Beware the cheap building inspection, cost me $12k

Saved $400 using a budget inspector on a RiNo warehouse. He missed the failing roof membrane. Two months later water damage. Spent $12k on repairs. Anyone else get burned by low-ball inspection fees?

2 comments

2 Comments

julia_lee11d ago

omg same thing happened to me last year. "Budget inspector" missed a whole cracked sewer line that was literally right under the main bathroom. Spent $9k to dig up the slab and replace it. I get wanting to save a few bucks but honestly these cheap guys just walk around with a flashlight for 20 minutes and call it good. The expensive dude I hired for my next place actually climbed on the roof and checked the gutters, took like 3 hours. Night and day difference. Wish I had just paid the $600 instead of trying to be smart about it. Lesson learned the hard way for sure.

miles94611d ago

Dodged that bullet myself once, or so I thought, until the "cheap" guy told me the roof was fine and then I found a leak the size of my fist two months later. Paid $450 for the privilege of being told my house was perfect when it definitely was not. Now I just imagine the expensive guy as the Sherlock Holmes of home inspections, crawling through attics and shining lights in places nobody else even thinks to look. It's like the difference between getting a blood test from a real lab versus a guy who just looks at your fingernails and guesses. Yeah, the $600 hurts upfront, but $9k for a sewer line really puts it in perspective. Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather pay for somebody who acts like they're looking for problems instead of collecting a check.