Capitol Hill Home Inspection LLC

As first time homebuyers, it seems like it's tough to find someone who is unilaterally on your side. All the realtors are pressing you to go faster and spend more money, the lender is just looking to protect their investment...even the neighbors are worried about trashtalking a place for fear of seeing their own property values go down. We found Cliff via various internet reviews, and he totally saved our butts. He spent over three hours going through a house we thought was PERFECT...despite the new renovation (conveniently) covering just about everything, he found evidence of structural damage, various infestations, and generally shoddy workmanship. We walked away from the offer and breathed many sighs of relief that we didn't get trapped in that place. When we called him for another home inspection, he found some abnormalities in the plumbing and a pile of problems with the roof...when the seller refused to work with us, we walked again, having saved the many thousands of dollars a new roof and associated repairs would've cost us. We'll be calling Cliff for every house we're serious about during the rest of this process. It's good to find someone knowledgeable and dedicated to doing a good job that we know we can trust.

He was flexible with scheduling and squeezed us into his calendar at the last minute. He arrived on time, was professional and explained the contract to me clearly before I signed it. Then, he took nearly 3 hours to complete an uber-thorough inspection on a tiny home of under 1000 square feet. He was able to spot problems that were not visible at first glance and were not obvious to a layman. He was more than happy to answer our questions as we went along, explaining why certain issues were potential problems. Within 48 hours, we had an extensive, professional report including photographs. Thanks to his thorough report and exhaustive inspection, my husband and I avoided a world of stress and expenses, buying a money pit! Now, we are under contract on a much better house! Cliff did the inspection on this house and found a few significant issues, like a leaky roof. These are problems that we would have missed without his expertise. We are in negotiations with the sellers, trying to get some money off to complete the repairs. Cliff Kornegay of Capitol HIll Home Inspection is an exemplary home inspector with tons of experience. Use Capitol Hill Home Inspection for your next inspection!

Cliff Kornegay and Capitol Hill Home Inspection is outstanding. I was a first time homebuyer, and a very picky one at that. Cliff ended up doing 3 home inspections for me on different houses that I had contracts on. His work is extremely thorough (lasting over 3 hours per inspection), and his reports are presented in a way that helps achieve the desired result in negotiations with sellers. Most importantly, Cliff explains everything to you as you are walking through the home, making suggestions and informing you of all aspects of your house. With Cliff, I was positive that I got the home that I wanted -- and more importantly, a sound understanding of the home itself. (PS: With Cliff's help, I negotiated some critical improvements to the House that owners took care of prior to closing. Cliff went along with me during the final walk-through to inspect their work at no charge).

Thorough, professional and fair service. Highly recommend.

Cliff tested all appliances and utilities. He took photos of things that he identified in the report as potential problems. He walked me through how to use the various items in the unit and to explain how what I would do in the event of a problem. In follow-up, he wrote a clear and thorough report that I used to request that the sellers address a couple of items, and they did.

Cliff and Greg arrived on time to the first inspection attempt only to find out with us that we were locked out of the home we are trying to purchase. They made lemonade out of lemons by taking care of the foundation and exterior while we waited for access. Once we were inside the home, we found the sellers hadn't paid the bills and both the water and electricity had been turned off. No matter, Cliff and Greg took care of all structural inspection points and were easygoing about rescheduling quickly - to the great relief of my husband and I. On the second visit, Cliff and Greg went to town on all things connected to the power, but we quickly saw that the water had not yet been turned on by the sellers. They didn't skip a beat and walked around with my husband and I, thoroughly documenting with a camera and notes and explaining to us as we went where we had issues or potential issues. On the third visit (this is starting to sound like a bad holiday carol, I know), Cliff came alone and finished the job while continuing to be just as helpful and friendly as when we had started the week prior. He was flexible, easily agreed to an 8:30pm inspection time at the last minute (I'm seriously doubting this is the norm among inspectors), and both he and Greg at all of our appointments were quick, if not eager, to explain things to us when we had questions or concerns during the inspection. It may be worth mentioning to those of you with potential HVAC issues that our furnace was old and shut off a few times here and there while Cliff and Greg were testing it. Cliff suggested we'd need a new unit altogether, while the sellers maintained that it was just a quirk of their furnace and, much like a vending machine where you just have to know where to smack it, it would work just fine if we did X, Y and Z. Bottom line is that you'll need an HVAC evaluation by an HVAC specialist to really know what you're getting yourself into, but this wasn't any fault of Cliff's and, in fact, we may STILL need to fully replace it once we close and move in and find out we don't have the magic touch with this thing. At the end of our trilogy of inspections, we promptly received a full color report by e-mail, complete with ample photographs and legible, useful notes on the improvements needed in our soon-to-be first home. All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better home inspection as first-time homebuyers. (Though we definitely could have used some better circumstances!)

