Home Inspection Blog

By late summer, your house has taken a beating. As a home inspector with Midwest Inspect, this is the time of year when I start noticing the evidence. The good news? Late summer and early fall give homeowners a perfect opportunity to catch small problems before snow, ice, freezing temperatures and another Illinois winter arrive. So grab a cup of coffee, walk around the house, and pretend you're a home inspector for 20 minutes. Here’s what I’d be looking for.

If you've ever owned a home, you've probably had one of these moments. You're carrying laundry downstairs. You notice a crack. You stop. You stare at it. You immediately grab your phone and type: "Is this normal?" Ten minutes later, Google has convinced you that: your foundation is collapsing, your furnace has one week to live, and your water heater is plotting against your family. Take a deep breath. As a home inspector with Midwest Inspect, I answer these questions almost e

Some of the most expensive home repairs I’ve seen started with something small. Really small. Not a failing roof. Not a cracked foundation. Not a furnace gasping for its last breath. Sometimes the problem starts with a $12 outlet. More specifically: A missing or failed GFCI receptacle. And that tiny safety device can be the difference between: a minor repair, a serious electrical hazard, water damage, or a very expensive insurance claim.

Nobody ignores a $20,000 repair. But a $100 repair? That one's easy to put off until next weekend. Or next month. Or... next year. As a home inspector with Midwest Inspect, I've learned something after inspecting hundreds of homes throughout Illinois: The biggest repair bills almost never begin with a catastrophic event. They begin with something so small that most homeowners barely notice it.

There's a moment during some home inspections when everyone in the room gets unusually quiet. The buyer stops taking pictures. The Realtor slowly lowers their pen. The seller suddenly becomes very interested in the weather outside. And I'm standing there thinking... "Well... this one isn't going to be fixed with a trip to the hardware store." As a home inspector with Midwest Inspect, I've inspected hundreds of homes throughout Illinois. Most homes have normal maintenance item

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."