Quite commonly, people think of mold as a bad word, but it’s not. Our earth would be inhabitable by humans and animals without mold, therefore making it impossible to ever buy a “mold-free” home. However, an issue arises when there is too much mold. But fear not, our inspectors work closely with one of the best mold testing companies around, InspectorLab.  Keep reading to determine if you would benefit from mold testing and which services will fulfill your needs.

            The first type of service offered is surface testing. During your home inspection, the inspector looks for evidence of mold, or “microbial” growth. Using a swab or tape lift to sample the growth, they can see if there is evidence if the home has current or former mold growth. Mold growth can come from a variety of different sources such as past water intrusion or excess humidity. It’s recommended to surface test when visible mold is present, evidence of cleanup or removal of mold took place, or to ensure repairs due to mold, performed by a third party, were done properly.

            The second type is air quality testing. It is perfectly normal to find mold spores in the air because the environment cannot survive without them, but the air samples taken in the home are based on a baseline sample from the outside and then compared with the air inside. This evidence will help our inspectors determine hidden dangers that could be lurking such as moisture or leaks which would cause the mold spores to be produced. You should consider an indoor air quality test when a recent water event is suspected, a musty smell is noticed, any family members have a high sensitivity to mold or allergies, or recent mold removal took place.

            Our third service is a comprehensive moisture evaluation. This involves samples that are tested to evaluate potential health hazards from mold as well as locating any sources of moisture that will eventually transform an area to be wet and moldy.  This is a good idea if the home sat vacant for a long period of time or when a major water event happened in the home.
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    InspectorLab provides clear results in an easy to read report and an exclusive guarantee with their services. If you have mold testing done and the results are good, but mold is visible later on, they will pay to have your mold removed. For a complete copy of the terms and conditions of the InspectorLab Guarantee, click here.

Infrared thermography captures infrared energy and surface temperatures that our naked eye can’t see. Our infrared cameras are the only diagnostic technology that lets us visualize and verify the performance within a home.

Your home inspector may tell you he is "licensed and insured" but what does that mean and will it really protect you?

Florida Statutes state that a home inspector shall maintain a commercial general liability insurance policy, but does not require a home inspector to carry E&O insurance.  

General liability insurance handles cases where an inspector accidentally damages property or causes bodily harm while on the inspection, but what about what happens after the inspection?  What happens if the inspector makes a mistake and misses something that a buyer finds after they move into the home? Errors and Omissions insurance is designed for just this situation.  

Inspectors are human and mistakes can happen.  If an inspector inadvertently misses or simply fails to report an issue that later leads to property damage or bodily injury, E&O insurance helps cover these damages.   General Liability insurance does not.

Hope Home Inspections not only carries both GL and E&O coverage, we go even a step further to help protect the Real Estate Agents that refer us by carrying a special rider to help cover agents from being held responsible for any “wrongful act” in our performance or in our failure to perform “inspection services”.

So, the next time you need a home inspector, be sure to ask just exactly what type of insurance they carry and find out if  the inspector, the agent and the buyer are really covered.

Below is a link to a great article for buyers, sellers and Realtors on what to expect and how to negotiate issues after your home inspection.  It talks about setting expectations and has some great tips on how to deal with issues found.  

Everyone knows how stressful buying and selling a home can be.  Not only is it often one of the biggest financial events in someone's life, but it is also emotional.  Sellers are not just selling a house, they are leaving a home.  The reason for buying or selling a home is often exciting;  A young couple can finally afford a home, there was a promotion, new job or a new addition to the family.  But sometimes it is a sad event and families must move from a home or city they love.

What ever the reason, people can become very emotional during the sale of a home.  This article provides some wonderful insight on handling one of the most difficult parts of a real estate transaction.

Click here for the article  How to Negotiate issues after a Home Inspection, written by Bill Gassett, the owner of Maximum Real Estate Exposure and a twenty nine year veteran to the Real Estate industry.

​Scheduling inspection appointments with all parties can be time consuming and frustrating. Do you often play phone tag when trying to schedule a home inspection?  Or when you reach them you then contact all the parties to find the appointment you selected won't work for someone, only to have to call the home inspector back and start all over again???
 
 With our app you can  Immediately Book an inspection with NO information. 
Its sooooo easy.  

• open the phone app
• select a date from the list
• then select a time.  THAT’s it!

​The time slot you select will be reserved and we will follow up with you for all the information.  EASY!
     (It will ask you for more information, such as the address and client information.  You can enter that information or just skip the fields, they are NOT required)

With this app you can also view any inspection we have done for your buyers right there on your phone.

If you would like to have this phone app, simply fill out the form below​ and we will email you easy installation instructions to your personal phone app account.