Inspections by Bob

While considering putting our home on the market in the near future, we decided to have an inspector come check for any potential issues we might need to address beforehand. So I called Inspections by Bob. Bob arrived promptly at my scheduled appointment time. He was very knowledgeable about all areas of my home and very thorough. He explained to me each of the major (and some minor) issues found in the inspection and took the time to answer all of the numerous questions I had. He also followed up by email with any supplemental information that might be useful when I decide to sell my home. I would definitely recommend this company to anyone!

I'm a first-time home buyer, and hired Bob to conduct a home inspection, based on the glowing recommendations of my realtor. I'm so glad I did. Bob was SUPER helpful and informative and willing to answer all of my questions. I learned so much during the inspection that I will put to use right after closing. To make a competitive offer on the house, I hadspecified that I wouldn't require the seller to make any repairs for issues identified during inspection, so Bob's advice will be INVALUABLE. Other than the excellent and thorough job he did inspecting my house, I really liked that Bob was clearly a very honest man with the highest in ethical business practices. Plus, he had great stories about notable or hilarious home inspections he's conducted in the past! I would definitely recommend him to any friends or family who need a home inspection. I had a great experience with Bob.

Great service, kindness and professionalism, it helps me to take a decision to make my home purchase

Bob was amazing. He was thorough, he explained everything in ways that I could understand (and I'm a marine scientists...), he walked us through his findings, and let us know what was critical and what could wait. He completed his report the same day that the inspection took place. For a "normal" house I wouldn't be surprised by this, but for a house that is over 130 years old, completing the (thorough) report so quickly was truly remarkable. I was incredibly happy with the service and highly recommend this company.

Ms. Bob was very detailed and explanatory pointing out many of the home's major and minor defects which could cost us thousands in the future. She really has a spyglass eye for details!

It was very easy to set up an appointment with Inspections by Bob online and they contacted us the same day to verify the appointment. Bob was at the house prior to us getting there and introduced himself and told us what he would be doing and what exactly he is looking for. Bob was very thorough in the inspection and at the end gave us a complete run down of what he found including pictures and his recommendations. He found some electrical problems and some plumbing issues that needed to be repaired along with some railing and stair issues. He also found two major issues, the condition of the roof and the underground storage tank for heating oil, both of which need to be replaced. We appreciate Bob being thorough and professional and saving us thousands of dollars and many future headaches if we had bought the house. If the sellers do not replace the roof and oil tank and fix the electrical then we will look for another house and will use Bob again to inspect the next one.

He was thorough and knowledgeable. As a first home buyer, we had lots of questions about many things. He answered all our questions and advised numerous things on what home owners should know and take care of. From the attic to the basement, he inspected throughly and explained what he found. He also took many photos and included them in the final report in a PDF file. Whole inspection process took about four hours. He sent a complete inspection report that night and updated it over a few days. The results in the report were effectively used in the process of home buying.

He did previous home inspection thoroughly to my satisfaction. So I decided to let him do the final walkthrough inspection before the settlement. He showed up the address about 10 minutes ahead of the appointed time. He checked all the inspection points that were supposed to be fixed by the seller. Again, his inspection was thorough and satisfactory. I will definitely hire him again to do any home inspection in the future.

Bob was timely, knowledgeable, and very thorough. When we arrived, he was already looking around the exterior of the house and the deck, already hard at work. He wasn't the cheapest home inspector, but he was the most flexible in terms of scheduling, and in the end, we are very happy that we hired him anyway because he was so thorough. He was also helpful in explaining each of his observations and gave us tips on future work that we may have to do. His inspection report was prompt, well-organized and very easy to read.

I heartily recommend Bob's service. We used him for two different inspections. We actually walked away from one house because of all the issues that Bob found. Bob was very realistic but not discouraging about the amount of care and maintenance the older home would need. With that information we decided it wasn't the best fit for us. Bob then inspected our next choice which was a newly constructed townhome. One would think there isn't much to inspect in new construction but Bob was very thorough and identified a lot of issues that we will take back to the builder to correct before we close on the home. I found Bob to be prompt, courteous, professional and very thorough. Upon introduction, he asked what my experience/knowledge was in home inspections so that he could tailor his explanations to my knowledge level. As a woman, I'm used to dealing with people who assume that I know nothing about construction so this was refreshing. In short, we really appreciated Bob's experience and knowledge. He's helped us make the best decision in choosing our next home.

