GLEN DAVIS CBO, LLC

The inspection went well. The builder would not have pointed out anything that was wrong. Mr.. Davis walked my husband through the home and let us know what needed to be corrected. We were then able to meet with the builder and asked for some corrections.

Glen is just great.  Our builder neglected to give us the week or more heads up that they were going to be installing the drywall in our new home.  I was left scrambling the Thursday afternoon before Memorial Day to find a qualified inspector to handle a pre-drywall inspection the following Tuesday.  None of the inspectors that friends had recommended to me had room in their schedule.  I checked on Angie's List and Glen had a good rating.  I called him and acknowledged that it was last minute but wondered if he could help us out.  Glen was great - he was able to work us in Tuesday morning.
Glen showed up right on time and was very thorough.  In addition to catching several structural issues, he also pointed out some cosmetic issues we wouldn't have considered at this stage - stuff like making sure the can light fixtures in the ceiling were lined up correctly and a out of level floor near the back door.  He even had spare shoe protectors for my wife and I which was great considering how muddy the construction site was.
We found Glen to be courteous, professional, and thorough.  When we do any structure inspection in the future, he'll be the first person we call.

New Construction Frame Group Inspection:
Framing, Electrical, Mechanical & Plumbing for Residential new home, based on the International Residential 2000 building codes.
This included visual inspection of the roof, chimney, home exterior, plugs, inputs into the house including AC inputs etc (from outside).
Inside, Glen inspected the frame and noted many important structural issues, and minor issues. He provided a report that evening, with pictures showing the issues, which was forwarded to the builder to correct/resolve.
He understands structure frame very well - noted issues with load bearing beams and an exterior corner of the house that will need reinforcing for wind pressures Had a fireplace in that corner but this was moved to an interior corner but the builder did not reinforce the corner - with the fireplace there, the corner was made very strong so it had adequate wind tolerance but once moved, the corner structure frame needed more wood there, so to speak. Builder agreed and will reinforce it.
Noted issue with gaps between hip and bracing beam in roof truss assembly - builder will add wood between hip wood and the bracing beam to fix that. Noted no anchor bolt on center garage post where floor board was above the slab - the weight of the load bearing studs on the slab there will hold ok but it should have an anchor bolt. Effectively only the weight is holding that garage center post (it is 3-car garage with post between 2-car garage and 1-car garage entries) post in place on th eslab - Builder will add reinforcing pins there (too late to add anchor bolt - no room to get equipment vertical there to drill in an anchor bolt).
Noted masonry front elevation support issue - no proper way to add the stone facade to the structure that will keep it solidly attached - builder will add this. Noted some wood of frame interior boards out of the proper plane.with other boards - builder will correct.
checked all electrical, plumbing and it was all good, checked that blocking was in place for ceiling fans and proper wiring for them. Noted no blocking for master bath ceiling vent fan - to be corrected.
He showed up on time to the new house site. Report was timely that evening. Very good report - concise to the point with pictures of the issues included in it..
Very professional. In my opinion, he really knows his stuff so to speak. I would hire him again without reservation and most likely will use him for final inspection.  Glen Davis has decades in the construction industry and knows the local Austin structural engineering firms, the framing companies, etc. He has inspected most of the builders' homes in the Austin, Georgetown - South Austin nexus.
Note: my new house is about 2700 sq ft, so his standard minimum fee of $495 applied. I think he said above 3100 he charges some extra.

I would highly recommend Glen to anyone who needs an inspector to assess a home you are considering buying. He was able to work me into his schedule on short notice so that I could have the necessary information before my option period expired. His report was extremely thorough and I was actually able to negotiate the purchase price down substantially due to Glen's assessment of the property's condition. He also took considerable time to explain the report to me on the phone as well. He's professional, thorough and knows his stuff and I believe the fee for Glen's services was money well spent in that it saved me thousands of dollars in a re-negotiated purchase price during my option period.

My real estate agent had told me that inspectors do not usually like to have the prospective buyer along on the inspection. I was expecting this when I contacted Glen. Instead, Glen told me that he prefers to have the client walk through with him as he conducts the inspection. He was very good about explaining what he was doing and what he thought of the particular items he inspected. He was straight forward. At the end, he even gave me all the pictures he had taken. His report was also very thorough.

