Elite Inspection LLC

Loved how they helped me out. I was coming from RI and they accommodated my needs. I would totally recommend them too everyone

We are moving to the area from Rhode Island. Since we were not familiar with the area our broker recommended Elite Inspection. After we made the offer on the house our broker offered to represent us at the inspection since we were 900 miles away and we were grateful for the offer. (Here in the Northeast home inspection companies are held to much stricter standards than they are in SC. We did not know that at the time.) There were many things that we found when we moved in that we felt should have been noted, but I have been told they are considered "cosmetic" so would not have been noted. The shower doors do not close properly. The shower does not work properly. There is a cabinet drawer in the kitchen that is installed askew so that it does not close. The aluminum threshold at the front door has no wooden backer to it so it bends and creaks when it is stepped on. I did call Bruce Nealy (Elite Inspection) to ask about these once we got down there and he did not recall noticing them. His comments on the Kitchen Cabinets condition was "Kitchen cabinets appear to be in serviceable condition and typical for the age of the house." Comment for Shower and walls was "Serviceable". We had an issue with standing water in the crawl space (which our home inspection company did not mention in it\s report) and our Pest Control inspector recommended interior French Drains. Elite went back to the house just before the closing to verify that these were installed. Two weeks later, when we arrived, we called and asked if he could tell us where the sump pump was located and where the water was to drain out from under the house. He said he didn't remember because it was a long time ago. I was surprised that there would not be some sort of documentation or notes taken on an inspection of this sort that he could refer to. So we are apparently "on our own" to find out this information, even though he was paid a fee to verify the work. The above performance may be very typical for the area. I have never met Mr. Nealy and have only spoken to him on the phone. He is professional and responsive as to returning calls. I did not get the impression that he was slipshod in any way or that he did not conduct himself professionally. I believe that he was adhering to the standards that are prevalent in the area. I am including this information because if anyone is moving from an area where the Home Inspection companies perform to higher standards and/or have to guarantee their work (as is the case in RI) you may want to be sure you are there for your home inspection. We made the choice to allow our Broker to represent us because of the time and expense of flying down to oversee it ourselves. Iin retrospect, it was not the best decision.

Bruce was referred by our realtor who has worked with him numerous times before and believes him to be honest, thorough, and reliable. Bruce spent several hours at the house and provided us with a lengthy and detailed written inspection, a concise summary of the items we should ask the sellers to repair, and the results of the mold and Radon tests. Bruce arrived early, was polite and professional, and emailed us the results the next day. We used a VA loan, so the VA sent out their appraiser, and the VA is notoriously strict -- Bruce had noted everything the VA documented, so our VA appraisal went perfectly. We are very pleased with Bruce's service.

After we moved in, we began a long stream of "discoveries" that were not noted in the inspection report. 1. VERY brown hot water noted upon move-in, can see very easily when filling tubs or sinks. Water heater severely rusted internally and we had it replaced. Nothing on the Inspection Report about this. 2. Noted that the ceiling drywall can be seen in a few areas of the attic. Measured the insulation depth, found it to be mostly 4 to 6 inches deep of fiberglass blown insulation. Inspection Report notes R-30. The actual R value found in the attic is about HALF OF THAT! 3. Cement blocks in basement are painted in some certain areas. Movers brought it to my attention when we moved in! YES, the MOVERS FOUND IT! WHY NOT BRUCE??? After some investigation, found significant water issues that are still occurring after we moved in and were covered up by previous homeowner and their contractors. Had to dig out the corner of the house and remove molded interior wall to fix this issue. 4. Significant mold found on a lot of the studs and joists in the unfinished basement. All of the contractors I brought in were shocked that it was not noted in the inspection report. My neighbors house had it noted on their Inspection Report at purchase. 5. A lot of window exterior trim is on the verge of rot with cracked paint. Checked with a few neighbors that bought at about the same time we did in the same neighborhood and found that their inspectors DID find many of the issues that BRUCE DID NOT (these homes were built about the same time period and have similar issues). Asked Bruce to come over and look at these issues a few months after our move-in. He did not respond, but I persuaded the realtor to encourage Bruce to get over here. Towards the end of the "findings tour", Bruce did acknowledge some of the listed issues, but was not willing to do anything about it. He seemed pretty upset when he left and I have not heard from him since. Bruce did state something about inspectors that actually do note all the issues are not in business very long. This is a VERY SCARY ADMISSION that he DELIBERATELY MISSES THINGS ON INSPECTIONS. It seems to me that the buyer is PAYING FOR A HOME INSPECTION, so they should get a REAL one!