My wife and I used Cliff for a new home inspection, and he did an excellent job. He is very knowledgeable and professional. He took his time, and explained every detail of the home to us - not only was it a simple inspection but also an invaluable learning experience about how our new home works. Cliff is up to date with all the latest code requirements and other trends, including the latest fire and deck safety code standards. On that note, when the sellers resisted making some of the changes we requested, Cliff sent us some backup detail to show why the requested changes were important. Cliff emailed his inspection report (with color pictures and detailed descriptions) in a timely fashion (within 48 hours). Cliff also came back during our pre-closing walkthrough, free of charge. Finally, he was very affordable. I got quotes from several other home inspectors in the area, and Cliff quoted us a price for inspection that was, in some cases, hundreds of dollars less than the others. I would say we absolutely got our money's worth. Overall, I highly recommend Capitol Hill Home Inspection if you ever need a home inspection.

Great experience. Very impressive.

I needed a home inspection on a property I planned to purchase. I was the current tenant in the home but reached an agreement with the owner and planned to purchase the property. After finding Capitol Hill Home Inspection on Angie's List, I visited the company's website to request a home inspection. My inquiry was promptly addressed up via email when Cliff contacted me to schedule a date and time for the inspection. We agreed to meet the following week. Though we subsequently changed the time by an hour (per his request) Cliff was prompt for the appointment. His inspection was thorough and he conducted himself in a professional manner at all times. (I've lived through 2 other home inspections in another city.) He also took the time to answer questions I had about making potential upgrades. The entire inspection lasted ~2 hours. As I signed the contract and gave him payment--credit cards are accepted--he asked if I needed the inspection right away. I told him I wasn't rushed but that I needed the inspection within a reasonable amount of time. He assured me I'd have the document within a couple days. Three days later Cliff wrote to tell me he'd finish my report by the afternoon. The next day I text him to find out when he planned to send it and he told me I'd have it by that evening; I did not receive the report. The next afternoon I wrote to find out when I'd get the report. He promised it that evening and offered to refund the fee, which I thought was classy, though all I really wanted was the report! By the following day I still hadn't received the report and contacted Cliff to find out if he was really planning to send the report or merely blowing smoke. He reitereated his plan to provide the report and refund the fee, which he did 5 days after the inspection was conducted. This provider received glowing recommendations from other AL members. Perhaps he was having a bad week. I give him credit for refunding the fee and providing the report, but if I was in a situation where I needed it ASAP, I would've been really p*****.

I had my son with me during both inspections and Cliff was very nice and explained everything in detail and was very easy to talk to about the technical things he was inspecting. After both inspections the reports were delivered in a timely manner and before they were to be sent over to the sellers. Cliff also inspected the house we were selling and we didn't have a problem with anything he found in our house - he wasn't trying to look for stuff just to look but identified what we felt were valid issues that we all had repaired.

It was a pleasure working with Cliff! He arrived at our unit on time for the inspection. He spent well over 2 hours checking out our unit from top to bottom. He was also very patient in explaining things to us and answering our questions. Cliff e-mailed us a detailed home inspection report 2 days later. The report included many pictures with narrative to illustrate his findings, which was really helpful when we went back to the sellers. I'd certainly recommend Cliff to others!

Cliff and his side kick spent a good four hours at the house. Did a thorough job but missed some small things (eg. a couple of broken / loose floorboards and other elements of woodwork). Was worth more than he cost at HUD-1 though.

It went great. Cliff and Chris spent nearly 4 hours methodically going over the house. His report was very thorough with many pictures of problem areas. The radon testing went smoothly as well. We would use this company again with no reservations.

Very professional, explained the situation well, and were honest that these difficult leaks can often take several steps to resolve. It was the most logical and realistic explanation to date. Look forward to our next business with them.

I cannot recommend Cliff highly enough. Friends of our recommended him to us, and he was everything you want a home inspector to be: prompt, friendly, happy to show you what he's doing and point out what's done right and what's done wrong. He takes tons of photos on his digital camera and then writes notes, so the process goes fairly quickly. I followed him around and asked questions on both inspections, which he encouraged. He friendly and has a funny sense of humor, but more importantly he explained the process and what he was seeing in language that made sense to me. His reports are prompt, include color photos, and are very thorough. Friends and family who saw our reports were impressed and many remarked that their own inspection wasn't very thorough. He writes a paragraph or so for each photo, includes everything that should be fixed or changed, and rates it so you know what's dangerous and needs immediate fixing and what he recommends you change. I should note that the reason he did two home inspections for us was due to him finding a problem in the first home that led us to cancel the contract. He literally saved us from what would have been a very bad purchase. Again, can't recommend him highly enough!

