your business?
Roger: In 1975, the Minneapolis City Council adopted a Truth in Sale of Housing ordinance which called for housing evaluations to be done on property listed for sale. The ordinance set up an examination and licensing program for private evaluators. I took the first test for this program, passed, took training offered by the city and joined the first group of evaluators in December of 1975.
Me: How did you get your phone to start ringing?
Roger: REALTORS® and home sellers were directly affected by this new requirement, and I quickly became aware of the need to explain the program to real estate agents listing properties in Minneapolis. I spent many Tuesday mornings speaking at real estate offices around the Twin Cities, doing slide shows on what the program required and what the evaluators checked. I also began working with my partner Cheryll Brown and helped train her to conduct all types of home inspections.
I obtained a license to do energy audits in 1980, and went out to the real estate community and explained the features of this statewide program. The energy audit program exposed me to the suburban market and the potential to do home inspections for buyers. In 1982 I became the first inspector in Minnesota to be a full member of the American Society of Home Inspectors. (ASHI)
Over the years, we have spent a great deal of time marketing home inspections through our participation in ASHI® including taking leadership position in the local chapter and on the ASHI Board of Directors. In recent years, my marketing efforts have focused largely on contacts with previous customers and developing a website with extensive content on home inspection and maintenance topics.
Our training included 10 annual ASHI conferences, dozens of ASHI chapter seminars, annual attendance at the Institute for Building Code officials, and Building Inspection Technology classes at Inver Hills and North Hennepin Community College.
Me: What kind of training would you recommend someone have before doing their first home inspection?
Roger: The home inspection business seems easy to enter, but in reality, unless you have had years of experience and training in multiple building trades, you probably do not have the experience base to succeed on your own. The best path is probably to work under the guidance of an experienced inspector. Unfortunately the current state of the real estate market has greatly reduced the demand for home inspections and most established inspectors do not have enough work for themselves, let alone take on a trainee. For those who wish to try, the Building Inspection Technology classes at community colleges provide a good base of information on building codes. Keep in mind that private home inspectors are not code inspectors, and an important area of training is field experiences found only while conducting inspections of existing houses.
Me: Hey pops, when did you start your business?
Neil: I started doing home inspections in 1990.
Me: How did you get your phone to start ringing?
Neil: I joined a network group and wore two hats: construction and home inspections. I started literature drops at real estate offices and gave presentations at these offices when I could, but it wasn't easy to get in front of these groups.
Me: How long did it take to start doing home inspections full time?
Neil: I think it took at least 3 years to get it to the point of doing it full time. In the meantime I was doing construction.
Me: What kind of training, formal and informal, did you go through before your first home inspection?
Neil: My informal training was doing construction for over twenty years. My formal training was attending a number of Building Inspection Technology classes at the community college. I also passed the ICBO Building Inspector exam.
Me: What kind of training would you recommend someone have before doing their first home inspection?
Neil: The best training is to be mentored by a seasoned inspector. In the building trades, you were an apprentice first. You just hung out doing the grunt work - carrying, digging, lifting, doing the demolition, etc. Then, depending on the trade, you might have been handed a tool to use. Working alongside of the craftsman, you learned by watching and listening. Then after many years, you were able to do it on your own. I think this is ideal.
Unfortunately, the majority of the people who enter and then quickly leave this business are the people who want to transition from a dead-end business to a model in which a training school is advertising huge rewards and money in the home inspection business. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
The responses I received were similar; personally, I'm a big fan of the community college classes mentioned by Barry, Roger, and Neil. If you're in Minnesota and you're interested in getting in to the home inspection business, I believe the two key components of your training should be education through Building Inspection Technology (BIT) classes and training with a veteran home inspector.
Building Inspection Technology classes are offered through North Hennepin Community College and Inver Hills Community College. These classes are focused on teaching someone how to work in building code enforcement; it's not the same thing as home inspections, but provides a solid foundation for an education in home inspections. These classes are mostly taught at night or online as a part-time gig by Minnesota State Certified Building Officials. I've taken about fifteen of these classes over the years, and I've found the instructors to be top-notch; they're great teachers, they're incredibly knowledgeable, and most of them make the classes interesting.
