Are you performing an incomplete inspection on a home with a pool? You might be, and someone might also be suing you over it. In a few minutes of your day, you can avoid performing an incomplete pool inspection, and you can get paid for it too.
When a homeowner gets their house ready for sale, an inspector is going to look the entire property over and identify needs for repair. When it comes to a roof, obviously, the roof needs to be free of damage and it can’t leak during a rainstorm, that would be bad. It gets looked at from both sides – the outside and from in the attic space. A complete inspection requires this.
When they inspect the house plumbing, the pipes need to be in great working order or they get replaced, after all, if a pipe leaks under a bathroom floor, or from a kitchen sink, that would be bad. Leaking pipes are obviously an issue. They get inspected completely by checking for meter spin, water loss and pressure loss. A complete inspection requires this too.
Are windows and sliding doors installed properly? Does a bad window cause an indoor/outdoor air exchange, or potential leaking when it rains outside? Cracks in walls and even the foundation are all subject to leaking … that would be bad. Cracks in concrete, window frames or door jams are obviously an issue and all aspects of their ability to function properly are inspected and reported on, a complete inspection requires this.
So when it comes to the swimming pool, is it leaking? You can’t tell by looking at it, and if you make a report on it without checking for leaks, you are performing fraudulent work.
A vast majority of home inspectors perform a visual inspection on a swimming pool, reviewing briefly if equipment turns on and runs, or if the level of the pool looks full on sight. Unlike the roof, or a foundation or a leaking bathroom sink – a homeowner can debunk the visual pool inspection by simply throwing a hose in the pool before the inspector arrives. If the pool looks full, a visual inspection assumes it isn’t leaking and the home buyer is never alerted to issues that could cost them tens of thousands of dollars of repair costs after they’ve signed on the dotted line and the house is theirs. Major pool repair can easily be more costly than fixing that roof, or those pipes under the sink.
A properly inspected pool makes a happy home.
A complete pool or pool/spa inspection includes finding out if the pool has leaks, and it’s done in minutes. Don’t perform an incomplete pool inspection!
LeakTronics is the maker of the Pool Scope hydrophone, a microphone that gets dropped into the pool and listens for the weight of water pushing out of a leak. Where water is escaping, simply putting the mic in the area of the leak alerts the inspector to water loss and allows them to offer a complete inspection for the home seller, the home buyer or the homeowner.
Some inspectors share concerns with having to pressure test lines, or the need to dive into pools to inspect the shell – that isn’t the case. The home inspector is typically not the repair technician. Their job is to let the homeowner know that there is an issue and report it – it’s an inspection. With the Pool Scope, the inspector can report that a visible crack is, or isn’t leaking water. They can assure a homeowner that returns and drains are sound, or that there is water escaping from them. By holding the Pool Scope in front of a return fitting, if water loss is happening inside the pipe, it can be heard and reported that repairs will need to be made. It allows the inspector to give a complete report that covers the entire property, including the swimming pool.
Home inspectors keep a Pro Kit in their vehicle for just such a situation. The Pro Kit includes the Pool Scope and the Pipe Mic and the LT-1000 Amplifier that powers both of them and allows inspectors to hear the leaks in a pool. The Pool Scope listens throughout the entire shell, in the skimmer, at all plastics that protrude through the pool wall, and the Pipe Mic, if the inspector is so inclined, can simply slide into a return fitting and tell the inspector how far into the line a leak occurs.
The entire process happens in minutes, about as long as it takes to walk around the edge of the pool while listening. It allows the home inspector to give a complete property report. After all, without a leak detection, a swimming pool isn’t really inspected, much the same way a roof can’t be inspected from the driveway.
Don’t be an inspector that does half the job, there are already too many of them. Give your customers the report they’re paying you for and perform a proper pool inspection. Get the Pro Kit today and know, without question, if the pool is leaking before someone buys the house and comes after you for not doing your job properly in the first place. After all, your name and number is on the report.
LeakTronics leak detection equipment is made in-house, designed by LeakTronics research and development team, and built for professionals in the pool leak detection, plumbing and irrigation industries. The LeakTronics brand innovates the traditional tools and methods of leak detection with products professionally manufactured to find leaks from inside the swimming pool, pipes and plumbing; as well as finding leaks in pipes that run sub-surface. Each piece of equipment is designed to work in unison and to meet the technical aspects and durability required for working with modern day pool and plumbing equipment systems.
