CLAXTON WALKER & ASSOCIATES

Billy Walker was a lifesaver. We had a pesky ceiling leak for almost a year and have hired multiple people to try to diagnose the origin - everyone just assumed it was the flat roof and wanted to charge $5K - $10K to replace. Billy took the time to discuss with me on the phone and when he came out, he was extremely detail oriented and his intuition was confirmed - it was the cornice gutter and not the flat roof! Billy provided a comprehensive report in a timely manner as well. Highly recommended for any home inspection needs.

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The gentleman who came to do the inspection was punctual and courteous. However, my overall impression of his services is not good. I decided to wait several months to write this review so that I would have a clear head and make a fair assessment. In the first few weeks following the inspection (once I had already bought the apartment) several issues came up revealing a lousy inspection. We are talking about a one bedroom apartment, so I expected it to be an easy, straightforward inspection. Indeed, the inspector made it seem like it was and he spent about 30-40 minutes doing it. However, I later realized the following issues: 1. Electrical capacity. The inspector opened the circuit panel and said that, surprisingly for a an apartment built in 1960, it had very good electrical capacity (I'm almost quoting him). He said the apartment was receiving 100 amps, which was very good for an apartment that age and given that its electricity requirements were not high (small size, central heating and cooling). As it turned out, when I bought the apartment I had various contractors come take a look at the apartment (I did several renovations) and they all said the following: the apartment does not receive 100 amps; there's only 70 amps for the whole tier, which includes 4 apartments! So, instead of having 100 amps for the apartment (as my inspector advised me), I'm stuck with sharing 70 amps with three other apartments. 2. A/C units. My apartment has central air and heating. There are four old units in the apartment. Two are thinner and smaller than the other two, which contain a fan blowing air through the pipes carrying the hot/cold water. I wanted to turn into a den/bedroom an area that has one of the smaller units so I was worried that the AC wouldn't work well there without the fan. The inspector said I could always put a fan next to it, to blow the cool air into the room. Well, it turns out those thinner units are for heating only. They don't carry cold water (to function as AC) because they don't have a mechanism to dispose of the condensed water. Once again, I was misinformed by my home inspector. 3. Floors. I asked about the floors because I wanted to replace them with more modern hardwood. The home inspector said he could not be sure but and quot;most likelyand quot; there was a layer of concrete in between floors, over which the subflooring would be laid out. This turned out to be wrong and all the contractors who came to view my apartment were able to tell it was all wood as soon as the banged their feet on the floor. This case reveals the inspector is not knowledgeable enough. 4. DC electric codes. After the inspection and before buying the apartment, I contacted the inspector with a question for the renovations. The question was whether DC codes would allow a splicing of the electric wires feeding into the apartment so that I could move the wall with the circuit panel. His response: I don't know what the DC codes will allow. In sum, there were two (important) cases where the inspector provided erroneous information about the apartment (in both cases, indicating the apartment had better capacity than it has). They are the electric capacity and the number of AC units. The report I received evidences these errors. In addition, there were two other cases that revealed a lack of knowledge of the home inspector (the material in between floors and DC electric codes (for the latter, I have the email exchange as evidence)).

Alan Miller inspected the home that we were buying and he was extremely thorough and very knowledgeable. He was very patient with the many questions that arose after I'd done a lot of research. Unfortunately, I no longer recall the price of the inspection so I'm unable to comment on that portion. But whatever the cost, it was well worth it. I highly recommend Alan Miller.

This firm provided a Home inspection for a 14 year old home pre-purchase. inspection did not detect numerous deficiencies in the structure. 1.Inspector missed the fact that two walls of wallpaper were over two full walls of mirror which eventually had to be removed and the drywall had to be replaced in process of removing the wallpaper. 2.Master bath tile was described as not clean. It was mold that required a complete renovation after it became clear that the sub-flooring was spongy. The shower stall pans were leaking in two bathrooms. 3.Dining room window trim was rotted. 4.Foyer tile was cracked for about 4 feet under an area rug 5.Radiant heat was not operating properly - thermostats were never checked 6.Air conditioning was deficient and does not cool top floor adequately 7.Ceiling stain was noted as dry and that repair likely was done, during first serious storm the ceiling leaked at that location. 8.Large Picture Window sash broken 9.Wood floors discolored under area rugs 10. Doors were caulked improperly causing all 25 6 panel doors to require re-caulking and painting when weather changed These are the most distressing and costly deficiencies that could have been anticipated. They are the major issues that were not appropriately documented by the inspector causing us numerous months of construction work at an extremely high cost. The inspection was practically worthless to us. If these issues were known in advance, the sale might have not proceeded.

We had two houses inspected recently by Claxton Walker. Scott Maury inspected one, and Alan Miller inspected the other. There were both excellent and I would recommend them to anyone purchasing a home. They are thorough, take the time to explain everything they see to us in terms we can understand.Their reports had lots of photos and were very thorough. I don't think I have had someone explain everything in such detail with a home inspection. They take their time, and do not rush through. I recommend this company highly to all realtors, and potential homeowners.

