For the inaugural Mystery Inspector series, I visited a jobsite that I noticed while house-hunting across the river from Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Va. There are a lot of construction projects in Arlington, most of them seem to be high-rise apartment buildings—not that there's anything wrong with that—so I was happy to see good ol' wood-frame construction at this site. It makes me nostalgic for when I was a framer.
One of my hobbies has always been to check out jobsites on the weekend to see how good a job the folks are doing. Over the past decade, as better building practices have worked their way into the code, and as builders and consumers have become more interested in energy-efficient construction, it has been interesting to see if the practices that we write about in magazine articles make it to the jobsite.
I am happy to report that I found some here. I am unhappy to report that a lot of low-hanging fruit remains unplucked.
This collection of five Mystery Inspectors is our first foray into "Secret Shopper" land. Stay tuned for more Mystery Inspectors each week.
 RED FLAGWasteful Wall Framing |
 ATTABOY!Air Sealed Electrical Boxes |
 RED FLAGFiberglass Batts Done Wrong |
 ATTABOY!How to Spot a Good Window Install |
 ATTABOY!Ducts Done Well |
