A Healthier Home

This business is rip off. Don't ever hire them. They ask exorbitant amounts of money and cannot find any root cause. They do not do any thorough inspection and neither they have proper instruments to do it. Please refrain from them

Rick has an intuitive, holistic understanding of how homes work. I was extremely impressed with his depth of knowledge and expertise - everything was very well explained and I felt we were in very safe hands. Rick also definitely saved us money as we originally thought it was a mold problem, but it turned out to be something entirely different, requiring a different solution. One of the most expert tradesmen I have worked with, highly recommended.

Rick Bayless was very helpful in working with me on how to eliminate mold and allergens from my home. Great expertise, and a good samaritan. Highly recommend.

The assessor showed up on time and did a very thorough job. The written report was professionally done.

We found Rick through reading positive reviews about him on the Internet. We are very happy that we did. We had a serious mold problem in our crawlspace and living area. We were in shock at the magnitude of the problem and really did not know what to do. Rick came to our house within a day of our calling him. He spent hours looking in the crawlspace and in the house. He taught us all about mold, the proper way to clean it, where you will find it, what was wrong in our crawlspace – really, it was Mold 101. He helped us compile the steps we needed to do to correct the problem, the order in which to do them and then what to do in the future to avoid the problem. Throughout the time that we were dealing with getting estimates from contractors, Rick was available to us via phone and email. He always responded promptly to our sometimes frantic, confused requests for help. He reviewed the proposals we received and suggested questions to ask and/or additional work that should be included. We recommended Rick to a family member and he was quite helpful in that situation. We consider Rick a valued resource (still available to us now) and we highly recommend him for home evaluations.

Rick is competent and helpful -- mostly like a good home inspector. I was disappointed in the cost, $500 for about two hours of his walk-through of the home. No written follow up of his concerns was provided to me. His car leaked oil in multiple places on our cobblestone drive that I get to see every day. He did notice things that required correction, and for that I am grateful. But I believe that I could have paid a home inspector to do the same thing for less money.

Ancel was great to work with. Highly recommend

I had a very good experience with them. I would definitely recommend them.

Excellent. Mr. Rick Bayless was knowledgeable and well prepared to do the inspection, the testing, and follow-up inspection. He did an excellent job and I would highly recommend him.

Rick showed up quickly and did a thorough inspection of the basement, crawl space, exterior of the house, and attic. I did not have him evaluate the living area although he would have done so for a reasonable added price. He provided advice and explanation not only for the immediate problem but also for areas that would be potential problems plus practical and cost effective ways to resolve those potentials. The flat rate fee for this service includes him being available by phone to answer questions that arise from his visit. Since Rick does not provide the cleaning, mitigation, or other services he recommends, I believe I got unbiased advice - he wasn't trying to sell me on services. One other value he provided was to compare what various cleaning services might provide and estimated prices. That gave me information critical to selecting service providers for the clean up and prevention efforts.

He was very thorough and before he left, I had a detail list of items I need to tackle.

We were first time home buyers and let me start by saying Rick with A Healthier Home was one of the best investments we made during the entire home buying process! We were under contract on a house that had mold, insects, and general nastiness in the crawl space (animal feces, yuck) so we were extra cautious about this home. We had two home inspections done already -- one was an inspection the seller gave us from the previous person under contract, and one was one we had done. As inspections go, they only point out potential problems and say "have a professional evaluate this". In addition we weren't confident in either inspector. The seller got quotes for mold remediation in the crawl space for $4000-5000 but said they could just have their handyman remediate the mold issue for $800. We were NOT okay with this so that's when we hired Rick with A Healthier Home for his opinion. Best decision ever. He came out to the house and did an inspection and went above and beyond. He pointed out things the inspector failed to even notice. Such as obvious mold in a closet that Rick found easily. This confirmed that the inspector we hired was incompetent, and possibly even in cahoots with our realtor to move the sale along. As far as the crawl space, Rick was in there for at least an hour investigating and taking photos. He confirmed that to remediate the mold/crawl space problem it would be at least a $3000-5000 job. Rick spent time answering our questions and was clear and concise. He didn't make us feel silly for asking a lot of "first time home buyer" questions. Rick looked over the entire house and said there weren't any major red flags indicating we should walk away from this house. He pointed out things that needed to be addressed like cleaning air ducts, mold under kitchen sink, etc. We completely trusted him. We did end up buying the house and Rick was correct about how much the crawl space remediation would be. We got 3 quotes and they all were in the ballpark of $3000-5000. So Rick saved us from making the costly mistake of letting the seller's handyman fix the crawl space for $800. I'd also like to mention that the mold in the closet turned out to be a bigger issue with a leaky roof above it. Days before the end of due diligence we mentioned looking into the roof further to our realtor but he brushed it off and said it's probably just the gutters that need to be adjusted, and that the sellers probably won't come down anymore off the price. After we closed on the home a roofer came out and it turned out we were correct and there was a leaky roof -- the roof repair cost us another $1600. The point of this info is that Rick saved us money and our realtor and inspector did not. It felt like we had to look out for ourselves throughout the process, but Rick from A Healthier Home was actually on our side and genuinely wanted to help us. Go with your gut and never think you are being overly cautious or paranoid when looking into issues. Most of all: do no hesitate to hire A Healthier Home, whether it's your first home, or if you already own the home and want to make it healthier to live in. If we purchase another home he will be the first person we call to inspect any house we go under contract with. We learned so much from him! Thank you, Rick!

