10 published · 3 being written
The working library.
What each instrument tells you, which one to buy, and how to write it up. Limits first.
What you carry
The instrument decides the evidence.
Moisture meters
Pin and pinless instruments measure different things, and neither measures moisture content in masonry. What the reading means, where it misleads, and how to record it so the report survives challenge.
8 min readThermal imaging
Thermal patterns suggest where to look; they do not diagnose. Sensitivity, emissivity, the conditions a survey needs, and the claims that get surveyors into trouble.
8 min readBorescopes
Probe diameter, articulation, lighting and recording. What a cavity inspection reasonably shows, and the written consent that has to sit behind every hole.
7 min readLaser measures
Range, accuracy and the features that matter on site over the ones that sell the box. Where a laser beats a tape and where it quietly does not.
8 min readCrack monitoring
Tell-tales, calibrated studs and digital gauges. How long a monitoring period has to run before it means anything, and how to write up an inconclusive one.
7 min readCameras and 360° record
A whole-room condition record, frozen at the date of inspection, is the cheapest insurance a surveyor can buy. Kit, workflow and storage.
8 min readAccess and safety
What you can reasonably reach, what you decline, and how to record a limitation so it reads as a professional judgement rather than a gap.
7 min readWhat you record
Capture it once, properly.
Photograph discipline
Establishing shots, scale references, annotation on site rather than at the desk, and a naming convention that survives the drive home.
7 min readRecording limitations
Furniture, floor coverings, locked rooms, weather on the day. The limitation wording is the part of the report most likely to be read back to you.
7 min readStill in development
- Inspection checklistsWriting
- Measured sketchesPlanned
Back at the desk
The reading was never the slow part.
Condition ratings
What separates a 2 from a 3 in practice, why the reasoning matters more than the number, and how to keep ratings consistent across everyone writing in a firm.
7 min readThe Surveyology app · beta
The site record, carried to the issued report.
See the appStill in development
- Practice wordingWriting
- Report structurePlanned
Continue with Surveyology
Which one would save you an evening?
The library grows in the order surveyors ask for it. Say which entry you want next.