Inspections by Bob

He met us at the property and covered the entire property -- attic to basement, pool, foundation, etc. He took pictures of everything that he found to be substandard or needing attention and accompanied them with detailed written explanations for us to take to the seller's agent. Great attention to detail. Over a career of many years I've been present at many home inspections -- this one was one of the best!

He was excellent, knowledgable and explained everything to me. He took pictures of everything and gave me a book with a lot of helpful information. He invited me to ask him any questions. I would highly recommend him.

I called "Mrs. Bob" to setup an appointment; she explained what Bob would check and may not be able to check depending the weather conditions. Payment and other information was preformed online and e-mail. Bob came early to the house and spent three hours on site. Using a checklist notebook, he carefully reviewed the exterior and interior of the house. As he worked, he also explained various aspects of house (and other general home tidbits). He carefully reviewed the big and small problem areas. At the end of his inspection, he give us his checklist notebook with color photos of problems areas; and he carefully went through and explained every page and highlight of the house. He also put together a central to-do list for us, which was very helpful. Bob is very knowledgeable and respected in this field. He was great, and I highly recommend him to anyone.

I've never been on a home inspection before, so I have no basis for comparison. But I thought he was thorough, took his time, and seemed knowledgeable about every aspect of the inspection, including structure, electric, plumbing, weatherproofing, decking, and insulation. I rated his price as "fair", but fair is fair; and I'm willing to pay a fair price for good work.

The actual inspection went fine. Bob showed up early, as expected from other reviews. He was pleasant, willing to answer questions, and spent a good amount of time going over the house. We were provided with a nice binder detailing what he found in his inspector's report, as well as home maintenance tips. At the time, we liked him, thought he had been thorough. It is only in retrospect, now that we have spent more than $20,000 to fix the numerous items he didn't find--and should have--that my husband and I have become very dissatisfied with his services. Moreover, because we thought we were buying a sound house with no serious defects, we overpaid for the house as well (in a down market). So Bob's oversights have cost us easily more than $30,000. The main issue is that Bob seemingly cannot see the forest for the trees. That is, he harped on many small fixes that, while yes, are important, would not have cost us much to remedy after the fact. These are things like the gutters being half-full of roofing debris (which was actually a tip-off to the much larger issue of the improperly installed roof), the garage door opener just barely failing the 2X4 test, the stove not being secured to the wall. What was missed, however, just blows my mind. Shortly after we moved in, for instance, we noticed a musty smell in the basement. We couldn't even use the room down there, it was so bad. We called in a mold remediation specialist who found the root cause was a lack of HVAC returns in the basement, as well as old carpeting that had some mold in the corners, and light mold developing on the back of exposed drywall. We installed new flooring and had an HVAC specialist install returns. We also must run a dehumidifier constantly. At the time he inspected the house, the owner was using some plug-in air fresheners. As the mold expert said, that's a dead giveaway that someone is trying to cover something up. We know that now, and as a professional who inspects numerous houses annually, Bob should have known that. The worst oversight, however, was the roof. A selling point of the house was that the roof was only 4 years old. It looked nice from the ground. But Bob was actually up on that roof. A roofer subsequently showed us photos of all the problems with the roof (after a major leak destroyed a section of our family room). Looking at those photos, I as a layperson could have identified that things were not right--no flashing around the chimneys, rusty nails showing, sections where the new roof was installed over the old, and others where it wasn't. At the very least, Bob should have advised us to call in a roofing expert. He didn't. Twelve thousand dollars later, plus $2,500 to repair interior damage from leaking, we now have a sound roof. There is more, much more, including the window that slammed down unexpectedly and almost took off my husband's finger one day because the mechanism inside doesn't work properly. Guess Bob didn't check all the windows for proper operation. I'm sorry to have to provide such a damaging report, but a house inspection is a crucial part of the home buying process. It can make or break the deal. As our tale shows, that person needs to be a consummate professional with the ability to see both the big picture and the smaller details.

The inspection was done on time, and we got good explanation about the condition of a house and possible issues. Bob was very responsive and honest to all my questions by e-mail then after.

A+. Need i say more? Bob was thorough, really took his time to examine everything (the whole inspection took 5hrs as he combed through the house), took time to explain things to us, and obviously loves his job (he even went into the attic and on the roof). He even pulled county work permits, which was above and beyond. I would definitely use him again and would recommend him to anyone.

Even though our house was new, we still wanted to get a home inspection done. Setting up the appointment was easy and Bob arrived a few minutes early. He was friendly and very thorough, inspecting both the interior and exterior of the house. We were provided with a binder covering all of the areas inspected and a list of things that should be addressed. He also provided us with photos of the areas that were of concern. We were very happy with the service provided.

