Licensed & Insured – Internachi Certified – Home Inspectors serving all of NH & VT
I spent over 20 years building homes in New England. Now I inspect them.
Call / Text: (802)289-0025
Radon Testing – Water Testing – Thermal Imaging – Reports in 24 Hours
I’ll spare you all the marketing buzzwords and sales pitches, it’s not my style. I’d rather just tell you who I am, and what I do.
For more than twenty years, I have owned and operated a contracting business, and that business is still active today. I haven’t just worked on houses — I’ve planned the jobs, written the bids, hired and managed the trades, solved the problems when things went sideways, talked with the customers, and stood behind the finished work. Framing, finish carpentry, remodeling, site work, repairs, renovations. I’ve opened up walls, repaired rot, chased drainage problems, rebuilt decks, worked around old foundations, and seen what happens when small issues are ignored for too long.
That background changes the way I inspect. Because the business is still running, my knowledge isn’t frozen at whatever year I hung it up — materials, methods, and building science keep moving, and I move with them. When I find something in your house, I’m not just asking whether it’s wrong. I’m asking whether it’s normal for the age and type of home, whether it’s cosmetic or serious, whether it hints at something larger, and whether it should factor into your decision. Many inspectors can identify defects. Fewer have spent years fixing them.
I also don’t perform contracting work on any home I inspect for 12 months after the inspection. No repair pitch, no conflict of interest, no reason to shade my findings in either direction.
I’m not here to scare you out of a house. I’m here to help you understand it.
Two Licensed Inspectors, One Appointment
Most of our inspections are done by two licensed inspectors. My wife and business partner Kayla has been building alongside me full time for years and we inspect together on most jobs. She’s meticulous and thorough, and two people never quite see the same house — every inspection we do together is better for it.
Every house is different, sometimes wildly so. A condo and a farmhouse with three additions and a barn are not the same job, and neither one tells you much about the next place down the road. What stays constant is the patience available. Past a certain point, everybody standing around a house starts wondering when the inspector will be done, and a solo inspector who walks into a property needing more time than that has two options: run long, or quietly stop looking at things.
Two of us covers roughly twice the ground in the same appointment. The house gets the attention it actually needs, and nobody’s afternoon gets wrecked.
What Does a Home Inspection Involve?
A standard home inspection is a visual, non-invasive examination of the readily accessible systems and components of a home — roof, exterior, foundation, structure, electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, attic, and interior. That covers a lot of ground, and what it looks like on the ground depends on the property. A 1920s New Englander, a rural farmhouse, a 1970s ranch, a lake house, a condo, and a multi-family each deserve a different kind of attention. The inspection should fit the actual house, not a generic template.
I bring a well-stocked kit to every inspection — infrared camera, moisture meter, circuit analyzer, and a multitude of other items. When conditions are right, thermal imaging can show heat escaping or moisture sitting where it shouldn’t, and that’s truly useful information. But tools inform an inspection; they don’t perform one. What you’re hiring is the judgment behind them.
What to Expect the Day of the Inspection
When I arrive at a property, I like to get my bearings — walk the exterior, get a feel for the lot, and if the agent is there, spend a few minutes talking through the property before I dive in. That early conversation often surfaces useful context: recent work, things worth a closer look, and a better sense of what the buyers are hoping to learn.
Once I’m ready to start, I find I do my best work when I can move through the house without interruption. A thorough inspection requires sustained focus, and if I’m splitting that between the house and being a good host, something’s going to get the short end.
What I’d ask is that you join me at the end — that time with you matters to me. Once we’ve been through the entire property, I’ll walk you through the important findings in context, not from a rushed kitchen table summary. You’ll get my full attention, a clear read on the house and how its systems work, and as much time as you need for questions.
If you can’t be there in person, that’s no problem at all. I’ll follow up with a call to walk through the findings, answer your questions, and give you whatever context you need. That conversation won’t be rushed either — it’s an important part of what you’re hiring me for.
How Long Does a Home Inspection Take?
It varies more than most inspectors admit. A small home might take a couple of hours; a large home, an older property, or a multi-family can take considerably longer. Size, age, condition, and outbuildings all drive the timeline, and anyone quoting you a firm number before seeing the property is guessing.
Here’s the part that matters. Nobody in a real estate transaction has unlimited patience — past a certain point, everyone standing around starts wondering when the inspector will finish. With two of us working, a property gets roughly twice the coverage per hour, so the house gets the time it actually needs without the appointment dragging on. When you book, I can give you my best estimate for your specific property.
