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Home Inspections Blog

Monthly Archives: November 2017

Why You Should Always Hire a Professional to Inspect Your Home

Why You Should Always Hire a Professional to Inspect Your Home

After you’ve found a house that you just can’t wait to place an offer on, it’s easy to want to take shortcuts in order to get your sofa down and your feet up that much faster.

But skipping out on a thorough, professional home inspection can lead to missed constructional defects and potentially dangerous hazards. Even if your friend-of-a-friend knows a lot about houses, it’s safest for you and your family to hire professional home inspectors.

The experience

Home inspectors spend countless hours learning the ins and outs of building structure, plumbing, airflow, weathering, and home aesthetics. Professional inspectors can work with thousands of homes during their career, and all of those bad pipes and moldy windowsills add to a pretty large knowledge base.

We know exactly where to look for commonly unnoticed mistakes, defects purposefully hidden by a previous owner, and dangers that may arise in the future.

The tools

Our home inspectors don’t go cheap with our equipment. We know it’s up to us to find every last defect, and to do that we need the best tools at hand.

thermal cameraThermal cameras. Thermal imaging cameras, used to find excessive (or insufficient) heat throughout a house, can cost a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. These cameras are not only helpful but almost mandatory. Uncontrolled heat can lead to fires and the search for a new home.

Radon monitor. Radon testing is an important part of home inspections. Professional home inspectors purchase the most effective and most recommended radon continuous testing monitors to check the air quality in your home.

Sewer cameras. We offer inspections of your sewers and pipes to discover blockages or damage. To navigate your pipes, we use high definition cameras and long, durable, flexible shafts, both of which are very worth the cost.

Good old-fashioned man (and woman) power. Professional home inspectors aren’t afraid to get into inconvenient areas to check the smallest details of your home. We’ll be on our hands and knees to check for a floor drain plug or climb up on the roof to check the highest shingle for damage.

The sense of safety

If you’ve found a home you really love, it’s not uncommon to subconsciously ignore a few structural or plumbing issues. But these small problems can easily turn into big problems in the next years, months, or even weeks after moving in.

Don’t cloud your own judgment when making a purchase this big. All issues, no matter how small, should be documented by a professional home inspector.

Keith Hoaglund

Keith Hoaglund

Keith is the owner of the company and has many years of experience in all aspects of building, construction, and remodeling homes. Keith has extensive experience with foundations, support structures, and drainage gained in his years as a general contractor/developer.

Jason Galles

Jason Galles

​Jason is a Certified Professional Inspector based in Minneapolis, Minnesota; although, he has been known to travel to southern Minnesota on occasion as well. Jason has a background in foundations, basements, and waterproofing. A solid foundation is a necessity, and Jason knows exactly what to look for when examining the foundation of your new home.

Brian Knutson

Brian Knutson

Brian is a Certified Professional Inspector and is based in the Mankato, Minnesota, area where he resides with his lovely wife and daughter. He has vast construction knowledge and experience. Brian is always thrilled to tap into his expertise to provide you with a thorough home inspection and make sure you are comfortable with your decision prior to closing.