Sunshine Home Inspection

We bought our house six years ago and had a home inspection by another company. I was not pleased with the job they did. We are getting ready to do some renovations and I wanted another home inspection just to make sure there weren't any other pressing needs that we should address. Thomas with Sunshine Home Inspection did a great job. He encouranges homeowners to walk with him during the inspection (including the crawlspace and attics!) so the he can directly point out everything he is seeing. His report is thorough and he is very good about answering questions during the inspection. I would absolutely recommend him to friends and family. His current low rating on Angie's List is ridiculous and should be ignored.

Not well, next time I will pay a little more for someone who will walk me through the details, and not assume that I understand the ramifications of the work at hand.

We hired Thomas to inspect a home that we were going to purchase. While my husband complained of his lack of personality while performing the inspection, all we wanted was his report. We were purchasing a home that had been recently renovated, so his inspection report was of utmost importance. The report came back with no major fixes needed and so the closing continued. After closing we inspected on our own and to my amazement, I saw water spots and a bit of black spots above the back door. Keeping in mind the inspection report, I wiped the water spots off and prepared to watch it. Meanwhile life goes on.. and while getting an alarm system installed the installer alerted me to the fact that we were cooling the attic as the vents were not properly enclosed " Your inspector should have caught that" he said to me. Back to the door.. 3 weeks after moving in the back door now is visibly rotten on the bottom, the top of the door casing is also headed that way. There is visible water damage, and the entire door needs to be replaced.... 3 weeks later. Thomas was asked to come back out to see the damage. After many attempts, he complied and was back out yesterday. He said nothing was wrong with the duct work in the attic and offered my husband 100.00 to fix the door as, he said, the contractor covered up the damage so he wasn't liable for it.. When I ( over the phone) asked him how was it possible for me, someone who wasn't familiar with inspections, to have noticed the water spots on the back door days after he had been there.. I was told.. "Ma'am, I've already gone over this with your husband. Can you get with him to get an explanation?" Let me pause for a minute here to say that if you look at the back of my house from a bit of a distance, the bulge that is causing this to happen, is clearly noticeable. Back to this 100.00 offer. He came and offered 100.00 and also offered a sheet of paper that stated that should we accept his paltry offer, we would not be able to say anything negative about him or his company on any social media sites, we would accept that the offer was final and that we could not contact him again if something else that he should have noticed was found wrong. My husband refused saying no, we didn't want the 100.00. Thomas then offered 125.00 He left with his money and that paper saying we couldn't be negative about his business unsigned. In addition, we requested a plumber for a plumbing and video inspection on his website. He neglected to call the plumber out, so we were not able to get a plumbing inspection even though we requested it though his website. We ended up having to pay someone 410.00 to come out and unclog the main swere line, which would have been found had the inspection taken place. Please, do yourself a favor... DO NOT hire Sunshine Home Inspection because his work is sub-par and he will not notice the things that he is being paid to do. His certifications seem to suggest that he is capable of quality work, the reality suggests otherwise.

Thomas is an amazing home inspector.  I am an engineer and he had no problem with me following him around the house, as he did his inspection, and asking him a million questions!  He answered every one!!  After the inspection I had a great feel for the condition of my new house and what needed attention.  He was early for the appt and had the report to me that evening.  Very professional.  He was worth every penny.

One note: the calendar on his website said he was booked for the day I was going to have the home inspection but when I called, he was able to make the appt.  I suggest calling him to schedule instead of relying on the website.  He is very easy to get a hold of.

I hired Thomas after reading the excellent reviews on Angie’s List. He showed up early to our appointment, which at the time I saw as a positive. Looking back, the quality of work reflected the 20 minutes of the inspection I was there for. Over the phone, he was polite and respectful. When we left the house, he said he would send me the inspection report within a few hours which sounded great.  About an hour after I left, I received a text message from Thomas asking me out for that weekend and telling me not to tell my agent. I responded and that I was going home for Christmas. His response was, “Groovy. I love your red hair.” It made me very uncomfortable especially since he hadn’t completed the report. He is also around 20 years older than me and, I found out later, married at the time.

I received the report a few hours later. The roof was described as in “excellent” condition. He also texted me around 10:00 pm that night to tell me that he had left out some information but that he had emailed me the updated report.