He did a thorough job and the final report was complete with pictures and descriptions. What could have been better is that I felt that if I had not been present for the inspection and had not asked questions along the way the report would not have been as thorough.

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Scott came out to inspect our house the week after we called Claxton-Walker to schedule an inspection. He was already at the house when I arrive and had inspected the roof. He had gone on-line and noted the house was empty, so he could start early which was nice for me. He was very thorough and caught multiple items. He checked every outlet, roof, walls, insulation... and overall I thought he did an excellent job. I would use them again for future inspections.

They are superb. Mr. Walker really knows his information. He is very knowledgeable. I believe he was a former builder. He is trustworthy as well. The quality is worth the price. It may be a little higher, but they are worth it. They are always early to his appointments. We never have to wait for him.I would recommend them to others. I will definitely use them in the future.

Bill Walker provided an extensive home inspection of a large home I am purchasing in Annandale VA. The home is in foreclosure and had some obvious issues that needed to be dealt with, but under the circumstances I was most concerned about the things I couldn't see for myself. They scheduled the visit at a time that was convenient for me, and Mr. Walker showed up just when he was supposed to. During his thorough inspection of the house, he was happy to have a lot of discussion about his impressions of what he found to be issues with the house. As a result of this inspection, and his great attention to detail. I now feel very confident in moving forward with the purchase of this "as-is" foreclosure. I highly recommend this company to anyone in need of a home inspection and I will definitely call them again when I purchase my next home.

Mr. Walker's report noted the condition of the washer and dryer as the following: 7.6 LAUNDRY EQUIPMENTCLOTHES WASHER The machine ran through the cycle normally. There is no safe pan under the washer.Normally when a washer is located on a finished floor there is a safe pan under it with adrain in case something leaks. You should have one added.DRYER TYPE: Electric. It ran normally and was heating in the mode in which it was tested.Clean the dryer vent duct regularly (yearly). Dryer vents must be kept clean. Even asmall amount of build up can affect the function of the dryer. In actuality the dryer was not vented at all, and we nearly caused damage to the house in running it. It is now going to cost us a significant amount of money to have a dryer vent installed; had this been properly documented in the inspection report, we would have taken it up with the home's previous owner to resolve before settlement. When I reached out to Claxton Walker by email to discuss (that was their previous form of communication to me), they did not respond. I have requested refund of the inspection fee.

Claxton Walker was recommended by a friend and by my agent. It was pretty easy to get an appointment by phone (they have 3 different inspectors). I called on Friday and managed to have the inspection on Monday morning. Bill was very professional. Arrived on time and spent about 4 hours doing a very thorough inspection (main house + rental basement). He was happy to explain what he was checking, explain what the usual problems he found, and give advice on what needed to be done to my property. Very kind and focused on doing a good job. Seems like he has many many years of experience doing this job. I guess he meets a lot of homeowners that ask him questions, so he is used to explain things to non-professionals. After leaving the property, Bill prepared the report the same afternoon and I had it in my inbox by the evening. He also kindly and promptly answered to 4 follow-up questions I had via email. Its the first time I do a home inspection but I must say I am very satisfied. They were only slightly more expensive than another quote, but I think they were worth the money. Should I need another home inspection, I would use them again. I am also recommending them to my friends.

They practice high but it is worth it. They give very thorough photograph, which is a useful thing that I have found as a result of their inspection. I will use this company in the future.

I am purchasing a large home in historic Shaw. The architecture is incredible, but it has been neglected for decades and the interior has been subject to one shoddy renovation plastered right over the old one. The house appeared to be in move-in condition, but because of the neglect it had the potential to be hiding a lot of problems. I absolutely had to know what was wrong with it, so I didn't get myself into a money pit that I could never get out of. I shopped around extensively for home inspectors, and contacted most of the firms on the DC ASHI list (their certification body). I collected sample reports from the firms that would give me one, and Claxton Walker's was far superior to anyone elses. I looked at the resumes of the inspectors at the firm and requested Bill Walker, who had decades of construction experience before he became a home inspector. Their friendly staff, Carol, was able to get me an appointment on very short notice. Carol also coordinated a radon test for a good price and refered me to a firm that tests for lead paint and asbestos. Bill arrived early and was very personable. He spent an enormous amount of effort and time explaining everything he was finding as we went around, through and on top of the house. He went in every crawl space, hacked through spider webs in the basement and went on the roof TWICE (not an easy task in this case), to check things out. I took full advantage of his years of constructing and renovating homes to get an idea of what it would cost me to do some of the repairs, different options, things to watch out for, what are the repair priorities and how to plan out a thorough renovation. Some of this was well beyond the scope of work that I paid for, and I appreciated his insight greatly. All in all, Bill spent nearly 4 hours with me going through the house. After he was done, it was no more than 3 hours before I recieved a thorough 33 page report with pictures detailing every aspect of the house that we went over. The report was even better than their sample. Overall, I was blown away by the professionalism and the expertise of Bill Walker and the customer service of their office staff. Not only did he provide me with a tremendous amount of information about the condition of my house and the mechanical systems, but he made sure that I understood everything. I recommend them without any reservations.

