Five Star Home Inspections

Perfect! Chris was informative, patient, and explained everything!

I came home to a mess;  he inspected the attic and left a pile, (and I mean a very large pile), of blow in insulation all over the carpet in the upstairs hallway.  It was several inches thick in places and covered a very large area.  No attempt was made to clean up the mess.  He also left blinds looking like kids had been playing with them in every room;  blades at every angle, askew, partially raised.  Cabinet doors were left open.  
I have used several other home inspection services and cleaning up and putting things back in place is a routine process.  They carry tools in their car to perform this task and it is a common courtesy to leave a home in the condition you found it when done inspecting, especially when that home is on the market.  Do unto others, I say, so even if you are a buyer, please ask your home inspector to leave the home as they found it.  If you are standing there when they inspect and see a mess, ask them to take care of it - that's what they are paid to do.

The home inspector did a shotty job. The report stated that the house had not leaks, however on the day that we moved in and used the shower, it leaked all the way to the first floor kitchen- I'm talking buckets! There were also old wet marks on the ceiling that were missed. We have had to have contractors come to the house and have estimated the damage to be up to $12,000! When I called and spoke with the owner of the home inspection company, he came to look at the shower. He lied, was manipulative and attempted to swindle us to get out of admitting fault. Terrible service!  On top of that, we have found other things that the inspector missed- such as a large leak in the basement, other faucets that didn't run hot water etc....Will never hire them again!

Bad. The guy spent most of his time checking the kitchen appliances, which I didn't care that much about. He missed that most power outlets weren't working, rotten wood around several windows, and birds living in a vent. he incorrectly said there was something wrong with the furnace (I brought another guy in to check it and he told me the original inspector "probably didn't know what he was talking about). These are just the obiovus things that it shouldn't take an inspector to find. He also missed a leak in the basement that he could have spotted if he had checked the place the way somwone like, say, an inspector would be trained do.
What was most disturbing was not getting an answer from Five Star. When I emailed the guy who did the inspection, he basically told me he had done things right. I then tried to contact a gentleman named Rodney who wither owns or manages trhe business and never heard back from him. Five Star must have a sweet deal goin with Sibcy Cline (who "recommend" them pretty strongly). I will not hire them again.

Great!

They were very professional. The answered all my questions.

Very articulate, thorough, professional. I'd highly recommend them. I forget the price I paid, the price reported is my vague estimate!

While the inspector was very pleasant and professional, the inspection itself seemed incomplete. The inspector did not bring a ladder to check the roof, which seemed odd given that we needed to have the chimney examined. It did not seem he had the proper equipment to execute a quality inspection, and did not give a thorough examination. Quite frankly, the job seemed very rushed.

I was referred to this company by my realtor (Sibcy Cline). The gentleman came on time and answered some of my questions in what seemed like a competent manner. However, his performance left a lot to be desired. Here is what happened:
1- Even thought it's a condo, I wanted to get a full inspection. The inspector claimed that, because it was a condo, he was only going to inspect the inside. After some back-and-forth, it became clear that there was no way he was going to get on the roof or look at the outside, so I decided to let him go ahead with the inspection of the inside. When he told me how much I owed him, the number sounded high to me and, upon checking the original quote later (should have had it with me), I saw that he had charged me for a full inspection. I called Sibcy Cline to and they told me 5-Star had agreed to send the inspector back to look at the roof (this whole process was completely unnecessary and aggravating).
2- The report said that the areas around the windows and deck needed normal painting. However, a contractor that came to do some work later told me there were significant cracks and moss and some of the wood around windows and deck was rotten. Also, there was an bird (complete with nest and abundant excrement) living in one of the vents. the inspector totally missed this.
3- There was a lot of loose siding at the back of the property.
4- Several power outlets don't work. The inspector gave the elctrical a clean bill of health.
5- He did point out that there could be problems with the furnace and water heater. Due to this, I hired a specialized inspector to check those. He told me they were fine and, in his words, that the guy who had checked them probably didn't know what he was doing.
6- The inspector told me he couldn't check the sump pump because it was sealed. Without knowing anything about sump pumps, I was able to find a way to open the sump and test the pump. So I have to think this gentleman either didn't know how to test a pump or just didn't feel like doing it.
To top it all off, I tried to contact 5-Star by mail and got no response; then tried the BBB and also got no response.
So, no, I have no intention of sending any money their way in the future.

They missed major issues. We had to replace the garage door opener $335. We had to replace the stove which was leaking gas on top of the computer motherboard in it being bad $1000. There was holes in several screens he missed $50. Holes in the flooring. Rust on the back door. Another winter storm door leaks air consistently and is not properly sealed/ fitted. Had to call out to have dishwasher repaired$100 Called to have service on two of the ceiling fans$130. A leaky faucet and drain that does not work. The owner offered us a settlement of only $550 and then sent the wrong release of claims ( had the wrong name and amount 100 dollars less). Never replied back. We are now seeking a lawyer.

They arrived on time and described the process from beginning to end. We then went through the home top to bottom inside and out
the inspector was very knowledable and patient awswering all of my questions while pointing out several diffencies in the home. I have been through several home inspections and they far exceeded my expectations. i would refer them to my family and freiends.

unknown

Completely satisfied with services and price.

Punctual, detailed, willing to answer every question clearly and respectfully, and willing to take his time.

The representative came on time and performed a very thorough inspection.  He was very personable, answered all the questions and promptly provided an inspection report.  I would highly recommend the company.

Several things were discovered that should have been caught on the inspection and communicated to us.