Bob was one of the few people who did Sunday inspections (for a small additional fee), and that was the only day that worked for my partner and I. He arrived a few minutes early, and immediately started looking at the outside - including retaining walls and roof areas. He spent the next ~3 hours thoroughly inspecting each room, testing all the electrical outlets, plumbing, etc. At the end he gave us a rundown of all the issues he saw, even letting us know the property had more issues than the average home. He gave us super helpful tips on what we needed to do if we purchased the home, and general first time homeowner advice. It was as lot of information, so I'm glad he put it all in a neatly organized binder with photos. After living in the home for a few months now, there's been no surprises that Bob didn't mention. The tape measure he gave us came in handy as well! Overall, I thought he was very professional and very good at his job. I later found out a close friend actually knew him personally, and she said that I didn't need to worry about buying a dud home if Bob was the inspector.

Bob was on time, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable. He performed a thorough inspection of the home and conducted a radon test. He spent a lot of time talking with us and explaining his findings. He also helped us out after the inspection by providing information about building code and safety when the seller questioned if some of the requested repairs were required. I think he may be a bit more pricey than other inspection services (we paid $640 for inspection + radon test), but the value he provides is well worth the price. Would absolutely use him again in the future and recommend him without any reservations. Should also add that he accommodated our tight timeline and came out on a weekend with only a couple days notice. He's great!

Excellent customer service scheduling the home inspection. Instructions for completing documents online were clear and easy to follow and convenient. The actual home inspection was thorough and was within the time frame I was told to expect. I received a clear explanation of what was found on the inspection. I had the chance to ask questions and I received answers I could understand.. Excellent customer service.

Booked an appointment with Bob's office, was easy & quick. Bob arrived on time, was thorough in his inspection and provided very detailed & thoughtful explanations of his findings.

Everything went well. The workers were great. There were no problems at all, it was good. They were early, and they were great. They notified me before they came out. The process took 2 and half hours. I thought the work was thorough and well done.

Inspection by Bob was truly the right choice after calling a few other companies. Here are a few reasons why: 1) He thoroughly walks through the entire house with you, provides information about areas of focus and answers all questions that you might have. 2) He's very friendly throughout the process and might even give you a few story or two about his personal experiences (I thought it was important to leverage his knowledge from similar house inspection) 3) He provides a summary at the end of the inspection and even prints the picture on the spot! No need to wait for a day or two. 4) You get a binder with not only the inspection itself, but other house maintenance tips and contractors in the area 5) I received a professional grade measuring tape which I've used extensively in my furniture shopping extravaganza. You really can't go wrong with Bob's inspection who is a local business with a great attention to detail! Give him a try!

Bob was very professional and personable; he was thorough in looking at/finding everything and explaining; he left us with a very professional binder of his findings and lots of tips for how to fix the problems and general house maintenance. We were very satisfied and would recommend Bob to others.

I've been a realtor for many years. I%2ve been on inspections with Bob and his wife. The experience can only be described as bizarre. His wife only inspected the attic of a home because my client and I told her we we going if she did not. Bob often quotes county code incorrectly creating fear or confusing the client. He also throw out strange info that does not apply to current property or is only his opinion and not relevant to the transaction. Potentially making the buyer's agent's job more difficult. His reporting system is outdated and time consuming. Most inspectors use a tablet to collect the report data and take digital corresponding photos. Then take the info to their office and email a report within a few hours. Bob takes a few hours to finish hand writing his report and then printing his photos on a portable printer. Both inspections I've attended with his company the printer has run out of ink. In today's tech environment, printed photos are a waste of valuable time better which could be better used to complete home inspection contingencies negotiations than trying to determine exactly what a photo is and then scanning photos, uploading them, and finally scanning the report and uploading that to the listing agent. Most exhausting home inspections ever!

Very we'll organized from start to end. Professional. Online portal was easy to digitally authorize, start inspection on time, and make payment. Inspector was there on time, and did detailed inspection. Provided pictures, report , supporting documents and detailed explanation on any questions.

Bob came out to perform an inspection after our initial one had gone very poorly with another service provider. Time was tight and my home was out of his normal service area, so I greatly appreciated his timeliness and flexibility to get this inspection done. The home we bought is older, so I was concerned about the inspector being thorough. Bob's attention to detail and suggestions for upgrades and improvements was very welcome. This allowed us to go back to the seller and get a number of issues addressed and fixed before buying the home. Bob took his time and walked me through the issues he came across. He was able to put together a professional and easy to understand report on the spot. By the end of the day, my realtor had the information she needed to contact the seller and keep the process moving forward without delays. I would gladly recommend Inspections by Bob to anyone, and would happily hire him again.