I was a first time homebuyer so every aspect of home buying was a new experience to me, and it was also a scary one. Among others, my main fear was to end up having an incomplete or not well done home inspection. My first instinct had been to check Angie's list then the Better Business Bureau. Inspections by Bob came up on Angie's list with a nice A grade and after checking with the BBB, the company was also a highly rated with no compalints in file. The high rates Inspections by Bob receive are for a reason. First of all, everything I requested before the inspection took place (such as a proof of insurance) was sent to me without discussion. Second of all, the inspection performed by Bob (himself) was outstanding. Not only he arrived earlier than scheduled to start checking a few things around the house, but he was very detailed while performing the inspection of the house. He took pictures of the problematic areas. At the end the inspection, he provided me with a report as detailed as his inspection. He presented the report in a nice binder accompanied with all the pictures he took, plus a bunch of flyers and useful information about the maintenance of a house, and the dos and dont's. I am also very grateful for Bob's services because even after the inspection took place, he answered all the questions I had later on. Bob also made time to go to the walkthrough with me before closing. Of course, I had to request that and he charged me a small fee for it, but I was reassured to have him at the walkthrough as he carefully checked every points on our list of things that needed to be done/repaired by the seller. At some point, the seller himself agreed that Bob made a good catch on an issue about the roof. I was told that usually an inspection takes about 2 hours. Well, Bob inspected my house for 3 good hours! Bob takes the time necessary to perform a thorough inspection. Among other things, thanks to him, I got a completely repaired roof before closing (the roof had been repaired only half-way about 6 years ago). Overall, I am very satisfied with Bob's services and I would highly recommend him to anyone who buys a house and need it inspected beforehand. I do not want to forget to mention that Bob has a very professionally designed website which allows his clients to request services, process payments, keep track of the work done, and to receive confirmation emails after a payment is processed. I thank him for his help and above all for his advice. Should I mention also that Bob does not charge you until the inspection is over...

Bob was great. He arrived ahead of schedule and was ready to go. He was very thorough and detail oriented. He was patient and took time to explain everything he was finding. He was especially helpful in explaining all that is involved in maintaining a home to a first time home buyer. He did not seem in any rush and asked many times if I had any questions. The report he prepared was a full binder with plenty of helpful information. He also provided brochures that will help in knowing how to maintain the many systems in the home.

Everything went well. Bob was there ahead of time and ready to go. Inspection went well, was thorough, lucky house was in good shape.

Bob has a great web-site which allows for on-line payment and scheduling. He arrived to our home inspection even before we did and was eyeing the outside of the property. Bob was so very thorough and was such a pleasant and knowledgable individual. I appreciated the time he spent and felt that he did an excellent job in identifying items for our consideration. After purchaing the home, I followed up on an item that Bob identified with an electrician that I found via Angie's List. In this regard, Bob noted that the sub-panel in our garage was not installed with the proper guage. The electrician that I hired to install GFI's and an outlet in our garage ceiling asked me who haddiscovered that the wrong guage was used because he said even his trained electricians would not have picked up on that one. Way to go Bob! Bob also quickly responded to follow-up questions via email that I sent a few days after the inspection; and the binder he provided with his notes is so helpful. I am using it as a checklist for fixing the items we did not pursue during the purchase process. Overall, this is the best home inspector I've used; and the fact that he doesn't rely on realtors for business is key; I felt like I could trust his opinion completely. I highly recommend Bob; he's worth the fee he charges for the most thorough home inspection I've ever had.

My wife and I were first time home buyers so after a bit of internet searching we knew Bob was our guy! He actually performed two home inspections for us, one uncovered a ton of problems that my wife and I missed in our home tours. That deal fell through, thank goodness. I cringe at the thought of a home inspector glossing over certain facts to curry favor and referrals. The second house inspection went much smoother Bob didn't turn up any deal breakers so we were comfortable moving forward. Bob was very assessable after business hours as well, as I said we were first time home buyers so we had tons of questions. I got emails from Bob after 6pm a few times. This guy takes care of his clients. For a small fee he came back out for our final walk-through which uncovered a few of the jobs that the seller agreed to, but were left undone. Without Bob, I would not have been able to spot these lapses. I can safely say that Bob saved my wife and I at least several hundred dollars just on the walk-through inspection not to mention the other items he took time to point out that other inspectors may have missed or left unmentioned. He also save my wife and I a ton of headaches by identifying problems with the first house we put a contract on.

I have bought seven homes, and his inspection was the best by far.

We had a great experience with Bob! He was professional and thorough with his assessments. We really appreciated the educational aspect that Bob provided during the home inspection along with the pictures. He also came across as having a lot of expert knowledge and we did not feel like his assessments were influenced by an agent. We felt confident we were getting the most objective, reliable, and independent assessment on our home-to-be. Worth the money!!

Great. Bob's wife, "Mrs. Bob", took my initial call. She was very curteous, professional and knowledgeable. Bob confirmed the appointment by email the day before, and showed up on time to the appointment. Bob was very thorough, explaining important considerations about the home as he went. He was very professional, knowledgeable, pleasant, straghtforward and direct. He gave a thorough debrief after the inspection and answered all of our questions. He also provided us with a thorough inspection report and a lot of additional information to take with us. Only one suggestion, some of the report handwriting was a little difficult to read. But this was a very minor issue. Thank you, Bob!