If you’re joining me for the end-of-inspection walkthrough — which I’d encourage — plan on another thirty to forty-five minutes.
What You Get After the Inspection
Within 24 hours you get a digital report — photographs, notes, and explanations written to be understood. Some findings are major. Some are routine. Some sound alarming until they’re explained, and some look minor while deserving more attention than they appear to. The report’s job is to sort those out for you, not to bury you in technical language.
You also get us afterward. The report isn’t the end of the conversation — call or email when something needs clarifying, whether that’s the afternoon it lands or six months after you’ve moved in and you’re finally getting to the basement. That’s part of what you’re paying for, and it doesn’t expire at closing.
What you won’t find in the report is repair pricing. I don’t put numbers on other people’s work from a visual inspection, and there’s a real reason for that — more on it in the questions below, and at greater length in this blog post I wrote on the subject.
Older Homes, Rural Properties, and New England Oddities
New Hampshire and Vermont homes are not always simple. Fieldstone foundations, old additions, mixed-era wiring, aging boilers, wood heat, private wells, steep sites, multiple chimneys, crawlspaces, barns, and decades of homeowner repairs — around here, that’s a Tuesday.
A lot of these homes have been changed over time. Some changes were done well. Some were done just well enough to survive the last sale. Some were done by someone who owned a circular saw, a dream, and absolutely no plan.
The regional patterns are familiar too: roof and drainage problems, rot at decks and exterior trim, basement moisture, amateur electrical work, attic ventilation failures, and water finding its way somewhere it shouldn’t. Finding defects isn’t the hard part. Understanding which ones matter, what they suggest, and what a realistic next step looks like — that’s where the inspection earns its keep.
An inspection shouldn’t treat every older home like a disaster, and it shouldn’t ignore the very real issues older and rural properties can hide. The goal is to understand what you’re buying, what may need attention, and whether the house fits your expectations, budget, and tolerance for future work.
For First-Time Buyers
If you are buying your first home, the inspection can feel overwhelming. That is normal.
You may hear about roof wear, GFCI protection, grading, rot, water heaters, attic ventilation, service panels, foundation cracks, and fifty other things in one conversation. My job is to slow that down and explain what matters.
I will not talk down to you. I will not assume you already know everything. I will explain what I am seeing in plain language so you can understand the difference between a maintenance item, a safety concern, and a bigger repair issue.
A house does not have to be perfect to be a good buy. It does need to be understood.
For Experienced Buyers and Investors
Investors, landlords, repeat buyers, and construction-savvy clients often need a different kind of inspection conversation. You may be less concerned with whether a house has defects — they all do — and more concerned with risk, repair scope, sequencing, and whether the numbers still make sense.
My contractor background can be especially useful here. I can help you think through visible repair implications, obvious deferred maintenance, unsafe conditions, and areas where further evaluation may be smart before committing.
I do not provide bids as part of a home inspection, and I do not pretend to price every repair from a visual inspection. But I can often help you understand whether something looks like a small maintenance item, a meaningful repair, or a sign of a larger project.
What a Home Inspection is Not
A home inspection is important, but it is not magic. There is plenty that I cannot see. Much of the structure and the systems that I am reporting on are inaccessible or concealed from view.
As a contractor, I very frequently advise people that we won’t know what we are dealing with until we get going on a project and start opening up walls, floors, or ceilings. That’s the truth. There are plenty of things that just can’t be seen without disassembling components of the home to access them, and that’s definitely not what’s happening during a home inspection. I don’t open walls, move heavy belongings, dismantle systems, or perform destructive testing, and I don’t guarantee the future performance of anything. No honest inspector can — and I’d be careful with any inspector who implies otherwise.
What I can do is inspect the visible and accessible parts of the home carefully, document what I find, and explain what it means. When conditions call for it, I’ll recommend bringing in a specialist — a septic evaluator, structural engineer, chimney technician, or whoever has the right scope for what I’m seeing.
Radon and Water Testing
New Hampshire and Vermont both run well above the national average for radon, and it has nothing to do with the age, price, or condition of a house. It’s a soil gas, and the only way to know is to measure it in the house you’re buying. I use continuous electronic monitors that log readings across the full test period rather than producing a single number without context. Elevated levels can almost always be mitigated — the point is knowing before you own it.
