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About us
I offer a home inspection which is professional and experienced, making us a leader in this industry. I take pride in being prompt and responsive, and offer communication which is clear and easy to understand. A report will be available at the time of your home inspection, and we encourage you to ask questions at any time. Additional DBAs - HomeSpec of Fairfax Inc, Pillar to Post Home Inspections, Mike Ward-Dahl Home. Additional website - www.pillartopost.com.
Business highlights
25 years of experience
Services we offer
Home inspections, ermi testing, infrared inspections & asbestos testing., new construction inspections, radon testing, wet basement inspections
Amenities
Free Estimates
Yes
Accepted Payment Methods
- CreditCard
Reviews
4.06 Reviews
| Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
|---|---|---|
| 67% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 17% | ||
| 0% | ||
| 17% |
Showing 1-6 of 6 reviews
Jodi B.
May 2014
The first home, he found all sorts of things. Bad electrical wiring, leaking roof, mold in the not-maintained humidifier unit, and poop in the crawl space. He taught us how to use a fancy dining room light switch, and told us about security with the car port and attic over top of it. He was very thorough and walked us through so many things with the house. There was so much wrong with the house, that we walked away from it and haven't looked back. He saved us from a horrendous and time consuming and money consuming bad investment.
We hired him for a second home purchase too! This time he did every bit as thorough of a job inspecting it. There was very little wrong with this home and we are so grateful! He pointed out 1 instance of bad electrical wiring (a double-tapped wire), non-GFI outlets where code calls for them, and told us about the non-working pump in the fancy tub. He did a thorough inspection of the entire home and pointed out small things to us all over (the microwave plug is in the wrong place, the kitchen island needs to have an outlet; but doesn't have one... lots of minor things).
In the case of the first home, he gave us a binder filled with everything he found, and space to mark when we get it fixed. In the case of our second home, he gave us the insides, but we already had the binder.
We are very grateful to have had him to inspect both of these homes. It helped us make the right decision! We have moved in now, and are thoroughly loving this new home!
He was professional, friendly, prompt, smart, alert, and even funny at times. He is extremely good at what he does for a living. I would 100% hire him again if I ever want to buy another home.
We hired him for a second home purchase too! This time he did every bit as thorough of a job inspecting it. There was very little wrong with this home and we are so grateful! He pointed out 1 instance of bad electrical wiring (a double-tapped wire), non-GFI outlets where code calls for them, and told us about the non-working pump in the fancy tub. He did a thorough inspection of the entire home and pointed out small things to us all over (the microwave plug is in the wrong place, the kitchen island needs to have an outlet; but doesn't have one... lots of minor things).
In the case of the first home, he gave us a binder filled with everything he found, and space to mark when we get it fixed. In the case of our second home, he gave us the insides, but we already had the binder.
We are very grateful to have had him to inspect both of these homes. It helped us make the right decision! We have moved in now, and are thoroughly loving this new home!
He was professional, friendly, prompt, smart, alert, and even funny at times. He is extremely good at what he does for a living. I would 100% hire him again if I ever want to buy another home.
Brett M.
Aug 2013
Mike was friendly and professional; however, I felt like the actual inspection was lacking. I was looking for a very detail oriented company. Unfortunately, this company is not. He simply went through a checklist. Also, he does not get on the roof. I'm pretty confident you can't inspect a roof thoroughly with binos.
Response from Pillar To Post
"Thank you for your review. Please check out my website fairfax.pillartopost.com where I have hundreds of reviews from past clients which gives a much better representation of my work. The report consists of a check list type of report with comments supplied of items that need repair. The cost for the inspection is based on taxable square footage and client knew the cost when the inspection was scheduled. As far as inspecting the roof, vast majority of home inspectors do not work on the roof and use binoculars and inspect the attic for roof issues. This home had a minimum 6/12 roof which is very steep."
Matt R.
