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Malvi made a good point on the 2nd page of this forum, but I wish to add a bit more. 

The vultures are everywhere and aren't necessarily holed up in the Catastrophe Arena.  I've met some of the most intelligent and eclectic personalities who continue to be a success in the Catastrophe Arena.  I used to think that Insurance Adjusters all had a similar personality and could be spotted from afar.  This just can not be done.  An Insurance Adjuster has to analyze such a large amount of information on a case by case basis and interact with diverse spectrum of society in order to get their job done.  The successful Catastrophe Adjusters who maintain their employment have been successful in doing this and they represent an entire spectrum of personality and skill sets.  True, the past few years, starting with 2003's Isabel have attracted many of those especially weak in succumbing to the lure of fast money.

Tom, in lieu of your statement, I’m willing to bet these get-rich vulture-types will be weeded out much quicker than you think.  All it will take is a year or two without a major event in addition to the next get rich quick or pyramid scheme to lure them away.  Unfortunately, our country is full of them and they have a short memory.  So, once they are weeded out, there will be a brand new bunch to fill in the gaps.  I don’t like the fact that you indicated that “many” of the catastrophe adjusters fall in that category.  I think it’s just another case of having a few bad apples that make the rest look bad.

Keep in mind, that It was these vulture types who became a necessary evil as class action lawsuits were filed after Katrina due to phone calls not being returned.  In this instance, some Carriers decided it was better to send out bodies capable of putting fog on a window to accomplish that task. 

The good adjusters (and there are plenty of them) certainly don’t wish for destruction, but they do make thorough and meticulous preparation to help the innocent recover from their demise as quickly as possible.

I don't know what happened there, but that last post got all busted up into different paragraphs.

It is simple:

You arrive at an inspection where a water loss is reported to have occurred three to five days earlier. All appears to be dry and you are informed, the insured removed the "black" water damaged carpet in many rooms. He believes all he needs is carpet replacement. You retrieve your $20.00 moisture meter, insert into the "Gypsum Board" at the top of the baseboard and determine "wick-up" has occurred.

Drying needs to occur, period.

My "Vulture" Post was intended to stir the pot for amusement. It worked.  :-)

Have a better day.

Most of my claims experience has been very complex property and liability claims/losses on regular claims. Never ever has any one ever ask me to take instruments to determine any thing, except a camera. They only expected a detailed report on what I saw and what was related to me by others.

Sorry on cargo losses you should  have a test kit for salt and fresh water.

The initial purpose of the thread was for assistance in finding a moisture meter and this was done on the first page.  Since then, this thread went several different directions.  So, I copied a few statements that guide us all toward better claims handling. 

"Remember that in this business you can gadget yourself to death."

"When a closer examination is needed, I call the experts in, such as a professional drying company. They can respond within thirty minutes in most cases and use their $200.00 plus tool. And then dry out accordingly. This is acting in good faith to eliminate mold growth."

"Loosen Up!"

"In this industry, we don't buy toys, we buy instruments to guide us in our evaluation of losses. Every tool that we have makes us more professional, not in appearance, but in fact. A moisture reading device is a good tool to have, as some drywall that looks wet, is not necessarily wet and sometimes moisture does not show by visual inspection or by the feeling by hand, hence, the moisture meter read out is [a] guide."

"The absence of moisture in a previously wetted sheetrock may not be evidence that the sheetrock is not damaged because of the water that was once there. It may mean that the inspector is to late to determine the moisture content from the moisture intrusion present just after the event. Other factors can be used to determine the integrity of the sheetrock."

"The good adjusters...make thorough and meticulous preparation to help the innocent recover from their demise as quickly as possible."

Ray Hall

Forgive me but I would still like to hear an answer to my original question.

While inspecting a water loss where the dwelling has been dried to industry standards. How do you determine when sheet goods ( vinyl flooring ) is not holding moisture.

I am just trying to stay on topic....

Excuse me stepping in, Ray--

I'll hit on this again, and to quote from above "it has been dried to industry standards"...then someone has been there with the credentials to say that it was dried "to industry standards".

The adjuster is there to observe the visible damages, document same, report back to the carrier & settle as warranted.  If, in the course of repair, additional damages/problems are noted...then so be.

Take this to another level, such as an auto accident with bodily injury.  The adjuster reports the findings at the scene, the witness accounts, and the reported injuries at the time.  But at no point does the adjuster become the doctor or medical examiner.  Those tasks are saved for the certified folks with the initials following their name. 

While some enthusiasm is to be admired, at no time can the adjuster authorize, initiate or guarantee any repairs.  The decisions rest with the property owner, and any guarantees are on the part of the contractor.  Price agreements are different.

Mike

An IICRC or any other certification is not needed to use a moisture meter. I agree someone with a A.S.D ( applied structure drying) cert be consulted with matters of mitigation. However in my opinion when handling a water loss there are tools we can use to assist with the prognosis. I agree we do not authorize repairs however we are counted on to make an accurate recommendation for repairs.

If these moisture meters were not supposed to be in our hands then tell me this. Why for years have restoration companies such as Servepro and Servicemaster been handing these out to adjusters. I will tell you this much it is not just for marketing . They realize as soon as we use that meter and it pegs out chances are they will be getting a call. Once again I stress we are determining if the moisture is present nothing more !

I for one would feel much better about an adjuster taking the extra measures to check for damages. If I had a loss and I observed my adjuster using a hand held meter checking for moisture it would help me rest easy. At the least it would make me aware that if and when a restoration company was called more than one set of eyes would be watching.

Thank You for stepping in....

Going back to the moisture under vinyl issue.  Several ways to evaluate damage to vinyl are looking for air pockets from water vapor, soft spots on the floor, weakened bond of the adhesive to the slab or sheathing, etc.  Evaluating this would, of course, be done in the perspective of the source of the water.  Just because there's moisture underneath the vinyl doesn't mean that it's going to be covered.  You could very easily have poor drainage issues in the crawl space or condensation.  Furthermore, if the water intrusion was bad enough to get underneath the vinyl, you could very easily be dealing with a replacement issue versus spending megabucks on drying it out.  Knowing when to make this call is based on good judgement and experience- not solely on the read out of a moisture meter.

Moisture meters are a helpful tool, but can also limit your investigation and be the equivalent of handing a machine gun to a monkey.