You can see a full list of the classes offered here - BIT classes. A few of the first classes to take would be Introduction to Building Inspection, Foundations of Construction Codes and Inspections, Field Inspection, Mechanical Inspection, Electrical Inspection, Plumbing Code, and Housing Field Inspection Fundamentals.
Every home inspector agrees; there is no substitute for on-site home inspection training. If you want to be a home inspector, you need to learn the business from another home inspector. Pairing up with a veteran home inspector is the only way to do this. A good mentor will teach etiquette, procedure, safety, report writing... and plenty of other aspects of the business.
I'm not a huge fan, and I don't know any seasoned home inspector who is. In 2004 I attended a home inspection school from a company that claims to have the industry's "best home inspector training". I found it to be very... blah. The focus of the class seemed to be on teaching new home inspectors how to produce an inspection report that wouldn't get them sued. I wasn't impressed. I have nothing against home inspection schools... but they should be considered a very small portion of the total education required to be a home inspector.
The bottom line is that if you want to be a competent home inspector, there is no magic pill. You'll need to invest a lot of time in learning.
I post a new home inspection photo on the Structure Tech Facebook page six days a week, and this year I decided to put together a blog post showing my favorite photos from 2011. I hope you enjoy these half as much as I do. As with all of my blog posts, click on any of these photos for a larger version.
Ice Dams - Remember ice dams? They were nasty last winter. I'm enjoying winter in Minnesota much more this year; what have we received so far, two inches of snow?
Ice Dam-age Control - This is the only photo we didn't take (thanks DKW3). This was someone's solution to chronic water intrusion from ice dam leakage.
Hack Ice Dam Removal - We've said many times that pressure washers should never be used to remove ice dams, because they tear up shingles.
Hot Roof? Cold Roof? Not Sure. - Attics are supposed to be treated as warm spaces or cold spaces. Someone obviously didn't understand the point.
Hockey Puck Fascia Repair - Hole in your fascia? No problem! Just use a bunch of caulk and a hockey puck to fix it.
Rotted Roof Decking - The roof decking was in horrible condition at this house, but that didn't stop the roofers; they installed a new roof covering right over the top. That black stuff is the ice & water shield.
Bad Shingle Repair - No explanation needed.
Bad Chimney Crown - We could tell this chimney crown needed repair just by looking at it from the ground, but we had no idea it would be this bad. This chimney crown obviously needs to be completely replaced.
Chimney with Facade Falling Apart - Three sides of this chimney looked just fine from a distance.
One Angry Bird Away... - As I was typing up the insection report for this house, my wife saw this photo on the computer screen and said "Wow, that chimney looks like it's about one angry bird away from collapse." Good call.
Downspout Combustion Air Intake - That downspout connecting to the return air duct fed to the exterior of the home and was being used as the combustion air intake. It's not conventional and it's probably a little small, but hey, it works.
Central Air-ish - This was someone's attempt at cooling a room where the AC unit wasn't installed.
Creative Heat Register - Interesting solution.
Heat Register in Cabinet - While most people would have had to decide between a heat register and a cabinet here, this homeowner decided to have their cake and eat it too. Can you guess what city this house was in?
Hint: Look up "cake-eater" at urbandictionary.com.
Garbage Can Sump Basket - Sump baskets are reinforced on the sides to prevent them from collapsing. Plastic refuse containers are not.
Mouse in Panel - Any unused openings in electric panels are supposed to be covered over, not only to contain any potential fire or sparking that could occur inside the panel, but also to prevent unwanted visitors from coming in.
Covered Outlet - No explanation needed.
Missing Fuses - Apparently someone was tired of replacing those pesky fuses, so they replaced the fuses with a couple short lengths of copper tubing. Can you say fire hazard?
Mirror Tile on Kitchen Floor - This might be the most interesting tiled floor we've come across.
Useless Shower Fan - Someone went to a lot of effort to install this bath fan above the shower, but without a duct... what's the point? I can only scratch my head.
Water Behind Escutcheon - My personal favorite. I noticed water leaking out from behind the escutcheon, which is that decorative metal trim ring around the pipe sticking out of wall. I turned the water off, pulled the escutcheon away, got my camera ready, turned the water back on... click.
