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Inspection Services Northwest Inc

Home inspection

About us

Buying a new home may be the biggest investment you'll ever make. Although the process is very exciting, it can become quite overwhelming. The home you are selecting may appear to be the perfect home, but, how can you be sure? Inspection Services Northwest, Inc. has been performing professional building inspections in the Puget Sound area since 1993. As industry experts, we offer a full line of services including single and multi-family inspection, commercial and industrial building inspection, and customized consultations. With the latest in Thermal imaging equipment, your ISN inspector can detect temperature changes in the structural components of the house. This allows for easy and accurate detection of leaks in walls and roofs without costly invasive demolition. The technology can also locate other problems such as termites, improper insulation and mold. Once identified, these problems can be corrected before they cause more extensive damage to your home.

Business highlights

31 years of trusted experience
Emergency Services Offered

Services we offer

Home inspection, Building inspection, roof inspection

Amenities

Free Estimates
Yes
Senior Discount

10%

Emergency Services
Yes


Accepted payment methods

American Express
Check
Discover
MasterCard
PayPal
Visa

Reviews

4.210 Reviews
Number of StarsImage of DistributionNumber of Ratings
5
60%
4
20%
3
0%
2
20%
1
0%


Rating CategoryRating out of 5
quality
4.5
value
4.5
professionalism
4.9
responsiveness
4.9
punctuality
5.0
Showing 1-10 of 10 reviews

Cody A W.
07/2024
2.0
home inspection
  + -1 more
Insight Inspections NW authored the seller provided inspection report. I'm aware inspections are non-exhaustive, but there are a number of glaring gaps in the inspection for items that were looked at yet not reported. The roof was "visually inspected on a ladder" and not claimed as deficient, but it was missing shakes in many places (over a dozen holes into the attic were present) They noted the lack of a high loop for the dishwasher. However, this home has a Johnson Tee, which provides a high loop. They missed the water stain from the leaking disposal--it's in their photo. The range was claimed to have anti tip...it was in the oven drawer instead. On the electrical panel, they only noted a lack of labeling. They missed the double-tapped neutrals and improper configuration for a split-bus panel. In the crawl space under the extension, they missed electrical wire not in conduit, rodent droppings, improper plumbing (inverted san-tee, missing strapping)
Description of Work: Inspection
Rating CategoryRating out of 5
$550

Sonja J.
02/2015
5.0
home inspection
  + -1 more
This was my first time using Northwest Inspection Services. I have used them again since because I was so pleased. This was to inspect a 32 unit apartment building with retail space, spanning 2 buildings. Coordinating them to inspect occupied units would have been a real challenge (not on their part, but dealing with all the residents), so they looked in a few apartments in critical areas to check for roof damage and I inspected the actual apartments myself. They used their thermal imaging scanner to look for active and old roof leaks, and to also look for water intrusion in the walls. This was worth the price itself, very very useful knowledge. They thoroughly checked the roofs, and recommended I follow up with a roofer (which I did, I ended up needing to replace them). They inspected all the common areas and utilities. There were a lot of water heaters and electrical panels, and they checked every single one. They inspected the crawlspaces and grounds. All in all, they did an amazingly thorough job. They gave me a 38 page report within a couple days. It had photos of every single problem area and comments on what the problem was. This turned in to my punch list for repairs after I closed on the building. After the inspection, I was impressed because they gave me a very fast turnaround date for when the inspection report would be formally ready, and it was ready exactly on time for download. I am used to this taking forever and I have gotten some strangely formatted and hard to read inspection reports from other inspectors. The report Inspection Services Northwest gives is clear, concise, and just exactly what you need to know. In general - the reason I keep using Inspection Services Northwest is because of the depth of knowledge with apartment buildings (Wade, the owner, was present in both times I used them for apartment complexes). The inspector I have used for single family homes has also been exceptionally knowledgeable. I love the fact that I can pay online with a credit card, and the woman who sets up the appointment and answers my initial questions was always very friendly and got back to my instantly. During this inspection and subsequent ones, I appreciated that they answered my many many questions about what they were seeing. I highly recommend them. I'm a real estate investor and have used them on every purchase I've made since discovering them.
Description of Work: Inspected a 32 unit + retail space apartment complex.

