HouseMaster Home Inspections

Regretfully, we had this company do our home inspection, because our realtor highly recommended their services. The inspector claimed to look at each window in our home during the inspection, however, all of the windows in our home, minus a few in the kitchen, have very obvious rotted wood at the base. How did an inspector miss something so obvious when claiming he opened every window is beyond me. Very unprofessional, very shady work. After taking this up with the company’s local owner, Andrey Barshay, he sent the inspector back out to our home with a third party contractor to look at the windows and give a repair estimate. Andrey Barshay came back to us very quickly via email and said that the inspector’s report justified that the windows needed attention and ended with “case closed.” The original inspection report noted only caulking was needed on the outside of the windows and nothing was ever noted or implied that there were rotted windows. Had we known this prior to negotiating our original inspection with the seller, we would’ve demanded the seller pay for the $17,000 cost worth of window repair or we would’ve walked from the house. But because our inspector and the company HouseMaster as a whole were negligent, we are stuck with the $17,000 bill to replace the rotted windows. Andrey was very rude, very abrupt whenever I reached out to him via email explaining my concern. He never once called me, never once stepped foot in our home to personally look at it, but was very quick to send me an email with all his jargon stating that the inspector’s report was good. Whatever you do....do NOT do business with the Shiloh, Illinois HouseMaster company. Our realtor actually recommended them to us and has since said she will no longer be using their services either.

It was paid for by the seller. We were not very happy because there some things brought to our attention that i do not remember now.

A home inspection was conducted on 10/24/13 by  HouseMaster for a
prospective buyer of our home. We were not present at the time of the inspection and were out of
town. We returned home on 10/26/13 and found standing water around toilet valve in a
½ bath on the main floor. The water valve had been loosened. I tightened the valve and the leak
stopped. I also noticed there were water stains on the molding near the  toilet.
                           
We called the buyers broker and he had HouseMaster call me. I explained the problem and they came to investigate on 10/28/13. When he reviewed he did not think he did anything to cause the leakage. We left it at that as I had stopped the
leak. However I did not have the inspection report at this time.
I  received the inspection report from the buyers broker on 11/1/13. I noticed in the report, there was a poor rating on the toilet and said it was loose at the floor. However there was no mention of the standing water or the mold stains in the inspection
report, which we observed upon our return. So what did the inspector do to determine the toilet was loose?
                        
On 11/12/13, I noticed two big water stains on the ceiling below the main floor ½ bath. They appeared to be
dry. Again there was no mention of the water-stained ceiling in the inspection report nor was it there prior to the home inspection.
                            
I again contacted HouseMaster on 11/12/13 to return and review the ceiling damage. They finally returned on 11/19/13. I was also requested to fill out their claim form which I did. After this visit I was told it would take 5-7 business days to get a response. I called HouseMaster on 11/26/13 to get an update.. Their receptionist was rude and hung up on me.
On  11/27/13 I received the following email: 
        
Dear Mr. xxxxxx, 
Please accept this email as a follow-up
regarding Incident Report #1310242.  As initially noted after reviewing
the report, and as we have noted since then, HouseMaster Inspections wishes to
resolve this matter, however, integral to the inspection of any incident is for
the claimant to follow through and provide all information
requested on the Incident Report form. 
In the case of your Incident
Report, we request that you follow-up and provide
the following: 
1) An estimate/cost for repairs; and
2) The source/cause of leaking or repair actions required/recommended as
determined by a licensed plumber including contact information for such person.
Neither of the above items was included
with your incident report.  HouseMaster Inspections is unable
to resolve this issue without both items.  Accordingly, please
provide the above noted items so that HouseMaster Inspections may proceed with
its investigation of Incident Report #1310242.  Finally, please
forward the information and any further communication regarding this matter
to our legal counsel using the following contact information.
(their attorney's name, address, and phone numbers were provided)
           
I provided the estimates requested and a licensed plumber's opinion on 12/5/13. After getting no satisfaction from their attorney after a couple of weeks had gone by, I filed a complaint with the St. Louis Better Business Bureau on 1/2/14. This finally got them to move on the incident.
       