Ok, that was twenty-one photos. Close enough. If you enjoy these kinds of photos, please click "Like" on our Facebook page. Thanks!
Have you ever noticed how snow will melt around the foundation on older houses? This will happen at any house with unheated foundation walls, and it's a great visual indication of how the house is losing heat. When there's no melted snow up against the house, we can rely on thermal imaging to figure out where the heat loss is occurring. In the image below it's right at the rim space; that's the part that shows up as the brightest orange / yellow.
While houses usually act like chimneys, sucking air in at the bottom and exhausting air through leaks at the top, the photo below is a perfect example showing how it doesn't always work that way. The frost that has accumulated against the siding is all coming from air that's leaking out of the un-insulated, un-sealed rim space. It was about -15 degrees outside when I took the photo below.
To cut down on basement heat loss, an obvious place to start at is the rim space. I mentioned this a couple weeks ago when I wrote my post about how I had my entire basement re-insulated, but today I'm going to focus on the rim space alone and discuss the different options for insulating and air sealing this space.
The old way of insulating rim joists was to use fiberglass batts. As I've mentioned many times in previous blogs, fiberglass batts are a poor choice of insulation for any project... but they should never be used at the rim space because it's nearly impossible to install a proper vapor barrier here, and fiberglass batts will allow for a lot of air leakage. Without a vapor barrier at the rim space, you'll have relatively warm, moist air passing through the fiberglass insulation and then condensing at the rim joist. This can create mold or rotting.
There are only two ways that I ever recommend to insulate the rim space: rigid foam or spray foam.
Using spray foam at the rim space is just about the only thing that is ever done on new construction houses in Minnesota today; while it's expensive, it's worth it because it can be applied quickly and does a perfect job of both insulating and air sealing the rim space. Wires, faucets, pipes... they're no match for spray foam. All of the penetrations get sealed.
While spray foam is supposed to be covered by an approved material to prevent the possible spread of a fire, the rim space is one exception to this rule; this exception can be found in the Minnesota Amendments to the IRC, sectionR314.5.11. Here in Minnesota, up to 5 1/2" of foam insulation can be sprayed at the rim space and left exposed. The only downside to using foam insulation is that it's relatively expensive. You can buy do-it-yourself insulation kits for fairly small jobs, such as a rim space, but I would personally just hire a professional to do this. It wouldn't cost much more than a spray foam insulation kit.
The alternative to having spray foam applied at the rim space is to install rigid foam insulation. Installing foam insulation at the rim space takes a long time, but it's not a very difficult project. Basically, pieces of rigid foam boards get cut to size, placed at the rim space, and caulked or foamed in place to help prevent air leakage.
While writing this post, I came across a great blog written by a handy homeowner, showing how he insulated his own rim space with rigid foam. You can view it here - rigid foam at rim space.
The one thing to remember when making a house tighter is that you'll have less air leaking in to and out of your house, which can create other problems, such as a backdrafting water heater or excessive moisture in the home. The Minnesota Department of Commerce Energy Information Center has a great handout that specifically addresses this topic, which you can download here - Combustion & Makeup Air.
Post edit: Check out Charles Buell's post from today about tighter houses. This is exactly the stuff I'm talking about in the paragraph above.
If you don't have any insulation at your rim space, add this project to your list of 'to-do' projects. It's not as critical as attic insulation and it takes more time, but it's a good thing to do. Just don't use fiberglass.
I recently had a friend go through a huge hassle to get his water turned on after buying a vacant property in Coon Rapids. His plan was to buy the house, get the water turned back on, and live in the house while he remodeled it going room by room.
Shortly after buying the home, he contacted the city of Coon Rapids to have the water turned back on, and they told him they would need to inspect the house first. The city ended up having a huge list of repairs that he would need to completebefore moving in to the house, and he ended up moving in about two months later than his planned move-in date.
I called the building inspections department in Coon Rapid to ask about this, and as it turns out, these inspections have been required in Coon Rapids for about the last three years. Apparently, the city of Coon Rapids will turn off the water supply to any property that is known to be vacant; they do this to reduce the risk of property damage from burst or frozen water pipes. That's pretty standard procedure for just about any bank owned property, but the huge difference with Coon Rapids is the water restoration permit.