If a property is on a private well, a home inspection tells you nothing about what’s in the water. I handle laboratory testing covering bacteria, arsenic, lead, nitrates and nitrites, hardness, pH, and the other standard parameters. If you want something beyond that — radon in water, PFAS, or anything specific to the property or your lender’s requirements — I can arrange it at additional cost. Tell me what you want covered and I’ll price it before we book.
Both can be added to any inspection, and bundling the two saves $100 off the combined total.
How Much Does a Home Inspection Cost?
Most inspections run between $500 and $900 depending on the size of the home. Condos and homes under 1,000 square feet are generally $500, a home from 1,000 to 1,500 square feet is $600, and larger homes step up from there in $100 increments by size tier. Homes built before 1950 carry an additional fee reflecting the complexity and time involved.
Homes over 3,500 square feet, multi-family properties, and estate properties are quoted individually — at that point, the layout, systems, and outbuildings vary too much for a flat number to mean anything.
Radon testing and water testing can be added to any inspection, and bundling both together with your inspection saves $100 off the combined total — a useful option if you’re buying an older home or a property on a private well.
To get a firm number, use the online scheduler or send the address, square footage, year built, and any add-ons you want included. I’ll confirm pricing before anything goes on the calendar.
Whether it’s downtown, or down a dirt road, we are glad to travel throughout New Hampshire and Vermont.
Our service area includes the Monadnock Region, Upper Valley, Lake Sunapee area, Lakes Region, White Mountains, southern and central New Hampshire, southern Vermont, central Vermont, and communities south of Burlington.
We regularly serve areas including Keene, Alstead, Jaffrey, Peterborough, Rindge, Winchester, Swanzey, Chesterfield, Claremont, Newport, Sunapee, Lebanon, Hanover, Concord, Manchester, Nashua, Bedford, Merrimack, Salem, Derry, Laconia, Plymouth, Lincoln, North Conway, and Littleton in New Hampshire.
In Vermont, we serve Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Springfield, Windsor, Woodstock, White River Junction, Norwich, Jamaica, Quechee, Rutland, Ludlow, Chester, Manchester, Bennington, Randolph, Middlebury, Vergennes, Montpelier, Barre, Waterbury, Burlington, and Essex Junction.
If you are not sure whether your property is within range, reach out anyway. We travel for the right inspection and I’m happy to let you know what makes sense.
Schedule Your Home Inspection
If you’re buying a home in New Hampshire or Vermont, we’d be glad to help you understand it before you move forward.
Schedule online with our scheduling tool, or reach out via email, call, or text. We’re looking forward to connecting.
Call / Text: (802) 289-0025
email: connect@resonanthomesnh.com
Frequent Questions About Home Inspections
What about large estate properties or homes with complex systems?
Large estate properties are quoted individually because they often involve much more than a standard single-family home. A larger property may include multiple structures, older additions, guest spaces, barns, workshops, extensive mechanical systems, generators, pools, private water or septic components, long utility runs, or unusual construction details that take additional time to evaluate properly.
The goal is not to make pricing mysterious. It is to make sure the inspection is scoped correctly before the appointment is placed on the calendar. If you are buying an estate property, large rural home, or unusually complex property, send the address, square footage, year built, and a brief description of the buildings and systems involved. I’ll review the scope and confirm pricing before scheduling.
What are the biggest red flags in a home inspection?
The short answer: problems that are expensive to fix, hard to reverse, or that affect the safety and habitability of the home.
The longer answer depends on the house. An older home raises different questions than a newer one, and what looks alarming in a report isn’t always the most serious item on the page. I’ve written a full breakdown of the red flags that actually matter — and how to think about them.
Can a house fail a home inspection?
A home inspection is not a pass/fail test. Houses are complicated, and almost every home has defects, maintenance items, aging systems, or things that were built differently than they would be today.
The purpose of the inspection is to help you understand the condition of the property before you buy it. Some findings are minor. Some are expensive. Some are safety concerns. Some are normal for the age of the home. My job is to help you sort those things out clearly.
Can you tell me what repairs will cost?
Not with any honesty, no — and any inspector who gives you confident dollar figures in the report is giving you a software-generated estimate, not a contractor’s quote. Those numbers have never seen your house, don’t know your market, and carry no accountability for what the work actually costs when someone shows up to do it.