I closed on the house in February and a few weeks after my closing date, my homeowner’s insurance cancelled my policy based on the condition of the roof. They noted that the shingles were severely curled on multiple sections of the roof. I immediately emailed Thomas to ask him to review his report. In the contract you will sign with him, it states that you have 10 days within discovery to notify him (in writing) of any inaccuracies in the report. I told him in our email exchange that I would also be sending him written notification of what we were discussing just to make sure I honored the terms of the contract. He refused to sign for the letter and I received it back in the mail a few weeks later. During our exchange, Thomas was very defensive and said there was no evidence of the curling shingles in the single, low-res photo he took of my roof. He suggested my insurance agency was trying to scam me into buying a new roof. I sent him multiple photos of the roof the insurance agency’s inspector took showing curling shingles all over the roof.

Thomas then offered to come to my house to re-inspect the roof. I agreed, and he was supposed to come to my house at 9:00 am on Monday, March 7th. I told him that I would be at work, but that he had my permission to go onto the roof while I wasn’t there. Unfortunately, I got sick and stayed home from work on Monday and Tuesday, but because I was creeped out by his previous behavior, I didn’t make it known that I was home. He showed up three hours late, and only after I emailed him to ask him how the inspection went. He was at my house about 15 minutes later, was on the roof for 15 minutes, left, and replied to my email shortly after telling me to call him. I responded that I prefer to speak via email. He then called my phone and I didn’t answer. He then emailed me to say that it was discourteous of me to not talk over the phone rather than “posturing and trying to make things legal.” Additionally, he said I had no claim against him and that the good news was that he was willing to help me address the debris stuck under the curled shingles for free. To quote him, ”This means you and me on top the roof for an hour or two removing the debris under the edges of your shingles.” No thanks.

Thomas also said he would pay to have another inspector come to my house to provide a second roof inspection and that he would pay for it. I asked if I would choose the inspector or if it would be a friend of his. He said that because he was paying for it, he would pick the inspector. I asked for the name, company, license number, and contact information for this new inspector. He refused to give it to me and said that they guy had probably already been out there that day. The guy hadn’t been out there, which I know because I had been home all day. I told him that I wanted to be there when the guy did his inspection. His response was, “Hey, I feel bad for you being a single woman and dealing with a roof” and said he didn’t want unhappy clients. I asked him again for the man’s contact information and all he said was that his name was Marco but didn’t know his company or license number and wouldn’t give me his phone number. For a third time, I told him I wanted his information and needed to know when he was scheduled.  I had also searched for licensed home inspectors in Louisiana and only one named Marco (Marco Kouzoukas) and asked him if that was the man he had scheduled. He wouldn’t respond on that, but told me that it was impossible to know for sure when he would be over there and that I was making it difficult by refusing to give him my number. I pointed out that he had literally called my phone a few hours earlier. The next day (March 8th), Thomas emailed me that he wanted to glue down the singles that were curled. I asked if he wanted do this after Marco’s inspection and he told me Marco had been out there that morning and that he was sorry if Marco hadn’t called to schedule. I had suspected that if “Marco” ever existed that he was a friend of Thomas’ who was willing to write a letter describing the “excellent” condition of the roof without ever having seen it. This was substantiated by the fact that I had also stayed home sick that day and no one came to my house. I was there literally all day on the couch, and pointed out to Thomas that I have security cameras that look straight out on my front yard if he needed evidence.

At this point, I called Thomas to speak with him directly. I told him that it was very important that he not send me a falsified report because I would file a complaint if he did. He had the gall to suggest that “Marco” must’ve gone up on the wrong person’s roof. I told him I wanted to be done with him and his shady business practices and that after two weeks of trying to work with him I was no closer to a solution. I told him I wanted my inspection money refunded and that I never wanted to hear from him again. He agreed, but said that I would need to sign a form promising I wouldn’t sue him. I told him to send me the form. The form basically said I wouldn’t sue him nor speak ill of him or the quality of his work to anyone including friends and family, the internet, etc. I think that it’s possible that others have signed this form, thus explaining the lack of negative reviews online.  The $475 was not worth it, so I emailed him back to tell him that I would forfeit the money in order to retain my freedom of speech. I also said I would be sharing my experience online and with friends, family, coworkers, etc. and that neither he, nor his associates, were ever to come near my house nor contact me in any form ever again. 

