Stephen's engineering background is apparent in every aspect of his inspection. He is thorough, thoughtful, experienced and knowledgeable. He provides honest opinions, he explains all aspects of the inspection and offers valuable insight. His comprehensive report arrived very promptly, and contained direct language to address all concerns. He was flexible to accommodate the window available to view the property. His service and professionalism are unparalleled. Stephen provided a practical approach and viable solutions for potential concerns. We highly recommend Stephen for all home inspection needs. Additionally, Stephen has a vast historical knowledge of the buildings, structures, and town development to assist with his recommendations. read more

This man is very punctual, honest and thorough. He will tell you what needs to be done quite frankly. He even built his own home and has an engineering background so that's exactly what we needed to feel safe. He will also take the time to answer your questions and concerns. I highly recommend. read more

Very impressed. I learned a lot following Stephen around our prospective property for a few hours. You could tell he was a former structural engineer and really knew his stuff. He took time to answer any questions I had, and to dive deeper into areas of concern, all the while also diligently pausing to take notes and to be sure not to miss anything because of my gabbing. On more than one occasion he also rolled up his sleeves and got dirty investigating a few areas. He made a quick turn around on the inspection report which was very comprehensive. He was also happy to field some follow up questions via email when I found other supporting materials and historic reports, quickly reviewing them for any areas of possible concern. If I bought another house, I'd call Stephen. read more

Stephen was available on short notice to do a pre-offer inspection. He was efficient, thorough and a good communicator. Helped us make a good decision on an older home. read more

Stephen was very knowledgeable and has an easy-going manner. He answered any questions I had and saw things I have never noticed. He was friendly and not judgmental. I highly recommend him. read more

Stephen was fabulous to work with. I used him for two pre-inspections in this crazy market and for a full inspection once I had my offer on a new home accepted. He was flexible with finding times which worked for both of our schedules and willing to come out to Melrose from Belmont. Every visit - especially the full inspection - was extremely thorough. He spent a full 3 hours completing a full inspection on a 1700 sq single family home. He answered every question with patience and follow up information. He's also a horticulturalist with his own greenhouse so input on the yard, overgrown or unhealthy trees & plants was very helpful. Highly recommend. He went above and beyond in so many ways. read more

We scheduled a home inspection, and immediately Stephen responded and scheduled without issue. As a first time home buyer, Stephens knowledge and patience made an otherwise stressful situation seem rather routine. His professionalism and thoroughness can't be overstated. Our report was completed within 24 hours and I couldn't be happier with my experience. I highly recommend and look forward to working again in the future. read more

Was very rude on the phone called inquiring about a Home inspection started explaining the home in the size told me it was too big and just hung up immediately DO NOT USE, spoke with other people in the community this guy is crazy Response to Owner: Yes I have a Arizona phone number, b/c that is where I grew up. I didn't know that if you lived in Boston you had to change your phone number to a 617 area code one. Thanks Stephen, I'll let everyone know that who lives here to immediately change their phone number. Yes, I did say I was the "buyer." I said the house is a new build and we are adding improvements to it, so thats what its not fully complete. Yes, I was calling different home inspectors asking how much they charge. I didn't know that was wrong. I'll let everyone know they should immediately go with the first person they call. Yes, I was pulling your chain the whole time, because that is what I do in my free time, while 8 months pregnant and have a toddler at home. I call different home inspectors and ask them about how much they charge. It's so much fun. Don't worry I let the woman in the Newton Moms, facebook group who mentioned you about the experience and she is making sure not to recommenced you again. Also, I'm Newton Moms facebook group not to use you. Sounds like your 30 years in business might be up soon. read more

Steve scheduled us promptly, came to the building prepared, was very thorough, and is reasonably priced. And he's a great guy! What more could you ask for in a home inspector? read more

Stephen was amazing! He responded promptly and gave us a date. He arrived to the inspection before time and was very thorough. He walked us through the entire time and explained everything to us. He is very knowledgable, efficient and he knows what he is doing! Unfortunately the house deal fell through the first time, but we called him for inspection of another house to which he again responded very fast. He even gave us a discount second time. I definitely recommend his service to anyone looking to get their potential new home inspected. read more

