Wow! That's about all I really want to say, but I'll go on. Steve was recomended from our realtor (who was exceptional and no longer uses Advantage Home Inspection) and like most buyers we decided to use him because of the referral. We did have warnings from friends that used him that he missed a few water saturations in the house, but we accredited this to dumb luck vs malice (our mistake).
The inspection seem to go great on a 110 year old house, which according to our "inspector" only needed gutter sealing, more insulation, and a few cosmetic issues. Seemed too good to be true, which is the reason anyone pays for an inspection which is to avoid buying a "lemon". We move in Day #1: lights are flickering and continuously tripping breakers. Luckily my father was trained as an electrician and he looked at the panel: His response (to the previously 5-star inspection report) "Holy Sh&#"! The panel was visibly arcing and there was one conduit blatanlty run as a "hot" to two different breakers with no ground: ie. Major fire hazard!.
Home owners warranty luckily paid $1400 for new panel and new wiring within 3 days of owning the house.
I next, went upstairs to the attic, to fix the inadequate insulation which was easy to see. Then I noticed that there were black spots ont he bottom of the roof trusses... Further inspection (by my well trained eye, unlicensed by the state but well versed in common sense) showed absolutely ZERO attic ventilation. The "inspector" said the gutters were bad because they allowed ice dams, but failed to realize the common ideology that poor ventilation was to blame.
1 month into living in the home (and about 120 hours of personal repair time) the garage began to leak from a bad rainstorm at the area where the foundation meets the siding. The Garage was given an A rating except poor gutters (nevermind the fact that there is no ventilation, rotten gable boards, and rotten base boards). Now, I have an "A" garage sitting on a rotten foundation
Going into our closing we asked for very few repairs from the seller since our "Inspector" gave such a good review. We have personally invested $4000 in repairs and our homeowner's warranty another $2000. We addressed the shorcomings with Steve who blew us off like a Miller Moth.
Please, Please, Please! Do not use this company! He is why Mike Holmes has a show on HGTV! I would pay people not to use him in the future just so he goes out of business to someday realize the damage he's caused from his "so-called expertise".
This was our first home purchase, and we are quite grateful that we have the skill-set to provide repairs as we see fit. However, I still feel compltetly slighted by our "inspector" and would feel incredily sorry for anyone who took his word as actualy expertise. As a home inspector, his word is rated as gold and people often do not question. I absolutely warn you to not use this "inspector". Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the exact problems that we had with this "inspector".
p.s. I love small buiness and nothng pains me more than attempting to destroy one of the companies I love. However, small, intermediate, or large companies are worthless if they no longer provide the product they so endorse/
AVOID AT ALL COSTS! PLEASE DO NOT SUPPORT THIS COMPANY AND THEIR INADEQUATE PRODUCT. read more