May 2013
Mike was terrific. He was on time, prepared, and extremely knowledgeable. He pointed out items that would need immediate fixing, as well as others that were of concern but not immediate worry. I'm in the design and construction industry, so I feel I'm a good judge of expertise, and Mike truly knew his stuff and was a great source of information. I even shared with him some of our renovation ideas, and he provided some great feedback. Overall a great experience.
Response from Pillar To Post
"Thank you for your review."
Tianyao S.
Mar 2013
Mike from Pillar To Post inspected our current house in Oct 2012, and he inspected the house with my Realtor present. We purchased the middle package which includes moisture detection because the house was a short sale and there are visible water stains on the ceiling. We are hoping at least to know whether or not there is any moisture behind the walls/ceilings. During the inspection, everything was described as cosmetic and everything is fine. In a lot of the occasions, I asked him is this a serious concern or a major issue? He said not really. In the end, I asked him in front of my realtor and wanted to know roughly how much I am looking at in order to fix some of the "cosmetic issues" as he described. He didn't answer me but saying: I gave you all information I know, and it is up to you to decide. I asked again if those are really serious issues, then he said the house is a good house. We then went to closing given the result from him since our estimate from the inspections is only some drywall work, and paint work. However, when our contractors started the work, issues start showing up non-stop. There are serious mold issues behind the kitchen wall and master bathroom shower wall. On top, there is a tub in a second floor bathroom is actually leaking like crazy. He didn't even catch that. We have picture for it. Apparently when I called him to tell him about these issues, he denies everything and told me that mold is not as serious as those mold remediation companies claimed. Of course it is easy for him to say that, but we have a 2 year old son. I don't know how he could be this irresponsible about his own action. Bottomline is he is in this business for money, not for your benefit. Be aware, He could be nice during the inspection but definitely not worth the money you spend, and be aware, he does not have your interest in his mind.
In our case, we have agreed to pay him through closing. For some reason, during the closing the payment wasn't included as we talked to the processor prior to closing. But right after closing we have discovered so many problems which cost us tens of thousand of dollars, we decided to inform that we will not pay him the inspection fee which is around $665. We didn't make this decision lightly and we did consult an attorney before any action. We were told that there is always a contract from the inspector that you sign before the inspection which prevent you from asking any compensation from inspector except for the inspection fee. After we emailed him the notice, he immediately responded us with a letter and denied all his faults and of course demands the payment of the $665. We have refused to pay him and now he has hired a collection agent and try to collect the money from us. This is horrible and no customer service at all. We will definitely find for this and will not let him win. But meanwhile we would like to inform whoever on Angieslist how this company perform and warn you to be aware of this inspector.
Stay away from him since you will be wasting your hard earn money.
In our case, we have agreed to pay him through closing. For some reason, during the closing the payment wasn't included as we talked to the processor prior to closing. But right after closing we have discovered so many problems which cost us tens of thousand of dollars, we decided to inform that we will not pay him the inspection fee which is around $665. We didn't make this decision lightly and we did consult an attorney before any action. We were told that there is always a contract from the inspector that you sign before the inspection which prevent you from asking any compensation from inspector except for the inspection fee. After we emailed him the notice, he immediately responded us with a letter and denied all his faults and of course demands the payment of the $665. We have refused to pay him and now he has hired a collection agent and try to collect the money from us. This is horrible and no customer service at all. We will definitely find for this and will not let him win. But meanwhile we would like to inform whoever on Angieslist how this company perform and warn you to be aware of this inspector.
Stay away from him since you will be wasting your hard earn money.