Rating CategoryRating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0

Yes, I recommend this pro
$1,200

Marlena O.
04/2014
5.0
home inspection
  + -1 more
Our inspector was Brian and he was very friendly and knowledgable. I was very impressed that they were able to scheduled an appointment within 24 hrs. A couple of other business I called only had appointments availabe 4 days out and not at a time that was convinent to our scheduled. At the end of the inspection Brian did a detailed walk through with us on all his finding and our inspection report was available within 24 hours. My only issue was that at the time of the inspection the water to the house was shut off for repairs. Once the water was turned back on we wanted to schedule a follow up inspection however at the cost of $275 we passed. We chose Inspection Service NW because they came highly recommended by our agent who has not stired us wrong yet and was very pleased with their service. I would feel very comfortable recommending them to family and friend and would use them again in the future.
Description of Work: Inspection Service NW provided a home inspection for a home we are currently purchasing. The house is a foreclosed property so a detailed inspection was essential since the home is purchased "AS IS".

Rating CategoryRating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0

Yes, I recommend this pro
$400

Dea A.
02/2013
5.0
home inspection
  + -1 more
While setting up the appointments, they were extremely responsive. The first inspection was a little more planned since I had a week to put in an offer and I was doing a preinspection. The second inspection was very last minute, since we put a 24 inspection window into our offer. They were able to schedule it for the next day at 9am and were flexible with last minute cancellations in case our offer wasn't accepted. Tara was great to work with for all of the office coordination. Both inspections were done extremely thorough and detailed. The final and quot;walkthruand quot; was done on their tablet computers with all photos from the various areas, such as the roof and other hard to get to places. The inspection report that we received at the end had great photos, details, instructions and was 79 pages long.
Description of Work: I actually had two inspections done by this company during my buying process. One was a preinspection (an inspection done before the offer was accepted in order to improve the chance of getting the offer) and the other was the inspection done after my offer was accepted (on a different house).

Rating CategoryRating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0

Yes, I recommend this pro
$400

Melissa N.
12/2012
2.0
home inspection
  + -1 more
t
Description of Work: If you are going to use this home inspection service please be advised they do not inspect all safety systems in your home. Apparently it is "beyond their scope of service" and you are not advised to this effect. This Inspection company and I quote from the report received AFTER the inspection--"SMOKE DETECTORS ARE BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS REPORT TO ESTABLISH IF THE CURRENT SMOKE DETECTORS ARE WORKING PROPERLY. THE HOMEOWNER SHOULD CHECK THE OPERATION OF THE SMOKE DETECTORS WEEKLY." We just closed on our house and found out that more than half of our detectors do not have power to them and are inoperable. I find this to be unacceptable that this was not checked nor were we at any time prior or during the inspection notified that they would not be checking this important safety device system. How is it something so important and deemed so by other inspection companies necessary but yet is not by this company. How were we supposed to know this as we were not the homeowners this was why we paid they more than $500 to check into the safety of this house.

Rating CategoryRating out of 5
quality
2.0
value
3.0
professionalism
4.0
responsiveness
4.0
punctuality
5.0

$500

Response from Inspection Services Northwest Inc
We are sorry to hear when any of our clients are not happy with our service. This client has not contacted our office. We work extremely hard to provide the highest level of service available and have a 98% approval rating from our customers. The primary service we provide is consumer protection for real estate purchasers. Because of our long history of more then 15,000 home inspections we have had many cases were the seller takes the smoke detectors with them when they leave. Because of this we have made the decision to advise our clients to check the detectors at the time of move in and and every three months thereafter to ensure they are in operating condition. The last thing we want is to instill a false security about detectors that may not be there when they are needed. Sincerely, Wade Pennington

JoAnne S.
11/2012
5.0
home inspection
  + -1 more
Jeff Longaker from Inspection Services Northwest Inc. did an exceptional job documenting and photographing the home inspection report for a home purchase. The inspection took 3 hours and the report was 75 pages. Deficiencies were photographed and recommendations for necessary repairs were specific.
Description of Work: Professional home inspection prior to home purchase.

