Nondestructive residential inspection method and apparatus

摘要

This invention provides an apparatus for nondestructive residential inspection and various methods for using a thermal imaging apparatus coupled to inspect exterior residential components, interior residential component, for mold. More specifically, this invention provided a computerized method to facilitate inspecting a residential building.

主权项

1. A computerized method for facilitating inspection of a residential building comprising the steps of
Turning on heating/air-conditioning in said residential building to create a temperature differential of 10° F. between the interior and exterior of said residential building and to create air flow to provide thermal contrast; operating a thermal image camera to obtain thermal images of a plurality of residential building components, within 4 hours of turning on said heating/air-conditioning in said residential building wherein at least some of the images are indicative of an anomaly in said residential building components; maintaining a database of said thermal images obtained using said thermal image camera for said residential building components on a computer; scanning said database for selected thermal images of residential building components using a database management program to locate a reference image; comparing thermal images of a plurality of residential building components to said reference image to facilitate inspection of a residential building and further comprising the step of turning on substantially all exhaust blowers in said residential building to increase contrast of said thermal images.