Kustom Home Inspection

Overall, excellent Job and customer service. Chris did the home inspection tip to bottom. In addition to being extremely thorough, he took the time to explain everything he found to me. I had many questions and he never tired of ensuring I understood every inch of my would-be home.

We contacted Kustom Home Inspection after reading the reviews on Angie's List. The price seemed abit high, but it turned out to be well worth it! We have had many homes inspected, but never as thoroughly as this one. We needed the inspection scheduled quickly, and were happy that the company was so willing to work within out time frame (5 days after contacting them). They even put the radon equirpment in the day before inspecting to insure results would be obtained ASAP. We received a copy of the ASHI (American Society of Home Inspection) the gold standard for home inspections, as well as the contract via email. We did not know there were any standards for home inspections, and were happy to receive this document! In addition, knowing that this company is certified by ASHI made us confident that we would be getting an inspection report we could rely on! The inspector, Ken, had arrived early & was already inspecing the outside of the house when we arrived. He was very, very thorough, explaining as he inspected, and willingly answered all questions we had. The inspection took about 2 hours. When he finished, we felt like we knew all the problems with the house and which ones to request to be remediated by the seller. Ken was very friendly with outstanding customer service skills. We received the 28 page inspection report later the same day as the inspection, which of course was very detailed. The radon report was received the following day. We would highly recommend Kustom Homes Inspection to anyone planning to purchase a house!

Mike was our Inspector. We were a 1/2 hour early and he was still waiting for us. Very professional. Looked in all corners, closets, and attic spaces. Took pictures. Took him over 2 hours.

Inspection went fine. Inspector was punctual and did a good job explaining everything. I was neither surprised and delighted by the inspection job, nor disappointed. Report did come back quickly. However, I have been a bit frustrated by the company's responsiveness. For example, I was under the impression that the inspector would set the radon test but was told by him that he does not do that and didn't know when that would be done. Several emails from me to follow up on that piece. Finally heard back when it would be done and when I could expect results (which should have been several days ago but I still don't have the results). Slow response can be a challenge when you are trying to get back to the seller in a timely manner.

Inspector Mike was professional and friendly. His thorough, careful inspection of our new home provided my wife and me with very useful information regarding the condition of the structure and the repairs that needed to be made. When we arrived for the inspection, Mike was already at the house, testing the electrical and water systems. It was obvious that he respected our time.

That was fantastic. I would highly recommend them. I feel bad that I have not gone on to give them a review and I really do need to. But they were absolutely excellent, extremely professional. So I would highly recommend them. The next time I will need that service I will absolutely use them again. They came after three days when I bought the deal. They were very easy to work with. The inspector was really knowledgeable and really helpful. He has a lot of information and he really took a lot of excellent time explaining to us and explaining things in ways that we were able to understand. He answered all of our questions. It was a good inspection and a wonderful report and he even stayed after several hours that we left to do more process. He went above and beyond and we greatly appreciate it. We ended up not buying the house because of some issues but I highly recommend them absolutely. If there is an A+, then they are an A+. Their price is pretty reasonable. The quality is precise so I was willing to pay more for their services.

Showed up at the time they stated and had report back within 24hrs. Chris also called to go over the entire report and further explain items. Great service for the price. Highly recommend for those whom are buying a house and need a piece of mind inspection.

They were great! They could come out within a day or two and at the time we needed. They took us through all the steps with them, showed us what was wrong with the house and explained it every step of the way. Their report was very detailed with pictures and got to us fast via email.

Great. The owner, Ken Harrington, came out and personally conducted the inspection. He was on time and very professional. He quickly got to his work and we were done in no time. He emailed the completed report I needed by the end of that day. I was very impressed.

Very professional. They reached out in a timely manner, scheduling was easy, showed up on time, and answered all of our questions

Our inspector Chris was nice to work with. He explained everything to us and emailed us and EXTREMELY thorough report including pictures just a day after the inspection.

Mike arrived earlier than the time we agreed on and had already started the inspection. I was very happy that he already had things going. He gave us an update throughout the inspection and went over the details of what he found during inspection while we were still in the house. He was very helpful. The inspection report was very detailed and contained loads of helpful information. There were several things that we asked the sellers to take care of prior to closing based on the report. This saved us a lot of money and future issues with our new home.

I am so pleased with the job Chris Stout, Inspector, did for me on this property. He was totally through and spent the time needed to do a very complete inspection above & below ground, and yard.. He discussed his findings and explained importance of the issues found. He could explain all questions I had and time after time asked me if I had any questions. He deserves better than an A. Is there a triple A+? True professionalism. Thank you so much Chris!

