A1 House Prep LLC & Inspections

My wife and I are first time home buyers and we had the pleasure of walking through our new home with Bob. I can’t express enough how much Bob knows about his job and how well he is able to teach the abundance of knowledge to nobody homebuyers like my wife and I. He showed up early in the rain, told us the Gods honest truth and answered every one of my questions. A guy like Bob loves answering questions. I commented “Why use YouTube when you can call Bob?” He goes way above and beyond of what a home inspector does, and actually teaches you… fully teaches you how to maintain what you have and has a proactive mindset to everything. He does not hold back, he will tell you what you don’t want to hear but need to hear. He does what he does so well in the interest of saving you time and money in the long run. I could not have dreamt of a better person to walk me through step by step, room by room, and appliance by appliance. Thank you Bob & Donna!

I have used this company for inspections on on last two house I have purchased and I could not be happier with their service. 7 years in our previous house and we had no surprises after the inspection. Bob is thorough, insightful and professional in his work. He and Donna went over and above for us when PECO was not able to turn the heat on for our inspection. He returned a few days later and finished the inspection for no additional cost. This house was a 45 minute drive from their office! This seems to be the way this company operates. They will continue to be my go-to company for these kinds of needs in the future.

It went excellent. Extremely knowledgeable and very professional.

This inspector was recommended by real estate agent, Ilya Fish. Ilya said he was one of the best inspectors and we took his word. Bob (Robert) Johnson was inspector from Imperial Home Inspections, LLC. He showed up late to day of inspection. Mr Johnson went up to our roof and claimed "roof in very good shape... life expectancy 10-15 years", "house well maintained". Upon us moving into purchased house, the roof leaked within first 2 months, the heater stopped working and our vinyl siding kept falling off. Within the next 6 months our main sewer line broke and sewage spilled all over the house. He missed to inform us of the these issues. Within 7 months we have spent close to $30,000 on repairs and we're not even close to fixing all issues.

I contacted Imperial agency in December 2014, got no response. I contacted BBB in March 2015 and finally got arrogant, unprofessional comments and received no reimbursement.

I highly DO NOT recommend this inspector. He wasn't thorough and missed a lot of clues there were major issues with house. He's not willing to admit he was wrong and uses the excuse of the liability paper he serves at day of inspection.

As the other reviewer wrote I would never recommend Robert Johnson, Imperial Home Inspections.

He lied/was incompetent to do the work for which he had been hired.

I told him that because of my financial situation I could not afford anything more then "negligible" problems with the house.(I told him as a disabled senior I am on a very fixed income.)

As the other reviewer said he "put on a good show".  It appeared that it was a thorough inspection. He told me the problems were minor.  I asked him a number of times reiterating I could not afford to buy a house that had any major issues, there are only minor problems. He repeatedly assured me there was nothing major.  "Would you let your wife buy this house?" I asked him. He replied, "absolutely.

Based on his representations I went ahead and purchased the property.

Within a month I hired an inspector to replace an outlet and asked him just to double check some others since it had been a few weeks since I bought the property. To my horror he told me, "Lady. you have dangerous wiring in this house."

Thinking he was looking to get a big job out of it I had 2 other electrical companies come and see if I needed work.  All told me I had dangerous, spliced and frayed" knob and tube wiring.

I then had the house reinspected by another company (SPY which I highly recommend, and have left a review at their page).  That inspector found other problems but the major one was that the electric was knob and tube and "dangerous" and "hazardous"

I tried to get Mr. Johnson to deal with this but he would not do so.  I then hired a lawyer to send him a "demand" letter to get him to fix this. 

The replacement of the electric would cost, as per the estimates, $15,000 - $20,000 which I did not have.  I had hoped he would show himself to be responsible and want to do the right thing but he did not.

Unfortunately 3 lawyers gave me the wrong statute of limitations in which I could sue (they told me 2 years not 1.)  I missed that statute but still had hopes Mr. Johnson would show himself to be responsible, as a person and businessman but he refused to do so.

I went to the Pa Attorney General's office.  They tried to get him to come to the table so there could be medication. Even to the AG's office he was arrogant writing there is only "a one year statute of limitations" so therefore he doesn't have to do anything.

The lawyer who wrote the letters did get a response from him wherein he stated "Knob and tube wiring was not visible ON THE DAY I WAS THERE."  Knob and tube wiring, as with any other wiring, does not appear and disappear. By this statement Mr. Johnson indicated his incompetence to evaluate the electrical system(s) in a house. 

