First off: AJ E's review sounds like a pissed off realtor doing a hitjob review. Why? The seller's…read moreagent to a home I'm purchasing had very similar feedback and was on her toes. For the review: That's what we want. My wife and I set out to find an inspector that would give agents the Sunday Scaries, and that was accomplished because Tim does not play around. No corner is left unexplored and no door is left unopen. Tim meticulously looked through everything he could while explaining what he was doing to us as if we were students in an elementary class, making sure things were in layman's terms and understandable. Well appreciated. He has his tools, but what got us was when he busted out his thermal imager. There's a wall in front of him? Who cares, he'll just look past it anyway. Couldn't believe it when he was doing that, and thank goodness he did. Speaking of tools, they utilize a whole DRONE. Like the ones you fly in the air. They leverage it to inspect the roof and get into some areas that may be a bit harder to access. Talk about working smart. All in all, Tim was quick to follow-up and generate his report. 500 pictures. 500. That's not an extra 0 I added at the end. Thanks to Tim, we were able to find black mold and cracked Abstesos 9 x 9s in the basement. He even dismissed the nosy agent of the seller's who was there for some reason, and told her to leave so we could assess things with privacy. The seller's agent was still in the house and concerned about the work Tim was doing. THAT'S THE KIND OF INSPECTOR YOU WANT. Stacy, the owner, was quick to get us scheduled and super responsive with fast turnaround times. Thank you and job well done to the Pinnacle team!

Pinnacle missed some major issues with my home. I probably would have walked away from the deal or…read moreseriously revised my offer had I known them. It cost me around $13K to fix all the items that they missed. When my dad visited, he found all these problems within 5-10 minutes of going around the house (he's not even any type of tradesman or inspector!) Stacey seemed pretty dismissive about it on the phone. I would not recommend their services to anyone. Update: I was fine leaving this a little vague as a professional courtesy, but since Stacey think's it's acceptable to fabricate information, I'll spill the tea. This time, I'll attach the proof for good measure! First issue Pinnacle failed to identify was a crack in the foundation. Imagine buying a new home only to have your basement flood a few days later. At first I thought it was a broken sump pump, but when an expert came out to the property, he quickly identified a vertical crack in the foundation. Total cost $1,735 for the repair. Plus a few hundred for the shop vac and fans to dry out the place to prevent further damage. Second issue Pinnacle failed to identify was dangerous wiring in the kitchen. Multiple lights and appliances were on a single circuit. When you ran them simultaneously, the lights would flicker, and sometimes the circuit would trip. There were no more spots left in the panel, so an upgrade was needed to put each appliance on it's own circuit and bring it up to code. Total cost $4,250 and countless hours of sleep lost wondering if an electrical fire would start in the house. Third issue Pinnacle failed to identify was the removal of a load bearing wall. The home when originally built had a division between the dining room and the kitchen. A few weeks after moving in, I noticed that the ceiling started to crack in the kitchen area. The cracks continued to grow and I went into the attic to figure out what was happening. Up there, my dad and I found no additional support for the joists. They were thin and spanned the entire kitchen/dining room area. I had a structural engineer come out to evaluate, and he confirmed additional support was required. Total cost $5,900, and not being able to use 1/3 of the house for 4 days. The engineer's report was about $1,290, but I guess we can leave that off. the contract language is confusing as to whether they are required to inspect and identify this type of issue. In all honesty, if I knew my inspector wouldn't check for things like this, I would have picked another inspector. I don't care is an outlet is broken, or some paint is chipping. I want to know major defects or damage to the property. Fourth issue (new!) that Pinnacle failed to identify was a leak in the water line to my house. I signed up for a city service that warns you when your home uses excess water (sing of a leak). I got a few of those notices, and then called a plumber. The plumber found a gushing leak in the line on my side of the meter. Meanwhile, Pinnacle's inspection report claimed that I didn't even have a meter! Had the inspector found the meter, which was in the parkway and not hidden, and looked at it, he would have found that leak. After that gushing leak was repaired, the meter was still running when the water was off. This mean I have a leak somewhere between the meter and the house that I'm the process of fixing. Total costs so far is $1,058.55. This doesn't include services for leak detection and repair coming in the next few weeks. Stacey falsely claims that my damages are inflated, but you can add all of that up. At the time I wrote the original review, it was about $13K. It's definitely going to get pushed higher once the leak is located and repaired. So not only did Pinnacle royally screwed up my inspection, they also felt the need to disparage me online. Consider that if you want to give them your business.

