In this high-tech age, everybody wants to learn to do anything and everything Online or by video. If it cannot be taught on the web, or on DVD, then it is too time consuming. I am coordinator of a state accredited, college level, home inspection training program in Washington State at Bellingham Technical College. We have had students from all walks of life -- individuals who sold feed, worked in the medical field and those who were from the trades such as plumbers, electricians, remodelers or builders. The experience levels vary. In the view of some prospective students, and in reality, this intense training seems prohibitive as far as the time involved. However, I can tell you from experience that even this level of intensity only takes students to an entry level position in the profession. Inspection is not a simple field as there is always something to learn or something changes so you have to learn about it again.
This college level program is listed by the state as a fast-track program. It is intense but it does get the job done in four weeks, 40 hours per week. The students are in class, or on field inspections, the whole time. They take some rigorous tests as well. The inspectors in training are taught to conduct structural pest inspections -- which is a mandatory duty in Washington. Students need a broad base of knowledge, and have to be studious, if they are to effectively work in the inspection field. Students realize the financial risks of a sloppy job as soon as they pay their first errors and omissions insurance premiums. Home inspectors need to understand structure, exteriors, concrete, roofs, interior, attics, roof systems, electrical, plumbing, furnaces, air conditioners, wood stoves, kitchen appliances, the wood destroying organisms, etc. It is an awful lot to learn, even in four intense weeks.
Having established that there is an overwhelming amount of material to cover, I will get back to the original point. People want this training Online or on a DVD. Although the college and I have discussed putting some basic information Online, to abbreviate this training down to a three week session on campus, anything beyond that drastically decreases the depth and the quality of the instruction. In the time currently spent, students see and feel different sidings and roofing materials, they explore electric panels and any number of other complex systems. The key word is hands-on -- they envelop themselves in the work for four weeks. Then, on five supervised field inspections, they go into every area of a home that would normally be inspected: Crawl spaces, attics, under decks, on roofs, in electric panels, in furnaces. It is my view, based on watching students progress and then work in the field, that no Online, armchair training, can do a satisfactory job of preparing a student to actually work in this dangerous, litigious and complex field. I have worked with, or tutored, a few inspectors whose full education came from videos. They could recognize the photos, but had a hard time identifying the problems and things they should know instantly, when they were under the stress of working out in the field. Obviously there are some individuals who do not wish to be serious professional inspectors, but would like to have a better understanding of the field, for those people this type of Online information or a video might be great.
My view is that, realistically, we must acknowledge that there is a place for some virtual training in the serious inspection field. Perhaps it makes sense for teaching marketing, laws, standards of practice, code of ethics, that kind of thing, but the real field work and much of the education needs to stay that way -- learned out in the field and hands-on in the classroom!
Thanks for reading this.
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham WA home inspector
The photo below is something you prefer not to see at a log home. A 
In this state we talk a lot about conducive conditions. Conducive conditions are even written into the Washington State law -- part of the structural pest inspector law. I took this photo at an inspection yesterday and thought it does a good job of illustrating a point. In an earlier blog, I spoke about vegetation against siding and how that can lead to moisture issues: fungal growth, siding not drying, potential for rot or insect pests. The photo below is vinyl siding. Look at just how green it is where the bushes are crowding the home. It is continually damp. If you imagine this as wood siding, consider just how much duress that would put the wood siding under. It is likely that with that much fungus, there would be rot present or beginning. You could almost count on the siding being soft and swollen if it was oriented strand board (OSB) -- a composition wood siding.
The crawl space photos below show, at least, a couple obvious concerns as far as the longterm well being of this home. The first issue, and I will cite it first as it is mandated as a concern by Washington State law, is that the so-called piers under the posts are wood. The one at the left looks like firewood, round side down. The posts at the right photo are on an assortment of wood pieces, the idea being to get them to fit, sort of. State law says wood to earth has to be called because the pier wood will rot, in this case leaving the posts laying flat on the ground. Then they too would rot or become infested with other wood destroying organisms. That issue of the posts falling down serves as an introduction to the second problem -- the structural design is very poor. The posts are crooked in places, have no positive connections, are on tiny piers that would be too small even if they were concrete. This was a cabin on a pier and post foundation, no foundation at all, hence you can see clear through to the woods behind. There were about 30 of these make-shift piers and posts, all pretty much the same. The obvious immediate recommendation here is to eliminate wood to earth contact and to have repairs and modifications made by a contractor familiar with foundation work. 
I have posted before about 
Okay, you are probably wondering what type of politically incorrect statement I am about to make here. In fact, I was wondering if I ought to post this or not. So, I decided that to backup my opinion, and to clarify the matter, I would supply a photograph of their little pointy tips and, from that, give a full explanation of my opinion and disgust.
This is the photo of the inside of an electric panel. Granted, the big bent nail off to the side is not so impressive, but at least it is staying in one place. The thing that you need to see is in the lower left hand corner. That is oh so simple, but a problem. There should be no non-essential things floating around in the electric panel. And, when that non-essential is metal, double the warning. An inspector, or an electrician, does not want to see low voltage transformers, speaker wires, or screws inside the panel. Think about it. If something happened where that screw touched a wire, even when someone was in the panel. It would lead to a pretty big arc -- not the most fun at any time. As for the cure, just take the screw out. In fact, if I opened a panel and saw just that one screw, and no other electrical faults, I would strongly consider just taking it out and giving it to the homeowner, along with a clean report. Then again, it is even more likely that it could be used to secure the cover on a panel that had only three screws holding it in place. Why only three? Because someone lost one inside the panel! Mystery solved.