Craftsman Home Inspection

Ron is, as the other reviewer said, extremely ethical. He is also extremely kind and knowledgeable. Our realtor tried to talk us out of hiring him, saying he is "alarmist" and "not very good," and the seller's agent was openly disparaging of him and didn't even show up for the inspection. It's unfortunate, because Ron is one of the only people we encountered as potential homebuyers who seemed genuinely interested in helping us make an informed decision on the biggest purchase of our lives. And what happened was that Ron found that the house was badly in need of some extremely costly repairs and deferred maintenance. As a result, we dropped our offer and were thankful for his honest input, even though we desperately wanted the house so it wasn't what we wanted to hear. And, if you're wondering whether what happened was in fact that Ron WAS just being alarmist, here's what happened with that house: the people who eventually bought it used a very highly rated and difficult to book inspection company that's a favorite here on Angie's List. And after that inspection, they had the sellers repair, or repaired themselves, pretty much everything on Ron's list, almost to the letter. Knowing what they paid for that work and what they have still to address, I'm glad it's them and not us. A couple of caveats: the inspection went long. We were living in the house as tenants at the time, so it wasn't such a big deal for us, but it would be challenging in a different context. The presentation of the report also made it very hard to digest -- the report came in at around 170 pages and wasn't well organized, so it was a long read and not all that easy to parse. But these are minor quibbles given that the quality of the work was outstanding.

Mr. Gower is extremely ethical. I read the previous review and wonder if it was a real estate agent who was unhappy with the fact that Mr. Gower pointed out things that other inspectors who are referred from agents would not. My agent, and the sellers agent were both shocked at how thorough Mr. Gower was. And it is true, he found a lot of issues. But he explained every single thing. On items that were his opinion, he told me this as such. He showed me areas I would need to address as a home owner. I think he does cover his own base when listing "replace NOW". But as homeowners, we are deciding our own priority list. He truly is the best inspector we have ever worked with and we have bought several homes. The main problem for us, is that he was so thorough that his report took a very long time and we didn't have enough time to negotiate based on his findings as we already had to get an extension from the original 10 day window. If you want an inspector who is working for YOU and not your realtor so that they can just make the sale, then you should certainly call Mr. Gower!

unknown

R. Gower has inspected two homes for us and as buyers we feel confident about learning every detail of the building. He is extremely thorough. He takes his responsibility seriously and does a lot to educate his clients.

As always, Ron Gower arrived early, gave it 110% and left no questions unanswered!

Fantasitc
This is an example of an excellent small business. Ron Gower does an outstanding job and is extremely ethical. He has helped us for years with insect control and done a fantastic job. He is very responsive and personable. He is on the road early so if you leave a message he will get back to you early the next day. He will do an inspection and suggest treatments. He offers a yearly contract which covers any amount of times which he need to return in a year. It is a good deal.

He also does work with home inspections. I wish I had him as inspector when I bought my home. It would not of been a standard checklist, but he goes into all the nooks and crannies to really find out what he can. His service might not be as inexpensive as the home inspections that the real estate folks recommend, but remember he is working for you. He found stuff within 2 seconds of entering my home that our inspector overlooked.

I'VE USED THIS COMPANY FOR VERY MANY YEARS, PROBABLY TEN OR TWELVE YEARS. THE GUY THAT RUNS IT REALLY DOES KNOW WHAT HE IS DOING AND KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT. I NEVER HAVE A PROBLEM AFTER HE HAS SPRAYED FOR ANYTHING.

WE WERE BOTH HAPPY WITH THE END RESULTS. THEY PROMISED US WE WOULD NEVER SEE ANOTHER TERMITE, AND IF WE DID, THEY WOULD COME BACK FOR FREE AND RE-SPRAY THE HOUSE. I REALLY LIKE THAT.