ACE Preferred Inspections, Inc

DO NOT LET THEM IN YOUR HOME WITHOUT PROOF OF LIABILITY INSURANCE! BEWARE! This company and its inspector, C. Scott Burns, do not follow accepted home inspection standards and caused thousands of dollars in damage to my property during a home inspection. Despite providing pictures, documents, and fulfilling every request, the owner, Jeffery Donaldson, refused to pay for the damage. He only communicated through a generic customer support email and repeatedly refused to identify himself. A quick search of court records in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties will show that he has been involved in numerous lawsuits. I have been forced to seek legal action as well. STAY AS FAR AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY AS POSSIBLE. If you are buying or selling a home in the Charleston, SC area, ask who the inspector is and ensure you get a copy of their insurance policy before allowing them into your home. They will refuse to repair any damage caused by their incompetent inspectors. I am extremely disappointed in this company and its owner, Jeffery Donaldson. I will never let this shady business near any of my homes or my clients’ homes. I want to warn everyone to avoid the same painful process I and many others have experienced. There are many other reputable, knowledgeable, and well-trained inspection companies in the Charleston area, such as Cardinal, Hometeam Inspections, or literally ANYONE ELSE besides ACE Preferred Inspections.

great job on inspection

ACE Strikes again... costs of errors and omissions approaching $10,000. Since my last review, a mold, snake, and insect breeding ground was located under my front stairway and the outside door opener for the garage was found to be unusable. Both my electrician and my pest control contractor said that the inspector should have seen the under stairway problem, and the corrosion and broken wires in the garage door opener had, quite clearly, never been tested.

I bought a new home in January. It was built (in 2008) for personal occupancy by a well known builder, and tenant occupied at the time of the sale. Everyone associated with the sale knew that the tenant would be there indefinitely, while we attempted to sell our old home. (In this price range, 100 days would have been a miracle) We were able to negotiate a minimal adjustment for the few issues our ACE Preferred Inspections professional was able to identify.... but the report said several things were not looked at thoroughly because stuff was in the way, or "it couldn't be determined". (It took me about 3 minutes to figure out how to get onto the roof.... if only the inspector had made the effort) Nine months later, imagine my surprise when some water dripped on my head while delivering a few boxes to the screened porch. With complete access to our new home, we discovered several problems that were apparently "hiding in plain sight" at the time of the inspection. Looking out the third floor office window with my "roofer" was an "OMG" moment, even before we stepped outside to remove years of debris for a closer look. One section of the roof had "cratered", with no solid wood to be found.... $6,000 and several rafters later, the roof was fixed. One would think that a 20 year experienced professional would have seen the problem as readily as I did... but then he had missed the stained wood on the screened porch and the rotted-out trim on the door, no longer capable of holding the screen in place. Oh, that's right, he missed that too and a four inch hole in the screen along the outside of the room. Jeffrey Donaldson, of ACE, has offered me a free Home Check Up as compensation for this and the other problems I brought to his attention.... like the closet door handle that came off in my hand the other day, or the buried downspouts and overflowing gutters that probably led to the roof problems in the first place. Yesterday, it was the frond door handle that fell to the ground. I suppose the two warped and unclosable doors in the basement were in perfect condition at inspection time as well. Think hard before you hire these people to do your home inspection?

Originally, I thought it went well. The inspector arrived when he said and completed his inspection under the watchful eye of my realtor (whom I greatly appreciate). His notes were good, and there were very few problems which needed to be corrected. However, upon closing, I discovered soot everywhere! As a survivor of a bad apartment fire, this was a terrifying discovery. There was a problem with the gas fireplace. I had it inspected and found it was broken (logs and wiring). I realize the home was fully furnished during the inspection, but if there's a fireplace, I expect it to be checked. At the very least, the walls should've been examined closely if not specifically for soot, then water damage etc. A finger test on the wall or ceiling fans would've revealed the problem. For the price, they should've been more thorough. I just hope nothing more serious was missed in my inspection and that of others.

Originally, I thought it went well. The inspector arrived when he said and completed his inspection under the watchful eye of my realtor (whom I greatly appreciate). His notes were good, and there were very few problems which needed to be corrected. However, upon closing, I discovered soot everywhere! As a survivor of a bad apartment fire, this was a terrifying discovery. There was a problem with the gas fireplace. I had it inspected and found it was broken (logs and wiring). I realize the home was fully furnished during the inspection, but if there's a fireplace, I expect it to be checked. At the very least, the walls should've been examined closely if not specifically for soot, then water damage etc. A finger test on the wall or ceiling fans would've revealed the problem. For the price, they should've been more thorough. I just hope nothing more serious was missed in my inspection and that of others.

unknown

I hired ACE Preferred Inspections to give my home a top to bottom inspection. I wanted to find out if I had any defencies that needed to be repaired to bring the house to a well maintained status. I already new I would need a new roof and wanted to have a set of independant eyes to look at the roof first so I woluld know what repais would be needed before I started getting quotes for a new roof. The inspector showed up right on time! He was very thorough with his inspection and had it done within the quoted time frame. The inspector was very knowledable and capable and after the inspection was completed he reviewed his findings with me. He siad I would be e-mailed a complete summary with photographs showing the defencies the next day by e-mail and again it was right on time! I would use them again for any home inspection needs.

Met the inspector at the residence we were considering. The inspector showed up on time and was very professional. Very polite and informative as to what he intended to do and was willing to answer questions during the process.
The report was available to us the same day and was very easy to understand.
We would highly recommend ACE Preferred Inspections to anyone in the Charleston/Summerville area.

Extremely thorough. Arrived at 9:15am and when I had to leave at 1:00pm, they were still going. David Herring was the primary inspector and he was solid. Took the time to give me a thorough run down of all the items they found and offered to speak by phone after I received the full report.
And the full report was VERY thorough. The price was slightly higher than other inspectors but, then again, they didn't offer to check the things David did. Plus this was a rather large house, with a detached garage and a crawl space. The price was fair particularly for the work involved.
I recommend them highly.

Do NOT hire Ace to inspect your home. Hire a qualified GC to provide you with their expert opinion on the shape of the home.

Mr. Donaldson was recommended by our realtor. We did not buy the first home he inspected for us back in 2011. When it came time to make another offer, we called him back. He is thorough, professional and efficient. He explained all findings on site and provided a detailed electronic report within 24 hours. Highly recommend.

They did a thorough inspection. I was not present. I was out of town. I put my trust in them. I think they did a good job. Overall, they were excellent and it was a fair price. I wasn't there so it isn't fair for me to say anything about their professionalism. Their communication was fair. They communicated through email.