Home Inspection Blog

You don't need a $30,000 kitchen remodel before selling your house. You might need a $7 furnace filter. That's not nearly as exciting. Nobody posts before-and-after pictures of their new furnace filter on Instagram. There's no HGTV show called Extreme GFCI Makeover. But after inspecting hundreds of homes throughout my career, I can tell you that inspection reports aren't filled exclusively with dramatic foundation failures, collapsing roofs and haunted electrical panels.

The Home Inspector’s Early-Fall HVAC & Safety Check The Midwest Homeowner Survival Guide: Summer → Fall — Part 4 Check these 10 crucial furnace maintenance tips for Illinois homeowners to ensure a safe and efficient transition into fall. Stay prepared with Midwest Inspect's safety checklist. The worst time to discover your furnace doesn’t work is the exact same morning everyone else in Illinois discovers theirs doesn’t work. You know the morning. Yesterday it was 78°. Today i

Snow is nature's version of fresh paint. Everything looks great when you can't see what's underneath it. Every fall in Illinois, our homes slowly begin disappearing. First, the grass gets covered with leaves. Then the landscaping starts dying back. Daylight disappears sometime around lunch. And eventually snow arrives and gives the entire property a beautiful white blanket that says: "Don't worry about any of this until April."

Nobody wakes up on a Saturday morning hoping to spend $25,000 on their house. Unfortunately... Houses don't always ask for permission. As a home inspector with Midwest Inspect, I inspect homes every day throughout Illinois. While most inspection reports include maintenance items and smaller repairs, every now and then I come across defects that make everyone standing nearby quietly say: "...Well, that's going to be expensive."

As a home inspector with Midwest Inspect, I've seen what happens when a great cookout turns into an expensive insurance claim. So before you light the grill, spark up the smoker, or declare yourself Captain of the Backyard BBQ Brigade, here are a few tips to help keep your celebration safe—and stress-free.

As a home inspector with Midwest Inspect, summer is one of my favorite seasons. Homeowners are finally outside again, tackling projects that have been on the "I'll get to it next weekend" list since April. It's also the season when small maintenance issues can become expensive repairs if they're ignored. And for realtors and homeowners alike, this is the season where proactive maintenance can make or break a deal—or protect thousands of dollars in equity.