Binoculars

A spotting scope on a tripod would be even better than binoculars.

RobertGMarvin

in General Discussion 2 years and 2 months ago

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Guest User | 2 years and 2 months ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "195579"

Can anyone recommend a specific magnification of binoculars that will get a me a good visual of a 6-8 story building? I don’t need intimate detail but something that would let me see how severe my mortar failure is, look for movement around lintels, etc. It’s the kind of stuff that I can see with the naked eye at ground or 2nd floor level but my buildings are taller than that. I’d love recs for specific binoculars or just a magnification level that would get me what I need.

Thanks!

justinromeu26 | 2 years and 2 months ago

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i use two or three types of cheap binoculars to look at facades and can tell you, any binocular is going to be a big help. a better zoom lens on a camera will be much better than the naked eye and you can snap a picture. Opera glass will help. you won’t need anything special. i have a fairly powerful twenty year old pair of bushnell’s made for boaters (no i am not a boater) but find their field of view is too small. i stopped carrying them. i am now using an older, cheaper 8×30 binocular which offers 8x’s magnification and that is more than enough. the 30 field of view is nice as well. keep in mind, the more powerful the binoculars are, the more steady you will have to hold them because movements get magnified – so i would not go over say 10x. i have not used a real powerful pair in a long time and am very happy with the 8x.

justinromeu26 | 2 years and 2 months ago

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and if you want that old building given a good 6 hour going over by an experienced maintenance manager and restoration contractor now licensed home inspector, take a look at my website. take a look at the reviews that have been left on here for me. i have been doing inspections for owners where i coach them on maintenance and help prioritize and have found some serious issues that they did not know about that have/had to be addressed sooner than later. i bring my own binoculars.

i think you might have called me for something else once a year or so ago.

Steve
brownstonehomeinspection.com

Guest User | 2 years and 2 months ago

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Thanks Steve, that is incredibly helpful. I don’t think I’ve ever called you but appreciate your thoughtful advice on the forum. The game I’m playing right now is with a city agency who owns a building I work in. They didn’t want to pay for the full facade repair project several years ago so I was only able to repair the 6th floor brickwork and lintels. Now I’ve got water coming in at the ceiling-level of the 5th floor and I’m guessing it’s due to mortar loss and lintel deterioration that they wouldn’t let me fix. So i’m trying to verify my suspicion to force action. I work in facilities so maintenance planning and management is literally what I do, I just need some binoculars since the city seems to be escalating its mis-management of properties that it owns.

justinromeu26 | 2 years and 2 months ago

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when i worked in building management, we always made friends with our neighbors and took a cheap pair of binoculars across the street to another building and looked from there. and likewise, we let them or their engineers into our building.

if you work in facilities and have leaks, you might want to look into thermal imaging. i was told about it by a friend whose father was the director of facilities for Lord and Taylor and they were using this stuff back in the ’80’s. this technology has come along way since then and by documenting leaks before repairs are made with an image, you can check them later after a rainstorm to be sure no water is coming in. keep in mind with leak repairs, sometimes they slow it but do not always stop it. if you want to know more, email me.

Guest User | 2 years and 2 months ago

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I’ve heard that they make thermal imagers that connect directly to iphones, though I’m not on that platform. Luckily I have dropped ceilings in this particular building so it’s easy to pop a tile and give it a look.

Guest User | 2 years and 2 months ago

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I’ve heard that they make thermal imagers that connect directly to iphones, though I’m not on that platform. Luckily I have dropped ceilings in this particular building so it’s easy to pop a tile and give it a look.

justinromeu26 | 2 years and 2 months ago

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they do. i did some serious research into them and their is a specification (a number) that they must meet to find leaks. many of them do not meet that number.

good luck.