Response from Pillar To Post
"It is extremely unfortunate that Member is not happy with the home that he purchased. However, the issues were all noted in the home inspection and we discussed the extensive repairs that were potentially going to be required. While I only have two reviews on Angie’s list. I would encourage you to look at my website http://fairfax.pillartopost.com/home where I have hundreds of reviews through Listen360, an independent review company. There you will get a more complete assessment of my inspections and read comments from customers that will allow you to make an informed conclusion. On a scale of 0 to 10, my customer satisfaction rating is 9.5 over the last two years, which I am very proud of – this is an unfortunate situation with an unhappy home buyer. The inspection occurred on October 24th. The first and only time that I heard about Member's dissatisfaction with the inspection was on December 11th, via e-mail when he notified me that he was not going to pay for the inspection and he directed me not to contact him any further. Between the inspection and Dec 11th I talked to Member twice in early November about the payment due and the second time when he asked questions about the mold. At that point, I asked to come out and take a look at the home and he said no. After sending several invoices and receiving no responses (in December, January and February), it left me no choice but to send it to collections. This is only the 2nd time in 13 years that I have been forced to work with a collection agency. In response to Member's claim about the inspection, it was very apparent upon entering the home that it had many water issues. During the inspection, 6 unique ceiling areas were documented in the report with water damage and pictures were included. Also, at this time, 8 active leaks were documented in the home, five plumbing leaks, one very damaged master bath shower wall and two roof leaks. The report stated that all of the above detailed areas would need repair. The buyer was instructed in the report to talk to the current owner to understand the cause of the water damage as well as any repairs that had been done to date. Mold was not stated in the report since there was no visible mold; Member was offered the opportunity to have a mold (ERMI) test but decided against it. This home was a short sale and was abused extensively -- the buyer was very aware of the large amount of work and money that would be needed to repair the damages. There was extensive damage to the ceilings, holes in the walls, broken doors and railings, flooring was extremely worn and bathroom fixtures were broken and knocked off the walls as well as many more issues. With a family still living in the home, continued damage was inevitable. All of the above issues were documented in the 33 page inspection report."
Kaitlin S.
Nov 2012
Our inspection was scheduled for 3:30 pm and when we arrived at the house at 3:20 pm Mike was already waiting in his car. He was courteous and professional showing us everything he was looking at including things that needed to be corrected and how to fix the easy things. He took pictures of everything he documented and was incredibly thorough. After the inspection he then walked us through the whole inspection with the problem areas highlighted in a binder for us to keep. He also recorded all of the serial numbers on all the appliances to check for any recalls. He was able to work with a slightly larger group at the home inspection (5) with complete ease. We felt so comfortable negotiating with the seller with all of his thorough documentation in hand. Mike thanked us for our time and provided his contact information in various formats. He then followed up with an e-mail that evening thanking us again for using his company and encouraging us to contact him with any further questions.
Response from Pillar To Post
"Thank you very much for your review, it was a pleasure working with you. for more information about my services please visit my website. I have a very limited reviews on Angie's List but have hundreds of reviews through Listen360 on my website."
VIVIAN C.
Dec 2011
We were very worried about this property, especially since it was an investment property for the owner and he had only owned it two months. Mike was very professional and arrived better than on time. He had already set up and was starting the outdoor inspection even before we arrived. He was very detailed and thorough, and even took his own photographs of every item that was of concern. We went through every item step by step and often gave us helpful advice as to how to properly maintain the household equipment after we move in. He also provided approximate cost to repair when we asked. And whenever we asked him to check something a little out of the ordinary (like unscrweing a wood panel to take a look at the space inside a wall), he was always happy to do so. He invited us up into the crawlspace/attic and pointed out what he did and did not notice in a way we understood. After the inspection was done, he printed a copy of the report before we left on a portable printer and went through each item in detail. I had taken thorough notes and compared them against my own, and any time I asked him to change something, he was always willing to do so. Before the end of the night, he emailed us a final copy with his own photographs integrated into the report itself so we could have a complete report. As a helpful side item, he also provided us with a seasonal maintenance checklist and a folder in which we could track future repairs, improvements, and maintenance.
Overall, a great experience.
Overall, a great experience.
Licensing
State Contractor License Requirements
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FAQ
Pillar To Post is currently rated 4.0 overall out of 5.
Pillar To Post accepts the following forms of payment: CreditCard
Yes, Pillar To Post offers free project estimates.
No, Pillar To Post does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.
No, Pillar To Post does not offer a senior discount.
No, Pillar To Post does not offer emergency services.
No, Pillar To Post does not offer warranties.