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Originally Posted by Lisajean
Any recommendations or personal experience with a home inspector? We want to get an inspection before our one year warranty is up. Thanks
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Sadly, we've had VERY poor experiences here, but that's only from two incidents so others may have more positive stories. Worst was not our own home, though the "inspector" found nothing near the end of our year, yet there were MAJOR issues, faulty shingles, poorly constructed roof over the enclosed part of lanai... won't bore you, but getting remediation was a real battle, be prepared, we had to cover the cost ourselves or just live with it. Far worse was family members decided to buy an existing home. To be "fair" their agent gave them a list of 3 "approved" inspectors to choose from. They chose one and, because they were out of state, call me to arrange for me to meet the inspector they had employed. When the inspector arrived and exited is car, I hesitated because it seemed unusual not to arrive in a van or truck with ladders and other equipment to test and measures various, but I got out, walked across the street to the driveway, and extended my hand. "you're ____ I presume", he said, and I explained I was the brother who lived here. He said, glad to meet you, but you need to excuse me, I need to get started now. So I started along with him. He stopped, explained that he works ALONE, and I explained I'd promised I would be present, so I'll stay clear of his work space. It got a little more intense, he told me I would HAVE to leave unless I was the owner, so I got my brother on the cell phone as I was walking to my car. I explained the situation and he agreed I should just leave quietly with no escalation.
They paid $475 for the "inspection". I sat in the car across the street and made notes for my brother. He walked around the entire house with a clip board, then entered through the front door. The garage door never went up or down. He never took a ladder and got on the roof, the sprinkler system never came on and off. He was inside the home 17 minutes exactly. With the quick walk around the house, the total came to 21 minutes. He opened the door to his car, left the door open a few minutes and sat in the driver's seat making notes/checking boxes, on the clip board. Everything passed inspection with "flying colors" as they say.
Our family members had a room flooded and a wall ruined from a faulty roof 4 months after they moved in. Report noted it was in excellent condition and had an expectancy of another 9-12 years, again, just an "expert" guess. Next, they discovered the kitchen's non-functional under cabinet lighting wasn't a matter of bad bulb or fuse, it was shorting out the entire kitchen, and a major wiring job by certified electricians had to be done. That and a new roof, and a major overhaul to get the watering system back to functional, and THEN the AC, which the inspector clearly noted on the report "had a remaining expected life of 8-9 years, went out. Many other small things. They
quickly found out that their signature on the inspection agreement meant the inspector can not be held responsible for anything on the report. At the same time, NOT signing this paper (in Florida at least) means you can not find an inspector who will do an inspection without a contract.
The only really detailed and very thorough inspector we ever hired was a home purchase in another state. Instead of choosing an inspector from a list at the agency we used, or from the bank, we chose to hire a man who was head of the department of building trades at the local community college. He was truly an expert on every detail of construction, checked everything, right down to depth of insulation, tested the windows to confirm they were actually triple pane and of the materials they were represented to be made from, amazing examination of not only the roof, but the METHOD used to finish off the the peaks and valleys, AND determined the number of nails to a strip used. Unfortunately, Florida may be one of those states where the only those with state licenses may be hired, even though you are willing to pay the bill... I really don't know. Our experiences was batting -0- ! Hope others on here can give you names and number of truly skilled professionals whose ONLY concern is to look out for your best interests !