A home inspection is a non-invasive, visual examination of the accessible areas of the home designed to gain a general understanding of the home and identify areas of concern within specific systems and components defined by the InterNACHI Standards of Practice, that are both observed and deemed material by the inspector on the date and time of the inspection. Home inspections are not comprehensive nor completely exhaustive and will never identify every issue or the extent of every issue that’s present in a home.

A WDO, or Wood Destroying Organism, Inspection is a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services regulated inspection performed by a third-party licensed pest control company that helps identify the presence of organisms that may damage wood. These include various types of termites, old house borer beetles, powder post beetles, wood decaying fungus, etc. which are typically considered outside the  scope of a home inspection. Purchasing a WDO inspection is generally a good idea especially for older homes, and can also be required by mortgage companies for certain loan types, such as a VA loan. For your convenience, we work with two WDO companies, Russell Pest Solutions and Nader’s Pest Raiders, both of which can be scheduled on our online scheduler to perform simultaneously with our home inspection.

A 4-point-inspection is an abbreviated, high-level inspection of a home’s 4 major systems (the roof, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC) that helps an insurance company determine the risk, or insurability, of a property. These inspections are typically required by insurance companies in the State of Florida for homes older than just a few years. Schedule your 4-Point Inspection today with our team of highly trained inspectors who intimately understand the insurance landscape.

A wind-mitigation inspection examines 7 features of a home’s roof system to help insurance companies determine which credits can be applied to a homeowner’s insurance policy. The 7 features are the year of construction, the age and type of roof coverings, how the roof decking is attached, how the roof structure is attached to the wall structure, the shape of the roof, the presence of secondary water resistance, and protection of openings in the building’s envelope. This inspection typically can only help, and many times can save a homeowner hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars per year. Schedule your Wind-Mitigation Inspection today with our team of highly trained inspectors who will do everything within their power to get you the credits that you deserve.

We perform a whole-house infrared scan on every home inspection that we perform at no additional cost to you. This utilizes a powerful high-resolution infrared camera to scan the interior surfaces of the home which can help identify possibly hidden issues that may otherwise not be observed with simply the naked eye. Issues that can be uncovered can include hot spots and areas of missing or inadequate insulation, overloaded and hot electrical circuitry, and moisture issues such as roof leaks, plumbing leaks, and moisture intrusion. This helps add an extra layer of protection on every home inspection that we perform, and is a must-have in the modern world of home inspections.

After the inspection has been scheduled via our easy online scheduler, we will confirm the details and send out a confirmation email to all parties involved. The client will receive an email with a blue button titled “Inspection Details” where electronic payment can be made. Although we ask that payment be made prior to your inspection, you can pay at any time before, during, or after the inspection. You just won’t be able to view any reports until the inspection agreement is signed and payment is made.

Yes! Simply call or text our office at 904.758.9225 or email us at admin@housescanfl.com to add services, reschedule your inspection, or cancel your inspection. We ask that you please do these at least 24 hour ahead of time, if at all possible. Failing to do so may result in additional fees which are outlined in your inspection agreement.

We know that our clients are often in a time crunch, and so we work hard to get our reports drafted up, proofread, and sent out quickly! For home inspections, you will receive your reports by early the next morning, likely before you wake up. Third party ancillary inspections such as WDO or Pool inspections may take 1-2 business days to receive. For stand-alone insurance inspections, you will likely receive your reports on the same day of the inspection, often times not long after our inspector is finished with the inspection.

Yes – we offer expedited (same-day) report turnarounds but charge $50 for this service. This isn’t much quicker than our normal report turnaround of the next morning, but if the client needs the home inspection report ASAP, then we can bring our Quality Manager in during off-hours and make it happen. However, this does not include any 3rd-party inspection services.

The short answer is “Yes.” You can forgo a full home inspection and solely get a standalone 4-point inspection which will help your insurance company determine the insurability of the property and in many cases will allow you to obtain insurance on the property. However, we would highly urge against this practice. A 4-point inspection is not an in-depth inspection of the home’s 4 major systems, and is more of a high level documentation of basic information and photos of those systems, which the insurance carrier uses to determine risk and insurability of the property. The full home inspection, on the other hand, is far more detailed and comprehensive and the benefits of the service usually far outweigh the costs. If you’re purchasing you’re home without a full home inspection, you are taking on substantial risk.