We found that Bob and his wife did a really inadequate job of inspecting this house that we were purchasing. They missed several items that we have discovered after settlement that will lead to unexpected costs in excess of $3,000. A first example is the steam system. Bob turned it on, judged the boiler to be working and shut it off. I went around and found the radiators still mostly cool so I turned the boiler back on. After 15 more minutes I discovered that two valves were stuck, one open, one closed. It I had not taken the step that he should have they would not have been found. He completely missed the fact that 6 of the windows in the house had NO window sash locks on them. He missed a completely cracked kitchen window because he did not go to the trouble of raising the blinds. He did not point out to us that the steam pipes in the basement (while the asbestos had been abated) were not reinsulated which caused loss of heat in the basement and potential knocking in the system. Our bid to have this insulated (and a cost that we did not expect) is $2900!! The real estate agents that were present during the inspection (both who have more that 20 years of active service, said that he was the worst most disorganized inspection that they had experienced. Most inspectors use some electronic forms and reporting which makes it easy to share results. Bob insists on using what is essentially carbon paper because he "has not found a good system". Maybe on a normal "plain jane" house this approach works but on our larger, older home (which we were charged a higher fee for) it was a very poop experience. It is actually the first bad experience that I have had following Angies List recommendations, sadly. Update: I forgot to list another item, that the estimate to repair is $700. Under the rear deck, and fully visable from the stairway to the basement was a non-frost proof faucet connection. This connection was made by running copper and transitioning into a three foot "motor home" faucet. There was a dip in this pipe. Closing the connection in the basement would do nothing, the water would remain in the pipe and freeze over the winter. The plumber has estimated a correct repair will cost about $750. This is another example of just simple stuff that was missed.

Bob arrived on time and did a thorough property inspection. He inspected from the basement to the attic, the deck and the porch. He provided us with a notebook containing the inspection information with pictures. I would definitely recommend Bob for home inspections.

It is six months post-report. He missed a lot of serious things. Serious things that cost me a lot to fix. As one example, he noted on the report that the dishwasher light didn't work. On day of final walkthrough, Seller had not fixed light. Called Seller, she said it works, the light is just out and it is too cost prohibitive to fix (a lie obviously). First day in the house, I try to run it, it works for 15 minutes before error message appears. Wrote Bob asking why he didn't tell me that it only worked for 15 minutes ---he said, well I told you the light was out, so I couldn't run a full cycle! Um, how about saying in the report that the dishwasher DOES NOT OPERATE for more than 15 minutes AND the light is out. That would have been good to know when negotiating with the Seller. He said "go back to the Seller." No, actually, I had a chance to inspect the property, I did, and you messed up. Sure, the Seller is probably to blame, but come on, I would have to sue her to get my money! Who has time for that? That's the point of an inspection. To avoid that. . . .$900 later. . . . Missed a huge crack in the oven heating element. . . .$900 later. . . . Nothing noted in the report about inadequate insulation. Guess what? The insulation is inadequate. Missed several windows where the spring was broken. Only noted a few. Missed water damage. Does not use infrared camera. He was never in the construction business before starting this business. Ironically, he was in IT (see below). He pointed out a lot of things that weren't even an issue: made a big deal about "exposed footings," hired an engineer to come out --who laughed---since Bob didn't seem to know what a footing is; Bob said there is no deck flashing, when, yup, clearly there is. No excuse in this day and age not to have a computerized report with pictures in a pdf format. He writes everything by hand and prints out separate pictures. It took forever for him to finish the report while we all stood around. Even the realtor was annoyed. He's a nice guy and he was prompt, I will give him that. If I had to do it all over again, I would hire a bunch of experts for the same price I paid him. ____________ Response: Actually, the heating element worked. The glass surrounding the heating element was cracked, thereby causing food to scorch because too much direct heat escaped, and also thermostat off. Good to know that you had a piece of equipment you didn't think was useful to use because we didn't ask you to use it. Since we're the home inspection experts? I have done two prior inspections with different inspectors, as well as sold my own homes. Everyone else has a computerized report that is completed on-site. Photos are uploaded digitally and integrated into the report. The findings are discussed at the site. Yes, I'm calling B.S. Now we're having issues with the HVAC. Appears there is something wrong upstairs. It was super dry in the winter (he does not do checks for Relative Humidity - FYI). Now air gets cold, but high humidity, probably something wrong with the ductwork or poor attic ventilation. Great. Another expense I wasn't expecting. We noticed a musty smell in the home and asked Bob to check it out. Bob said he smelled nothing. I didn't even mention the mold/mildew. Which I actually hired him to test for. Found nothing. Turns out the swab method used by Bob isn't really all that great or diagnostic. Terrific. Anyway, Bob, you're a super nice guy. I hate to give you a negative review. But that's what Angie's list is all about. I hope you learn something from this. Probably 99% of homes don't have major issues, but some do. We count on you to guide us. You failed. And I don't think you even care that you did.

This is a husband & wife team. Both are professional, on time, courteous, and knowledgeable in their field. I would highly recommend this team. Money well spent!

Bob was very thorough and provided some very helpful information. He has a keen eye for detail, and was quick to notice any issues. The inspection book and summary provided at the end is extremely useful for future reference. I wish I had used Inspections by Bob for my initial home inspection!