Your home inspection has been completed, issues were found and now where do you go? Tessa Murry has started a company that is a first of its kind and I believe it is a great resource for homeowners/buyers/agents. "Your House Coach" offers a helping hand to create solutions to these problems. Tessa has a degree in Building Science and was an experienced ASHI Certified Home Inspector for many years. She brings a wealth of knowledge to the table that goes beyond the home inspection.
This is a great service to help homeowners/buyers come up with a plan to attack deficiencies in homes. Home inspectors have some of the answers but not all the answers. The inspector is there to identify the problem, but the solution can be more involved than what the inspector's scope of work is. You would think a home is a relatively simple structure. It has a roof, insulation, HVAC system, etc but these systems all interact with each other. One system can greatly affect the other systems' performance. It takes in-depth knowledge to understand how these systems work together.
Home inspections often have the verbiage "have a qualified/licensed contractor evaluate and repair/replace as necessary". One of the drawbacks of a contractor evaluating larger issues is that they are typically only concerned with the issue that is being called out and may have a financial interest in the repairs. Let's look at an example: A home is experiencing ice dams at times during the winter. This is called out in a home inspection as there is evidence of stains on the ceiling near the eaves of the house. A contractor may come in and say you just need more insulation to prevent this. Here is the quote to do this work. What they may not assess is that the attic has never been air sealed, humidity levels are too high in the home, walls/ceilings/roof decks are improperly insulated/roof ventilation is not properly configured, etc. Just adding insulation alone is likely not going to prevent those ice dams. This is where Tessa can help homeowners/buyers. She can stand back as an unbiased 3rd party and evaluate the entire home to come up with a solution to the problem. It doesn't make sense to throw money at a problem if it isn't fully understood first.
If you have a house issue that you need some guidance on Tessa's contact info is: 612-930-2730 - housecoachtessa@gmail.com
If you have any topics or ideas you would like to see in a future edition of Homeowner Tidbits feel free to drop me an email at lfreng@inspectionwerx.com and as always "Get the best of US before your new home gets the best of YOU!
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We are now offering light handyman services. Check out our website for more information on this service.
(Due to conflict of interest and ethics requirements, we do not perform repair work on homes
we have inspected in the prior 12 months.)