Frequently Asked Questions

Whether buying or selling a home, a home inspection will provide useful insight into the condition of the home. The home inspection will familiarize you with all aspects of the home, both the good and the bad. As a buyer, it can help you foresee any major surprises, and as a seller, it can help you prepare your home to get the best price possible and avoid any surprises after the buyer’s inspection.

A home inspection is a visual inspection of the structural and mechanical components of a home. I cannot see behind walls, but I am well trained to detect issues without damaging the house. We will operate installed systems, and make every effort to see and touch everything we can safely get to. In addition, by using a Thermal Imaging Camera, we frequently find many otherwise hidden defects, such as plumbing leaks, missing insulation, overheating electrical, and leaking HVAC ducts. For more on the benefits of Thermal Imaging in a home inspection, please head over to our blog article on the added value of thermal imaging.

Home inspection is a specialty that requires specific training, licensing, and insurance. While your friend may have a lot of experience in their specific trade, they are not trained to perform a thorough home inspection. If you decided to hire specific tradesmen to do the inspection, you would have spend a lot more than you would for a certified inspector. Also, while you may find some home inspectors are also licensed contractors/engineers/electricians (there were several of each in my training class), they are not any better trained to perform the full inspection required. The most important qualifications are wrapped up in their licensing as a certified home inspector.

Many home buyers are overwhelmed by the costs associated with buying a home. Now is not the time to try to save money. We earn our fees many times over on each and every inspection by providing you with a thorough inspection of your home and helping you avoid unexpected expenses. Variables in the cost include the size of the house, as well as any additional services requested. Of note, we do not charge based on the selling price of the house. Call today for a free price quote.

For Residential Home Inspections, we follow the TREC Standards of Practice. For Commercial Property Inspections, we follow the InterNACHI Standards of Practice.

The most important thing is to make sure that we have access to the entire house. This is especially important for the areas around the electric panel, the Furnace/AC, water heater, attic access, and crawlspace access. If there are any systems that are hidden, or tricky to operate, notes are always great. This can also help prevent something being an issue later. Another great thing to have on hand is maintenance records. While we love pets, please have them secured in a safe place during the inspection.

We offer several discounts for packaged services. In addition, we offer a discount to Military, Veterans, and First Responders.

While not required, it is definitely to your benefit to attend the inspection. It is always easier for both parties to be able to explain something to you while we are standing in front of it, instead of trying to explain it later on. However, if you cannot attend the inspection, we will still make sure that you have a clear understanding of the inspection results.

We make every effort to get up on every roof. We carry 28′ ladders, which allow us to get on most two story roofs. However, there are times where it just isn’t safe, or we may damage the roof by walking on it. If we cannot get on the roof, a lot can still be learned from the rest of the inspection (inside the attic, water stains on the ceiling, etc).

Radon is a gas produced by the decomposition of Uranium in the soil. As such, it is radioactive, and has been found to significantly increase your risk of lung cancer. We can easily test for the presence of Radon with a 48-hour test, and the good news is that homes can be remediated to mitigate radon gas. For more information on Radon, please visit the EPA’s radon site. We highly recommend testing for all homes, even if there is already a Radon Mitigation System installed.

While these tests are acceptable for Real Estate transactions, don’t let the cost in the store fool you. To get the results in enough time, you will need to overnight the test ($50+) and pay the rush fee ($50+). Altogether, you will spend about $150 to get one of these tests done, and they take longer (96-hour test time, 1 day overnight, 48 hour analysis time = 7 days).

Inspections generally last from three to four hours, depending on the size of the house. You are encouraged to accompany us as we perform the inspection.

We take great pride in every inspection we do, and since we know the results of the inspection are an integral part of the home-buying decision, our goal is to get the report to you on the same day.

While very few houses are perfect, it’s important to keep everything in perspective. Almost everything can be fixed. The results of the inspection place both the buyer and the seller in a better-informed position to close the deal. Your real estate professional is well trained to help you negotiate with the other party for either repairs or price adjustments based on the condition of the house.

We offer Verification of Repairs inspections for a very reasonable price. During these inspections, we will inspect the requested items to ensure that they are operational and correctly repaired.