Over the course of our home inspection, it was clear that Steve knew his stuff. Throughout the inspection (2-3 hours), Steve communicated all of his observations (both positive and critical), included recommendations on next steps where applicable, and answered our questions when we weren't sure of something. Beyond what is 'expected' for a home inspection, he also shared helpful observations for us to know as prospective homeowners. Referred to us by our agent, Steve was very responsive and made it easy for us to work with him and schedule the inspection. read more

Stephen is incredibly knowledgable and a great teacher. I am a first time home buyer and he walked through every detail of the home and explained not only what he felt was a concern or not, but why and what he would do if it were his own home. My realtor works with him regularly as he is both a home inspector and an engineer. If meticulous and great service are what you are looking for, this is your home inspector. Thank you Stephen for helping us fall in love and learn about how to care for our new home! read more

Stephen did our post purchase inspection in Wellesley, was easy and pleasant to work with, patient and very thorough. We felt he has perspective that comes from long experience and an engineering background in addition to accreditation. As we were walking around the home, he not only identified issues, but often told us multiple practical ways of addressing them and gave us a sense of how to prioritize our concerns. read more

Stephen is super efficient, communicates well, very personable, and extremely realistic. He clearly knows his stuff, and will give you a balanced view of what you need to know. read more

We can't recommend Mr. Stephen Sala enough for home inspections. He was very flexible and was available on short notice for a home inspection that had to happen very quickly. He was both pleasant and very professional. Most importantly, he was quite thorough: we watched him fight with a recalcitrant sump pump cover for twenty minutes and eventually get it off to be sure that the pump was in good working order. Mr. Sala is a trained civil engineer who has thirty years of experience doing inspections. This was clear from his near-encyclopedic knowledge of all housing systems. When Mr. Sala was satisfied, we felt confident that we could buy our house without worrying about major issues. Pleasant, professional, thorough: you needn't look any further for another home inspector. Mr. Sala is your man. read more

I don't often feel the need to review, but I was so happy after talking with Stephen that I felt it was warranted. Stephen was mindful of cost and time, and using his expertise he was able to answer all of my questions and put my mind at ease. Very professional, would absolutely hire him for any home inspection needs I have in the future. He absolutely made my day! read more

5 stars is not enough for how I felt about our home inspection with Stephen! Stephen was amazing on all levels! He was personable, thorough, knowledgeable (Knew everything about everything in the basement), and answered all of our probably stupid questions. Stephen opened up his schedule on Columbus Day this year, with a day notice!, and our pre-inspection was critical in helping us get a house we really wanted. Pricing is fair on the inspection, and you are guaranteed to get your money's worth! read more

Stephen did a home inspection for us and was great. He was on time, very nice and he took the time to explain things. He walked us through the place and gave us suggestions as he saw fit. He took lots of pictures and sent us the report within the day! Definitely recommend Stephen read more

I highly recommend Stephen ! He is incredibly thorough and knowledgeable. He provides extremely helpful advice and goes above and beyond to help you protect your house . I have recommended him to several friends and all have had a very positive experience. Truly one of a kind! read more

Stephen's great. He came same-day and fit us in the day before he was flying out on a family vacation simply because we were in a pinch. He did a very thorough walk-through of a property we wanted to bid on, and gave us line-by-line expense estimates for everything we needed or wanted to do for fix-ups and renovations. We'll definitely call Stephen again for our next project. read more

We are looking to buy a property for sale by owner and the owner provided us with a limited structural inspection done by Stephen Home Inspection at the time of their purchase, 8 years ago. We were interested in a current comparable report by the same inspector. We reached Stephen by phone at the beginning of the week and agreed on a morning appointment later in the week. The property owner was notified and agreed to provide access by attending from out of state. On the phone he quoted a price double to that of his previous report and mentioned photos were included. We continued to communicate with Stephen by email during the week and tried to clarify that we wanted a similar report to the one he had previously completed (one page, no photos). We have worked with other inspectors who offer discounts for reports without photos. It became clear that he would only offer a full home inspection and not a limited structural inspection. After agreeing to this, we were frustrated to see an email the day before the agreed appointment stating that he was now booked for the time we had previously agreed on AND that the price of the report had increased 80%, a 260% increase from the original limited structural inspection!!! Not only were we frustrated with the experience but the property owners were inconvenienced as well by the last minute cancellation of their plans to come to the area from out of state. And we have all lost a week trying to negotiate a closing. read more