Rating CategoryRating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0

Yes, I recommend this pro
$475

BEN C.
06/2012
5.0
home inspection
  + -1 more
I am very satisfied. They were available on short notice and did a thorough job. The pictures are very helpful as it saves a step when going to find contractors.
Description of Work: Condo inspection including checks of "mechanical systems (heating, plumbing, and electrical), the building exterior, roof, landscaping, garage, foundation, interior, kitchen, bathrooms, and attic." They emailed me a detailed report with pictures of the issues.

Rating CategoryRating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
4.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0

Yes, I recommend this pro
$400

Julie M.
06/2012
4.0
home inspection
  + -1 more
There was an error in the report that I noticed. The inspector noted in the report that the water heater had reached the end of its life but rated it and quot;goodand quot; on their sliding bar rating system. I contacted Wade to have this corrected and he fixed the error in the report in warp speed. I am however, extremely disappointed with the thermal inspection. One of the main reasons my husband and I selected Inspection Services Northwest was that this company can do a thermal inspection on the home. According to the http://inspectionservicesnorthwest.com/ website, a thermal inspection is included in the cost of a residential inspection. On the company website there are a lot of thermographs compared to regular pictures. Our final report doesn't even mention that a thermal inspection took place or that nothing was found using thermography. It would have been nice to see thermographs of the typical areas (roof, bathrooms, windows) to ensure the thermal inspection was completed and that nothing was found. With all the thermographs shown the website, it was my expectation to see at least one if not more in our final report. I emailed Wade about the thermal inspection and this was his reply: and quot;The camera scans the house as the inspector does the general inspection. If no issues are found with the infrared, as was the case on your new home, no infrared images are captured or put in the report. If the inspector had found something like an active roof leak they would have included the thermograph and digital photo together in the report.and quot; The home is new to us, but we didn't buy a and quot;newand quot; home. I am skeptical that a thermal inspection didn't find one single thing. I emailed Wade back and asked and quot;Is it possible to get the thermographs? The inspector noted in the report that there are missing seals at windows and an active leak under both bathrooms in this older home. I expected the report to show a thermograph, but there weren't any included in the report to show water migration.and quot; Wade replied and quot;The camera does not record the image unless we find a problem and take a thermographic image. All of the issues you note were found with the visual inspection not with the thermal imaging scan therefore no scan was taken. and quot; I would recommend that if you select Inspection Services Northwest for a home inspection, have a more lengthy chat about the thermal inspection and process so that you are not left disappointed as I was.
Description of Work: My husband and I are buying a 1970's, 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage, 1200 s.f. home sight unseen in Washington State and we currently reside in Virginia. Using a google search and Angie's list, we selected Inspection Services Northwest to perform our home inspection. I placed a call to schedule the inspection and spoke with Wade. He was friendly and courteous on the phone. Due to living across the country, our realtor met with the actual inspector (according to the final report his name is Mr. Neal Strobel) on the day of the inspection, so I cannot speak to punctuality or the inspection process. After the completion of the inspection, our final report, 92 pages in length, was emailed to us the next day. While the report seems thorough, there was a lot of "filler"as compared to actual inspector comments; but a lot of the "filler" material are helpful resources on what do to, how to do it, where do get something done, a glossary of terms, building component life cycle, home maintenance schedule etc... There were pictures of areas that needed to be addressed and a recommendation of critical items that should be remedied immediately.