Mark (owner) and his team and Domicile are amazing. They are professional and super easy to work…read morewith. Mark is very thorough. He even suggested a day after heavy rain to get the most accurate readings for his water intrusion report. High recommend him and his service!

While not doing free estimates is a perfectly fine business approach, being extremely condescending…read moreand bad mouthing all contractors who do doesn't sit right with me. I can't speak to their quality of work, nor would I want to after interacting with them.

Positive experience! We are purchasing our first house and really didn't know what to expect. John…read morefrom Home Inspection Geeks was fantastic! He was really great about answering our questions and explaining everything to us. It made the process less stressful and also instilled in us a lot more confidence in the property we were purchasing. Our final report was extremely detailed and left no doubt as to what needed to be addressed. We learned so much and now feel better prepared to be home owners!

John was so thorough on all the areas. He stayed and explained all of his findings , until I…read moreunderstood. Highly recommend this business

Windy City has been a trusted vendor for me for over 20 years. Jarrod is fantastic, very thorough…read moreand while he always takes the time to explain his findings & educate my clients, what I truly appreciate is his availability to answer any questions that arise well past the actual inspection. I've had clients call him months and years later. Plus he provides the buyers with a detailed book that has all the pertinent info on the home they are buying, it has the appliance model numbers and recommended maintenance schedule. All super helpful for new homeowners. Scheduling appointments is very easy and if i happen to leave a message, i get a call back almost immediately. Highly highly recommend Jarrod and his team at Windy City!

My sincere thanks to Windy City Home Inspection. Jarrod Spadino was thorough, complete, and went…read moreout of their way to educate my wife and me. The price was fair and they were incredibly responsive! Not only did they set-up the appointment quickly they delivered the final report on the same day as the inspection! We could not have asked for more. From the first moment, Jarrod distinguished himself with his approach, explanation, and attention to detail. I highly recommend Windy City Inspection for residential property inspections. Sincerely, Patrick Shaughnessy Chicago, IL

The most professional home inspector we have ever had the pleasure to work with. Jake was, above…read moreall, knowledgeable and had answers to all our questions. Their office scheduled a prompt inspection, Sara had references to recommend for radon and other trades. We feel we got the better of the deal, as Jake had done a through job, for a better than fair fee. Beyond any doubt, I would recommend North Shore Building Consultants.

These guys have cost me so much money…read more They're nice; that's great and all, but they are not thorough at their job. THEY DO NOT CHECK FOR MOISTURE. Which makes their inspection almost a complete waste of time. Keeping water out should be one of, if not, the main issue to surround the inspection with. Make sure you are well aware of that. They have plenty of disclosures in their contract (which also raises some flags, clearly don't trust yourself). I actually called them back to the home a second time 2 weeks after moving in after complaining about the countless issues they missed after we moved in. They were cordial and explained their side of the story, but it still didnt explain so many items missed. Simple things such as an outside spigot not working, a couple seized valves/drains, a broken sand filter pump ($1300) for the pool, etc. Those listed items are as basic and easy to catch as you can find. Turn a faucet, or just visibly see something leaking. In addition to those misses, they definitely missed a few larger and more costly issues: 1 - The basement sliding door was in such poor shape that during a storm, it leaked and flooded the basement bedroom. All you had to do was open it and look and see that the wood was rotted and the track was essentially gone. A new sliding door for that specific size is setting us back $7500 2 - 2 weeks after moving in, had to remove the drywall in the ceiling below to uncover a membrane that was moldy and completely deteriorated. Upon further inspection of the shower, you can visibly see missing grout. This is something they should've easily noticed and then used a moisture meter below. Now I have to rip out the shower and spend thousands, $10k+ to replace it. 3 - Its an older house that has been converted to sewer in the early 2000's. The existing well tank is still installed but not functional. The piping surrounding that is all over the place. Some parts not even connected. They failed to mention really any of the piping issues. In addition, in order to access the main water valve, you have to remove that tank. Also not mentioned in the report is our Main water valve is leaking. To access it, that tank needs all the existing pipes removed, rerouted and welded. This also is a decent sized job costing us $2k+. 4 - Basement drain was not tested and not even listed in the report. Of course this led to a massive fix of $5,000 to dig up the concrete and fix the piping underground that was busted. This could've been avoided had they just poured a glass of water in the drain and noticed it wasn't draining. 5 - The deck railings need to be reinforced/replaced. All this would've taken them to notice was a small tug on the railing to see that if you leaned on this you'd topple over onto the pool deck. Not on mention in the report. There are a few other issues these guys missed. Long story short: you see northshore building consultants as your listed inspector, immediately find someone else. Otherwise you will move into your new dream home and immediately becomes a money pit due to their lack of expertise. Seriously, do not use them. We've lived in the house for 4 months and already have had to spend $40,000 on things THEY missed. Things we could've asked a credit for.