Steve was refered to me as a Home Inspector. I was told he was great, very knowledgeable and very thorough. I was so happy to find it was all true and then some. I was so impressed! Steve gets an A++++ Do yourself a favor and hire the best.. A great HI can save you alot of $ and hassle. A bad one will do the opposite. read more

Stephen is a great inspector. Compared with the last one I had, Stephen is very serious. He took care of every detail. He is also very knowledgeable. read more

Stephen is super professional, funny and detailed. He tells you his honest opinion and you really feel like he's on the buyer's side I would recommend him to anyone. When it comes to inspections you want someone with a ton of experience, a good eye and who is solutions oriented. Stephen is all that and he also is very accommodating with his schedule. Great inspector! read more

My daughter and her husband were overseas when they were looking at a house here in greater Boston. I looked through scads of reviews of inspection companies, got it down to four. Reviews and credentials pointed to Stephen Home Inspection. Check out his credentials on his website. Stephen was also easy to work with in conversations on the phone and through Yelp. I emailed my daughter and her husband the comparison spreadsheet with links to each of the companies and it was clear to them that Stephen was their man. They met him on for the first time when they saw the house for the first time. While the formal report was forthcoming, they needed to make a decision on the house in one day. After a thorough inspection of the property Stephen was able to tell them enough about the condition of the house, built in 1840, which was indispensable in helping them decide the purchase was a good move. He also gave suggestions for future work that wasn't essential at the moment. Even with the great amount of back and forth with my daughter and her husband overseas, and the fact that his first contact with them was as they walked through the house, they too found Stephen was easy to work with. We highly recommend Stephen Home Inspection. read more

Called him for advice/referral for a radon mitigation service late this afternoon. Took the time to give me all sorts of useful advice about radon and its mitigation while he had no real obligation to. Much appreciated and would refer to him if I ever needed his services again. Obviously a guy who knows what he's doing and of high character. read more

Outstanding inspector. Not only inspects, but explains how everything works and gives you candid practical advice about what to do. Would use him again with out a doubt. read more

My experience with Stephen was fantastic. I had just put in an offer on a very old (but unique and amazing) home in Belmont. This was my first time buying as a single woman, and of course I was very nervous about the condition of many of the core components of the house. I needed a tough and thorough home inspector in there ASAP to determine if anything was looming so big that it would be a mistake to buy this house. Stephen was easy to schedule. His pricing was honest and upfront. He was on time. He came with an intense checklist. He spent several hours at the house and left no stone unturned. At the end, we had a heart-to-heart about the condition of the house (all the bones were good after all) and the Belmont real estate market and the cost of the most likely things to go in the next few years. This was absolutely essential in my decision to go through with the sale even though obviously there were things that if added together in some nitpicky way would have exceeded the amount required to back out. Fast-forward six months, and I am living in this gorgeous gem of a home and checking off the projects. Without Stephen's experience and candid advice, I may not have had the confidence to make this decision. I know that he has a reputation as being tough among the local real estate agents, and that he is very honest about what he sees, and I am very grateful to have had this specific home inspector on my side when making this really big decision. read more

I'm a top agent in MA and when I want an inspector that can teach my buyers how to maintain a home and protect them from issues at the same time, I'm thrilled. Stephen has done at least 150 inspections for me and my clients. We ADORE him. He's a civil engineer by trade, a licensed inspector, and a builder = purrrrfect for such an important job! read more

