Home inspection questions, answered straight

Online, any hour, at tmishq.com/schedule — pick your services, see the price and confirm the slot without waiting for anyone to call you back. Or call the office on 734-331-3269 and a Client Care Coordinator will book it with you.

Yes. Inspections run seven days a week, which is usually exactly when buyers and agents need them. The office keeps its own hours — Monday to Friday 9:00am to 7:00pm, Saturday and Sunday 9:00am to 12:30pm — but the online scheduler never closes.

It depends on the size and age of the property and which services you add, so we price each one properly rather than quoting a number that turns out to be wrong. Book online and the price is shown before you confirm.

Yes. If you have worked with one of our inspectors before, or your agent has recommended one, ask when you book and we will schedule them if they are available.

Less than you would think — we can often inspect within a day or two, and same-week is normal. If your inspection contingency is tight, call rather than book online and we will find you something.

We ask for at least 24 hours’ notice to cancel or reschedule. Late cancellations may be subject to a fee. Dates move all the time in a transaction, so call as early as you can and we would far rather move with you than have you lose the slot.

You do not have to be, but we would rather you were. Walking the property with your inspector is the best chance you will get to ask what matters and what does not, and to see a problem in person rather than in a photograph.

Usually two to four hours for a home, depending on its size, age and condition. A larger or older property takes longer, and we would rather take the time than rush it.

Make sure the utilities are on — water, gas and electricity — because anything we cannot turn on is something we cannot inspect. Clear access to the attic, the crawlspace, the furnace, the water heater and the electrical panel. Secure pets. We will take care of the rest.

We report it. An inaccessible area is noted in the report as exactly that, rather than passed over silently, so you know what was and was not examined.

The structure, roof, exterior, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing, insulation and ventilation, and the interior. It is a visual assessment of the property on the day, to a published standard — not a warranty against future failure. No inspection is.

A home inspection report reaches you within 24 hours, usually sooner. Services with a laboratory or a measurement period take longer, and we tell you which applies when you book: a commercial building is 24 to 72 hours, a radon result comes at the end of the 48-hour test, and mold samples come back from the lab in one to three business days.

A digital report, photo-rich and in plain English, that you can read on a phone and share with your agent, your lender or a contractor. Where a video helps explain something, the report carries a link to it.

No, and you should be wary of an inspector who does. We report the condition of the property. What that work costs depends on the contractor, the material and the day, and guessing at it in a report helps nobody.

Yes, and people do. Call 734-331-3269 or email and we will talk you through anything in it. That is part of the inspection, not an extra.

Home buyer, pre-listing seller, home maintenance, pre-drywall, 11-month builder’s warranty and commercial inspections, plus radon testing, mold inspection and testing, sewer scope and veterans WDI. Adding any of them to an inspection means one appointment and one invoice.

Yes, and it is cheaper than booking them separately. Radon testing, mold testing, a sewer scope and a veterans WDI inspection can all be added to a home or commercial inspection.

No. A sewer scope is an add-on to a full inspection rather than a stand-alone service, and it is discounted when you add it.

We do wood-destroying insect inspections on the federal NPMA-33 form — the report VA lenders ask for. Michigan no longer requires it, but some lenders still do. It can be added to another inspection at a discount, or booked on its own for a VA mortgage or refinance.

A continuous radon monitor is placed in the lowest livable level of the property and left for 48 hours. We collect it, read the result on site and it goes in your report — there is no laboratory and no mail-in kit involved.

No, and that is deliberate. We test; we never remediate. An inspector who also sells the clean-up has a reason to find a problem, and we would rather you could trust the result.

Yes, at two points in a new build. A pre-drywall inspection happens once the framing, wiring and plumbing are in but before insulation and drywall cover them, which is the only time most of the structure can be seen. An 11-month builder’s warranty inspection happens near the end of the first year, so you have a written, photographed list to give the builder while the warranty still obliges them to act on it. Both follow the InterNACHI Standards of Practice, and both are independent of your builder.

Yes, all of them, and four hold the Certified Master Inspector designation. Our certifications run through InterNACHI, CCPIA, IAC2 and NAMP, and continuing education is a condition of the job here rather than something people fit in when they can.

It depends on the service. A home inspection follows the InterNACHI Standards of Practice. A commercial building follows the CCPIA standard, which is written for commercial property rather than houses. A veterans WDI inspection is reported on the federal NPMA-33 form. Whichever applies to yours, it is a published standard you can hold the work against.

No. Michigan does not license home inspectors and does not require an inspection to buy a house — which is exactly why the credential behind the report is worth checking. Each of ours is issued by the organization named and verifiable with them directly.

Three things, at no extra cost and with no sign-ups or affiliates calling you afterwards. A satisfaction guarantee: if you are unhappy with your inspector on the day, before you have seen the report, tell us and we will make it right or you owe us nothing. A free 30-day Guard home warranty trial, negotiated for you with no obligation. And $100 off if the deal falls through — if the first home we inspect for you does not reach the closing table, for any reason, we take $100 off any further home buyer inspection within 30 days.

Online before the inspection or in person on the day. We take all major credit cards.