When arriving at the property, the inspector was already there, and had gotten a head start on the…read moreinspection externally. Not a problem, they gave a brief run down of their findings. I think our inspection only took about an hour and a half, which in my opinion was very short. I have had other inspections last closer to 4 hours. No major concerns were brought up during the inspection, only electrical. We decided to move forward with the purchase and bring forward concerns with electrical to which we were able to work out with the seller. Within one week of moving, we were able to find water damage in multiple areas of the roof, in the crawlspace, etc. Funny, given the fact the inspection took place after heavy rainfall the night prior. Major things missed during inspection roughly 20k worth of expenses. I'm not sure I would ever recommend them. Although they seem thorough, they missed a whole lot.

Please do not use this company. They refused to inspect the foundation and crawl space because…read morethere was 2 inches of water in some spots and they were afraid to be "electrocuted". Their inspection report was very anemic consisting of only about 20 to 25 pages. They spent 80% of the time just showing me the electrical outlets and that was the least of my concern. Most everything they found was visible to the naked eye. I had to pay for an additional inspection for the foundation and crawlspace. And they refused to credit me or refund me a portion of the $600 fee. If you want a thorough inspection, please avoid this company. They missed several key problems.

The inspection was thorough and professional. Brian invited me to observe the inspection and shared…read moremany details as he answered all my questions. Honest. Knowledgeable. Personable.

We have used Real Inspection Services for the last couple of years and truly cannot say enough…read moregood things about them. Brian and his team are incredibly thorough and always do an amazing job. Brian takes the time to carefully walk through every part of the home and clearly explain his findings, which is so helpful for both our clients and us as agents. His reports are top-notch, detailed, well organized, and easy to understand. We always feel confident recommending Real Inspection Services and absolutely love working with Brian. His professionalism, knowledge, and attention to detail make every inspection a great experience.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!…read more Our inspectors, Tim and Alex ,were great--on time, super thorough, and didn't mind at all when we tagged along asking a ton of questions. It was raining, so they even used a drone to check out the roof. We got a 124-page report the next day that was super detailed with clear pictures and arrows pointing right at whatever needed attention. The best part, though, was the video debrief with Charlie, the owner. He spent almost two hours walking us through everything, giving us his honest opinion on what was actually a big deal versus what was just code, plus realistic cost estimates and contractor recommendations. They went above and beyond. Seriously the best inspection experience I've had.

This was such a wonderful experience as a first time homebuyer! First off, I called for a quote and…read moredid not need to speak to anyone- they sent all the info I needed in a text. Much easier to reference that info electronically rather than writing down everything live while speaking on the phone. They have an online scheduling system open for you to see, so you can view all their availability in one place and find a time that best fits you. We had Vince complete our inspection. He was very thorough and professional. From the very beginning, he was very clear that we could voice any concerns throughout the experience. Whenever we asked about something, he immediately checked it out. After we received the report, the owner Charlie walked us through each of the items on our inspection report with us to make sure we understood everything. He even gave us his personal recommendations on stores/suppliers he uses. Overall, this was a great experience for me. Easy online scheduling, clear communication, timely reports, professionalism, honesty, and genuine care for the craft. I would highly recommend Chicagoland Home Inspectors to anyone.