Tales from the Road: Green Inspector Saves Life Of Child

Advisory Report - September 2003

Tales from the Road: Green Inspector Saves Life Of Child

Tales From the Road is a forum to share amusing or enlightening stories collected over the years from our inspectors.  The names have been changed and some of the details have been altered, but these are based on true events.

I started working for the company in 1989. As the new guy on the team, I was mainly assigned to properties that were less than desirable. So it was much to my surprise when one morning I had an assignment in a very nice part of town. Five minutes after my arrival, I found out why I got the job. 

This particular realtor, we'll call her Wendy, was the wife of a struggling attorney, a former model, and had a fairly high opinion of herself back in those days. To make matters worse, she always brought along her toddler, Jack. He was a terror on two feet. At three years old he was into everything. Most of the jobs I did for her were vacant houses. Generally no one was there, and Jack was more than a handful.  No matter what he did, she just laughed it off, and moved on. There’s nothing like being a "green" home inspector, as well as a babysitter. Wendy would stroll around  talking on her 10-pound Motorola cell phone, and expected me to watch the kid while I was inspecting.

One morning we were inspecting a very large three-story home and Jack was pulling his usual shenanigans. I was investigating a leak from the upper floor Jacuzzi tub. Wendy and Jack were on the upper floor as well. She was on her cell phone as usual. There was a champagne deck off of the master suite. I told Wendy that I was going to the basement to check out the extent of the leak. I walked out on to the lower level patio and when I looked up Wendy was on the Champagne deck moving around trying to get better reception from her cell phone. She then walked back inside, leaving the door open. The next instant Jack was out on the deck kicking at the balusters and laughing at me down below. I started to go back inside and at that instant I saw that he had kicked one of the balusters loose. I yelled for Wendy, the next thing I knew Jack was falling towards me from over 30 feet in the air. I caught him, and both he and I fell to the ground. Wendy came out just as he was falling. As I was laying on my back with him laying on my chest, she lost grip of her beloved Motorola cell phone. It came crashing down not a foot from my head!

From that day forward, things were different between Wendy and me. She never brought Jack on inspections. I started to get referrals from her friends. Her husband landed a job with one of the premier Law firms in the city, she quit the real estate business. The next year she invited me to Jack's birthday party. He ran up to me and hugged me like we were the best of friends. Three years ago, her husband was made a partner with his law firm. They bought a million-dollar house. Who do you think inspected it?  Every few months I do an inspection, and my clients make it a point to say that I was referred by Wendy.

Next year, Jack will be graduating high school. I would like to think that I had something to do with that.

Contributed by Tim Trickel
Building Consultant, Kansas City Area
U.S. Inspect, LLC