The majority of our Clients and Real Estate Agents who call are looking for more than a "visual" walk-through inspection indicative of Home Inspection Standards currently in practice. We have been providing specialized inspection services to satisfied Clients for many years who have been disenfranchised by the Home Inspection Industry to the point of foregoing the Home Inspection Process, until the nonvisual, hidden from sight issues of their new homes appear.

The time involved in construction disputes and lawsuits has significantly limited the time we have to perform standard home inspections for clients that only have inspections because someone who wants to release their liability, told him they needed it. Or to use the home inspection as a negotiating tool to lower the list price of the property. Therefore we are only accepting applications for inspections if you have a specific question or concern about the property you intend to purchase.

For the most part these issues expressed by our clients are about things that are not covered in a home inspection. HVAC, roof leaks, unseen plumbing leaks, HVAC air duct leaks, inadequate building insulation, causes of mold, radon gas and other indoor air quality issues.

Home inspection standards are similar to taking a used car to your mechanic and asking him to drive it around the block once and give you an opinion of its condition without taking anything apart or hooking it up to any diagnostic tool. Turn on the lights, windshield wipers, kick the tires and hit the brakes. His opinion on the condition is based upon the vehicle being a "used car". Some wear and tear and dings in the paint are to be expected. But the car is deemed to operate "safely".

The only "perfect building" we expect to find is new construction. In my entire career I have yet to find one!

To better serve our clientele, I have elected to forgo home inspections that require time-consuming observation and reporting on components in the building that any homeowner should be able to accomplish on their own, before calling me. We will focus on building science, utilizing state-of-the-art nondestructive diagnostic equipment to evaluate the building performance. We will identify actual roof leakage before you can see it, not just walk on the roof. We will identify air leakage in the HVAC system that significantly affects comfort and cost of operation. We will identify negative building pressures which causes the infiltration of mold, radon and other natural contaminants into the building causing indoor air quality issues. We will not only check the HVAC equipment operation (which is what a service contractor does) but we will determine if the system design will affect comfort conditions in all seasons (not just the season at the time of inspection).

The most famous home inspector line is; "further evaluation required by a (plumber, electrician, structural engineer, roofing contractor etc.) when a potential issue is "visually observed". Unfortunately to make this determination and recommendation they have done nothing to analyze the situation (not required by state home inspection law). All too often, the professional comes in and finds nothing wrong, at an additional cost to you. Now your home inspection jumps from $295 to $600 and you haven't fixed anything yet.

Our inspection report identifies and describes the issue so the problem can be addressed, not "further evaluated". How many times is the person coming back after a home inspection to repair something, the person who made it wrong in the first place?! You are asking the person who doesn't know how to do it, to fix it! The purpose of an inspection is to get it fixed not pass the buck.

Some home inspection companies do 3 to 4 home inspections per day (if they underprice the inspection and have good marketing). Building diagnostics in the inspection is not like shopping at Walmart. You do not get large volume discounts. The more home inspections the inspector does per day the less time and consideration they give to your needs.

We attempt to keep our diagnostic fees within the price range of a good home inspection. We do this by not doing unnecessary things like filling the inspection report with unuseful information. Our diagnostic equipment is extremely expensive compared to the home inspectors screwdriver and flashlight, but we cover more ground and identify more potential issues that are well beyond the visual spectrum of light.

If you have a building problem that can't seem to get resolved or not quite confident on your decision to purchase, give me a call to discuss what procedures and information we can provide to help you make an informed and educated decision.