For decades, home inspections followed a predictable script: an inspector walked through a property, took notes on what they could see, and handed over a report. Buyers trusted that the visible was the material. That era is ending.
The Big Picture
The standard home inspection has remained largely unchanged for years. An inspector looks at visible surfaces, checks a few systems, and produces a report based on what the naked eye can detect. Occasionally, a high-end buyer might spring for an add-on like a sewer scope, a radon test, or a specialty energy audit with an infrared camera. But thermal imaging was a luxury, not a standard.
That's shifting. Infrared cameras are increasingly appearing in routine residential inspections. Buyers are more educated and less tolerant of risk than they used to be—and the industry is responding. "We are witnessing the death of the eyeball inspection," says Greg Field, owner of PGT Home Energy Solutions. "We aren't just looking for broken things. We are looking for performance failures. A house can be brand new and still fail a thermal scan miserably."
“"Finding a hidden moisture problem before closing versus after is the difference between a negotiating tool and a post-sale surprise that costs tens of thousands."”