I required the help of an expert to inspect work done badly and work left unfinished by a contractor I employed. Mr. Walker arrived at my home on 6/3/09 to inspect the damage. We worked together for four hours and he took many photographs. He used a very old digital camera and seemed to have trouble with his vision but did not use glasses to see clearly. Six days later I received a phone call from his wife, Michelle Walker informing me that Mr. Walker had erased all the photos he took of my home. Mrs. Walker told me that he had to return tomorrow, 6/9/09, after 4:00 pm to retake the photos and that no other day was possible. My schedule for the following day was very busy, but I told her I would get back to her. I rearranged my schedule at one day's notice to suit the Walkers' convenience. I called back Michelle that same afternoon and we arranged for Mr. Walker to come to my home at 4:00 pm the following day. Without trying to contact me in advance by phone, cell. phone or email, Mr. Walker showed up at my house at approximately 2:50 pm. I was just leaving the house to pick up my children from school and drive them to an appointment. Mr. Walker expected me to completely rearrange my plans to accommodate his sudden arrival. I was not able to do this and asked him to keep our 4:00 pm appointment. When I returned to my home at 3:55 pm, Mr. Walker was not there. In the door I found a business card from Mr Walker on which he wrote that he would write his report based on the photos he took. I assumed this means only photos of the exterior of the house. This is unacceptable as many of the problems which require photographic documentation are inside the house. I immediately phoned Michelle Walker at the company and asked her to contact Mr. Walker by cell. phone asking him to keep our 4:00 pm appointment as arranged. She refused saying that her husband had "done me a favor" even coming out to my house in the first place, that her husband was already on the beltway on his way back to Annapolis and that they were very busy getting ready to go on vacation. I complained that this was very unprofessional behavior and that I had agreed to meet with Mr. Walker again at his convenience. I reminded Michelle that I had already given them a cheque for $900 and that they had not performed the services that I had paid for. MIchelle made a sarcastic comment about the customer always being right and said that she would tell her husband "not to write the report." Now I have to find another home inspector at very short notice to write a detailed report on the damage done to my home. I am extremely disappointed in the services provided by Claxton Walker. Their behavior is rude and arrogant in the extreme and they treat their customers with contempt. They are not competent to provide the services they advertise and cannot be relied upon to represent their clients interests. Please do not waste your time and money on Claxton Walker.

Our Realtor had suggested them and the reviews on Angie's List looked good. The inspector was early, well spoken and knowledgeable about the business. He took many digital photographs of the property and answered all of our questions. At no time did he rush us through any of the process. The report looks good. As we were going through the property, however, I asked why he was not taking either handwritten notes or recording comments. He responded that his company has a long questionnaire that will prompt him on the condition of the various elements, plus, the photos will help him with the report. I can't say that I noticed anything missing, per se, but, in purchasing a previous property, the inspector was much more particular (anal) about noting every thing.

The inspection went very well. William Walker, the inspector, took about 2.5 - 3 hours to go thoroughly through the home, outside and inside, from rooftop to foundation. He explained everything step by step. I had actually used him several weeks before to inspect another home, which I didn't ultimately purchase, due in large part to some issues he had found with that home. I've heard they can be expensive, but the price they quoted for my inspection was generally in line with another estimate I had gotten. Either way, having dealt with other home inspectors, I can certainly say that William took his job quite seriously and was quite good at it.

This was the best experience I've ever had with home inspection. Claxton-Walker is more expensive than any other home inspector I've used, but it was totally worth it. The inspector paid attention to EVERYTHING, however he discussed it with me and wrote it up in the report in a very balanced way. He was on time, explained everything fully (and explained again if I didn't get it), provided a thorough report by the next morning at 8am (inspection was from 2-5 in the afternoon) and simply went above and beyond.

Scott was an excellent inspector and although the price seemed expensive it was worth it. Scott took his time to thoroughly inspect the property. He climbed onto the roof and climbed into the attic. He found mechanical defects as well as a structural defect. He was very detailed and provided a 40+ page report within 48 hours.

Excellent! The inspector arrived early and started checking the exterior of the home, the yard, and the surrounding area of the house. After introductions, he immediately started briefing us on the information he had gathered and offering suggestions. Once inside, each floor was inspected carefully. Each system was tested with an explanation of the test.

He was already on site looking around when we arrived prior to our appointment. He spend over 5 hours going through the 4100 square foot home with a fine tooth comb. He was very professional and obviously a perfectionist, which is exactly what we wanted. He even climbed on the roof to look around. Later that same day he emailed a thorough report, including digital photos. We were 100% satisfied and are grateful that he was recommended to us for our home inspections.