The Brickkicker

We are using Brickkickers for the second time in 6 months.  This will be my 7th home purchased and inspected in my lifetime.  Brickkickers by far has been the best  home inspection service. 
They are prompt, professional, provide  a nice 3 ring binder for the inspection and follow up.  The binder not only holds the inspection paperwork and photos but is a wealth of home owner maintenance tips and also has a section for record keeping and receipts.  
Will A. has done both homes for us and has not missed anything.  We have found the rates to be appropriate and have found Will to be very thorough and offer advise, showing us how to operate things and what maintenance is recommended.  We have used the inspection report in negotiations during the home purchase and then as a to do list  for needed repairs.
I have have used many different home inspection companies and Brickkickers has been the best.  They are super busy because they are in high demand.  
I would recommend them to anyone and especially any first time home owners.

I had my new purchase in Gurnee inspected by Will of BrickKickers. He was early for the appointment and in the house before I arrived so that he could start testing things including the tubs, sinks, toilets that required filling full of water and draining. He paid attention to detail and started at the top of the house because water goes downward, thus any leaks from upstairs could be potentially detected downstairs. 
Will pointed out every small item regardless of if it was a concern or not. He got in the attic and found evidence of animal habitation, something that was missed by a prior inspection report provided by the seller.
There was evidence of previous water damage in the basement and he had all the proper tools to detect whether the issue was still a concern or not; specifically he had a moisture capacitance meter that allowed him to find damp spots in the cement foundation and wood trim.  He also busted out the big fun toy, a thermal camera that allowed him to scan completely around the basement baseboards seeking to find areas that potential water or cold air could enter, or due to improper insulation.
I was very happy with the service provided and documentation in the form of a pdf including pictures, recommendations etc.

Met Bob before hand to go over what he would be looking at.  Met him at home with the radon testing man. They were both very profesional and not rushed. Being a Saturday afternoon this was a concern. He went up in the  attic , in the crawl space and etc. Very informative. We left after 2 hours and was told the written report would arrive that evening . It did. Very pleased with not only pricing but also the service.

Upon bringing in another opinion, Brick Kicker missed the fact that 3/4 of the home was dryvit/eifs.  The home was advertised as stucco, so this was a huge oversight by Brick Kicker.  This was about a 30,000 dollar fix and MISS by brick kicker.  They also missed the fact that one of the chimneys had no flu and was not lined.  Something that with a flashlight and a pair of eyes, is easily noticed.  And one of the 2 water heaters turned out to have a faulty igniter, which also should have been caught.The gentlemen was very nice and seemed professional.  They also did NOT issue me any refund or credit after finding out about their mishaps.

They seemed to be very thorough and knowledgable, and broke down the industry jargon so that we could understand what they were saying.  Their prices were reasonable and we would use them again!

It went well. Initially, there was an issue on the price as one person quoted me a lower rate and then another person raised it mentioning I was on a higher rate because of square footage of the house... (The difference was $40). They also applied a $25 referral discount.

Bob Vitek was the Inspector contracted for performing Home Inspection. He was very friendly and performed home inspection thoroughly on the property. Even before the agent could arrive to open the doors, he had already inspected the exteriors and made comments on his findings. As soon as we met he walked me over his process of conducting the inspection and report format.

Throughout the inspection process, he explained lot of stuff on "Do's and Dont's" based on his experience. He explained functions of various home fittings in the basement, related to sewage, sump, HVAC, Humidifier, Furnace, etc...

I was completely satisfied with his performance and report.

The very low radon levels and no further action was taken.

The inspector, Rob Colecchi, was very good and thorough. He also got up on the roof for me, which I appreciated. I thought he should maybe have crawled through some additional crawl spaces, though.

