Infrared cameras and miniature high-powered microphones can ‘see
through your walls’
When Brian Link does a home inspection, he doesn’t don a
painter’s mask or use a flashlight. Rather, with gear that includes
a high-tech head-set, a microphone tuned to termite frequencies and
an infrared camera, Link looks more like a spy from the set of
”
Mission Impossible
”
doing an inside nab job at FBI headquarters.
Philosophers say art is taking two old ideas and putting them
together in a new way. The technology Link uses has been around for
a while but it took a scientist named Peng Lee from the University
of Mississippi National Center for Physical Acoustics to put it all
together and develop what he and his associates believe is a
breakthrough in home inspection. Using the results of a grant they
received from the United States Department of Agriculture, which
wanted to find new ways to detect fruit flies and ag pests, the
inventors spun their new
”
art
”
into a business called HomeSafe Inspection, Inc.
Infrared cameras and miniature high-powered microphones can ‘see through your walls’
When Brian Link does a home inspection, he doesn’t don a painter’s mask or use a flashlight. Rather, with gear that includes a high-tech head-set, a microphone tuned to termite frequencies and an infrared camera, Link looks more like a spy from the set of “Mission Impossible” doing an inside nab job at FBI headquarters.
Philosophers say art is taking two old ideas and putting them together in a new way. The technology Link uses has been around for a while but it took a scientist named Peng Lee from the University of Mississippi National Center for Physical Acoustics to put it all together and develop what he and his associates believe is a breakthrough in home inspection. Using the results of a grant they received from the United States Department of Agriculture, which wanted to find new ways to detect fruit flies and ag pests, the inventors spun their new “art” into a business called HomeSafe Inspection, Inc.
The methods used by HomeSafe allow those that run their franchises, as Link does in the South Valley, to see through ceilings and floors with an infrared camera and, with a needlelike listening probe with a miniaturized microphone and amplifier, hear the different moods of termites – whether the little critters are gnawing through your key wall studs, on the march … or making love.
“I’m trying to get people to understand how the technology exists,” Link said. “This is really for the homebuyer. But there’s a growing population of homeowners who want to do general maintenance with their homes, just like they would do for their cars. That’s where this technology comes in perfectly.”
In November, Link started his own California HomeSafe Inspection franchise based in Gilroy, and while he admits he jumped into the business at the slowest possible time for home selling – the Christmas holidays – he’s fascinated and enthusiastic about his work.
“Not every home inspector will find every problem, but we are introducing infrared technology,” Link said. “Some of the problems that can be missed are, like, hidden leaks. Our camera will pick it up. Infrared detects differences in thermal temperatures; it will pick up a temperature of less than one degree.”
Rick Hynum, Vice President of Communications of the parent company, HomeSafe Inspection, Inc. of Oxford, Miss., is just as thrilled to talk about the techno side of his product as Link is.
“It’s pictures are of heat, and they create ghostly images.” Said Hynum. “You can see studs in the walls, rat holes going through your walls, electric panels. It’s a little bit eerie. It’s black and white, you don’t need full color, you’re looking at gray tones. A bright white spot may be an over heated breaker, a dark spot might be a big spot of moisture.”
“It doesn’t tell us there are termites but it would tell us there is moisture there, and termites bring water into a home with them,” Link added. “So we follow up using a moisture meter, and if I detect that, then I use acoustic equipment. Some termites make specific sounds. The Formosan termite makes a tapping sound with its jaw on the wood.”
John Kunz, a home inspector who’s been in the business for 18 years, is familiar with the infrared technology and says it’s a useful tool — if you can afford it, and if you know how to use it.
“Oh it’s cool stuff,” Kuntz said, speaking from his Hollister offices, Universal Inspections, Inc. “Pictures don’t lie. It will show blockages in a pipe. But in the hands of the wrong person, there will be the chance of pointing out stuff that’s not wrong.”
Kuntz has contemplated buying an infrared camera for his home inspection business, but at $10,000 a pop, he’s hesitant.
“I already find enough wrong with a house when I do an inspection,” Kunz said. “If I added a camera to that, it would make everything more of an issue. The real estate industry should be scared with that kind of tech because they’re going to find more defects. It’s like opening a can of worms.”
Kunz says he makes his determinations the old-fashioned way: he listens, looks and uses a moisture meter – an essential tool in both versions of the trade.
An inspection using HomeSafe runs a little higher than the conventional inspection. Link said he charges $375 for townhouse or condominium, and $450 for a home up to 2,500 square feet.
Still, with the added listening devices used in tandem with the camera, HomeSafe has an added high-tech edge. It’s seems the company’s only disadvantage is possibly its youth. The company, based in Oxford, Miss., has some 20 franchises in 18 states, and yet, started up only three years ago.
“We feel this has the potential, it’s a phenomena,” said Hynum, “because we’re combining these two technologies in this specific industry. It in effect enables you to see through walls and ceilings. We feel we’re revolutionizing the home industry.”
For more information on California HomeSafe Inspection in Gilroy, call Brian Link at 1-888-766-7233, or check out the website www.HomeSafeInspection.com. For information on John Kunz’ Universal Inspections Inc. in Hollister, call 831-457-9151 or 831-636-3444, or go to www.Best4inspections.com.
