VALLEY HOME INSPECTION

We just bought a new home and we wanted a home inspector who was fair, honest, and thorough. We talked to several home inspectors, but ultimately chose Dan with Valley Home Inspections and we are so glad we did. During our initial conversation, Dan was honest with us about some of the issues he's seen in homes like ours, he talked us through his pricing structure and even saved us money by not choosing things we didn't need. Through the entire process he was always responsive, respectful, and honest. After our initial home inspection we knew we had made the right choice. Dan found quite a few issues, some minor but worth pointing out, but several that were quite significant (missing supports in the crawlspace, large sections of missing insulation, missing flashing, etc). Unlike some home inspectors that just pop their head in the attic and crawlspace, shine a flashlight around and call it a day — Dan did a thorough examination of the crawlspace and attic and took very clear photos. He even found some missing flashing at the butt joints on our siding. At this point we were already very satisfied with Dan's services. After our builder said they had fixed all the major issues, we decided to have Dan come back out for another inspection. To our surprise we found out that the builder had not fixed the majority of the issues. There were still missing supports, large sections of uninsulated crawlspace, and several other issues. Without Dan doing another inspection, we would have never known that the issues had not actually been fixed. We can't speak highly enough about Dan and Valley Home Inspections! His services have more than paid for themselves, and several of our neighbors have had a great experience with Dan as well.

I hired two home inspectors to go "tooth and nail" over a house I wanted to purchase. Dan found almost twice as many important issues with the house compared to the other inspector!! Dan's inspection helped me get a $4,000 reduction in the sales price on my home purchase!! Needless to say, his inspection fee was a BARGAIN! And his website is an added bonus and wealth of vital information for a prospective home purchaser. Further, Dan's inspection report was a great tool to help me, after my home purchase, to intelligently develop a plan for fixing the house's deferred maintenance. Dan went out of his way, without charge, to meet with me in person and give me very helpful suggestions on which professionals to contact for the needed repairs. Dan was the only Boise area inspector I found who was certified by both the American Society of Home Inspectors and the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors. To boot, he is a former licensed general contractor. All that exceptional expertise showed up in his thorough, meticulous, well-written, picture-rich, 60-page inspection report. The man is a consummate professional. He is an inspector's inspector.

Excellent. We were home and just told Dan to do what he had to do. He worked efficiently and performed a thorough inspection. At the end of the inspection, he verbally discussed his results. He then immediately sent us a downloadable full report and summary report. The report is detailed and has pictures. We were able to submit the summary report to the builders so they could begin to fix any warranty-related items. Being able to make appointments online is a plus. We don't plan to do home inspections every year, but when we do, we will use Dan again.

You can make an appointment via his website, which I find convenient. However, if you don't hear back immediately, just go ahead and give him a call. He is extremely professional and through, and provides a report at the end of his inspection that includes recommended fixes and photos.

Dan was on time, actually arriving before us, and very friendly/courteous. That's about all the nice things I can say about the services we received. After we moved in, my husband and I found a few things that he overlooked that we feel an inspector should have caught. 1. The house was infested with mice. No mention of that in the report 2. There was a HUGE piece of flashing missing from the roof, and water was leaking into the wall and onto the floor every time it rained. There were water marks on the carpet that he should have caught, plus he should have seen the piece was missing from just going outside and looking at the house. (and yes, it was raining the day of the inspection) 3. The air conditioner does not function. Again, nothing about that on the report. Another thing, I'm not sure he ever went up on the roof to inspect. when he came to find us to tell us he was finished, I specifically asked him if he went on the roof, and he replied he went up on the roof before we arrived. He did not provide any pictures from up on the roof, so I can't be sure if he did or didn't , but that seemed a little fishy to me. Also, when he emailed the report to us, he also accidentally sent us one of the other house's reports that he inspected that day as well. To top it all off, he did not have a printer with him to give us a proper, paper, report that we could thumb through. He did, however, give us a fancy folder with his logo on it with blank paper inside and a coupon for 10% off ink, because we would need to print off our own report.

Overall it went great. This was our first home inspection so we weren't quite sure what to expect. It was painless! There were some services that they would provide at extra cost (variable): Inspecting Sprinkler System, "EDR" Neighborhood Environment Report (any nearby HAZMAT issues), Neighborhood Gas Line Leak Down Test, and Mold Sampling at time of inspection. (We elected not to purchase any of these extra services) He was on time, worked quickly, was friendly and helpful with explaining the results. If there were any issues that needed repair he informed us that he would provide a re-inspection, also at additional cost. At the end of the inspection he showed us the results on his laptop then emailed the report, which totaled 42 pages. He gave us a professional-looking 3 ring binder with a homeowner's guide, maintenance guide, paper to print the report on and a coupon for 10% off printer ink!