Rating CategoryRating out of 5
quality
4.0
value
4.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0

Yes, I recommend this pro
$425

Response from Inspection Services Northwest Inc
We are first and foremost sorry to hear that our client was left disappointed. Our philosophy is that we take care of our clients – and our care does not stop when the inspection is over. We are here for consultation at any point in time to make sure that you are fully satisfied. A complete thermal camera inspection was conducted during this inspection (as well as in all of our inspections). The scanning science of thermography allows the inspector an immediate view of indications of building defects. Including thermal images that show no defect would be the same as taking a digital picture of a blank wall, of no practical value. Our average report runs approximately 70-100 pages, so we have to balance providing all pertinent, valuable information with creating a report that is simply overwhelming. In regards to the defects found during this inspection, they were found using other inspection protocols (moisture meters and visual inspection). No infrared image was required in this diagnostic analysis. If the infrared camera had found signs of any other damage in addition to what was called out, this would have been included in the report. Again, we take the concerns of our clients very seriously and take the time to answer them to the best of our ability. In this case, the client was not able to be present on site during the inspection to learn about the thermographic scan process and we are sorry that there was a disconnect in the communication and understanding of the process.

Stacy S.
08/2011
4.0
home inspection
  + -1 more
They were very punctual and friendly. Jeff had an assistant with him that was in the learning process but was eager to learn. The reason I wouldn't go with this company again is there were some major items they overlooked. We have sort of a unique heating system and it appears it is on the brink of going out, which would mean thousands of dollars to replace. It also appears our roof was shingled by the previous homeowner that was not a professional and there are several issues with that. I know they cannot guarantee anything, but I really believe they should have been able to point out the major problems...
Description of Work: ASIS Home Inspection of 1969 house

Rating CategoryRating out of 5
quality
4.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0

$350

Response from Inspection Services Northwest Inc
At Inspection Services Northwest we work very hard to ensure our customers are satisfied. We have thousands of very happy clients over our twenty years experience. We are very sorry to hear this client would not use us again. We are always here to help our clients understand our findings. In this case we would direct the client to the sections of the report that clearly state the roof will require repairs and that a roofing contractor will have to determine the extent of the repairs required. The roofing section of the report clearly outlines a number of roofing defects that were clearly explained at the time of the inspection: SECTION 4: ROOFING: ENSURE ALL PLUMBING VENT BOOT FLASHINGS ARE PROPERLY SEALED. CLEAN THE ROOF WITH A METHOD THAT WILL NOT DAMAGE THE ROOFING SYSTEM, THE CLEANING MUST REMOVE ALL LICHEN GROWTH, MOSS, AND WIND BLOWN DEBRIS, AND IF ANY DAMAGED ROOFING MATERIAL IS LOCATED DURING OR AFTER THE CLEANING IT MUST BE REPLACED AS FOUND TO BE REQUIRED TO ENSURE THERE ARE NO ACTIVE LEAKS. THE GUTTERS AND DOWNSPOUTS AND TIGHT LINES MUST ALSO BE CLEANED AND ANY REPAIRS NEEDED MUST BE COMPLETED TO ENSURE THE SYSTEM IS PROPERLY DIRECTING ALL ROOF RUN OFF AWAY FROM THE STRUCTURE.AN ACTIVE ROOF LEAK WAS NOTED IN THE ATTIC AREA ABOVE THE SOUTHEAST BEDROOM. HAVE A LICENSED ROOFING CONTRACTOR INSPECT THE ROOF ,ENSURE ALL PLUMBING VENT BOOT FLASHINGS ARE PROPERLY SEALED. RE-SECURE THE LOOSE GUTTERS AT ALL SIDES OF THE STRUCTURE. REPAIR ALL DAMAGED OR DECAYED BUILDING MATERIALS AS LOCATED, COMPLETE ANY OTHER NECESSARY REPAIRS AND ENSURE THERE ARE NO ACTIVE ROOF LEAKS. The heating system is a newer high end hot water system that is clearly not "on the brink" (that sounds like a heating contractor trying to sell someone that does not know any better) . This is a very complex system that we tried our best to explain on site, with no luck. We did find minor issues and highly recommended that the client have the system repaired as clearly stated in the report: SECTION 12: HEATING: A PLUMBING LEAK WAS NOTED IN THE CRAWL SPACE AT THE RADIANT PEX LINES. THE HEATING SYSTEM MUST BE INSPECTED, TUNED AND REPAIRED AS FOUND TO BE REQUIRED BY A LICENSED SERVICE CONTRACTOR. REPAIRS MUST INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO A GENERAL TUNE UP AS RECOMMENDED BY THE MANUFACTURE, , INSULATE THE RADIANT HEATING SUPPLY LINES IN THE CRAWL SPACE,REPAIRING ALL PLUMBING LEAKS AND ANY OTHER REPAIRS FOUND TO BE REQUIRED BY THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN. We strive to satisfy all our diverse clients' needs on every job and believe in being accountable at all times. We urge all of our clients to call us with any questions that may arise, and to always remember that the contractor showing up to make repairs has a vested interest in overstating the extent of repairs required. Wade Pennington

