WIN HOME INSPECTION AURORA SOUTH

The inspector Thomas Gould was on time and prompt.  He was equipped with all of the tools he need to accomplish the job.

I was told that I could follow the inspector around to take notes during the inspection.  Several points along the way I lost him as he continued his inspection.  I got lost in documenting issues that I found.  Last on I asked him about the issues and he said that they were not problems.

My expectations for the inspector that they would walk around the exterior and take note of any structural issues with the home and all aspects (windows, doors, switches, outlets, lighting, roofing, etc.)  My expectations for the interior were that the inspector would exercise all light switches and operate anything that did not look right. I expected that his full attention, would be on the home and to me, his customer.

On the phone-

As I walked around with him he took no less than 20 calls on his cell phone.  I know that in doing so distracts a person and takes their attention away from conducting inspection duties.  I felt that I paid for his time to focus on my home inspection, not deal with others.  I would not consider this to be disrespectful. 

Other items that were not noted by the Inspector:

On the exterior of the house, the flashing on the front of the house where the roof material/flashing meets the masonry wall.  There were gaps over 1/2? inch where the flashing had pulled away or was not properly seated up against the masonry and other step flashing material.

The rear window off of the back living room had difficulty in being opened.  Once opened the window had to be pushed on from the outside to close it.  From the outside it could be seen that the window frame was bowed up (minimal clearance) at the bottom, causing the binding.  With that same window the mechanical crank was not functional on the inside of the house.  The hand crank turned without restriction but would not pull the window shut.  This was not noted in the report.  Were windows tested for functionality?

There was a light switch in the basement stairway from the garage to the basement that did not activate any lights.  This was not noted.  Was the functionality of all light switches conducted? 

The exterior lights (2) at the garage door end of the house had no light bulbs, thus the functionality test could not be conducted.  This was not noted in the report.

Conclusion-

The inspector did a fair job of meeting most of my expectations.  For the price I expected more.  The inspector seemed to spend much of his time uploading his pictures so that he could have a completed draft report by the end of his time there.  He spend about 3 to 4 hours there.  Of the photos he took, they very clearly showed the issues that were raised in the report.

Tom Gould performed the inspection. He was very thorough and explained what he was doing, answering all my questions (I ask a lot of questions) as we went along. His manner was professional and approachable. He took his time, a bit more than 90 minutes for a 1000 sq ft house. Before he started the interior inspection, he made sure I understood exactly what his role is in the home-buying process, what his report is good for (not an insurance policy or warranty, etc) and who would get a copy of the report (me and my realtor, nobody else unless I authorize it). He compiles his reports on a tablet with a wi-fi hotspot, so I had my report waiting for me in my email before I got back to the office, complete with photos of problem areas. His recommendations for repairs to ask the seller for were very clear and practical, as in which things are safety items that should be done before closing by a qualified professional, and which items are more maintenance type things that shouldn't be a deal breaker. He demonstrated thorough knowledge of the local building code and its history; for example, we're still waiting for the seller to disclose when the roof was last replaced, but Mr. Grould was able to approximate it based on when certain code items went into effect.I would definitely recommend Mr. Gould to a friend.

Tom is very thorough and capable.  He knew everything to look for and gave me a complete report via email within minutes of him leaving showing everything we went over and the issues and problems that he had discovered.  He is very computerized which is good as you have a report that you can read and print out at home,  I liked that he offered solutions to some of the common problems and he also offered to come after I closed and go through some basic home maintenance, like changing the filter int he furnace and keeping regulating the heaters, etc.  He was recommended by my Realtor and was punctual, professional and I think his service was awesome.