I contacted "Inspections by Bob" based upon a real estate article I read stressing the importance of using an independent inspector. Bob was responsive and flexible in terms of scheduling an inspection and establishing a scope of services (I contacted him about inspecting a prior home, but did not go through with the purchase). On inspection day, Bob arrived before I did and started with the exterior of the house when my realtor arrived. He briefed me on what he found and we moved to the interior of the house. Throughout the entire process, Bob made it educational. As I had never owned a home before, Bob took the time to point out problems, potential problems, and tips on operating the home. My wife & I took notes as we went along and his advice covered a range of topics from the grading & material of the drive way to the settings on the water heater. He created the inspection report on site and provided copies to both realtors and us. He did overlook a couple items on the inspection report, but upon notice from the realtor, he provided updates within hours. OVERALL A very positive experience and I would recommend him to others. ===== 6/14/11 UPDATE. I'm reducing the ratings on Overall Experience and Quality from "Excellent" to "Good" because Bob missed something important during his inspection. Our house has a sewage ejector pump connected to a system of pipes and a collection tank that collects waste water from the house and pumps it out to the public sewer on a regular basis. The pump and system is located in a bedroom closet. Bob did not find the pump during his inspection and six months later, one of the pipes burst due to "normal wear & tear" according to the plumber (about $1,000 to replace and install new check valves). The burst pipe caused our basement level, which was carpeted and has our 3 bedrooms, to flood with 'black water'. It was an unpleasant experience. I contacted Bob well after the experience to let him know what happened. He offered to refund the inspection fee provided I sign a release and return the inspection. I declined. He asked if he could come by the house to see the pump, pipes, and tank and I agreed. He came and learned from the experience noting that the pumps were clearly marked on the electrical panel even if they were not so easy to find in the bedroom closet. I would use Bob again.

Bob started by walking through and around the house looking for any big-ticket "showstoppers". After he found nothing major, he focused his attention on more granular review of the exterior and then each room inside. He explained where he was looking at each step of the way and made it easy for us to understand and follow.

Bob did a great job. I arrived ten minutes early and he was already busy inspecting the outside of the house. He was very knowledgable about home and home systems and answered all of my questions. He was thorough and found several serious defects that were not obvious to me as a buyer. The report was hand written on pre-prepared form, but the inspection was well documented. I walked away from the inspection with two copies of the report in my hand and one in my realtor's. He went beyond the call by providing information that he had gathered on his own regarding issues or features of our new home that were quite helpful. It was clear that he had thought through many of the items from previous inspections and was well prepared. Good job, Bob. Funny name for a business, but we found Bob to be very serious about his work.

It was a great experience! Bob's prices were lower than the other inspection services we considered. He is extremely thorough and efficient. He asked us to fill out all the paperwork online before hand so it didn't delay the process the day of. His website even has a calendar system that imports the schedule to your computer calendar and sends you a reminder note. Bob arrives a few minutes early and was already waiting for us when he arrived. He performed a thorough inspection in an hour, and sat down with us after to explain any concerns, safety issues, and how to maintain the condo. All the inspection information was given to us in a neat 3-ring binder. Bob even gave us a heavy-duty tape measure as a gift for using his services. We would definitely recommend him to anyone needing an inspection.

After the winter storms I had tiles replaced on my roof and the roofer stated my roof was rotting. I am a first time home buyer and have only been in the house 18 months so i was in panic mode. So I was advised to get a non biased advvieew on wether I actually do need a new roof and that my orginal inspector missed a faulty roof. I email Bob and at first he stated he only did full house inspections than after emailing a few questions and I told him the whole storyhe agreed to come out. he came out and was very nice explained everything inpected my fireplace and chimney attic and roof. Educated me on what I needed to do. He has greatly relieved my stress and I would highly recommend him to anyone who needs a house inspection!

Bob was outstanding and very thorough. The house was a unique situation since it was under partial constructure and it required attention to detail. Bob spent a lot of time with us explaining his findings and providing repair options. We are very happy with Bob's report and highly recommend his services to anyone who needs a thorough home inspection.

It went well overall. Bob was thorough and showed up early; I was surprised to find that I got a checklist binder rather than a report, but I feel I should have asked before scheduling the inspection.

I screened a few home inspectors by phone and Bob was the only principal who spoke to me directly. He explained his qualifications, the process, and gave me a very reasonable rate. On the day of the inspection, the seller followed us every step of the way, despite the request of the buying agent, and Bob handled the entire process as a consummate professional, being polite to the seller but not sparing one item from his inspection. At the end of the inspection, he completed and fully explained to me his report, gave me a tutorial and literature on home maintenance, and presented me with two gifts as an Angie's list member. When the seller and I later disputed an item in his report, he took time to speak to me and the buying agent and emailed a statement to the agent. As he left both the seller and the buying agent asked him for his card.

Bob was already there when we arrived, he was ready to work right away. We followed him throughout the house during the inspection, and he made sure we could see what he was talking about. This house was built in 1910, so the inspection was very important to let us know everything about this house, and that is what it did. Bob was very professional, friendly, and thorough. He took the time o answer any questions that we had, and he anticipated some that we couldn't think of. I would definitely hire Bob again, and recommend him to anyone I know that needs an inspection done.