Anne T.
08/2009
5.0
home inspection
  + -1 more
They came early to the appointment and actually started reviewing from the street. The inspector did a full inspection from the roof and rafters in the attic to the crawl space under the house and was able to show us and explain items that would be sited on their detailed report. He also had infra-red tecnology and was able to show us what was even behind the walls! The inspector was professional, easy to understand, efficient and very helpful. We felt very comfortable and assured after this inspection.
Description of Work: A full home inspection prior to a new home purchase for a 3 bedroom 2 bath rambler + 3 outbuildings.

Rating CategoryRating out of 5
quality
5.0
value
5.0
professionalism
5.0
responsiveness
5.0
punctuality
5.0

Yes, I recommend this pro
$400

    Contact information

    3210 W 166th St, Seattle, WA 98166

    www.inspectionservicesnorthwest.com

    Service hours

    Sunday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Monday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Tuesday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Wednesday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Thursday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Friday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Saturday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

    Licensing

    Bonded

    Insured

    Eco-friendly Accreditations

    LEED Accredited Professional
    No
    Energy Star Partner
    No
    EPA Lead-Safe Certified
    No
    Use Green Products or Work Practices
    Yes
    State Contractor License Requirements

    All statements concerning insurance, licenses, and bonds are informational only, and are self-reported. Since insurance, licenses and bonds can expire and can be cancelled, homeowners should always check such information for themselves. To find more licensing information for your state, visit our State Contractor License Requirements page.

    *Contact business to see additional licenses.


    Service Categories

    Home inspection

    FAQ

    Inspection Services Northwest Inc is currently rated 4.2 overall out of 5.

    Sunday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

    Monday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

    Tuesday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

    Wednesday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

    Thursday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

    Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

    Saturday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

    Inspection Services Northwest Inc accepts the following forms of payment: American Express,Check,Discover,MasterCard,PayPal,Visa
    Yes, Inspection Services Northwest Inc offers free project estimates.
    Yes, Inspection Services Northwest Inc offers eco-friendly accreditations.
    No, Inspection Services Northwest Inc does not offer a senior discount.
    Yes, Inspection Services Northwest Inc offers emergency services.
    No, Inspection Services Northwest Inc does not offer warranties.
    Inspection Services Northwest Inc offers the following services: Home inspection, Building inspection, roof inspection

    Contact information

    3210 W 166th St, Seattle, WA 98166

    www.inspectionservicesnorthwest.com

    Service hours

    Sunday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Monday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Tuesday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Wednesday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Thursday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Friday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
    Saturday:
    9:00 AM - 5:00 PM