This was my third time using Brickkicker and it will be the last. The first time, they did an excellent inspection of my first home before purchase. When it came time to move again, I contacted Brickkicker to inspect my intended purchase. Jim Ratzloff did a very thorough job and found many large problems with the house. I ended up not purchasing the home due to his inspection. I found another home and again asked Jim to inspect it. This time, he seemed rushed, and did not inspect key areas properly. We purchased the home based on his glowing review of the house. As it turned out, extensive electrical and plumbing problems cost us tens of thousands to fix. They were transparent problems he should have noticed. Why would the same inspector do such a thorough job on one house, then miss so much on another? The real estate agent selling the house was also the selling agent on the house that we had backed out of, which leads me to be very suspicious of the inspector's motives.

Very Profesional and effective

After discovering our bad roof, we got quotes from 5 roofing companies; all were DISMAYED that the inspector missed such an obvious problem. We contacted the BrickKicker in writing and they sent the inspector out to see the problem. In a letter, Mr. Ratzloff confirmed that to the naked eye the roof appeared deteriorated, but then presented a theory about how it must have gotten that way AFTER the inspection (he speculated that the Disk Network crew that installed our satellite must have done the damage sorry, we noticed the problem before the lone DN guy came). He also said that WE should have noticed the deterioration of the roof during the final walk-through. Today, our air conditioner compressor just died. Turns out the unit is 16 years old and apparently 15 years is the average life span of A/C equipment. It would have been so nice for the inspector to point this out to us. The date is right on the back of the unit! Thanks Brick Kicker for doing such a lousy job.

MONTY WAS OUR INSPECTOR AND HE WAS EXCELLENT. HE IS VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE AND THOROUGH. EXPLAINED THINGS IN TERMS WE COULD UNDERSTAND. HE MADE IT EASY FOR US TO REACH HIM PERSONALLY TO ANSWER FURTHER QUESTIONS. VERY EASY TO TALK TO, AND HE KNOWS WHAT HE TALKING ABOUT.

WHEN APPOINTMENT WAS MADE, I WAS TOLD INSPECTOR HAD 20 YRS EXPERIENCE. WHEN I ARRIVED AT INSPECTION, EXPERIENCED INSPECTOR ''COULDN'T MAKE IT''. INSTEAD I RECEIVED AN INSPECTOR WITH 5 YEARS EXPERIENCE. HE TOLD US HE LIKED TO MAKE THE INSPECTION ''FUN'', WHAT HE MEANT WAS HE WANTED TO PRACTICE HIS STAND-UP COMIC ROUTINE DURING OUR INSPECTION - WOULD HAVE APPRECIATED A PROFESSIONAL INSTEAD OF A COMEDIAN. HE WOULDN'T GO ON THE ROOF TO INSPECT B/C HIS ''LADDER WAS TOO SHORT'' AND WOULDN'T ESTIMATE USEFUL LIFE OF ROOF, BUT IT LOOKED GOOD TO HIM. TURNS OUT ROOF HAD LESS THAN 2 YEARS LEFT. WOULDN'T REMOVE COVER FROM FURNACE TO INSPECT HEAT MANIFOLD. TURNS OUT IT WAS BROKEN AND LEAKING CARBON MONOXIDE. FAILED TO FIND EXTENSIVE MOLD PROBLEM UNDER KITCHEN SINK AND IN BATHROOMS. WHEN I CALLED TO QUESTION/COMPLAIN, INSPECTOR WASN'T AVAILABLE, BUT HE LATER LEFT A VOICEMAIL INDICATING THEY CAN'T BE EXPECTED TO FIND EVERYTHING AND THAT THEY WOULD NOT REFUND MY INSPECTION FEE.

WE HAD A PROMPT, FRIENDLY AND VERY HELPFUL AGENT FOR OUR FIRST TIME HOME PURCHASE/INSPECTION.

I WAS VERY SATISFIED WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF THIS COMPANY. THEY DID A GOOD JOB AT A FAIR PRICE. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY TO ANYONE.

THEY MISSED SOME STUFF.

THEY DID A PRETTY GOOD JOB.

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