I have a reasonably good practical understanding of house construction and repair, so I chose Stephen because, in addition to his home inspection qualifications, he is also an engineer and an expert in asbestos removal - the house I wanted to buy had both asbestos and a large retaining wall. We had a good, unhurried, walkthrough - and found a major structural issue that I had missed. At that point he was very, very helpful as a sounding board for how to proceed. So I recommend Stephen in all situations, but even more so if you have any doubts about the house. read more

We had Steve do an inspection of a two family home in Belmont for us. He arrived on time & after a brief introduction & chat got right to work. Steve was knowledgeable & thorough and took his time. After about 3 hours Steve welcomed me to do a walk through of the property and pointed out all of the issues to be concerned with and solutions on how to remedy those issues. Steve was a genuine honest guy who was a pleasure to work with. read more

Absolutely professional and excellent service. We bought a house in Dorchester in January 2016 and we chose Stephen based on his reviews, experience, flexible schedule and immediate response to our phone call. During the home inspection Stephen was able to answer all questions and and he explained all (potential) issues and also highlighted the importance of maintenance over time. Stephen's knowledge and experience is impressive. The quality of the report he provided within less than 48 hours was excellent as well. Also, if you have follow-up questions you can call him any time and he will answer your questions. Highly recommended! read more

Do not use these Stephen. I had him inspect my home while it was for sale to see what issues there might be. He spent about two hours and prepared a report that looked to me to be mostly legal disclaimers. I had a second inspection done - where the inspector found actual *mistakes* done by Stephen. He had missed several items and included others that were not even part of the property! Also, he came much earlier than the time we had agreed upon, which inconvenienced me greatly. In fact, it scared me to death suddenly seeing a "strange man" romp about on my property taking pictures - almost one hour early without introducing himself. I hired Stephen to inspect my house and I had to nag him about the report. Received the report and to be honest there was nothing in it that I couldn't have checked myself. It was very generic and there was no in depth analysis. I recommend you go with a different inspector! read more

Very thorough inspector. Main difference between Stephen and other home inspectors I've seen is that he's super thorough in his inspection and goes beyond the minimum. Not like some other 5-star rated inspectors that won't turn on the stove or dishwasher because "it's not required by the home inspector's licensing rules." Very informative and practical. Friendly too. His reports won't win any awards, so take lots of notes and your own photos. read more

I hired Stephen Sala to do a condo home inspection in Boston back in 2012. He provided a professional detailed PDF report with property pictures in 24 hours. Since then, I also recommended him to several homeowners from entry-level condos, single family, luxury homes, to multi-family investment properties. He is also a friendly and genuine honest person to work with. His service delivers good quality and efficiency. read more

Mr. Sala is an incredibly professional person. He showed up early, and already did a walkaround of the exterior before we arrived. We then proceeded to the actual home inspection, which was VERY thorough. Not only did he do a detailed inspection, he also explained everything he was doing (very useful for a first time owner), and things to look out for. He was very honest about everything. I highly recommend him! read more

Stephen was great, showed up early and was very knowledgeable. He was very detailed and answered all my questions. I would certainly use him in the future. read more

I worked with Stephan on a condo inspection for a purchase. Stephan was very responsive and had very good availability when trying to set an appointment for the inspection. He arrived on time (if not earlier, to tour the outside of the building). He was also very thorough during the inspection and provided a detailed and relevant report. Highly recommended. read more

I had Stephen do a home inspection for a 2 family home in Roslindale last week. He was very prompt and professional, and his final report was detailed and helpful. The pricing for his inspection was very fair, and he took the time to walk me through all the potential issues he discovered. I found Stephen on Yelp and called him because he had excellent reviews and an engineering background. I was very happy with his work, and would recommend him to anyone looking for highly qualified home inspector at a good price. read more

Very knowledgable and thorough; had a great experience. A plus is that Stephen is from the surrounding area and brings this value to the inspection. He likely knows the history of the neighborhood (if not the house) and can tell you if an area is prone to flooding and will look for trouble spots. Is also a trained civil engineer and brings this knowledge. Was flexible and quick with scheduling. Also, if you plan on any construction post-purchase , knows the. Go-to builders in the area. read more