Glen inspected the interior exterior attic and roof. Although the builder has a good reputation in this area, Glen found over 40 items ranging from small (missing screws) to larger (insufficient flashing; insufficient caulk/sealing below stucco wall; flue pipes not secured; some missing weep holes).

Glen's report was professional, thorough and included photos for each issue documented.  The report and Glen's onsite walkthrough with us made it easy for us to discuss the results and the fixes with the builder. 

If we were to build a new house again, we would hire Glen even earlier, at the framing stage.

One of the smartest choices we made in purchasing our home was hiring Glen Davis as our inspector.  
He was very thorough and highly informative.  I respect his opinion 100%.  I was very impressed with Glen?s helpfulness not only during the inspection, but most importantly, after the inspection.  He told me several times not to hesitate to call him with any questions or concerns, and I definitely took advantage of his offer.  
He found a major issue with the stone veneer surrounding the garage door.  He gave us a very detailed explanation of what the issue was and how it should correctly be repaired.  We went through meetings with 4 stone masons and 2 general contractors before we finally found someone who knew how to fix the repair the way Glen told us it should be fixed. (and for the amount of money Glen estimated it would cost.) Glen knows more about masonry repair work than the 4 tradesmen and 2 contractors we had come out and look at our problem.
Throughout the process of finding a capable stone mason, Glen was extremely helpful.  After receiving 3 different estimates with 3 different solutions to our repair, I was confused and frustrated.  I called Glen and asked his opinion about the estimates.  He explained the faults and errors of the estimates and reassured me that I needed to keep looking for a capable mason who would do the repair the correct way.  He then suggested that I contact a general contractor.  Once I found a contractor I liked, Glen even spoke with them on the phone and schooled the contractor and his mason on how to make the repair.
Had we not had Glen do our inspection, I feel that we probably would have unknowingly hired and incompetent stone mason which would have caused more issues down the road.  And because of that, I am extremely grateful for the help, the time and the advice that Glen has given to us.

VERY Precise, thorough and comprehensive,  He had a Good eye for errors in the building construction.  Well worth the money spent.

Glen Davis is afraid to go under a house or stick his hand into a dark hole. I would not trust reports that involve foundation or pier inspection unless he has an assistant who went into a crawl space for him. Glen Davis is long on opinion and short on accuracy. He takes advantage of homeowners who don't know any better, but to contractors and actual builders, he comes across as a hack. There is a reason he doesn't build anymore or hasn't in 20 years. I don't doubt his qualifications, but just like real estate agents, attendance classes can certify just about anything. He might be a decent third party inspector, and can be helpful in that position to framers or GC's, but if you are a homeowner, be careful. He will create issues to add hours and drive alleged problems that create fees for himself. Acronyms don't make you smart. He has spent so much time around lawyers, he fancies himself on the same ground. This will only cost you money as a homeowner especially if you are uninformed around construction. I do not recommend this person or his services. He has a gift of gab, but gab is all it is. I wouldn't bank on him in court, or as expert witness testimony, because the actual master professional (plumber, HVAC, electrician, truss engineer, PE, etc) will shred this guy on the stand and you will watch your $$$ disappear. Every time he is faced with the actual master expert he backs down from plumber, to structural engineer, to master electrician, to master plumber to even a deck builder. It's a bully mentality of exploiting those that don't know as though they are weak on the ICC code. There is a reason why he wears mirror'd glasses too.

Glen provided great information from our initial phone call to discuss his services. He explained items I should be watching for and requesting from the builder from ground-breaking until his initial inspection. At the first inspection, he arrived promptly and did an extremely thorough job. He climbed up on the roof, crawled around in the attic and completely walked all areas of the interior and exterior. He provided all his own equipment including binoculars so he could inspect areas that he could not access. He photographed all items that did not meet the code specifications so he could reference them easier in his report. After his inspection which lasted approximately 2 hours, he then showed me everything he found as well as explained its importance and how it should be corrected. He also pointed out numerous cosmetic issues that were not included in his report since it the report is specific to code violations. He emailed the report the same evening of the inspection. It was very detailed and included all of the photographs for clarification. His second inspection was just as thorough and complete. The report proved invaluable as there were major issues of concern that never would have been noticed by someone who was not trained in this field. With this information passed on to the builder, we now have a wonderful house that was built properly. Glen's expertise was evident from my initial conversation with him and all dealings we had. He is a certified code inspector and actually teaches code courses to new inspectors. I cannot say enough good things about the service that Glen provides.