OMNI SPECT

unknown

Bob was recommended by our real estate agent.

Overall, we feel he just walked around the house, took pictures, and provided quick information he expected us to remember or write down all while hurrying around house. I asked him to put it in the report but never did. We felt that it was not a detailed revie and he does not really do like specialties I guess? Like pool, fireplace, roof, chimney, garage...those are all things that was wrong with the house! He has disclaimers for almost everything which makes the thing pointless. The reports basically covers like easy things to see with the eye, like plug in this or check that but anyone can check that with any knowledge walking into a new house. We were unsatisfied.

Pros

-Bob was on time yes, after reading his website months later they have a "200 percent satisfaction guarantee" and if they are late or unhappy they would waive fee. We might actually take advantage of them coming back but honestly what would that solve? We are having actual experts with the issues we have come to the house.

I NEVER write bad reviews but this one really upset my wife and I.

Cons

- He never checked the Roof more than just looking at from the ground with binoculars, he said some shingles need to be replaced.....the roof 3 months in needs to be replaced. We have water stain/damage in the upstairs and downstairs ceilings!

- He never checked out the chimney/fire place....the flashing around chimney on roof needs to be replaced

- He never checked the pool...one summer used it and leaked the whole time now have to get liner replaced

-He barely checked garage doors...just looked at it real quick and no suggestions how to fix it just call a garage company those also have to be replaced

-My dishwasher was broke we knew that moving in and the water leaked through downstairs...he didn't look at any piping on in any ceilings so how would he know? but still its an inspection and I expected more than literally him just walking around taking pictures

- Never looked at the irrigation system or fences both are broke we knew that but still he didn't look

So OVERALL, we felt he literally just walked around house and took pictures told us a bunch of home remedies to fix things and I asked for him to put in report we were so excited to get it but nothing was really in there.

Honestly the whole report has a ton of disclaimers so bunch of my cons above are disclaimed from his report like "did not go on roof' "did not check washer/dryer"....so if you take the meaning "inspection" down to the definition yes he literally inspected the house but did not really dive deep into ANYTHING...anyone with any knowledge can walk around and be like "well the garage door is unplugged...need to fix that" or "shingles are missing...replace that.

We are very unhappy and few months in being a home owner officially we feel we could have provided a better inspection that what we got. We have called roofing companies, pool companies, chimney places and YES they are an expert at what they do but an inspection guy for homes should be more of an expect in everything since that's his job. Never heard from the company again or a follow up not that is what they are supposed to do but still would have been nice to see if we had progressed or anything...so if you guys are reading this I recommend adding some time of follow up service.

Find another inspection company!

unknown

Bob MacDonald came on full of energy. he walked around the house while awaiting the realtors. Then we began... Bob took lots of photos and gave lots of misc unclear explanations of what he saw on the exterior. Then we went to the basement and Bob said the humidifier was installed incorrectly,which we found out was not true. He then said our expansion tank on the oil furnace was installed incorrectly, which we Also found out was not true. He barely checked out the kitchen and took lots of photos and at the end of our inspection he set up the radon test and said he would need to retrieve it in a few days. So we left and about a week later we received electronically our inspection report. The report had only 2 photos and as I read the report it was more than obvious Bob had cribbed our report from another customers as he noted the laundry was on the 2nd floor and needed a pan which was totally irrelevant to our house. This was not the only item I found to be irrelevant to our property. We paid a good amount by check on the day of the inspection and the report was inadequate. But the zinger came when we read that our radon report was dated 10 years earlier!! And the day the report was supposedly to have taken place was years and days incorrect! When I phoned to ask where were all the pictures you took, he said ' I can't seem to get them off my phone, but I will" then I asked him where our laundry was and he said 'top floor'and I said no Bob.. Guess again. Then he asked if I could tell him what was incorrect in the report and I proceeded to email him an entire list of corrections for him to fix our home inspection report. He also said he would redo the radon test, I made another call to Bob to no avail. So in summary we had to have our lawyer call and write Bob MacDonald with OMNI SPECT to try to get him to cooperate before our closing. Bob Finally sent our lawyer an updated report with "4-6" photos and he has never corrected our radon report that was incorrectly dated 10 years ago! This is a very important service when purchasing a house and buyer beware....OMNI SPECT -Bob MacDonald talked the talk but did not deliver because our home inspection is not valid.

