HawthorneVillager.com

Just to be clear, in that show Holmes was obviously talking about the resale markets where most Home Inspectors drool at Realtors doors for work.

There are many crappy Home Inspectors out there. I'm not saying that I am perfect or that I have never missed a problem, but you are far less likely to miss issues if you have your clients best interest in mind and not future referrals from Realtors.

The symbiotic relationship between Home Inspectors and Realtors encourages poor quality, minimum standard inspections. It also encourages clowns to enter the business knowing that they can deliver cookies to Agents, tell them how quick their inspections are, and get lots of work.

When I first started inspecting homes, I did what every other inspector does. I went around to Realtors offices looking for referrals. I was naive at that time, thinking that these Realtors really wanted good inspections for their clients. After a while it became very clear that if I was to persist with doing thorough inspections that I would not be getting Realtor referrals.

One day in my office, while online I found my home in the industry when I discovered the Independent Home Inspectors of North America. I became the first member from Ontario in this association and never looked back. I now pride myself, and market myself, as being one of a handful of Home Inspectors in Ontario that are members of IHINA. See web link below.

Having said that.

Mike seems to be missing the above point in his new Holmes Inspection show.

Holmes Inspections has called me a number of times. They suggested that I would do my regular inspections but I would charge their outrageous fees. As well, Holmes Inspections promotes doing inspections during the PDI, which is a dumb, if not a stupid thing to do.

I have also contacted the Holmes Inspection TV show and asked that they have professionals edit out the numerous mistakes that Mike makes during his shows. Frankly, Mike is making an fool of himself and spreading all kinds of false information.

Here are a couple examples.

Mike was in the back yard of a home looking at a very small addition. He looked at the roof of this small addition and grumbled that there was no roof vent, and that this "problem" was not noted on the Inspectors report. Hello,,,,,,, Mike,,,,,,, roofs with under 300 square feet of attic space are not required to have roof vents. It might be nice if they were required to have vents Mike, but they don't.

As well, Mike was in a 28 year old townhouse attic complaining that the attic should have R40 insulation. Mike should know that R40 is a modern standard. Not a 28 year old standard. That was not on the report because it was not required to be on the report. Oh,, and BTW Mike, the problem in this attic was not the so called shortage of insulation, or the fact that cold air was migrating down into the home via the furnace vent pipe. It was the fact that the "Fire Stop" was missing at that vent pipe in the attic.

Mike has bitten off more than he can chew with his new Holmes Inspection show because Mike implies that he is perfect. In the end Mike will and does also make mistakes. Welcome to the human race Mike.

Andy Shaw - 905 876 4761 - http://www.independentinspectors.org

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For Home Inspection services call Andy Shaw at Halton Home Inspection Service. 905 876 4761

I think it's a combination of both answers...

Mike obviously goes to the extreme and is able to do a lot more intrusive testing than most inspectors simply because he's going to follow-up with the corresponding repairs afterwards (and it obviously looks good on TV). What he depicts on his TV show is definitely not the standard of what's being done out in the real world and I doubt it ever will be...

On the flip side, the home inspection industry is definitely a mess since anybody can print off some business cards and call themselves a home inspector. There is no training required nor any official certification process involved to confirm that the person you are paying to come into your house actually knows more than you do...

Case in point, the first inspector that we hired reported that the floor in our ensuite shower wasn't flat (uh, it's supposed to slope towards the drain) and an electrical wire was run into the kitchen but not hooked up to anything (uh, that's for the dishwasher rough-in). Unfortunately, she didn't notice things like the laundry tub installed directly under the main electrical panel or that there was a 6" wide hole in the exterior wall where an HRV vent was going to be connected but was left open to the outside since the vent line had been redirected elsewhere.

Long story, short...Go with an inspector that does this for a living, has more than a couple years of experience and can show you some sort of proof that they know what they're doing. Most importantly, ask around and check for references before you hire someone.

You hit the nail on the head. Government licencing has arrived in BC and I expect it to arrive in Ontario within the next couple of years. That will weed out the under-qualified inspectors.

John Allingham, Professional Engineer
Owner & Certified Home Inspector
Halton-Peel Home Inspection
(416) 254-5869
inspect@peelhomeinspection.com
www.peelhomeinspection.com

Sure, licencing will help, and that is necessary, but like the Ontario Building Code, home inspection standards of practice also have "minimum standards".

There will still be crappy, rushed, home inspections after licencing.

As long as Home Inspectors pander to Realtors for referrals, paying customers will get less than they should.

http://www.independentinspectors.org

_________________
For Home Inspection services call Andy Shaw at Halton Home Inspection Service. 905 876 4761