Reprinted from the Mississippi Business Journal
June 23-29, 2003
Pg. 29 and 31
HomeSafe Inspections finding problems using high technology
By BECKY GILLETTE
MBJ Contributing Writer
OXFORD —With the purchase of a home being the largest investment made by the average person, certainly the more information, the better. So imagine actually being able to see through walls when you are considering buying a new home, checking for problems with wiring, termites, moisture, insulation and structural defects.
Now an Oxford company has teamed infrared technology for seeing through walls with spinoff technology initially researched at the National Center for Physical Acoustics (NCPA) at the University of Mississippi for a service that can be used for comprehensive home inspections and to locate termite infestations in order to target their elimination.
“No one else is combining the two technologies,” said Kevin Seddon, president of HomeSafe Inspection, Inc., which is licensing its technology to home inspectors and termite extermination companies. “The ability to see and hear within the ‘other’ half of a home is extremely important. By incorporating this technology into home inspections, you can save a lot of money and avoid potential legal problems. You can find a water leak before it causes severe damage. You can find out if an electrical wire behind a wall is hot before it causes a fire. And you can find termites before they eat through the wall, creating major damage. Our infrared technology and powerful acoustic listening devices allow our technicians and our licensees to visually and acoustically confirm potential problems so they can be corrected before costly damage occurs.”
This is Seddon’s second business spinoff from acoustics research at the NCPA. A couple of years ago he started Sanus Acoustics, which is developing prototypes for a remote acoustic hemostasis device, a medical instrument that will stop internal or external bleeding using sound waves. The technology’s ultimate goal is to carry out such a life-saving procedure without cutting into the patient. It often causes little pain and could be used without an anesthetic. The device would be particularly valuable to emergency medical personnel and military medics to stop bleeding prior to transporting a patient to a hospital.
“Imagine how many lives could be saved,” Seddon said.
But it will take a while to get the technology ready to use. In contrast, the technology used to start HomeSafe Inspection was easier to commercialize.
The company’s technology was developed by Peng Lee, who left employment at NCPA to commercialize ideas he had for using listening devices to find termites in walls. Lee’s device is a special listening probe and acoustic sensor that can be placed in walls or floorboards without damaging them. The device listens only for the sounds of termites, and is considered 97 percent accurate.
HomeSafe Inspection first does an infrared inspection of the house that picks up moisture and temperature differences caused by termite activity, structural flaws, water damage, leaking pipes, faulty wiring, heat/energy loss or roof, ceiling and ductwork problems. Once suspicious areas are identified, HomeSafe follows with an in-depth visual (traditional) inspection, paying special attention to the suspicious areas to determine the problem’s nature and cause. If an area suspected for termites is found, the listening device is inserted in the area.
“The device is extremely powerful, but only focuses on the range of sound that termites make,” Seddon said. “We have created pattern recognition software. The listening device picks up the sounds, which are immediately run through the software on a PDA (a hand-held computer). Then a message pops up on display to say, ‘Yes, it is termites,’ or ‘No, it is not termites.’ Our research shows we will find termites 2.5 times more efficiently than a traditional sight inspection.”
Instead of opening their own home inspection or termite businesses across the state and country, HomeSafe Inspection instead is focusing on licensing the technology to existing firms.
“Our goal is to shed light on the technology and have it utilized, not go in and compete with existing businesses,” said Seddon, who has a licensing arrangement with a firm in North Mississippi and is close to finalizing a deal with another pest control firm in Jackson. HomeSafe also has contracted with a sales company in California and Nevada to license the technology to pest control operators in those states. And Dow Agroscience, which is the developer of the termite bait system Sentricon, is currently evaluating the HomeSafe technology.
“Dow is viewing the equipment because the company may want to offer it to their Sentricon dealers,” Seddon said. “If termite control companies find more termites, they use more Sentricon. If pest control companies can find more termites, it makes them more effective and gives them more business.
“What we bring to the table is, if you know where the termites are, then you can better eradicate them. We can find termites that no one else can see, and we can hear termites that no one else can hear. I think that is the advantage. There have been listening devices that have been developed in the past, but most have had little impact on the market, in my estimation. Our devices are easy to use, and we incorporate so much more into the offering with the infrared and pattern recognition software. And we can teach anyone to use our technology in relatively short order.”
The more detailed home inspections allowed with HomeSafe’s technology are not only beneficial to buyers, but to insurers and mortgage lenders. It helps identify potential problems so they can be fixed before causing extensive damage.
“Say there are no visible signs of problems during an inspection prior to a home being purchased, and a month later the ceiling collapses due to water damage,” Seddon said. “There are always possible issues with old water, fire or termite damage. Think of it from the standpoint of a banker or insurer. You can limit your liability from unseen problems.”
But the inspections don’t kill a real estate deal, and may even help bring a deal together. Seddon gives an example of a home they inspected that had water stains all over the ceiling. A traditional inspector might have concluded the roof needed to be replaced. But using infrared showed there was no moisture, indicating the damage was old. The problem with the house, which has been vacant for two years, was inadequately insulated air conditioning duct work that cost only $200 to repair.
“Our inspection probably saved that deal,” Seddon said. “We have never killed a deal. In fact, we have saved several because we can better ascertain what potential problems are and how they might be fixed. The more everyone knows early, the better. From real estate agents and lending institutions to home and pest inspectors and the home buyer or seller, everyone has told us that gathering all the information possible is important. Buyers want to know everything about a house before they make one of the most important investments of their lives. Sellers want to make repairs, if needed, prior to any negotiations. And, finally, the banks, real estate agents and inspectors want to quickly move the property and reduce the threat of any future litigation.”
Seddon is also working on a licensing agreement with Ole Miss and hopes to collaborate with the university in terms of further research and development of the technology. One possibility is to improve the technology to find and help rid a building of mold. Mold has become a huge issue because of some large lawsuit awards on mold contamination.
“We know we can find mold with this technology,” Seddon said. “We are looking to partner with the university and hopefully build upon and strengthen the technology in many areas.”
The advanced home inspections offered by HomeSafe start at $300 for a house 2,000 square feet or less. For more information on HomeSafe Inspection, visit the Web site at www.homesafeinspection.com.
Contact MBJ contributing writer Becky Gillette at bgillette@bellsouth.net.
