
Greater Houston Home Inspections
About us
Greater Houston Home Inspections performs comprehensive residential home inspections for first time home buyers , Investors, out-of town as well as local relocation and new home build phase inspections. A Phase inspection is a series of 4 inspections: 1- Pre-pour of foundation; 2- Structural, studs & roof rafters; 3- Pre-drywall electric & plumbing; 4 - Pre-delivery before builder walk through.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Comprehensive, Conscientious and Complete - Residential Home Inspections in Houston now for 4 years.
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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Thanks again Dale!
The property, built in 1981, is big and the house is around 5000 square feet. Dale showed up on time and spent nearly 12 hours going through it and finding various issues. Based on his findings and recommendations we called a foundation expert to come look at the home as well. Though there were other issues with the report, the pictures included in his report were very helpful, as one of us is out of state and unable to view the property for themselves.
The negative: Though Dale was initially very responsive to emails and phone calls, he became less and less so once he was done with the inspection Sunday evening. We read on numerous reviews that he got them the report the same or next day, and he told us as he was finishing the inspection that he was busy and would get it to us as soon as possible. By Tuesday our check had been cashed but we had still not heard from him. Tuesday evening, after emailing and calling a couple of times, we finally reached him and he said it would be to us by Wednesday morning at the latest. On Wednesday afternoon, we emailed and called and again Dale did not respond. We informed him that our option period would be ending soon and that we really needed the report to negotiate repairs with the sellers, but Dale did not respond to phone calls or emails. On Thursday morning he sent a short email apologizing for the delay and saying it would be to us that day. Last night at 11:30pm we finally received the report, leaving us with 1 business day and the weekend to review his findings and go over them with the sellers.
Though Dale seemed to do a very thorough inspection, took great pictures and was initially both responsive and flexible in scheduling, it is obvious that he overextended himself and should have told us he was too busy to take our house on. In addition to the above mentioned complaints, our sellers were able to show us 9 different errors on the inspection report, including basic things like "inoperable dishwasher" and "inoperable ceiling fans," or "screens missing from multiple windows" when there was just one screen missing. The report was obviously rushed and it showed - a faulty report left us with little time and negotiating room.
Based on the other reviews, perhaps Dale is an excellent inspector and we are the exception. However, it is obvious that Dale should not have taken our property on because he was over-extended. If you hire him you may want to see what his schedule is like that week and clarify exactly when you would like the report, before you schedule the inspection and especially before writing a check.
Update: Since moving into house we have discovered that several items in our home warranty are voided because of Dale's faulty inspection report. More importantly, we have discovered some major leaking/water damage issues in the carport, roof and deck that were not mentioned at all in Dale's report. We were told by multiple contractors that the structural issues that now need to be repaired happened over a long period of time and that any inspector would have seen and commented on them just several months ago. Our new home might be costing us another $40K or more to keep rot from seeping further into the house, less than a month into living in it. We certainly never would have bought a property with this much wrong, and hope this review helps others thoroughly question this inspector before they take his report at face value.
"At the time I was over extended and should have handled things differently. The positive out of all of this is that I have learned a few hard lessons. The first of which is if I'm too busy, I am too busy. I need to turn down work that I can not get done properly in a timely matter. Secondly, when I need help ask for it. I don't have to do this all alone. I am sorry that my actions put a client in a difficult position. It is the last thing I want to do."
they were punctual, pleasant, efficient, and knowledgeable.
pointing out areas of concern we had totally missed.
their report was thorough, timely, and more than complete!
we actually walked away from our offer after this inspection...saved us from a "glossed over" house.
My cost did include a "wood destroying insect" report.
I followed him as he went room to room, and checked every outlet, and every nook and cranny. Tons of pictures, and some good advice here and there. Very knowledgable on his trade.
I only had a couple of issues - my cost did NOT include a measureable foundation report. I was not told this when setting up my inspection, and he did not have his equipment with him so it would have been an additional $150 for him to come back out and do this. The foundation inspection he did was a basic "is the foundation doing it's job".
My other issue, was when I was scheduling this inspection on the phone, he let me know that I did NOT need to be present. As much as I appreciate this, I want to be there to know what is wrong and see it first hand.
Dale arrived on time for the inspection and repeated I did not need to be there for the inspection. I insisted on staying and he said ok, but it's best if I'm not near as he likes to talk, and therefore the inspection would take twice as long.
He still did a good job, but I would not use him again. I would spend the extra dollars and get my foundation price included and an inspector who wants me to see first hand what is wrong with the house I am buying.
"I appreciate everything that Member said and the reason most people hire an inspector is because it is our job to know everything required to make a thorough (usually about 25 page) report on a property. It can be distracting having a questioning customer over your shoulder through the inspection and I tried to be polite about explaining that. I am sorry that she would not use me again. As for the digital level measuring and mapping, that is a service that I provide that is beyond the scope of a normal home inspection. Perhaps I should have sold my extra services more, and asked a few more questions initially."
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