Healthy Home and Mold Inspections

During a recent new construction home inspection in Springdale, AR, I uncovered a major installation error that could have cost the homeowner thousands down the road: the shower pan drain weep holes were completely sealed shut with grout. ​🔍 Why is this a big deal? Tile and grout are naturally porous. Water gets past the surface tile and is designed to trickle down the waterproof liner toward the drain, exiting safely through tiny weep holes. When tile installers accidentall

​"Move-in ready" is a bold claim when the builder forgets the literal blanket over your house. 🥶🔥 ​Walked into this brand-new construction inspection in Northwest Arkansas expecting the usual finish work checks. Instead? Open up the attic access and find zero blown-in insulation. None. Zip. Just bare ceiling joists waiting to cook the house in July and freeze it in January. ​If this home had closed without an independent inspection, the new homeowner’s first clue would’ve b

If you are buying new construction in Northwest Arkansas, you might want to look closer at your contract. As a home inspector, I am seeing a concerning trend: the price tags on new homes are climbing, but the actual scope of what builders include is quietly shrinking. ​Years ago, builders stopped fully finishing garages. Then came homes without garage door openers. But on a recent new construction inspection I performed, the list of missing essentials went even further: no do

You know that signature "new house smell"? It’s actually the sound of brand-new building materials off-gassing chemical compounds into the indoor air. ​I just wrapped up a new construction home inspection in Centerton, Arkansas, and included an indoor air quality (IAQ) test. The results? Unhealthy, elevated levels of formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). ​When a new home is tightly sealed up without proper ventilation before the buyers move in, these chemicals t