Not Inspector Gadget

May 25, 2008 11:58 AM

Would you please share your recommendations for home inspectors and/or pest inspectors in or around Oakland, CA?

My husband and I just put an offer in on our first house, and it was accepted. Woohoo! Now we need to set up the inspections, stat. Our agent is from out-of-town (there's a good reason for this--she's family), so she doesn't know who to call. The seller's agent has promised to get us a recommendation, but that feels slightly conflict-of-interest-y to me, even though she seems very cool. The house is bank-owned and 'as-is,' so we're not likely to be able to get any concessions on the price--this is more for our peace-of-mind that we're not buying a total money pit. The house is 100 years old so we expect some issues. Would love recommendations for thorough, knowledgeable inspectors, specifically a general type as well as pest. I searched yelp and elsewhere and apparently this isn't a hot topic of discussion. Thank you.

posted by apostrophe to home & garden (4 comments total)

I don't live in Oakland anymore, but I use Angie's List for this kind of thing.
posted by ottereroticist at 1:20 PM on May 25, 2008

Our realtor (she's been in the business in Berkeley and Oakland for 20 plus years) recommended an inspector named Paul A. Rude. His website is Summer Street Inspections
His inspection was pretty thorough and we were happy with his work.

The pest inspection on the house was done by Structural Renewal, Inc. The report seemed fine to us, but the seller had engaged them, not us.

We also used a civil engineer she recommended named Dan Szumski, P.E., if you need one.

You might already know this, but we have found good recommendations for almost anything on Berkeley Parents Network.

Good luck with the house.
posted by gt2 at 3:38 PM on May 25, 2008

Thanks. The Berkeley Parents Network recommendations were all a few years old, and there didn't seem to be a huge consensus. I'll also check out Angie's List.
posted by apostrophe at 9:04 PM on May 25, 2008

I used East Bay Structural a couple times (in 1998 and in 2005) and was pretty happy with them. They also do general contracting, and I had them remodel a bathroom for me in 2003 (and was happy with that, too).
posted by hedgehog at 8:25 AM on May 26, 2008