Everything about the inspection seemed great the day of. He had a wealth of knowledge on minor fixes and noticed many minor flaws while walking around the house. Since we moved in, we have found everything he did not(black mold, water damage) If you want someone to point out imperfections, he's your man. If you're looking for a thorough inspection, you might want to look somewhere else.

Bob was on time for the inspection & was professional. The issues he identified were accurate.  We dont own the home yet.  This review addresses that his turn around time was poor, & has poor communication skills for such a deadline-oriented business.
The inspection was a Wed morning, he indicated he would deliver the report at latest, by Thurs evening.  My call on Thursday afternoon was not returned. A second call to him at close of business day revealed he had been in a seminar all day and had an attitude unconcerned that multiple people (buyers & sellers & realtors and lawyers and mortgage co) were awaiting the report.  He then promised the report "in a few hours."
We did not recieve the report until Friday morning, the day before a 3 day holiday weekend.  We recieved no apology or acknowledgement about the lateness of the report and no discount for lateness either. 
I recommend people make the report due date part of the contract with a home inspector and ask more questions about their schedule other than just their availablilty to do the inspection.

Bob did a very thorough job on both properties he inspected for us. The first home had some grading issues as well as very high levels of radon which dissuaded us from purchasing the home. The second home showed correctable issues with the septic system as well as some rotten wood that can be corrected with gutters on the home. He even found a small population of carpenter ants, which was easily treated by professionals,  because of his knowledge of their preferred habitat, moist wood trim. Bob was great on educating us on the different systems of the home as we are coming from city utilities and natural gas. He provided a very detailed report with clear pictures of problem areas so that we could make corrections and/or show this to required contractors.
I was very impressed by Bob's willingness to continue to answer questions about the home through the purchasing process as well after closing on the property. His visit to the home to assist with the boiler after we closed on the property reaffirmed our decision to select Omni Spect for our home inspection.

Very well. Each home we had inspected came with risks (problems). These were not new homes so issues will be found. Omni spect provided the right information to us that allowed us to make an educated decision on which house was best versus the cost of the home. That's what's most critical. This is our 4th home so we are not new to the process. It is critical to know the risks so you can make an educated decision. Things break, but that's part of owning a home that's not new. construction.  

Bob did a fantastic job inspecting the home, inside and out. We were told everything, whether it needed to be fixed, what needed to be replaced when and every question we had was answer. We weren't left with any doubts or worries. This was a very professionally done job.

This "business" is an absolute joke. Unfortunately my fiance and I were buying our first home and didn't do our research.  Shame on us. He went around the property in about 1.5 hours pointing out general knowledge things - "make sure you shovel your steps." There was evidence of a leak in our living room. He claimed there was no issue there. At one point he even said, "well I can't figure out where the bathroom is venting to so you'll want to figure that out." Excuse me? Isn't that your job? Well after we purchased the home, within the first two months, we had water leaking through the roof on that same spot, we had a pipe burst due to poor insulation, and had issues with our boiler. Needless to say I can't even imagine what else was missed during his "evaluation." Do not waste your time or money with this company.  I learned my lesson the hard way to always research and never take the word of the realtor!

Overall he missed some important things which would saved me thousands of dollars of costs. He inspected my furnace said all I needed was a new hot water coil and the furnace be okay. But when the furnace man came I needed a new furnace, costing me thousands of dollars. He also said I had a small leak around the wax ring on the toilet, but come to find out the floor was rotted and whole bathroom filled with black mold, bathroom has to be gutted redone at cost of thousands of dollars. If he had found these things I could got the price of the house lowered or backed out of the deal. Who knows what else I'm going to find wrong before I'm through. DO not hire this company.