I am in the process of buying an investment home for rental income and am looking for a home inspector as part of the purchasing process.

While I looked around for home inspectors one thing that caught my eyes was some of them offered "Infrared Imaging" as part of the inspection process - for an added fee of course. It claims to be very useful in checking and detecting HVAC heating/cooling leaks as well as moisture leaks.





Have you guys seen this? Could this be used to detect say a pipe leak under concrete for example, it claims to be able to differentiate hot/cold and wet/dry.

Looks cool. I am not going to order it (it seems to cost a pretty penny) but could be handy in some situations I would bet.

Do you see real practical applications for plumbing diagnosis and repair?



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I doubt that it would have the sensitivity or depth range to check for a sewer leak. In part, because aa sewer leak would have a very small actual "leakage" into the ground under normal circumstances.

Very useful in very cold climates. Less useful in FL, but probably will find duct leaks, air leaks, etc.

May be a pressure water line leak?

I remember when I knew I had a pool leak, the water level in my pool seem to be lowering at a rate higher than I anticipated. So I took out a large bin, filled it with water. Marked a line. I did the same at the pool. After a few days I crossed check the pool level and the level of water in the bin, the pool lost more than double the difference. I hired a pool leak detection company.

They suspected a leak in the PVC line going to the pump, but have no easy way to find it.

They did it by drilling a 1/2" hole in my pool deck every foot or so, until they drilled about a dozen holes in my paver tiles, and suddenly there drill bit came back wet. Then they started to saw cut the spot and did the repair.

I think this might have been useful in that case.

mike holmes gets good mileage out of his infrared camera.

The FLIR infrared cameras are extremely useful in inspection of houses.

They are great for checking insulation (doubt as important in south Florida), air leaks around windows doors outlets and pipe perforations, electrical connections ( Heat is generated by bad wiring ) roof leaks and leaks in general (sewer leaks may be the exception) termite problems etc. I recommend you have the sewer inspected with a camera.

I would make sure you get the copies to evaluate yourself as the guys with the cameras try to erase the images and do not label them when taken. The guys who come with the cameras are usually not expert on interpretation of the images also!

The FLIR brand (FLIR is a brand name) of infrared imaging has a lock on the market. I would like to have one but they run $1000 bucks plus. There is a way to make an infrared camera from a regular Cmos camera by removing a filter from the sensor. These cameras detect heat also but dont' have the color label that the FLIR cameras have.
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My leak detection company would have plugged the lines and injected Helium. Then they would use a "light gas detector" to search for the Helium around the outside of the deck. Once they found it, a couple of small holes in the deck to zero in on it would find the leak location. Whether an infrared detector would find a pressure leak would sometimes depend on whether the leak is directed up towards the surface or down into the ground.

That's because his solution to any problem is "tear it out and redo it my way".