What I can tell you is what I found, where it is, why it matters, what the scope may look like, and what kind of contractor should look at it. For anything concealed — rot behind siding, framing behind walls, what’s happening beyond the visible edge of a problem — the real scope reveals itself when the work begins, not before. I’ve spent twenty years as a general contractor watching straightforward repairs become something else once we opened things up. I’m not going to hand you a number I don’t believe just because it fits neatly in a report.
Get actual quotes from qualified tradespeople on the significant findings. That’s a real contractor agreeing to do specific work for an actual price — and that’s the number worth negotiating from.
There’s a regulatory layer here too. New Hampshire prohibits it outright — an inspector in this state may not estimate or project repair costs, and may not leave a defect out of a report because of what it would cost to fix. Vermont is looser: cost estimates simply aren’t part of what a property inspection has to include, which means a Vermont inspector is free to offer them. I don’t, in either state. Not because of what I’m allowed to do, but because a number I don’t believe is worse than no number at all.
Do older homes need a different kind of home inspection?
Older homes often need more time and more judgment. They may have stone foundations, old framing, knob-and-tube remnants, older plumbing, aging electrical systems, buried past repairs, additions from different eras, moisture issues, sloped floors, or systems that have been modified many times.
That does not mean an old house is bad. Some older homes are better built than newer ones. But they need to be inspected with an understanding of how houses were actually built, altered, repaired, and lived in over time.
Do you inspect multi-family properties?
Yes. Multi-family properties are quoted individually because they are essentially multiple homes under one roof. A duplex, triplex, or larger building usually means multiple living spaces, kitchens, bathrooms, electrical panels, heating systems, plumbing runs, entrances, exits, and safety considerations.
The inspection scope depends on the building. Before scheduling, I’ll review the address, number of units, square footage, age, and any known systems or outbuildings so the inspection is priced and planned correctly.
Do you inspect septic systems?
A standard home inspection does not include a full septic evaluation. I can look at visible, accessible septic-related conditions during the inspection, such as obvious grading concerns, visible components, or signs that may deserve more attention, but a septic system should be evaluated by a qualified septic professional if you need a true septic inspection. I work with a couple excellent septic evaluators I’d be happy to refer you to.
Do you inspect barns, garages, sheds, and outbuildings?
Yes, outbuildings can usually be included, but they may affect the inspection fee depending on size, number, condition, and complexity. A small detached garage is very different from a large barn, workshop, apartment over a garage, or collection of older outbuildings.
If the property includes additional structures, send that information before scheduling so I can confirm the scope and pricing.
What makes your inspection different?
I spent more than twenty years building, renovating, repairing, and troubleshooting houses before becoming a home inspector. That background changes how I look at a property.
I am not just checking boxes. I am looking at how the house was built, how it has changed over time, where problems tend to hide, and which findings are most likely to matter to you as a buyer. The report still covers the standard required systems and components, but the real value is in the explanation, context, and judgment behind it.
How do I schedule a home inspection?
The easiest way is through the online scheduler — you can book directly, pick a time, and add services like radon or water testing in one step. If you’d rather talk through the property first, or if it’s a multi-family, estate, or otherwise unusual property that warrants a quick conversation before booking, call or text (802) 289-0025 or reach out at connect@resonanthomesnh.com. I’ll confirm scope and pricing before anything goes on the calendar.
How long does a home inspection take?
Most inspections run about two to four hours. Larger homes, older homes, properties with multiple outbuildings, complicated additions, or systems that need more time to evaluate can run longer. A small condo may come in under two. If you’re joining me at the end for the walkthrough — which I’d encourage — plan to add another thirty to forty-five minutes for that conversation.
What should I do to prepare for a home inspection?
Make sure utilities are on and that all areas of the home are accessible — attic hatch, electrical panel, crawlspace, water heater, and any outbuildings included in the inspection. If there are animals in the home, arrangements to secure them are appreciated if they may prove a nuisance or distraction. Beyond that, not much is required on your end. If there’s recent work, permits, or known issues with the property, passing that along beforehand is always useful context.
Do you inspect new construction?
Yes. New construction inspections are worth doing and often catch more than buyers expect. New doesn’t mean perfect — framing shortcuts, missing insulation, improper flashing, drainage grading that hasn’t settled yet, and mechanical installations that weren’t finished cleanly all show up in new builds. A pre-closing inspection on new construction gives you documented leverage with the builder before you take ownership, while they still have every reason to make it right.