Alatech Home Inspection

We knew the home had some issues, but it was great to have such a detailed list of ALL the things (40+!) that should and could be done to the house to bring it up to code, how much life the furnace, ect had left. He and his son were very knowledgable and had a story to go along with every issue.

He was very informative and patient in explaining some of the issues he found prior to my arrival. He explained possible causes for the issues and reasons that specific problems needed to be addressed while others were less detrimental. The report was very thorough. In the end, his findings saved us from purchasing a home with issues that we hadn't noticed, and the seller was not making us aware of on their own. I will be asking Larry to inspect the next prospective home purchase.

I would highly recommend Alatech Home Inspection Service to anyone in Alabama needing a home inspection. I called and talked to Larry Brooks, and we were able to schedule a home inspection for the next day. They arrived promptly at the agreed time and immediately went to work. I cannot say enough good things about these guys; they are knowledgeable, professional, thorough and very nice. We were able to have our home inspection available to access the next business day for a reasonable price. I couldn't have asked for more. Again, I highly recommend these guys and would use them again in a heartbeat.

They were very thorough in inspecting every aspect of our home

Fantastic! This home looks like a lovely fairly well kept home but Mr. Brooks discovered it had many many problems. These problems included major foundation issues, rafter issues, and many more. If he hadn't performed a thorough inspection we would not have known.

Appointment scheduled easily. Inspector(s) arrived on-time; actually a little early. Thorough and professional inspection and report.

We ordered a home inspection on a property that we were going to buy based on the reviews here on Angie's List. The team of two showed up promptly at the scheduled time. They worked quickly and carefully to document issues with the house. The final report was returned within the next day. It was well-presented with clear pictures to show where the problems were located and clean statements of the problems themselves. The team was also great to answer questions that I had while they were working. The one thing that could have been improved is the report itself. The details were thorough, almost too much so to sort quickly for an addendum to a purchase contract. In this regard, the final report could benefit from a summary "check sheet". It would list the findings with a rating system of repairs, perhaps along the lines of a three point scale of "MUST repair", "should repair", and "monitor". This is my one down-step from excellent (A) to good (B) in the rating scales. It should not been seen as a suggestion not to hire Alatech. Quite the contrary, I can highly recommend them for home inspections.

Alatech arrived on time and were very thorough, friendly, and knowledgable.

The inspection was done on time. However, the report was disappointing. Several items in the report did not have enough information to help identify where to find the problem that he was reporting so that it could be addressed and corrected. Also, he did not check the gas logs because he said that they were being serviced!? He caused some damage at the windows that were ready to paint by gauging the wood with something. I would not use him again. His son who was doing most of the inspection was not friendly.

Mr. Brooks was a very nice man. I called him a couple of days before I wanted inspection done and he was more than accommodating for my time frame. He was on time and began inspection right away. He did a thorough job taking lots of pictures of the property. He even explained things to me when I asked him questions about the things that needed looking at. Report was ready as promised the very next day. Whole inspection took maybe 1 hour from garage roof to roof of house in between and under house. I was very pleased with his service!!

Mr. Brooks and team member arrived at the house early and remained in the home for over 2 hours making sure that they covered every inch of that house. They were professional, polite, and personable. After the inspection was complete, we walked the perimeter of the house discussing issues and concerns. The report was ready in less than 24 hours and was easy to follow and review without someone translating for us. We will be using this team in the future and recommend to anyone in need of home inspections. We cannot thank them enough!

My son-in-law (home buyer) and I met Alatech at the property to be inspected. Larry Brooks and his son was early for our appointment and conducted a very through inspection, to include; the roof, crawl space under the house, attic, plumbing, electrical, AC/Heating, appliances, out buildings, and the general conditions of the house. The report that followed was complete and included pictures that showed the items that needs repair. Mr. Brooks was polite, professional, and knowledgeable. I feel that his main goal was to give an accurate, honest, and complete inspection. I would recommend Alatech and would use him again. As a help to others that might be looking for an inspector, we called two inspectors before contacting Allatech. The first said they did not go onto the roof, under the house or in the attic. We found out after making a appointment that the second one contacted was working without a license, we quickly canceled.

