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Q: What does a Home
Inspection involve?
A: First, we look at the house -
top to bottom, inside, outside and underneath. Then, we tell you about the
things we've discovered, and we give you a written report of our findings.
Reports include the condition of major systems including structural components,
roof, electrical system, plumbing, heating and cooling systems, and much
more. We follow the Standards of Practice of the Ontario Association of
Home Inspectors (OAHI). If you want the intricate details, read the
Standards of Practice.
Q: Do I need to be at the
inspection?
A: It's better for you, and for
us, if you can attend the inspection. But you don't have to be there every
minute of the job. We need at least an hour (sometimes more) to learn what
we can about the house. After we learn, we can teach you what we know. We
generally ask clients to come about 60 minutes after we start.
Q: How many people can come to
the inspection?
A: Many clients think this is an
opportune time for them to show the house to all of their friends and
relatives. Unfortunately, you don't yet own the house, so you have no right
to conduct guided tours. During an inspection, the house is put into our
care, and we are totally responsible for the house and all of its contents.
If we have to monitor the movements of several people, we can't do an
adequate job for you. This is the main reason that we don't like to have
mobile children at the inspection. (Heaven knows, I love kids more than
anybody, but I charge a fair fee for a thorough inspection, and I could
miss something important while trying to convince little Johnny that the
toys in the house aren't his.) I enjoy informality, but the inspection is a
serious piece of work which needs our undivided attention. We like to limit
the number of people at the inspection to two, but we realize that there
might be some circumstances which could make us bend the rules a bit.
Q: My relative knows a lot
about houses and I would like him to help you with the inspection. Is that
possible?
A: Nothing against your relative,
but when you hire us to inspect a house, you are accepting the fact that we
are well qualified to do a thorough, unbiased inspection. If you want
someone with some apparent knowledge to tag along, we will agree, but it
must be understood that we are in charge of the inspection, and it is done
according to our protocols, and we cannot be interrupted whenever he/she
finds something that he/she thinks we might have missed. We conduct our
inspections according to the 'three excuse me' rule. If we have to say
'excuse me' to anyone three times so they will stay out of our way, we ask
that person to sit outside until we are done.
Q: How long does an inspection
take?
A: This depends on the size,
condition and complexity of the house. As a general rule, we're at the
house an hour and one half to three hours. On most houses, we utilize the
services of two inspectors, which makes our investigation that much more
thorough.
Q: What does an inspection
cost?
A: It depends on the size, age,
location, condition and value of the house. we have to charge a bit more if
the house is more than 30 KM from Sarnia.
The minimum charge is $ 300.00 for a small condo or house. Most inspections
cost between $ 300.00 and $ 400.00.
Q: When do we pay?
A: We prefer to receive payment
at the end of the inspection, and we accept cash, cheque or some credit
cards. Sometimes this is not feasible. At any rate, payment is always due
no later than when we present the final written report.
Q: Who gets a copy of the
Inspection Report ?
A: Home Inspection reports are
confidential. We provide one copy to our client. If a client asks, we'll
provide a copy to their Realtor, Lawyer, Insurer or Banker. We don't
provide copies to anybody else.
Q: Do you offer any
guarantees?
A: The short answer is, No. The
product we provide is a professional opinion on the condition of the house,
on the day we see it. Our complaint rate is too small to measure (less than
one half of one percent), but there's always the possibility that something
that looked good on the day of the inspection could break the day after. We
know from experience that we can't possibly see every square inch of every
house, so there is always the chance that we could just plain miss
something. If you come across an inspection company that offers a
guarantee, we strongly recommend that you read the fine print very closely.
(We've yet to see a real, affordable warranty program, and we've been
looking for many years.) Our only 'guarantee' is that we will do the best
job possible for you, using our many years of experience and training to
help you know your new house as well as possible.
Q: Why don't you provide a
report at the site right after the inspection?
A: Most inspectors who provide
onsite reports use 'canned' checklist reports which describe conditions in
very general, confusing terms. We prefer to prepare a custom, plain
English, narrative report using real sentences and paragraphs for each
separate client so that we can describe each house individually, since
every house is unique. We write the report at our office, where we can
research certain conditions, and provide extra background material as
needed.
The beauty of a computer generated, narrative report is that everything
is listed in plain, understandable English, with full sentences and
paragraphs and no head-scratching. When our clients look back on the report
after moving in weeks after the inspection, they do not have to decipher or
remember what a 'checked box' beside one, two, or three technical words
means. Instead, they will be reading a full description of what was found
and the recommended action to correct the condition. That description often
includes digital photographs and technical clipart images that help to make
the description that much easier to comprehend.
With that said, we do understand that some people prefer to receive the
inspection report on site. For those people we offer a checklist system,
but do strongly advise against it. By choosing the preferred computerized
narrative report, you will come away with something far more comprehensive
and easy-to-understand. It's money well spent.
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