Before the city of Coon Rapids will turn the water back on to a property, they need to have a Water Restoration Permit application filed, along with a $75 inspection fee. After this permit gets filed, they'll inspect the property for safety. If the house passes the inspection, they'll turn the water on. If the house doesn't pass the inspection, repairs will need to be completed before the water can be turned back on. Below is a list of the items that would prevent the water from being turned on - I copied this text exactly from their Water Restoration Permit form:
- Furnace – Furnace must be operable & providing heat to dwelling.
- Water heater – Must be correctly installed & operable.
- Furnace or Water heater installed without a permit or inspection – *All plumbing & mechanical work must be permitted.
- You may be required to hire a licensed contractor to inspect and pull permits for previously installed equipment per requirements of the Minnesota State Building Code.
- Gas or Electric service – Service must be ‘turned on’ to property.
- Wiring/exposed wiring – *Dwelling must not have any exposed wiring.
- Plumbing – Dwelling must meet the ‘Minimum standards of habitation’& may not have any broken or damaged water pipes.
- ‘Minimum standard’ is defined as a functioning kitchen sink, lavatory sink, water closet, shower or bathtub & proper back flow prevention.
- Severe mold issues- A ‘Mold Remediation’ report may be required. (Please discuss plans for mold cleanup with Bldg Dept. staff)
- Building must be weather tight - Dwelling must not have any door or window openings that are not covered.
- Severe structural problems – As deemed by City of Coon Rapids Building Official.
- Other items that could be deemed as a life safety concern.
- Dwelling ‘Not habitable’ – Any circumstances deemed by the Building Official that property is unsuitable for habitation.
While it used to be common practice to use staples to attach asphalt shingles to a roof, this has been a prohibited method of attachment in Minnesota since 2003. Today, staples are considered an inferior method of attaching shingles to a roof, but it's easy to understand why roofers like staples.
Staples are used because they make the roofer's job easier; they don't equate to a better installation.
The problem with stapled shingles is that they have a much greater chance of coming loose or blowing off the roof because staples are so easy to install improperly. When a roofer holds a staple gun and fastens a shingle, the staples will have a tendency to be driven at an improper angle.
Staples are often improperly installed because it's somewhat awkward to hold a staple gun completely perpendicular to the shingle. For someone who is right handed, it's much easier to shoot the staples on the left side of their body at an angle similar to a forward slash, and the staples on the right side at an angle similar to a backward slash. The two super-crude diagrams below should help to illustrate what I'm talking about.
When staples are installed properly, they work fine, but they're just too easy to install wrong. This issue doesn't happen with nails, because they have a round head; as long as a nail is driven in to a shingle straight, it doesn't matter which way the nail gun is turned. To know if a roof has been installed with staples, you can sometimes see the outline of the staples pushing through the shingle above.
Also notice, these staples aren't perpendicular to the shingle. This is the installation problem that typically happens with staples.
If you have a roof that's been installed with staples, is it a defective installation? If it was installed after 2003, technically yes, because staples aren't allowed any more. If every staple was perfectly installed, the installation would work just as well as perfectly installed nails, but I've found improperly installed staples at every stapled roof I've inspected. If you have a roof with stapled shingles, you don't need to replace the shingles as a rule of thumb, but you're taking on some risk. If shingles start blowing off on a regular basis, you'll probably want to have the roof covering replaced. This will be less costly and less of a hassle in the long run than having to deal with constant roof repairs.
When I inspect a house with shingles that have been improperly installed, I tell the same thing to my buyers; the shingles don't need to be replaced, but they might cause some headaches. If shingles have already started coming loose and obvious repairs have been made, I typically recommend replacement of the roof covering.
P.S. - Special thanks to roof guru and fellow home inspector Mike Moser for always knowing the answer to any technical roofing question right off the top of his head.
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Minneapolis Home Inspections, Truth-in-Housing Evaluations, Infrared Inspections. Minnesota State Certified Building Official Limited #MN2893, ASHI Certified Inspector.
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