Armstrong Home Inspections

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/22) */
Performed inspection on 12/30/14 and received a complaint form them on 6/4/15...over 5 months later. I can only comment on defective items at the time of inspection only. I cannot and do not guarantee that items will work or fail after the...

inspection. I do not provide any type of warranty. This was an occupied property so the seller was there after my inspection, for a period of time. Any mechanical item can fail at any time. I have been performing inspection for over 20 year with over 10000 inspections performed. All failures they claimed were operational at the time of inspection (faucets, drains, water heater, oven, etc.). In their claim they state the water heater did not work yet the sentence prior they state that the master shower faucet had two temperatures - freezing cold and scalding hot. How could the faucet produce scalding hot water if the water heater did not work? They are clearly being deceitful. The master bath sink drained fine, at the time of inspection, so clearly hair or something produced and clogged after the inspection. The garage door "had" to be replaced due to a split that occurred or did they "want" to replace the door? They claim the toilet seal was never high enough, a toilet seal cannot be seen without removing the toilet. Toilets are not removed as part of a home inspection. They claimed that the dryer vent hose was not properly installed. Clothes dryers and vent hoses are personal items (owned by the seller) and therefore not part of a home inspection. The oven was operational at the time of inspection. Who knows how many times it was used after my inspection because the house was occupied and ovens, toilets, showers, furnaces, water heater, garage doors, etc. were still being used. They complained about a window that did not latched that I DID notice. I did not do the repairs yet they still blame me?? Last complaint is the deck. No defects were observed at the time of inspection. They sent me pictures, over 5 months later - after the harsh winter freeze thaw cycle and spring rains, showing some moisture issues and evident squirrel chew marks. Some of the pictures are from someone doing destructive probing of the wood which is something that cannot be done at an inspection. I cannot damage a seller's property through destructive probing. I tried too explain that wood left outside (a deck) will deteriorate from the elements (winter and spring) and that I cannot be held responsible for squirrel activity after the inspection. They continued with their claim that I missed all of this and then proceeded to attack my character saying that I lack honesty, integrity and professionalism. I try my best to avoid these situations by providing my clients with a simple walk through check list along with their home inspection reports. Everyone has the opportunity to do a final walk through of their new home, a couple days prior to closing and after the seller has moved all belongings out. This is the time to make sure that the house is in the condition it was in at the time of inspection and that no new damage or equipment failure has occurred. I would bet that they did not utilize my valuable document or all their claims would have been noticed prior to their closing. I stand behind my inspections. Their claims, arising over 5 months after my inspection, is evident that failures happened well after the inspection and therefore I cannot offer any refund.