To make a long story short, on 2/8/14 I received a letter from HouseMaster's attorney basically stating they did not cause the damage. They totally ignored the fact the damage was not there before their inspection but was after they left.
       
We are now in the mediation phase of BBB's process. I will update this review once this process is complete.
       
Summary reasons for my ratings:
Quality - F: On the initial inspection, how did they not notice the water damage to the molding and ceiling if it was already there.
Responsiveness - F: The inspection was conducted on 10/24/13. The final response was not provided until 2/8/14.
Professionalism - F: When I called to get an update early on in the process, whoever answered the phone was rude and hung up on me. The next day I received the email to contact their attorney, who didn't do anything until I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
Overall: F

The inspection and related tests were completed within just a few days after our first phone call for quote.  We were very impressed by the quality of the inspection services and really appreciated the same-day reports!

I called HouseMaster Inspections to get an inspection on a house I was interested in buying.  HouseMaster was able to set an appointment up within five days.   I showed up 15 minutes prior to my appointment time and the inspector was already preforming a walk around the house.  I met Andrey from HouseMaster Inspections, and he was very polite and professional.  He even offered me something to drink several times during the inspection.  Andrey was open to answering any questions.  Andrey did a complete house inspection including double checking the attic area after he discovered an dry water stain on a bedroom ceiling.  Andrey exceeded my expectations.

He did a very thorough evaluation of the property.  He was prompt, efficient and very knowledgeable of the requirements for an FHA loan.  His recommendations for a repair were very well explained and will be a valuable tool when we start the repairs.

I contacted HouseMaster Home Inspections for radon level testing after my mitigation system installation.  (You cannot use the same company that accomplishes your mitigation to prevent biased testing.)  The service representative took my information and had the technician, Mr. Chad Martens, contact me within 3 hours.  I had originally requested service on Saturday, February 23rd with the service representative, but had to reschedule for Monday, February 25th, at 4 PM when talking with Chad due to availability of his test equipment.  Still, this date was within 1 week from my original phone call.  Chad arrived Monday on time with Mr. Andrey Barshay, owner of HouseMaster Home Inspections.  Andrey explained in detail the process for the test while Chad set up the equipment in the basement.  Andrey left radon hazard and mitigation education materials behind for my information.  The radon test took 48 hours to complete.  Chad returned on Wednesday, February 27th, promptly at 4 PM to pick up the test equipment.  Andrey emailed the completed test report that night at 7:06 PM.  Both individuals were very professional, considerate, and explained the process well.  If you need fast, efficient, and professional testing done, I strongly recommend HouseMaster Home Inspections to get the job done!

I do not have any home inspections to compare to but HouseMasters and Rick slightly exceeded my expectations.  The inspector was Rick and he's a nice guy who was thorough and answered all my questions; plus, as part of the deal you get a bunch of extra reading material and checklists which are beneficial to increasing your knowledge of how not to slack off as a homeowner.  I've been in the house a little less than 2 months and since moving in I've been all over the house, attic and all, just taking my time looking at everything and learning about the house.  I have not found any material issues which were overlooked during the inspection.
The few aspects which exceeded my expectations were 1) the inspection includes being added to the recall notification list for the major appliances (aka I don't need to research if my dishwasher has a recall as now I will just get an email) and 2) Rick was more thorough than I expected.  My expectations were potentially low because I've watched Holmes on Homes too much and started to think of Home Inspectors like I would a shady used cars salesman; however, point is even with my skeptical opinion of Home Inspectors, Rick was good and I was not and I still am not concerned he overlooked a deal-breaking issue.
I also had a termite and radon inspection as part of the home inspection and no complaints on either.  The radon test came back high and I have since had a radon mitigation system installed.  Don't slack on the $160, get the radon level checked.