He then emailed me four more times without response from me. In his emails, he said he could negotiate some things in the Waiver of Claim but not everything. He also offered to increase the payout and said that he “just want this to go away because I don’t have time for it. Please settle down, don’t do anything rash and sleep on this. Make a decision with a cooler head tomorrow or the next day.” He also said if I went to the licensing board that, “I can promise you neither of us are going to win if you take it further. It will end up costing both of us a whole lot of time and money. That is not a threat, it is just a fact.” Sounds like a threat to me. He kept sending me emails saying things like, “And please remember once you start pushing this further and further with bad reviews and statements to the Board, and legal action we are probably less and less likely to come up with a settlement.” “Wow, how could a person do any more than what I am doing? I swear no one else ever has and never would.”

Ultimately, I found a roofer who was able to repair my roof for around $1000 sufficiently to obtain new homeowner’s insurance. The roofer also said I should start saving now for a new roof in about 5-7 years. Please read the contract you have with Sunshine Home

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I contacted Sunshine Home Inspections because I am going to
sell my home next summer and wanted to make sure all is in order. I didn?t want
any surprises. As a home owner for 32 years I pretty much knew what needed to
be done to my house but wanted to make sure I didn?t miss anything. Well, not
only did Thomas help with letting me know what I had missed (thank God not any
big deals) but he saved me thousands of dollars! I thought I had a major
project that needed to be done before selling but in actuality it didn?t!  Thomas said when the buyer has their own home
inspector he would tell them the same thing that the project is not ready to be
replaced for a few more years so good to go. I (or professional if needed) can
make the minor repairs and the cosmetic corrections. I will be ready to sell by
next summer and have saved money!! I am so happy I actually hollered and danced
around, of course after he left. I didn?t want to scare the man.  He was very pleasant, polite, professional and
knowledgeable. He knows what he is doing and that is just why I picked his
company. I needed honest feedback not fluff. I don?t want any surprises when I
go to sell.  I cannot thank Thomas enough
for all his help and honest feedback! 

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He climbed on top of my second story roof. He was very thorough! More thorough than either realtor expected. From the foundation to the roof he examined everything. He explained everything and encouraged questions. He showed me how things worked such as grading issues and structural concerns. He even used a water meter to test how wet or dry the walls were all over. (Invaluable in NOLA) I believe he saved me from a terrible, possibly even dangerous home.  

Sunshine Home Inspection is great! Our inspector was very knowledgeable on structure. He
could explain with great articulation the details and implications regarding
the cracks and sloping floors in the home.  He spent a half hour under the
home looking at things and found everything I needed to know. I had an
inspector spend 1 hour on my whole home in the past.  In fact, after seeing
what this company does, now I feel ripped off about past inspections. Sunshine
is thorough! In the beginning I felt like they were a little expensive but
after the inspection I feel like I got a great deal.  This company gives
you more than what you pay for.  The great inspection is only part of it.
Our inspector was charming and polite. Everything was professionally done from
taking the phone call to scheduling a quick appointment to getting my report
the same day. I recommend Sunshine to anyone who needs the job done
right.

Thomas was very prompt (even early), and very professional. He was fine with us following him during the inspection, and looking over his shoulder at every turn. He did an amazingly thorough job inspecting the home, and alerted us to some foundation issues that eventually helped us reduce the sale price. We even contacted him afterwards regarding a letter our mortgage company was asking for to explain the issues with the piers, and he kindly revised it for us several times. Overall, he took great care to explain everything he found so we had a good idea of the issues we would need to fix immediately. I would definitely use him again, and plan to once we get our piers fixed because I trust his judgement and ability to tell us if they were repaired properly.

Thomas was extremely helpful in answering all of my questions, making sure I understood the damage and making suggestions about how to repair the damages.  I definitely would recommend Sunshine Home Inspection.

Thomas, the owner of Sunshine Home Inspection, is a great resource when it comes to home inspection. He is very knowledgable but had no issue explaining everything in a way an unpractical person, like myself, could understand. His report was very readable and timely (a 10 am inspection yielded a same-day report). About two weeks later, I received an inspection report for the home I was selling and thought some of the claims were suspect. Thomas was available to help me make sense of the inspection report. He confirmed things on the report as well as debunked some claims the buyers were seeking credits for. His professionalism and knowledge were very much appreciated.