Alatech is the only home inspector I ever plan on using as long as I live within their reach. They are easy to get in touch with, respond promptly to questions, and work with you to make an appointment that is when you want it. Alatech knows what to look for in a home inspection, A to Z. The smallest details to the biggest problems you want to know about will be found, photographed, and documented in their report that you are provided with the day after your inspection is completed. They turn around their reports and deliver fast. If you choose to be with them as they go through the house, they'll tell you what they're finding, how to fix it, if it's a big deal or not, etc. Be prepared for a detailed report with many items to review (unless the house you're looking at is immaculate). Also, establish a standard level of problems you're willing to fix / ignore, and then those you want fixed or won't accept. That will help you get through their report without feeling overwhelmed. Bottom Line: Use them for inspections. You'll be 100% prepared and informed on what you're getting into when deciding on the house you THINK you want. They saved me from buying a termite-infested, shifting old house.

Upon arrival for the inspection at 1:00 p.m. locally, Mr. Brooks and his son were there waiting for me, my wife, and Realtor Lesha Martin to arrive; so they were prompt for sure. After a couple of minutes chatting while the others were arriving, Mr. Brooks and his son began setting up ladders and walking the perimeter of the property. I expressed some minor concerns from two earlier visits to the property and Mr. Brooks listened and later answered some of them in his final report. I had to leave after about 20 minutes, but my wife remained with them for another 2 hours until the inspection part was complete. This was on a Thursday and Mr. Brooks had our report ready for download the following Saturday morning. I did make an attempt to contact Mr. Brooks to have him unlock some of the report's protections for communication purposes, but he never responded back to me after payment was made to him on the day of the inspection. The 25 page report was thorough and well documented for all the minor issues noted. As with most inspectors they just about always defer to a licensed contractor for any formal follow-up (perhaps for legal reasons). The digital pictures were clear though, not in high resolution. There were tables and pictures throughout the report, but they did not contain references to narratives for clear linkage ergo Table 1, Picture 1, and et-cetera. The Adobe file itself was completely locked up so that we could not even use the yellow highlighter tool in Adobe to communicate issues discovered in the report without completely retyping them in our communication back and forth between sellers agent, our agent, insurance representatives and others. This alone makes the report's value quite diminished in my opinion. Within Adobe it is easy to lock down content without taking away the customer's ability to use the document to the efficiency allowed by the parent software product Adobe. The final report did not contain a validation of the square footage of the home. The listing agent noted it to be just over 3,000 sq/ft, but the size provided by the licensed appraiser indicated 2,775 sq/ft with a full basement. Two rooms within the basement were finished, but the HVAC system as noted in Mr. Brooks report was not yet fully installed to make the space fully functional as a living space. The number of details especially specific to component installations, anomalies in construction workmanship were exceptional. I cannot overstate how well this duo scrubbed this property for proper construction workmanship. To this extent we were obviously very satisfied. As a graduate from Auburn's School of Architecture some 30 years ago I can state that my expectations were somewhat ambiguous for this type of home inspection, but with the exception of how the final report was locked this was a very positive experience. As a professional, your final product represents you. If this product is useful and easy to use then, you will recommend the company to others. As stated before, if this final report were saved in a security format such that the final user/customer could copy limited sections and highlight sections for communication purposes then, it would make it much more valuable. As a professional who uses thermography, I find that most of the FLIR Inframation conference attendees each year are increasingly home inspectors and commercial building inspectors. I am a bit surprised that most home inspectors locally in Huntsville still do not use IR thermography in their home inspections for determining workmanship and coverage of insulation within the homes they inspect. In summary, we were pleased with Mr. Brooks and his son's inspection of this subject property. They definitely earned their money with the thoroughness of this report. The deficiencies were well documented and his report format was easy enough to understand as we read through it. The issues specific to the report's security locks were my only areas noted whereby Mr. Brooks could easily improve his customer satisfaction at least with folks like myself.

