What Does “At the time of the inspection” Mean?

What Does “At the time of the inspection” Mean?   There is a phrase that we use in the home inspection trade during every inspection. Home Inspectors use the phrase “at the time of the inspection” whenever we are referring to the conditions that we have encountered during the course of the home inspection. Essentially […]

The Pros and Cons of Buying an Old House

The Pros and Cons of Buying an Old House I am always surprised when we are asked to conduct a home inspection on a 100+ year old home, and the buyers happen to be under the age of 30. And furthermore, it’s going to be their first home! I’ve learned over the years that a […]

Ughh, We Have Termites!

When I first discovered termites at my home, I initially said, “Wow! Look at these white ants!” Within a moment of saying that, I realized that there are no white ants. Over the past 6 months, I have come across a significant amount of Termite damage / activity while conducting home inspections. The activity was […]

Follow-up: Should a client attend the inspection?

Hello again! A few months ago, I addressed a frequently asked question – should a client attend the home inspection? Both then and now, my conclusion was without hesitation, of course the client should attend the home inspection. It is vital / essential for the client to be present for the inspection. If for no […]

Brand New Roof? Yeah right, and monkeys might fly out of my ***….

Hi folks! I conducted a home inspection yesterday where the MLS listing listed that the roof was brand new. Now I didn’t know that when I first arrived at the home. I usually will not look at the MLS listing in order to prevent any bias on my part regarding the home. So I simply […]

The Art of Inspecting Old Homes

As home inspectors, we are often called up to inspect very old homes. Now my friends who live in England laugh when I refer to an old home here in the United States – the oldest homes we have are 400 years old. In England, there are homes that had stood for centuries! Anyway, I […]

Concealment / Memory Shoes

Memory / Concealment Shoes A few years ago, I inspected one of the oldest homes in New Boston, New Hampshire. The house was built in 1787 and the current owners had been excellent stewards of the home and had done some wonderful work maintaining the house. But the real beauty of an old home is […]

The Reality of Radon

Like most people, I was not an expert when it came to Radon – even as a home inspector. That is until about 3 years ago when I came across a situation involving a person with a lot of health issues. Here is the definition of Radon from the CDC website: Radon is an odorless, […]

Does a NEWLY constructed home need to be inspected?

I hear this line from people time and time again: “It’s a newly constructed home, so it doesn’t need to be inspected.” That statement couldn’t be further from the truth. Here in New Hampshire, we have numerous municipalities that have no building inspector on staff, or even any oversight available. In those towns, it’s like […]

Inspecting Generational Homes

We have been inspecting a lot of what I call, “Generational Homes” of late. A Generational Home is defined in most of the internet searches I conducted, as a home that has housed 2 – 3 generations of the same family. We had the honor of inspecting a home in Goffstown a month ago that […]