Before I begin, I want to say that my family and I invest in rental properties. Usually, before we buy anything, we try to have Thomas to come out and do an inspection. He's done several properties for us and has saved our bacon many times. We'd probably be stuck with a few hundred thousand dollar lemons if it weren't for him.
This inspection went swimmingly. Thomas is thorough, hard working, and honest. He was on the roof, in the attic, and up under the crawl space--three places most people would never want to venture on their own. He checked each outlet and receptacle, every faucet and every tub, and found plenty of things that needed to be repaired. His inspections have saved me from buying moneypits and have saved me a great deal of time, stress, and money.  
If we talk about the inspection itself, it began under the crawlspace. Thomas found an old iron plumbing pipe that had corroded nearly all the way through. He also found some foundation issues that will cost me a few thousand dollars to fix under an addition. He checked the circuit breakers and the boxes outside to make sure we weren't dealing with aluminum wiring. He pointed out problems in the siding. When he got on the roof, he found several places where the roof had been done incorrectly and actually had the wrong pitch (small parts of the roof pitched towards the house rather than the edge or were just flat). 
When he went inside to look at the units, he took a zipline level to see how level the floor was. He checked each receptacle as mentioned before. He found several active leaks due to the roofing and plumbing issues. Overall, it was a thorough and excellent inspection as always.
  
I absolutely love his inspections, and I would recommend him to anyone and everyone.

Thomas was fantastic!  He showed up early the day of our inspection (and the location was quite far away in Mandeville).  He was very polite and started his work immediately.  Thomas showed us everything as he went along, pointing out the good, the bad, and the ugly.  He found details that we certainly would have overlooked.  Even prior to our inspection day, Thomas had some great recommendations to make the most out of our time.  In the end, we received a very thorough and accurate report, with all points explained in detail with photos, and his final report was emailed to me promptly (by 6pm).  I feel the work done was a true value for the money spent and I would highly recommend Sunshine Home Inspection to anyone.

I really wanted to like Thomas. We have had bad luck with inspectors recommended by our real estate agents in the past, so based on Angie's List, I hired Thomas.
The inspection itself went OK. He didn't point out anything surprising or anything that hadn't been pointed out before. My husband actually pointed out some issues to him that he didn't catch.
However, the biggest problem came when he wrote up the report. It was the worst thing I have ever read. It wasn't clear what the problems were that needed remedying. Everything was simply a jumble with a code that you had to look up. It simply wasn't helpful at all. I had to go through the inspection carefully with a highlighter to pinpoint the home's deficiencies so we could send it in to the other realtor.
And, the report did not point out several important deficiencies that Thomas and my husband had discussed.  As we neared our deadline on the house, I was about this close to hiring another inspector to redo the inspection.
After the purchase, I asked Thomas to clarify something in the report. He said he couldn't do that unless we paid another inspection fee and he came back to the house.
Since we bought the house, we've found a ton of things that Thomas completely missed. An entire half of our house had old termite damage. And he also said that our house had, I think, a .3 deviation in its level. He was completely off on that as one room alone changes 5 inches.

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Thomas explained everything so that I could understand it and the price for his time and expertise was quite reasonable.  He saved me a great deal of time and money by explaining which improvements were, and which were not worth making.  He explained the pros and cons of foam sealing, radiant barrier, and other insulation that I was considering for my attic and crawl space.He also gave me a checklist of things to look for after the work was completed.  I was very satisfied and pleased that I went to him for help.

He was extremely thorough, managed to get into the attic, on the roof, and under the house, where he found some termite damage on some studs and wear on old mortar that got us another 7k off our bid!  Excellent work, would definitely use him again and would highly recommend him to anyone who needs an honest home inspector.

I used Sunshine Home Inspection on the glowing recommendation of a close friend who had just used Thomas for her pre-closing inspection. I couldn't have been more pleased with the incredibly professional and thorough job.  I feel very confident that the inspection turned up all potential problems with my future home. Sunshine's excellent report was very useful to my real estate agent in determining what issues needed to be addressed before closing, and the seller agreed to remedy all the issues flagged during the inspection. Thomas is a reasonable but very tough inspector and he will be on YOUR side (not your agent's, who may just want to make a quick sale - luckily not the case in my situation). I feel completely confident giving him the highest recommendation, and I am even using Sunshine again to do a re-inspection prior to closing to make sure the sellers have followed through and completely repaired all the issues found during the original inspection.