Rick was great. He came the day after I called him. I showed him what I did since his last visit and we discussed the things that needed to be done. He found one major spot missed by the crawlspace encapsulator and mold remediation contractor I hired. It was a major source of mold. Rick climbed into the bowels of my crawl space to find it. It is probably accounting for the odor I have been smelling in the bottom of the stairs to the basement. I have hired a contractor to come and clean out the area, get rid of the mold and encapsulate it.

Excellent Resource, Rick immediately and efficiently identified the source of the damage, which was surprising and reassuring at the same time. He was on time, thorough, and efficient in his analysis. The issues was critical since the source was a construction problem and needed to be corrected via the original contractor. I was very pleased with Rick's findings as much of the mold issues he identified were hidden. Very pleased with his work and my investment.

Rick arrived on time and spent a while speaking with me about my concerns before taking a look at the exterior of my home. He inspected the placement of the gutters and downspouts, advising me of potential water flow issues. He came inside and looked at our windows for any signs of needed repair. He visited the areas of my home that I had specific concerns about and went to work investigating all possible leads to identify the source of our issues (specifically, temperature control in an upstairs bedroom). He spent a long while up in the attic inspecting the duct work, insulation, etc. At the end of our appointment he gave us a few suggestions to adjust our air flow to improve the air temperature in our problem areas. Overall, my husband and I were very impressed with Mr. Bayless. He spent several hours at our place and we felt he gave the whole house a thorough inspection. We were prepared to make some very pricey upgrades to our home to try to solve our problem; I'm glad we brought in an expert to redirect us to more effective (and less expensive) solutions. We will absolutely be in touch with him again as we continue to make improvements to our home!

I called Rick on a Friday and he was able to come out the next Monday. Rick spent 4 hours with me going over the historic home I had just purchased. Rick is a straight shooter. He tells it like it is. He is not a contractor, so he was not trying to sell me anything. We went into the basement, crawl spaces, outside, in the living area and in the attic. We went over all the systems. I learned a lot! I took pages of notes. The crawl space was a mess. There was a lot of trash and debris, torn and incomplete vapor barrier and the vents were not sealed. Animals (mice, insects, etc.) had left their droppings. It was gross! He showed that mold was not a problem. There were a few small spots, and told me how to treat them. I asked a lot of questions. He told me what I would need to take care of this space. I ended up hiring the contractor he recommended (after checking him out on Angie's list first). He was the best of the lot. Rick showed me how to seal the HVAC in the basement (which I did myself). He gave the name of a company to service my unit (which I used). He showed me how to seal off the floor registers inside the house (which I did myself). He showed me what needed to be done in the attic. There was a leak in the roof which he found. I hired someone to come fix it. He showed me what needed to be done to air seal the attic. The insulation was adequate. I have hired a contractor (checked out on Angie's List) to come and take care of the attic. Rick said to call him anytime. A month after his visit, I called him yesterday. The one outstanding issue I have with the house is some odors. I told him the steps I had taken and he gave me some suggestions on further things to try and people to contact. I plan on following up with that.

The service was so-so. He missed some things that I thought were fairly important, like, there is a mold in the basement and plumbing that was not installed incorrectly. He did find some things that I did appreciate, but I felt like the things that he missed was enough to cast enough doubt on his ability to really do a fair and correct inspection.