1. The deck is moving away from the condo unit itself. This was considered an extreme hazard by the condo association
and required a significant deck repair. The inspection report did not include this hazardous situation
2. There were two electric outlets in the kitchen on the wall by the sink. Neither of them work. Standard practice from other
inspections I’ve had is to test all outlets. This was apparently not followed and now I have two outlets which need repair. 3. The rod holding the vertical blinds in the living room is non-functional and pulling out of the wall. This was covered by a
valance when we looked at the property and we depended on our paid inspection to find and report things like this. Yet
another item not noted in the inspection report.
4. The windows were tinted with an after-market tint and the tinting is pulling away from the windows. We did not notice as the
blinds were down and, again, we depended on the inspection to locate such things. BTW the inspectors response
when we wrote him about this was that tiniting was (AND i QUOTE) "IRRELEVANT AND COSMETIC". Since
we can't even see out of some of these windows, I wouldn't consider that irrelevant and cosmetic.
6. Shelving in the closets was pulling away from the walls and was also not noted on your inspection. While we were
aware of this and would have purchased the home anyway, the omission of this factor from the report is a clear indication
of the sloppy quality of this company's work. His respose to our e-mail that this was also missed was to tell us this is
usually caused by the anchoring of supports... really? gee? I paid you how much to NOT tell me this...

There were other things missed as well but I suspect this will be enough to inform everyone of the sub-standard work performed by this company.

We found this inspection to have been superficial at best and certainly beneath the standards of other inspections I’ve seen – including the one just performed on the home we were selling. Had it been performed to appropriate standards we would have been saved a lot of time, hassle and money0

I prefer to give companies the benefit of the doubt, but let me say there were MULTIPLE items / problems with the house that Five Star missed. I kid you not, here's a list of the issues we had with their inspection:

1. Water pressure in the home turned out to be terrible. We can literally turn on faucets from two of the bathrooms and have ZERO water coming from the kitchen. Five Star noted the water pressure in the inspection report as "adequate". WHAT?!?!?
2. One of the HVAC floor vents was actually stuffed with insulation (not functional). Wasn't even checked by Five Star.
3. The house has a sump-pump in the basement tucked in a cabinet. They TOTALLY MISSED IT! Marked the inspection report as not having a sump-pump. WHA?!?!?
4. The ice-maker in the refrigerator was inoperable (honestly- I can see how they missed this one, though)
5. Stove had a frayed baking element. I had to replace just last week... Another miss...
6. The bed-room addition had a crawl space in the closet. The seller even removed the carpet over the crawl space door for the inspector. He missed it! Said it didn't have an access door. He did come back when I confirmed with the seller that there was an access door, so at least he did that. But still, how do you miss something like that?
7. He inspected the attic, and in the process of closing the access panel (painted drywall), he cracked it in half. Said he would advise the seller's realtor. We thought he'd take care of it (since he broke it). We were shocked that it was still busted when we took occupancy. Thanks for that...

Bottom line, I absolutely DO NOT recommend Five Star Home Inspections. In my opinion, they were nice, polite, and seemed professional. But, their work product and quality of their inspection was tremendously substandard.

Did not get to inspect entire house b/c water wasn't turned on, but will call back to finish once the water is turned on.

I hired them to perform a complete home inspection of our current home when we purchased it. They were prompt, accessible to answer questions at any time during the inspection, and gave very detailed report on everything in and out of the house. They are very good at the service they provide.

They were very professional and on time. They explained the whole process to me as they weer going through the house. They had great attention to detail and they fit me in to their schedule by the time I needed them to.

Mike was extremely thorough - he was on the roof, in the crawl spaces, checking doors, winows, appliances, running lots of water at a time. The Sellers had done a prelisting inspection with Pillar to Post and he uncovered several issues which were not identified by the pre-listing inspection. One issue with respect to the concrete slab of the garage wasn't able to be seen unless you actually crawled into the crawl space and apparently the other inspector did not. The garage door worked, but he discovered that it did not have the safety reverse system necessary for a family of 4 young kids. He also pointed out several areas in which there may be asbestos wrapped around the pipes, even though that was technically outside the scope of the inspection. While he didn't give us exact estimates, he was able to tell us which items were minor, which ones were more major repairs. he even suggested a more efficient way to replace an old water heater (with 2 40 gallons insead of one 80 gallon). He followed up the next day and had consulted his boss regarding the issue with the concrete slab of the garage, who agreeed that this was a major issue. had we not decided to do our own inspection, we never would have found this issue (until the garage floor fell in!).

I arrived at the house a little early, but Mike was even earlier. He started by giving me an idea of what we'd be going over during the inspection and asking if I had any concerns from previous visits to the house. Throughout the inspection he told me what he was finding and also what to look for in the future to indicate problems, and how to prevent potential problems. He answered my questions thoroughly and to my satisfaction. I left the inspection with a thorough knowledge of the workings of my house and what to expect from it in the future. I am a first-time homebuyer, and I feel much more confident after the inspection. The written report, with pictures when appropriate, was delivered to me via e-mail that evening.

Chris is great, fast and accurate. On both instances I reviewed the report with him and had it in my Inbox a few hours later. He came highly recommended and does not disappoint. I will be hiring him again any time I need a home inspection.

Mike Walsh, the inspector, arrived early, and gave a very thorough inspection. I have fixed up older homes, and he's an expert. He went above the call of duty, when the furnace wouldn't work, we called in an HVAC guy because the temperature was going to get down to zero that night. Unfortunately, the furnace was beyond repair, and needed to be condemned, so Mike helped up drain the system so the pipes wouldn't burst. He was thorough, friendly, and professional. I had checked Angie's List prior to this, and was going to use another company, but my Realtor had already made the appointment, so I called the other company and had them as a backup if I wasn't pleased with the outcome. I'm very glad to add this company to the list. I have checked, and they are both licensed by Kentucky, and certified.