House Diagnostics

Greetings!

Since the last episode with the shoulder, the other one became separated due to protecting the injured one. Guess one truly shouldn't spar when injured, no matter how confident they are...

For the last 3 days, HZG has been in a House Diagnostic course. What is House Diagnostics? It is the determination of air leak zones. To truly determine a good reading, the contractor / inspector should have...a blower door ($3,000) and a TI-86 pre-programmed calculator ($300). Or...the contractor needs to be seasoned enough to visually inspect / crawl through attics and crawl spaces.

While the class was interesting and true to the subject, the main instructor emphasized that it is a TOOL, not the end all be all. There were several methods to determine the percentage of leakiness, one more valuable to the other due to the potential error of 200 CFM's. For those that are not in with the jargon, too bad - I'm tired and going to give you a brief description. The maximum amount the state allows for a zone to be leaky is up to 200 CFM's. This means that if you had a reading of 150 and good the day of the test, the monitor could go out an get a reading of 350 - and you'd both be right.

So while the course further emphasizes the value of an air tight shell, once again it comes down to the skill level of the contractor.

Bottom line? Don't believe for one second that the average Joe is an inspector - ask for credentials!