Wonderful, personable, extremely experienced and knowledgable. Cannot recommend highly enough!!! Ken Harrington and Mike Manee exceeded all expectations. They walked me through each detail I had questions about and were extremely helpful in relating the importance and severity of each item (or lack thereof). They even wrote the report Saturday morning so we would receive it ASAP. This is money well spent. Price was based on square footage of home and I feel it was very fair. They inspected a detached garage (with 430sf of finished office space), 2300sf house, and 400sf finished basement. Took three hours start to finish. Ken has extensive expertise inspecting older homes. This one was built in 1918.

Mike was extremely professional and personable. Helped walk me through important parts of inspection. Delivered report by time indicated. He missed one small problem with roof but returned to site next day and sent amended inspection report before going to home owner.

Ken was very professional and informative. He gave us a great deal and was very knowledgable during our home inspection. Would definitely refer and use him again if needed.

This is the first and only company I've used from Angie's List that I wouldn't use again! My dissatisfaction began with Kustom Home Inspection when I booked the inspection for a condo we were in contract to purchase (contingent upon home inspection). I was told that I would receive email confirmation of the appointment which I did not. I personally called the morning of the inspection to verify. When I scheduled my home inspection I was told we would receive the report the same day or the following morning. We did not and were told it was due to "technical issues" but only after several inquiries were made by me (we were not notified proactively). When dealing with a deadline for a Request to Remedy, I found this to be unprofessional. The quality of the inspection is also in question. There were several issues that were either not noted in the report or were noted in the report incorrectly. Water Shutoff Valve - After 10-15 minutes of searching the inspector determined the water shutoff valve was located in the another condo unit (not in the inspected unit) and recommended in the report "consideration might be given to installation of a shutoff in the left unit by a qualified plumbing contractor". We included remediation of this issue in our Buyer's Request to Remedy. It turns out there IS a shutoff valve in the inspected unit which the Seller's handyman found in just a few minutes. Including this in our Request to Remedy discredited our report and made the Seller question additional items we asked to remedy. Hot Water Tank - I pointed out to the inspector the corrosion on the water supply line above the water heater and was told "nice catch". Windows - I pointed out that the kitchen windows were covered with plastic to seal them with paper towels shoved in at the sill to prevent draft. The window in the stairwell opens but slams shut (HARD -as in you could lose a finger!) and was not noted in the report. I question whether the inspector checked any windows at all! PS - I don't consider windows to be "differed maintenance" item as they can potentially be high ticket items to repair and/or replace. Storm Door Closer Hardware - Nothing was noted in the inspection but there are no closers (top or bottom) for the storm door so it just slams shut. The absence of these should have been noted in the report. Microwave handle - Nothing was noted in the report, however, while the microwave functions properly, the handle has clearly been glued back on at some point. This, in my opinion, should also have been noted in the report. After documenting and detailing my dissatisfaction I was provided with an explanation of "...our main objectives in the inspection are number 1, SAFETY, and number 2, STRUCTURAL." Which I can certainly appreciate but being told that items that will cost me, as a buyer, out of pocket such as the microwave handle, windows that don't work properly are items that I would expect to go into a home inspection so there is documentation when asking for a Request to Remedy from the seller. Kustom Home Inspection says they use the ASHI Standards of Practice for a home inspection which is all well and good but after using their services my assessment is they do the bare minimum and they over promise and under deliver! I would NOT recommend using this company. Ask your Realtor for recommendations (I know mine won't be recommending these guys and neither will I).

Wonderful service! Very accommodating on time and date to per from home inspection. Was very informative throughout the process and completed a thorough evaluation of the home.

My home inspector, Chris, was extremely friendly, professional and thorough. He walked me through step by step and answered all of my questions completely. The report was also delivered to me promptly, and was also very thorough and complete. In addition, there was a last minute delay with the timing of my originally scheduled inspection, and Ken ended up at the property but was not able to inspect at that time due to an issue with the seller. He was VERY courteous and extremely professional and understanding, and at no point did I feel he was irritated or upset by the inconvenience. He was happy to do whatever needed to ensure I had a good experience with his company. Overall I was absolutely pleased with the whole experience, and would definitely recommend Kustom Home Inspections.

