When you are having a problem in or around your home and you need to have services completed, you will need to have an inspection completed for the technician to better understand your situation. Different inspections will require different things. Most of our inspections are free with the exception of a few special cases that will be mentioned within this post. Inspections are necessary for our technicians to understand the situation and be able to come up with an appropriate solution.
Insulation: Insulation is a service we complete very often. Most of the time, we are removing insulation as part of a RCR or Remove, Clean and Restore project. During this process, the soiled or damaged insulation is removed, the space will be disinfected and new clean insulation will be installed. Many people who call in want a quote over the phone and it is simply not that easy even if given the dimensions of the space. The technician needs to evaluate the situation themselves in order to provide the most accurate price. They will determine if insulation needs to be partially or completely removed, if you need brand new insulation or if some of the existing insulation can stay and be added onto.
In addition, some people do not account for the price of insulation services as the cost of labor and materials other than the obvious insulation needed to complete the project. It is best to schedule a free inspection for insulation because you want to make sure you are getting quoted properly for what exactly needs to be done. By requesting a quote over the phone, you are truly doing yourself a disservice and you are most likely going to end up spending more money on insulation than you should. To schedule an inspection for insulation, you will need to call the office or submit a contact form on our site. An office team member will ask about the current condition of the insulation and ask for other details that will help the technician come prepared, such as where the insulation is located and how the space is accessible.
Crawl Space: Crawl space inspections are completely necessary and our company offers them for free. These spaces are complex and there can be a variety of issues with it, whether it is problems with insulation, vapor barriers, pest issues, animals living in there, humidity, mold or water issues or structural issues, your crawl space needs to be thoroughly diagnosed by a skilled technician to make sure the correct problems are addressed. There is usually no preparation needed for one of our technicians to complete an inspection on your crawl space. When scheduling your inspection, a member of the office team will ask questions about the space such as the clearance, how the space is accessed and what kind of problems you are noticing. You will get a scheduled date for the inspection and the inspection can even be done if you are not home as long as the technician has permission to enter the space.
Waterproofing: Waterproofing is another complex inspection because water in basements or crawl spaces are typically not easy to diagnose. We offer solutions that are unique and only offered through our company in the Northern Virginia service area called Grate Products. In addition to Grate Products, we can offer some other waterproofing services such as sump pumps, mold remediation, wall crack repairs and other solutions for water intrusion, leaks or water damage.
Roof: A roof inspection will need to be completed in order to see exactly what needs to be done whether it is a repair or a full roof replacement. A skilled technician will evaluate the situation and determine the needs. The technician will figure out what kind of shingles will need to be used and how many are needed for the type of repair. To prepare for a roof inspection you will need to let us know the approximate height of your roof and what exactly you think is wrong with it, whether you are experiencing leaks or there are some other issues that need to be addressed. For the most part roof inspections are free unless they are done through a home warranty company or they require a specialized ladder set which is typically any ladder higher than 30 feet.
Wildlife Removal: Wildlife inspections will help the technician determine what animal you have in or around your home causing damage or stress. Sometimes people will set up an inspection without knowing what animal they have because they haven’t seen them. Sometimes you can guess what animal you might be dealing with but it can still be difficult to know exactly what the issue is unless you have a technician out to inspect. During the inspection, the technician will diagnose the issue and come up with the best solution to either remove, trap, deter or exclude the animal from your property. Most of the inspections offered for wildlife removal services are free, with the exception of bats and snakes. Bats require something known as a bat survey which is $125 and snakes require a snake survey which is $175 with a $65 fee for non venomous snake removal and a $115 fee for a venomous snake removal. These services require inspection fees because they require more time and effort than some of the other wildlife inspections and oftentimes have a risk associated with them. With bats there are health risks such as rabies or histoplasmosis and with snakes, there’s the risk of a bite. In addition to liability, the inspection fee covers the inspectors time.
Pest Control: Pest control is another service that some companies will attempt to quote you for pest control over the phone and similarly to insulation services you will most likely be overcharged for the service because pest control is priced based on square footage and type of pests. The pricing varies based on the areas that need to be treated and how much chemical or other treatment is needed to resolve the pest problem. This is why the best thing to do is to get a pest inspection done, because the technician will accurately determine exactly what pests you have on your property, what might be good to have a preventative treatment for and what the prices for these treatments are based on your needs.
To prepare for a pest inspection you will need to know what type of pest issues you are experiencing, how long you have had the issues for and the areas that you are seeing the pests. The technician will take all of your information into account and will complete a thorough inspection of your home’s interior and exterior. While most of our pest inspections are free, our termite inspection for a refinance or home loan, known as a WDI costs $125 due to it being an extensive inspection and requiring official paperwork to be completed.
If you need an inspection for some sort of issue you are experiencing on your property in Northern Virginia, be sure to schedule an estimate with us at Summit.