This house was 100 years old. Knob and tube wiring was in all houses from before 1950. He should have known that.  Knob and tube wiring has a very specific look, esp specific switches.  There were "tubes" throughout the basement ceiling and knob and tube switches throughout the house.

I am trying to get this resolved in the courts through a different theory of law, breach of contract and unfair trade practices because Mr. Johnson's statement, independent f the inspection report, stated he a fact, since it was "not visible" the day he was there, he did not know what it looked like.

In addition there were circuit breakers for the basement and first floor but none for the second and converted attic.  He had to know there was another form of electric in the house then the circuit breakers and what he described as "romex" wiring.

There were a number if other issues with the house but the electric was the most major.  Because I had to inform the insurance company that it was knob and tube and not romex as Johnson reported I lost my insurance.

No one else would cover me, As a result I had to go the state's Fair Plan which insures uninsurable properties. However it does not offer liability.  For that I had to use a different company and the state plan does not cover the inside of the house and no one else would sell me coverage for the inside.

There was a leak in the ceiling a few months ago.  because I had no insurance and worried what else could go wrong for which I had no coverage, strictly because of Robert Johnson's lie/incompetence, I was forced to sell the house.

Because of his lies/incompetence I lost 20 - 30,000$ on the sale as well as other substantial costs relative to being forced to move

It was bad enough what he did but his arrogance in refusing to even try and make it right (he did offer to come to the house to reinspect however his demands as to how it should be done, who was to be there, and when, at his convenience, made it impossible to allow him to do so.  I told him in email it would have to be at my convenience as it was my house and he who caused the problem in the first place.  His response was to not reply further as to even making an effort to make it right.

As a result of Robert Johnson/Imperial Home inspection I was forced to sell my house, I lost thousands of dollars and loved in a house where I was frightened to live always afraid there would be a fire as a result of the dangerous and hazardous electric system that he did not find/declare.

I don't usually use all-caps, but do NOT use this inspection agency. EVER! 
Bob performed a home inspection for us about a year ago. He was great at all of the little details (checking light switches, faucets, etc.) Basically, he put on a good show and took a lot of pictures. 
He inspected the roof on the house and said he estimated it had 15 years of life remaining. On his recommendation, we purchased the house. 
Fast forward to 11 months later, and we had a leak in the roof. We called several roofers for estimates, and each one told us the same thing: our roof was at least 25 years old, and the product on the roof was only a 20-year shingle, meaning we were already past the normal expected life. Each pointed out multiple leaks and problem areas, some we had noticed and some we hadn't, and recommended total replacement. So, less than a year after purchasing the house that my inspector assured me had 15 years left on the roof, we dropped $11k to replace the roof on our home. 
I called Bob to talk with him about the situation, and he couldn't have been more arrogant and condescending. He told me that all 5 roofers were lying to me, and that his original assessment was correct. He said he knows more about roofs than anyone else in the area, and that I was getting scammed, etc. Basically, he flat out refused to live up to his mistake and blamed me for the problem. 
When the roof was replaced, we had to replace 5 sections of plywood that were so rotted you could see right through them. The roof was definitely old, and definitely had been leaking for years. There is no way it had anywhere close to 15 years left on it. I told Bob I wanted him to stand behind his work and pay a big chunk of the roof replacement, and he refused. He sent me a check for the original $300 inspection, and that was it. 
My roofers actually told me that he called them and accused them of being frauds as well. They, too, described him as the most arrogant person they had ever talked to. Long story short: you can't trust his work. Do NOT use him as your home inspector.

It took 21/2 hrs and he was very detail oriented. He turned on all the fawcets and filled tubs and sinks to make sure all were working properly. He checked for any leaks around pipes. He checked for leaks under sinks and any around washer and dishwasher. He checked all closets and used the latest tech equipment to check for any water damage from the past. He checked all electrical outlets. Ceiling fans. The refrigirater, the stove. Heat pump and central air conditioning. He got up on the roof and checked it out.  Checked rain spouts. Checked vinyl siding. Both bedrooms and living room. Porch for any damage. ALL in all he did a very complete job and explained everything very simply to us. He is one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet, and very professional. Highly recommended!! four stars out of four!!!

Excellent service and value...........see description above.

Mr. Todd Johnson was their representative that worked with us. He was prompt, professional and thorough. My husband is very maintenance compliant but I am not. He was very good about teaching us as we went through the house. Infact, the original home owners were there with us. They even walked through and learnt things as we went through the house. He was just great to deal with. Our next home would be when we retire in Colorado and we would use him then if he is willing to fly for that one.