"Mike Marlow" wrote in message ...

Home Inspectors in NY are very informed, and have a great deal of knowledge
of the trades - at least to the extent that they need to perform their jobs
on behalf of the consumer. Seeing your comments, it's clear that NY is not
alone in its requirements for Home Inspectors, and that at least one other
area of the country places requirements on them to insure they are
qualified. I know several people who are Home Inspectors and I have looked
into doing that sort of work myself. I have never spoken with one who was
not fully qualified, and as for going into that myself, the investment in
time and understudy is more than I wanted to invest in. It is certainly
not a matter of printing up business cards in NY and calling yourself a
Home Inspector.

Credentialing is a good step in the right direction but there is still an
element of luck with finding a good one here in NY... I have two associates
whom encountered what my kids would refer to as "epic fails" on home
inspections.

The most egregious of the two completely missed serious, readily visible,
code and structural problems resulting from water leaks in shower/tub tiles.
What was noted as "loose tiles" in one of the two back-to-back bathrooms
wasn't even mentioned from the perspective of the missing drywall in the
ceiling of the garage below.

The missing drywall in the garage ceiling was a code violation all by
itself. Without removing anything or using a ladder or even a flashlight, a
look up in the hole revealed the subfloor and joists were rotten and covered
with mold... not a single word about any of that in the report. There were
other problems too... unvented washer/laundry sink drains, grading problems
that sent water into the basement, deck steps that were so rotten they
barely supported themselves, etc. About $30K to fix everything.... no
recourse! The two back-to-back bathrooms had to be gutted, the joists
repaired, the sub-floor replaced and the wall between the rooms replaced as
the studs were rotted off and covered with mold. From that starting point
the rooms were renovated...

The other house was similar in that water damage was readily visible from
the basement... the toilet waste line was no longer connected to the toilet
as it dropped away from the toilet as the floor and toilet flange bolts
rotted away. It was the smell that the new homeowners noticed that led to
this discovery... I'd have thought the inspector would have noticed that the
toilet rocked even if he didn't look up in the basement. Things were so
rotten they were lucky they didn't end up in the basement while using the
toilet! The inspector refunded his $300 fee... they ate the rest.

Anyhow, like with any service provider, it pays to check them out before
committing!

John