Home Pro NY Home Inspectors Put on an Amateur Act

On September 23, 2008, I had the misfortune of employing the services of Doug Meyers, home inspector for Home Pro NY. Meyers provided a vague and misleading inspection at an outrageous price.

Doug Meyers of Home Pro NY came with a very strong recommendation from my realtor at the time. Prior to calling his office, I took a quick glance at Home Pro NY's website and noticed that the licenses posted were expired. At the time, I chalked it up as a simple oversight, but looking back I realize that I should have seen it as an indicator of the lack of thoroughness that Meyer conducts his business with.

Upon calling the offices of Home Pro NY, I was greeted by a very pleasant female who was happy to help me schedule my appointment in a timely fashion. She guided me through selecting structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing inspections along with water and radon tests. The total cost for these inspections and tests was $610 and Meyers was able to perform the inspections and tests within one week of my request.

What she did not tell me, was that as a part of my structural inspection, Myers would not "determine if support posts, columns, beams, joists, studs, trusses, etc. are of adequate size, spanning or spacing," or "determine the adequacy of firewall ratings."

To my surprise, the electrical inspection did not require Meyers to "operate circuit breakers as part of the inspection, install or change light bulbs, nor determine the operability of every wall switch," "determine the adequacy of grounding or bonding," "determine if this (electrical) system has an adequate capacity for the client's specific needs," or "determine if this system has any reserve capacity for additions or expansion."

She failed to disclose that during the mechanical inspection Meyers did not "determine if plumbing and fuel lines are adequately sized, and does not determining the existence or condition of underground or above-ground fuel tanks," "determine if water heaters are appropriately sized," or require Myers to "operate water supply or shut-off valves for sinks, toilets, bidets, clothes washers, etc."

Home Pro NY also did not alert me to the fact that the plumbing inspection didn't call for Meyers to "determine if shower pans or tub and shower enclosures are water tight," or "determine if the (water) supply and/or flow are adequate."

What this means, in theory, is that you could have a home inspected by Doug Meyers and receive a report that basically gives your house a clean bill of health. Then, you could move into your new home and on your first day, walk into the bathroom and flick the vent fan on only to find out that it doesn't work. Then, you could step into the shower, only to be disappointed by an extremely low amount of water pressure. While in the shower, a wiring short in the garage could cause a fire that immediately passes through into the family room due to an inadequate firewall. Though you didn't notice the fire, you stepped out of the shower quickly because after only three minutes you ran out of hot water. You stand in the bathroom shivering, because in the absence of an oil tank, your home has no heat. Suddenly, your undersized floor joists that have been soaked through due to your leaking shower stall give way and you fall through the floor into the family room just in time to see the fire. Afterwards, during a conference call with your insurance company and Home Pro NY, you could hear that none of the disasters in that took place in your home were related to anything that's covered in your home inspection.

So when did I hear about all of the things that aren't covered in the home inspection? I read about them in the written inspection that I received after paying Home Pro NY $610.

If you're wondering what was included in the report, in addition to a gross amount of misspellings and grammatical errors, as you may notice in the various quotes from the report that have been included in this review, Meyers included a lengthy narrative on the vegetation on the property.

In his comments regarding missing batteries in smoke detectors, Meyers used what must have been a standard comment that read, "Smoke detectors were missing batteries in the following locations: bedrooms, hallways leading to bedrooms, on one or more levels. A qualified person should replace smoke detectors or make repairs as necessary." What constitutes a person "qualified" to put batteries in a smoke detector? Why would these brand new smoke detectors need to be replaced? When I asked Meyers these questions via email, he failed to acknowledge them.

During the inspection, my father-in-law noticed that the furnace was venting directly underneath the kitchen window. After having this pointed out, Meyers expressed concern about this potentially deadly flaw and did include it in the inspection report with the note, "Poorly location direct vent for boiler located under windows." At the time of the inspection, Meyers committed to research the building codes related to this problem, but two days later, he still hadn't obtained any information regarding the building code. After getting the information myself, I told Meyers that his tardy response time was unacceptable because the information was readily available from the NYS DOS Building Codes, an organization that a man in his position should be very familiar with.

Meyers noted, "Fungal growth observed on drywall in basement," but failed to suggest any remedy for the problem.

Also, during the inspection, we noticed that the first floor insulation in the house was installed backwards. Meyers verbally advised me against repairing this flaw, but his report clearly stated otherwise. In response to an email questioning the contradicting advice, he said, "The report is the vehicle that is used to inform you," but he failed to justify his contradicting statements.

When asked for references for contractors who could provide estimates for the work that needed to be done to the home, Meyers said that he had none and wrote, "I would take my concerns to the builder and have him make any corrections that are required," despite the fact that while speaking in the house, Meyers expressed concerns with having the seller make repairs and advised, "always take the credit."

In the end, when I expressed my concerns to Meyers and requested that he issue a partial refund, he ignored my request. Home Pro NY mislead me as to what service they would be providing and when I brought this to their attention, they refused to make an effort to satisfy my needs. Overall, Home Pro NY did not provide a home inspection that justified the expense.