Ultimately, the choice is yours. The condo inspection will exclude the roof and exterior of the unit, meaning it is an interior-only inspection and is really only intended for condo buildings in which the units “stack” on top of each other.  While townhome community associations maintain the “common areas,” such as the roof and exterior, this comes with limitations. One, the association will only repair what they know to be an issue.  If there are missing shingles, for example, the association won’t know to repair those unless someone alerts them to the problem. Also, townhome associations and their ability to make repairs are only as good as the board and whoever is running it.  Many townhome associations are run by community members who are not well-versed in these matters.  This can mean that there is not enough money in the reserves to cover big-ticket items such as roof replacements.  Leaving you stuck with a special assessment of thousands of dollars to cover these repairs if you don’t negotiate to have the seller cover these costs beforehand. For these reasons, we are always going to recommend a full home inspection for a townhome, regardless of whether the common areas are an association’s responsibility or not.

Identifying mold is outside the scope of a standard home inspection, but we now offer indoor air quality testing and surface sampling as an add-on service, designed to determine if unusually high or concerning levels of molds are present in the home. These air or surface samples are collected by our highly trained inspectors and are sent off to an independent laboratory for testing with results within 1-2 business days.  Indoor air quality tests start with one control sample and one indoor sample, but more samples can be added, if necessary.

Testing for Asbestos, Lead-based Paint, and other environmental hazards are specifically excluded and are outside the scope of a standard home inspection. Although we will do our best to identify and inform you of the risks of potential environmental hazards, each hazard requires detailed laboratory testing to confirm the presence of and specific risks. These services are often performed by a 3rd party environmental company or specialty inspector at an additional cost. If you have any specific concerns, feel free to reach out and we’ll connect you with a vetted local contractor or company that can assist.

A standard home inspection inspects components that are visible and readily accessible. We are limited to running water for several minutes and looking for backups or leaks, but many times issues in the drain piping may not be uncovered through these means. Sewage drain lines are typically hidden and located below ground, and so issues are typically outside the scope of a home inspection. We do offer a Sewer Lateral Pipe Scope Inspection though which can be purchased as an add-on service. This service places a camera inside the sewer lateral which helps to uncover hidden issues such as crushed or cracked pipes, blockages, problematic piping, pipe offsets, low-spots, etc. These issues can be very expensive to correct. This inspection only inspects the larger sewer lateral pipes extending from the home to the private septic system or public sewer line, not any waste arms, and is highly encouraged prior to any home purchase.

A standard home inspection inspects components that are visible and readily accessible. Septic tanks, systems, and drain fields are typically hidden and located below ground and also need pumped prior to proper inspection, and so issues with these systems are specifically excluded and outside the scope of a home inspection. We have a network of vetted and reputable septic inspection companies that we can connect you with if the home you are purchasing has a septic system. We highly encourage it – these systems can be very expensive to replace.

No inspection can entirely eliminate the risks associated with purchasing real estate, especially when dealing with distressed properties that are in poor condition. For comprehensive risk reduction, we highly recommend our full HouseScan Home Inspection, our most comprehensive service. However, we understand that the cost may exceed the budget for some wholesalers or real estate investors, particularly with lower-priced, distressed properties. Hence, we also offer the Investor Snapshot Inspection, a stripped-down alternative that’s offered at a significantly lower cost. This service provides basic insights into a property’s major systems, supplemented with numerous photos to aid in understanding the home’s condition and approximate renovation costs. It’s important to note that this option is best suited for experienced investors, as it involves greater risk by forgoing the detailed analysis provided in our full inspection report.

When we inspect a home that we have previously inspected, we do not disclose that it was inspected by us before unless specifically asked. An inspection is a snapshot of a moment in time and each inspection is conducted as a fresh, independent evaluation, focusing on the current, visible condition of the home at the time of the inspection.

We can not share or provide any information about findings from prior inspections, as those reports and findings belong exclusively to the client who purchased the original or previous inspection. Additionally, any deficiencies noted during previous inspections may have been repaired or addressed since then, making it important to base our evaluation solely on the present condition of the property.