I was in contract and I had ten days to perform an inspection. I set up an appointment with KustomInspection based on the evaluation on Angie?s web site. The appointment was scheduled, an ASHI certified inspector was assigned, and all parties were notified five days prior to the date of the appointment that was on a Monday at 9:00am. Just one hour before closing of business day on the prior Friday, I received an e-mail from KustomInspection stating that I was assigned another inspector who is only an Associate. An associate is just someone who joined ASHI and may be new to the inspection profession or may be a seasoned inspector who has not yet completed ASHI's requirements to move up in membership. Please refer to the following: http://www.ohioashi.com/member-list. I tried many times to contact KustomInspection by phone and e-mails, hoping to get an answer for the reason of this change. Unfortunately, I have not heard from them. So my last e-mail sent to them was a cancellation of the inspection, but this put me on an awkward position with the seller. I was only given one day more after the deadline, which was Monday, to find another inspector. I struggled all weekend to find someone else. On Monday, KustomInspection left a voice mail asking me to call them, which I did. I explained my frustration. I did not get an answer about the change, but only trying to convince me that an associate inspector is practically the same as an ASHI inspector. I do not think what KustomInspection are professional in any way. I trusted them and they failed me.

The inspector, Chris, was punctual and personable. He met me at the home location at the exact time we had agreed upon. They were available to conduct the inspection within two days of my call, however we were not looking for a house durring peak season and I'm fairly certain that they had an open schedule. When I arrived Chris had already conducted a preliminary outdoor inspection in collaboration with the licensed Radon inspector which was also dispatched from Kustom Homes. The Radon inspector setup his equipment, shook my hand, and departed leaving me with my inspector Chris. The inspection appeared thorough, however after living in the home for a few months I now notice a few problems that were not discovered. First, I found that my front deck had been destroyed by termites. I feel that a closer inspection would have revealed this and I could have informed the listing agent that it needed to be remedied. Second, I found a large double-pane window that had lost its seal and was fogging internally. Again, I think he should have noticed this. All in all, Chris did find many problems including a crawlspace mold issue so I am thankful for this. However, when the listing agent requested high resolution images of the mold problem I called Kustom Homes and was told that the original images had been discarded. This was only days after the inspection and I felt that they could keep the digital images a little longer. Overall the inspection could have been slightly better and I'm sure that with more experience and time Chris will be a very good inspector.

After we got in contract on our new home, our Realtor called and e-mailed 3 highly-rated inspectors for us to set up an appointment. Kustom got back to us right away and were able to do the inspection that same weekend which was most convenient for us. We set it up for 10am on 4/26. They met us at the house and were very thorough and professional. They e-mailed the report with photos later that day, so extremely fast turnaround too. The home had been inspected once before by a buyer who backed out, and they found a lot more than the previous inspectors, so we feel they did a great job. Highly recommended!