Great. Punctual, professional, thorough, pleasant. No negatives. It took longer than I expected - I originally thought it would be 2-3 hours and instead it was about 5 - but I got a very deep education in everything about our house. A good thing to have in such a big investment.

Cliff and his assistant were a little late, but it was raining out and traffic was an issue. When they got to the house they were both very friendly and got right to work. As a first time homeowner, Cliff really taught me a lot about my house and went through everything very thoroughly, taking the time to explain things to me and giving me important information for long-term upkeep. My real estate agent, who has been doing this a long time, noted that he was very knowledgeable. Cliff caught a lot of things - some big some small. I asked them to address everything that he found, which made me much more comfortable about my home purchase. When I moved into the house I noticed that the hot water in the showers wasn't sustaining itself. Because hot water was coming out of all the faucets at the time of inspection it wasn't something we would've noticed. I called Cliff on Christmas Day because I wasn't sure who else to call (I moved in on Christmas Eve), and even though he had been home with sick baby twins, he got back to me a couple of days later to make sure everything was okay and even offered to come over and take a look (which I didn't need).

Cliff at Capitol Hill Home Inspection is the best. Professional, honest, and dependable. I hired him to take a look at a home I was considering purchasing, but based on his recommendation I decided not to go through with the deal. I then found another home for sale and called Cliff in again to do the inspection there too. He identified a number of issues that needed attention, and provided a very professional inspection report complete with photographs outlining everything that needed repair. Based on Cliff's report, which I provided to the seller, I was able to bargain down the price and get the issues addressed prior to the sale. I purchased the home and couldn't be more satisfied with Cliff's inspection. After the sale I've called Cliff for professional advice on a number of issues, and he even came out recently to provide a consultation free of charge. I'm a first-time homeowner and having someone knowledgeable and trustworthy on hand has been invaluable. Definitely recommend Cliff and Capitol Hill Home Inspection.

Cliff was terrific. Very personable, and VERY thorough. He spent a long time (~3.75 hrs in a 2000 sq ft single family home) and looked at everything very carefully and closely. Every access panel and drop ceilinged area in the house was opened and looked behind.

On time, entire inspection lasted about 3 hours, thorough.

Cliff was easy to contact both by phone and e-mail. He answered my initial request very quickly. He let me know when he was running just 5 minutes behind, and once he met us at the house, he performed an extremely thorough and detailed home inspection, explaining things easily as he went along. He discovered there were no controls for our hot water heater so he was unable to inspect the radiators, so he assured us that as soon as we got the sellers to repair that issue, he would come back and inspect the radiators. He had the home inspection report to us very quickly, and it was very detailed and thorough. Veryone commented on the quality of the report. Our realtor was so impressed he plans to recommend Cliff to future clients. After the sellers repaired the hot water heater, Cliff immediately came back and inspected the radiators and he even brought along a nice book about remodeling od homes as a gift for us. I was extremely impressed with Cliff.

Cliff is exceedlingly thorough, patient, friendly and knowledgeable. At the initial inspection he took his time looking at every nook and cranny of the house and explaining to both us and the seller what he saw and what he thought should be done about it. The house was a flip and so the seller was a builder - we had concerns that the builder would be adept at hiding problems. While Cliff could obviously not guarantee that the house would be problem free, he was so thorough that we gained a lot of courage and knowledge about the house we were purchasing. We emailed him several times after the inspection to ask him about He always got back to us with prompt, thorough, helpful responses, never talking down to us. He agreed without hesitating to come back to the house and join us for our final walkthrough, to take a look at the work the builder had done to fix the exisitng problems. As a result we felt reassured that we at least understood what risks lie ahead, what to pay attention to, and that the work completed was appropriate and useful to us as buyers. His help was invaluable; he seems very honest, and was well respected by our broker as well as the seller. We would highly recommend him as one of teh best inspectors we have encountered during our 20+ years in DC.

The inspection went very very well. He found issues that I know another inspector would not find, that is how detailed Cliff was.

His inspections were thorough, and his reports were detailed (he includes a photograph for each item). i would STRONGLY recommend him to anyone who is in need of home inspection services.

The whole experience was really good. I worked directly with Cliff Kornegay. We set up the appointment and discussed some areas of concern that I had prior to the actual inspection. Due to an emergency we had to reschedule for a later date. CLiff notified me immediately that we needed to reschedule and provided the reason why. On the day of the inspection Cliff arrived on time, was profession and extremely thorough. I accompanied Cliff during most of the inspection. He explained to me what he saw, and answered all of my questions. He found several significant issues with he house that were not found during the initial inspection when we purchased the house 5 years earlier. After Cliff completed the inspection and left the house we noticed an electrical issues that we had not noticed before. Cliff quickly returned to our house to troubleshoot and fix the problem. Overall a great experience. I would definitely recommend CLiff to anyone looking for a thorough home inspection.