We had two home inspectors come and look at a new house we ultimately ended up purchasing. The first inspector we hired as recommended by our realtor. For clarity, I think he did an okay job and I think our realtor genuinely liked the quality of his work (and he was probably decent compared to some other inspectors out there); however, my wife having read up a lot on home purchasing felt we should have a completely independent inspector look at the home. There was absolutely no question that there was a dramatic difference between that first inspection and the huge and detailed deficiency list that Ted provided for us.
This was a huge book of information he provided to us and walked us through.
Ted covered little details like making sure there was enough clearance from the bottom of the door to the carpet so we didn't have carpet wear, and that the door stoppers were of sufficient quality so as not to damage our doors. He found lots of little details like making sure that the seal around the sinks were complete with no breaks (there were several that were not properly sealed) and that our bathrooms had been water protected on the tile (which they were not). There is no way we would have noticed any of it.
He also found more serious issues like there being an insufficient amount of drainage for our roofs and HVAC issues.
Fortunately, the builder has agreed to work with us to fix these deficiencies as part of the purchase but we would never had known about them without Ted.
Let me tell you though, the realtor representing the home builder hated Ted. He was so angry at how detailed Ted was. And in fairness to him, I'm pretty sure he was telling the truth when he said he had never met an inspector that was that picky. But you kind of want somebody like that to be representing you. In the end, you can still decide to let things go (and we did let some things go) but at least we had a clear picture that we were doing that instead of simply not knowing.
There was also a small flood in the basement that happened during construction that needed to be remediated. Ted did not discover this (we knew about it before), but he helped us through the process of getting it remediated. He came back to help us inspect the remediation. We actually hired him to re-inspect but he refused to let us pay him.
He also helped us earlier with our deficiency check to see if the deficiencies were fixed properly. He didn't charge us for that either even though it took several hours and went into the evening.
If it isn't clear, we are fans of Ted, the quality of his work and his work ethic. Like other have been saying, he charges more for the inspection but, quite frankly, he has saved us more, not just in his services, but his follow ups to the initial inspection.
Most people want to do the least amount of work necessary to complete their job. Ted's kind of the opposite. He keeps checking in and emailing us and trying to find more work for himself to do, and then he does it without charging us.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,600.00
- Company Response
Hi Sunny,
Thanks for your generous account of your experience. It's more like a short story.
If it wasn't for the builder's willingness to make repairs I think this house would've been quite exhausting to attend to all our substantial discoveries.
Since my inspection covers nearly every square inch, my inspections will uncover minor details along with the major. Only because I spend the time on the inspection and composing your report (in your case, a 3 day turnaround) can I present most all deficiencies in terms of importance, priority and cost. As you pointed out you were able to convince the builder to make good on the more grave deficiencies. Typical to anybody who's in business to make money we found on some occasions that the builder’s repairs were fudged and had to be done over again. Yup we can't always take people's word for it, you gotta check it out for yourself.
The reason I offered to reinspect for you and not charge was because I was concerned that the builder would try to hoodwink you into accepting less than what you were promised, what you believed you were paying for. You are right some of the deficiencies were so obvious that even a blind man would have caught them, like the finish installation of all the plumbing fixtures. I suspect he got Carpenters or Carpenters helpers to install the plumbing fixtures after he had fired his plumber. There are many things that can go wrong with a new house and for the most part are usually not that apparent. I’ve found I need to inspect every square inch of the house from the substantial and obvious to the minutia which can be telltale indicators to deficiencies, short cuts, failures and fudged. Wouldn't want to give people the wrong impression that I hound my clients for more work, as your advocate I simply like to see things tidied up.
Happy trails....
Ted