(Updated 12/20):  Prior to closing, I hired Thomas to come back and re-inspect my future home to make sure that the seller had made all the changes agreed to after the first  inspection.  The seller had agreed to remedy each and every problem Thomas had found, which goes to show that while he's extremely thorough, he is also fair-minded and highlights things that are actually issues, not minor stuff that will derail a real estate deal without making a bit of difference to you as a homeowner in the long run.  Thomas found that almost all of the work my seller had done was great, but that they had indeed missed a few kind of major things.  Since I didn't need to move into the property immediately, I agreed to delay my closing to let the seller have sufficient time to make the needed repairs.  As the seller later told me at the closing, his contracting supervisor was in contact with Thomas the whole time to make sure everything was being done to remedy the problems correctly. And because the seller wanted the closing to happen ASAP, it turns out that the *SELLER* hired Thomas, at his own expense, to make sure everything had been completed satisfactorily. If that isn't a ringing endorsement of Thomas' thoroughness, lack of bias, and customer service, I don't know what is.  At the closing, the agents on both sides and the seller all discussed how thorough and extensive the inspection had been.

The home inspection went very well. Thomas Kelting provided us with great detail of almost every issue in each apartment unit. He was highly knowledgeable in telling us what kind of potential repairs and damage there could possibly be. For those who don't know, Thomas has a Master's Degree in Meteorology from Mississippi State University. The extensive knowledge he has about meteorology and being ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) certified combined very well in explaining how the weather could affect certain aspects of the apartment complex. He checked each apartment unit very thoroughly with his assistant Jason Pepitone who he personally picked to come assist him on the home inspection. Jason was a very good choice on his part because Jason is a firefighter in the city of New Orleans who works for Safeguard Inspection Services. Therefore, he provided us with knowledge and concerns in regards to any potential fire hazards. In each room, Thomas would first take a picture of the apartment unit number to keep track of which room we were in. Then he checked each section of the room such as the den area, kitchen, bathroom, etc. while having Jason check the breaker panels and other parts of the rooms. Thomas made it a point to confirm with Jason on whether things were working or any issues. He made it a point to double check throughout each unit. He took the time to explain to me about what certain issues were with each room and how potentially problematic they could be. He took photos of any damages he saw. Once again, Thomas is ASHI certified which means he received thorough training and education on becoming a home inspector. ASHI is accredited under the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. Just google ASHI, and you'll see that only a handful of home inspectors are ASHI certified along with Sunshine Home Inspection here in New Orleans. But what sets Sunshine Home Inspection among the rest is that Thomas is NAHI (National Association of Home Inspectors) and AHIT (American Home Inspection Training) certified.  The details of the whole inspection would be so immense to explain each inspection of the 24 units, but I just have to say that I don't believe I could have picked a better home inspector than Thomas! He genuinely cares about the interested of his customers and will go out of his way to make sure you will get the best quality home inspection you deserve!

Mr. Kelting is very friendly and very personable.  I enjoyed his visit.  Mr. Kelting looked around my roof to see why the A-frame surface seemed to be irregular.  I thought that the roofing contractor somehow damaged my roof.  However, Mr. Kelting found that the original builder did not properly fasten the rafters to the ridge board.  He said that this was relatively minor, but that the garage attic joists could twist and bend in the future, as a result.  So, in a follow-up phone call I asked him for his recommendation, and my understanding was that it's always good to properly reinforce rafters, but that the garage should be OK without additional reinforcement.  He went on to explain that many homes in Louisiana don't receive a final inspection, thereby creating the opportunity for many contractors to cut corners and perform substandard work.  He said that the problem is pervasive in Louisiana.  I would then suggest that a home inspector be hired to inspect work performed by ALL builders and contractors unless a formal inspection is performed.  Mr. Kelting also looked around other parts of my home (outside) and gave me a lot of interesting advice and information.
Mr, Kelting did indeed find that the roofing contractor (Ryson Roofing) did not correctly install the drip lip in two areas where the drip lip meets the shingles (where gutters were installed).  He said that should a strong storm arise, it would lift the shingles and rip them off like dominoes.  So, I had Ryson Roofing return to repair the two areas where the drip lip was improperly installed.
I thought Mr. Kelting's report was good, but I was actually expecting a more thorough description of the damage to my garage roof.  I was able to better understand the problem, but only after I contacted Mr. Kelting a few more times.  In addition, I would have liked his recommendation to be in writing on the original report, which it was not (it was verbal).  My last desire was for Mr. Kelting to have a formal receipt showing how much and for what I paid.  I received a receipt from a receipt book.  He does have a formal contract, but it is a standard contractor's contract and does not show and specific information regarding the job that's being done.