DO NOT HIRE the company PROFESSIONAL HOME INSPECTION, Long Island, New York. professionalhi.com…read more What follows is my recent personal experience with Steven Holtz, PE. (Professional Engineer). I had a home inspection done with another company prior to the PE (Professional Engineer) inspection on a property I was planning to buy. It was thorough. After that, my good friend, who is a master plumber, offered to look at the house with me. We did a personal inspection and he pointed out the many issues at hand. My friend then advised me to pay extra and hire a PE to inspect the house and get a much more thorough report and I chose the wrong one.
The PE, Steven Holtz, from PROFESSIONAL HOME INSPECTION, showed up in a Prius with no ladder. That is the first sign that told me I was in trouble. He missed so many things that it was absurd. My friend wanted to see his report afterward and actually laughed at how poor it was.
There was a large attic space that Steven Holtz opened the door to, glanced at, and just closed the door. Mind you, this was a huge space with access to all the roof sub-structure and an HVAC unit. I had to instruct him that he needed to inspect the space. He reluctantly entered the area, as it was a 3 1/2 foot access without stairs and he did not bring a ladder. Once in the space he did not make any attempt to climb up to the area and inspect the HVAC unit. He did not even realize it was there. I had to tell him. And furthermore, he made no attempt to inspect the rest of that attic space. There was an area where my friend and I had found significant rodent intrusion and large quantities of mouse/rat droppings. I pointed it out to Steven, as he missed it all. Very disappointing.
I also had to correct his report because he stated that one HVAC unit was 69 years old. He tripped an outdoor GFCI outlet and could not figure out where it was supplied from or where to reset it. I explored and found the circuit and reset it myself. He was just going to leave it de-energized. The outlet was tied into the lawn sprinkler system, which he never tested. And that is why he could not figure it out. When I asked him about the lawn sprinkler inspection he told me that he did not inspect it, but the lawn was green, so it was working. I said, we have had lots of rain this summer and my lawn is green and I don't have irrigation. (My lawn is typically burnt and brown in the summer.)
He did identify a few minor things, such as a loose cabinet hinge, but missed or failed to properly evaluate much more important items. He did not measure the temperature difference between the HVAC air-handler returns and registers, something my friend checked. I even had to ask him if he had an infrared thermometer because he never took it out.
He was barely a competent home inspector, let alone what I expected from a professional engineer. He looked at the hot water tank and misidentified its type as an electric hot water heater. I had to correct him and explain that it was a holding tank for a boiler with a brazed plate heat exchanger that supplied the tank.
He did not look beneath the oil tanks for signs of rust or any issues. He just glanced at them and said that they look good. On the roof he missed that fact that there was a missing gutter drain on the front of the house and as far as the roof he had really nothing to say, other than it is old and should probably be replaced. He did not take a ladder to inspect it.
Furthermore, after the whole disaster I contacted him. I asked if he did a termite inspection and he stated that he did. I asked why it was not included. He said he would have included any problems, but there were none, so he did not. I asked him for a termite report and he asked for an additional $100 to provide it.
Overall, I was extremely disappointed with the quality and thoroughness of this inspection. I expected a much more professional and detailed evaluation, particularly given the additional cost of hiring a PE. Based on my experience, I would not recommend him to anyone looking for a thorough home inspection. Save your money. Get someone better or if you have the knowhow, do it on your own. You will do a better inspection than Steven Holtz provides.