Rick is a consummate professional and a treasure trove of information from mold issues, humidity control, HVAC details, protecting the conditioned space from infiltrating odors. He took detailed images of all of the issues from all corners of our crawl space and then spent as much time educating me about all the opportunities to improve the quality of our conditioned air. One of the best consultants we've had the pleasure of working with through Angieslist.

Rick was very professional. He was prompt and responded quickly to communications; both prior to and after purchasing the Angie's List deal. Rick took the time to thoroughly examine my entire property with close attention paid to my problem area...the basement. Based on what he saw, he made recommendations to improve the situation. Rick also took the time to follow up after the work was done to make sure we were satisfied or if we had any further questions that we had not thought of at the time of the appointment. We are very satisfied with Rick's work and would recommend him to our friends and neighbors. Eric

We called Rick for a consultation on what we thought was a minor mold issue. We wanted clarification on extent and recommendations for remediation. He conducted an extremely thorough examination of our home and walked us through each and every issue. We were pleased to learn that the mold issues were not extensive and generally easy to address. What surprised us - and what made us even happier to have consulted him - was his explanation of the sources of our issues and the discovery of a more concerning air quality issue than we knew we had. He put the issues in context for us and helped us identify a practical plan to resolve our issues. He even recommended appropriate service providers. If we ever buy another house we would absolutely contract with him as part of the inspection process during due diligence. His perspective added another layer of valuable information. Worth every penny!

It turned out very well. They responded very quickly. It was helpful because they weren't selling additional product or services. We were able to get a good grasp of what was needed and what was extra then took it from there. They were responsive and easy to talk with. They gave a straightforward analysis.

Several people told me that I had black mold in my crawl space. I was afraid that if I called in someone that dealt with that type of issue, I would get plucked. I'm sorry that I feel so negative about businesses, but it happens every day. Rick took me under the house and we were under there at least an hour and a half, and it isn't that big. He showed me absolutely everything, I believe. He told me to bring a flashlight and a pad and pencil. He is very knowledgeable and cares that you totally understand what is at stake with a crawl space and your health. This is a job to him of course, but he also has a passion to inform you of the seriousness of a suspect crawl space. It is amazing what a crawl space harbors and sustains-it ain't pretty, or healthy. Just a great experience. Since he is not affiliated with anyone, he has nothing to gain. He gave me exactly what I needed. Oh, and I didn't have black mold. It was some type of spray someone may have applied to large portions of the flooring to help with moisture saturation from condensation. I did have some white mold, but not that much. His visit was a real eye opener for me, and I will try over the spring and summer to take steps to help myself straighten out some of the problems. Thanks Rick!

Things went very well. I am pleased with the services provided by Mr. Bayless and would rcommend him.. Mr. Bayless is very thorough and documents his review via digital photos. He crawled EVERYWHERE in the house; from the crawlspace to the attic, the eaves, and then around the exterior of the house. I had a back problem at the time of his visit so I could not follow him in all the areas he inspected. I wish I could have spent time with him personally going through the 80 plus photos but he had another appointment. I did make a file of the photos taken by him which documented his inspection and we discussed them over the phone. I took notes as much as possible. I would certainly recommend his inspection services but you as the homeowner must priortize what is important or minor conditions and the emotional or financial payback of fixing the things he finds. I am still working on things from his list. Some I have done on my own and others which required professional services. Some of the items he found go back to the original construction and I will just have to live with them. I recomment that you review your photo library periodically to keep track of items. For the detail oriented person put a spreadsheet together to track the items and the corresponding photos. ( Recommendation to Mr. Bayliss: consider this as a service if not included now in your services). In conlusion: 1. I recommend his services 2. Make sure you understand his digital photo tour of your house. Ask questions and make sure you understand where you are in your house relative to the photos. You can get easily confused even when you have live there for decades since your are seeing your house from a different perspective. 3.. Prioritize your projects based upon your own priorties and address accordingly..

. after explaining our problem, we went from room to room analyzing the reasons for humidity in the basement . he showed us what materials are attracting dust and humidity, how better airflow and step by step improvements (cleaning, treatment of materials used) will better manage the humidity level, starting by measuring regularly the level of humidity at all relevant places . he also gave us good information and recommendations how to improve energy efficiency of the house . as we needed a total of 3 hours, he requested an additional $ 100.-- which we paid; the information about the cost was somewhat misleading because the initial price of $ 255.-- covers only "simple assessments", for our home with 3 heating/AC systems it was not enough

It turned out very well. They responded very quickly. What was specially helpful was they gave a good grasp of what was needed. They were responsive, easy to talk with and straightforward analysis. I would give them A's.