Larry did a very good home inspection for us, much better than another one we hired for a previous offered house. His report was very detailed, not like some reports with only kind of check list. He is nice, very knowledgeable and fast responsive. His price was much lower than I had expected comparing with other inspectors I had called, so I offered him more than he asked. He even gave us opinion for some problems on two other houses based on some pictures I sent to him without any charge. If you need a home inspector, Larry should be the right person to find.

Absolutely outstanding. We were given a list of inspectors from our real estate agent which we quickly discarded and began researching on our own. Through a combination of angies list and google reviews we narrowed it down to a few inspectors and after speaking with our top choices, we chose Alatech. They were friendly, courteous and VERY THOROUGH. They are the absolute best. If you need a home inspection in Alabama, these are the guys that you want to call.

Very thorough, professional, and prompt. We hired them because we heard some home inspectors' palms are greased by REA's hoping for an "easy" inspection. These folks are independent and proud of it.

They arrived on time and did a complete inspection inside the house , in crawl space under house, attic and roof provided detailed report of findings., very pleased with their work

Mr. Brooks arrived at the home and met the real estate agent promptly at the date and time scheduled and conducted a very thorough and detailed inspection. Upon completion of his inspection, Mr. Brooks called me and reported that this is a very nice home with only a very few minor things that would not be considered major problems.During his very detailed inspection, he took pictures of everything that need a repair or adjustment. After completion of his inspection, Mr. Brooks completed a report complete with the pictures that me made and put this report on his website that I could go to the next day and download the report. .I am very pleased with Mr. Brooks very detailed inspection of this home and it tells me that I am purchasing a very nice home and I can actually do some of the repairs and adjustments myself and find someone on Angies list to do the others. THANK YOU MR. BROOKS !

. The inspector arrived on time and began his inspection of the house. His inspection covered the interior and exterior of the house, garage, roof, and attic, along with the plumbing, heating and cooling systems. He was thorough but worked quickly. After his inspection was completed, he gave us a verbal report and showed us the major items he felt needed attention immediately. He indicated that the complete report would be available on-line by 8:00 on August 28th. The report was available as he stated, along with colored pictures of all areas that needed attention now and in the near future.

They arrived on time and did their inspection in a timely manner. We are happy with all aspects of ALATECH's business and would used them without fear or question of their judgment.

Mr. Brooks was through and efficient at his work. I found his report to be very detailed and organized. It was easy to follow and helped to inform our decisions.

Larry Brooks and his son did a good job with the home inspection. Well on par with other ASHI certified inspectors I have used in the past. Very methodical and detailed inspection of the home. Found many things I missed when looking at the property. He did a nice job and was very accommodating for our schedule.

I had a unsettling feeling on a home we were going to purchase. Another home inspector had already completed his inspection and only noted minor issues. I insisted with my husband to have a second inspection to be completed. I chose Alatech. The inspector, Larry Brooks, was on-time and courteous. I informed him there was already an inspection done but I did not share the report findings with him. Larry and his assistant answered all my questions all through the process. They explained what they were checking and why throughout the home. Once the entire home was inspected inside and out, they walked me back to each concern or issue they found. There were many more than what the first inspector noted and some where major issues. What Larry Brooks identified were alarming and caused my husband and I to cancel the purchase of this home. Alatech provided a full home inspection report with pictures of their findings 24 hrs later. The cost of there services were inline with other companies I researched for the size of the home. I would have paid more since they saved my husband and I a lifetime of headaches with a home we going to purchase. When we are ready to purchase another home, I will be calling Alatech and Larry Brooks to complete the inspection. They are honest and thorough. Larry worked with us and for our best interest. He does not work with any realtor, realtor company or seller. He was there for us. I trust Alatech and Larry Brooks.

They did an amazing job. Every detail of the inspection was explained in plain English. They didn't rush. They were very professional and showed great concern. I would recommend them to everyone.