The bank wanted to close on a short sale with very little notice so I needed a home inspection rather quickly. After reading good reviews on Angie's List, I decided to call Kustom Home Inspections. Mr. Kyle Harrington was accommodating and arranged for an inspection on the following Monday. He had the radon test placed in the home over the weekend so that the results would be ready at the time of the inspection. Mike, the inspector, arrived before I did and was looking over the exterior of the home. He was a pleasant fellow, but tended to belabor the obvious. (Water should flow away from the home. Branches should be cut back from the home?etc.). He looked on the roof, but didn't note the nails which had not been driven all the way in, nor the shingles that were cut too short over the gutter (found by the gutter cleaning guy). Although I told him that the sellers reported a chimney leak, he said he thought the metal part of the chimney just needed a coat of paint. Mike did not note, nor test, the spigot on the side of the house nor the one in the garage and made no mention of either in his report. When we entered the home, Mike immediately turned on all the water faucets and "overloaded" the electrical system to see that all was functional. With all the noise of the water, he missed the high pitched whine from the toilet in the owner's suite. He searched the junction of the ceiling and walls in all the rooms with his flashlight saying this was the best way to find a water leak that had been repaired. In spite of doing this, he missed a significant area of water damage to the ceiling and wall of the great room over the built-in TV cabinet. (The painter noticed it and determined that it was not wet and had occurred sometime ago.) Mike told me what kind of smoke alarm one should have since a certain type had a high failure rate. He didn't, however, check to see what kind were in fact in the house. There was a considerable amount of clutter in the home so he was unable to check the walls in the basement and the crawl space as well as the areas under the sinks and along the garage walls. I probably should not have paid for a termite inspection as there were more places he couldn't check than places he could. The report was boilerplate and the pictures were mostly useless, postage-stamp size clip art or over-exposed shots that did not show what was intended. In it Mike identified the whole house water filter as a water softener and suggested I ask the seller for instructions for it and for the sump pump. He did find several electrical connections that were questionable. The radon kit was picked up later in the day. Mr Ken Harrington, owner of the company, emailed the results the next day. I was unable to open the files and reported that to him. He emailed back that I should try again as they were in Excel and Word and no one had ever had a problem opening them. I tried again and couldn't open them so I told him I did not have Excel or Word on my Mac, but I would be happy to accept a snail mail copy of the results and provided him with my address. He responded that I should get the results from my real estate agent. Since my agent was busy escorting her son on visits to prospective college campuses, I responded that my agent was a busy lady and that I had paid his company $560, so I expected him to provide me with legible results. I print here (with my name removed) his response to me: "Ms. XXXXX, too bad everyone is too busy to print you a copy of your report. We have sent all our reports via email for over 10 years now and this is the first time in my recollection that we have hit a snag. That said, we emailed your report to one of our in-house Apple products to evaluate any issues and we had no problem opening any of them. I think the issue is with your computer, however, I will have our office manager mail you a copy of your radon report as requested." It has been nearly 3 weeks since that communication and I still do not have a radon report from this company. I think I learned very little from the $560 I spent and probably deserve a partial refund. I returned to my review of Kustom Home inspections to update it with two more instances of incompetence. However, I must first respond to Mr. Harrington's self-serving, false posting. Since Mr. Harrington cannot defend the inspection his company provided, he attacks my "painter" (A contractor and his foreman were here at the time of the inspection to estimate the cost of remodeling the kitchen and to address any big, bad issues uncovered by the inspection. If the inspector didn't notice the crumbling drywall, he certainly wouldn't know whether the "painter" missed it.). Mr. Harrington further deflects attention from his inspector's incompetence by trying to impugn my integrity. His inspector did indeed turn on all the water and (conjunction, not preposition) overloaded (his words, not mine) the electrical system by turning on all the electrical elements. The slanderous story (repeated twice) of my attempting to induce the inspector to include cosmetic problems in the report in order to improve my bargaining power is simply that--slander. The fact is that the price of the house had already been agreed upon, and the bank had made it clear that there would be no warranty, and any deficiencies found would be mine to correct. Both real-estate agents can attest to this fact. Thus, the purpose of the inspection was to uncover any problems that might be big enough to cause me to walk away from the deal. Mr. Harrington story about the seller's circumstances, of which I had no knowledge, raise other questions. Is he a friend of the seller? Was there a conflict of interest? Did the inspector gloss over some things out of misplaced sympathy? I accompanied the inspector throughout the house, except when he looked in the attic. When I asked about the split and peeling paint on the trim over the closet door in the basement and remarked on the improperly rehung door, he said it was just a matter of painting the wood and tightening the hinge. Perhaps this is the cosmetic issue to which he refers. But I have had three painters out to get an estimate on painting the room and fixing the door; each of them has immediately said that the split, peeling wood is an indication of long-term water damage. They couldn't believe that any competent inspector could miss it. The repairman I hired to fix it took photos to document the damage and said it appeared that the interior of the closet had been painted with Kilz. Subsequent removal of the trim showed rusted nails and moldy drywall. In addition to this problem and those already mentioned in my previous post, I must add one more. The inspector wrote that I need GFCI's in my laundry room. At added expense I hired an electrician. He told me "Your inspector is wrong; each outlet is a dedicated line for your washer and dryer". Mr. Harrington has indicated that he would have provided a different inspector if he had known I was dissatisfied. I find that hard to believe given that he was reluctant to spend 50 cents to send me a hard copy of the radon report, which he still hasn't sent either to my previous or current address. Instead he was rude and mocking of my technological inexperience. My real estate agent had to print out a copy of the radon report and give it to me at the closing even though Kustom Home Inspections was paid to provide it. So Mr. Harrington, if you want to do the right thing for this elderly widow, you'll refund my money. It will pay for a small part of the costly repair necessitated by the long-term water damage.

Chris and his team were very thorough. Very pleased. Wrote up a great report that was very easy to read and understand in less than 24 hours. Would highly recommend and would use in the future.

WHy pay the same money to use a lesser company when you can get the best with Kustom. It wouldn't make sense to me. We called them because of the rave reviews on angies's list. After using them, we understand why the reviews they received are completely justified. We recommend them most highly. They quickly got us on their schedule due to a tight deadline. They were very thorough and complete, providing us with invaluable information on how to care for the home and gave us great tips while we were on site. A team of individuals with very high integrity. And the many years experience and knowledge they brought were obvious.