Licensed & Insured Home Inspectors – Internachi Certified – Serving NH & VT
I spent over 20 years building homes. Now I inspect them.
Comprehensive home inspections throughout the Upper Valley in both New Hampshire and Vermont.
Call / Text: (802) 289-0025
Water & Radon Testing – Thermal Imaging – Reports in Under 24 Hours
Why My Background Makes Me More Useful as a Home Inspector
I owned and ran a general contracting business for more than two decades, and that business is still active today. That’s not a background detail — it’s the thing that makes the inspection different.
That means I managed bids, hired and oversaw all the other trades, dealt with building officials, and watched what happens when work is done right and when it isn’t. And because the business is still running, my knowledge of current materials, methods, and building science isn’t frozen in the past.
Here’s the part that matters most. The tools an inspector carries — the moisture meter, the thermal camera, the gas detector — are useful, but they are not where the value is. The value is judgment. It’s knowing what you’re looking at, why it’s there, whether it’s a real problem or just the way a house from that era was built, and what it’s going to take to deal with it. That kind of read comes from decades of actually doing the work, not from a checklist. Two people can stand in the same basement looking at the same crack. What separates them is what they understand about it.
I also do not perform contracting work on homes I inspect for at least 12 months after the inspection. No repair pitch, no conflict of interest, no incentive to shade a finding in either direction.
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 in Lebanon and a farmhouse on twenty acres in Thetford 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.
The One Person in the Deal Who Works Only for You
It’s worth being honest about how a real estate transaction is structured. Your agent is paid when the sale closes. Your lender is paid when the loan funds. The contractors who give you repair estimates have an interest in the size of the job. None of that makes those people dishonest — most are perfectly straight with you — but it does mean almost everyone in the transaction has a financial stake in the deal moving forward.
The home inspector is the exception. I’m paid a flat fee whether you buy the house or walk away from it. I have no stake in the outcome and nothing to sell you afterward. My only job is to look hard, tell you the truth about what I find, and put it in writing so you can make your own decision. An independent inspector answers to you and nobody else.
Weighed against what it can save you — a foundation problem you didn’t know about, significant issues with the water quality or plumbing, a roof with a few years left instead of fifteen, structural issues — it can be one of the most useful steps in the entire process.
A Region That Refuses to Sit Still on a Map
Nobody actually agrees on where the Upper Valley starts and stops. Ask a Hanover local and they’ll draw a tight little circle. Ask someone from Bradford and it stretches for forty miles. The one thing everybody agrees on is the middle — Hanover and Lebanon on the New Hampshire bank, White River Junction and Norwich across the water in Vermont — and after that it’s a matter of opinion.
What I can tell you is that crossing the river can change more than the license plates. The buying process, taxes, land-use rules, wells, septic expectations, and even the way towns handle property records can feel different from one side to the other. That does not change the inspection itself, but it does change the questions buyers tend to ask. The practical point is that two houses ten miles apart can come with very different assumptions: town water versus private well, public sewer versus septic, paved road versus long driveway, flat village lot versus a hillside that sends water exactly where you wish it would not.
Beyond the paperwork, the region itself is a real mix. Hanover moves at a college town’s pace, with Dartmouth setting the tempo whether you’re buying there or not. Lebanon has reinvented itself more than once — from mill town to medical hub — and the neighborhoods show it. Cross the river and things get quieter fast: Norwich, Hartford, Hartland, and the smaller towns further out are the kind of places where you might still buy your eggs from a sign on someone’s lawn. Windsor and Woodstock each carry their own long histories worth a look if you’re curious — Windsor’s got the longest covered bridge in the country connecting it to Cornish, and Woodstock’s been quietly wealthy since long before “quietly wealthy” was a real estate buzzword. Claremont and Newport, on the New Hampshire side, grew up around mills on the Sugar River and still carry that working-town feel, which tends to mean more house for the money if you’re willing to do some homework on what’s been fixed and what hasn’t.
That information might be interesting trivia, but it’s also pointing to the fact that there’s a lot of different uses for the houses around the valley. There’s a difference between a house that’s been well cared for by one family for sixty years and one that’s changed hands five times with five different ideas about what counts as “good enough.” I’ve written more about how to tell the difference between cosmetic wear and a real problem — see the blog post on sloped floors in older homes if that’s the kind of thing keeping you up at night.
What I Look For During an Upper Valley Home Inspection
A home inspection covers the visible and accessible parts of the house: roof, exterior, foundation, basement or crawlspace, electrical panel, visible wiring and receptacles, plumbing, water heating, heating and cooling systems, attic insulation and ventilation, interiors, windows, doors, stairs, decks, attached structures, and the general safety and condition of the home.
That’s the checklist version. The real work is understanding what the findings mean.
In the Upper Valley, I’m often looking at homes that have been changed over time. A finished basement added later. A kitchen remodeled without fully updating the electrical. A deck that looked fine until someone remembered frost exists. A farmhouse addition that may be perfectly serviceable, but was clearly not born in the same century as the rest of the house.
Rural properties bring their own priorities: wells, septic systems, long driveways, drainage, ledge, steep lots, outbuildings, wood heat, and roofs that take a beating from snow and shade. In town, the concerns may be different: older wiring, layered renovations, drainage around tight lots, rental wear, or mechanical systems that have been kept alive by optimism and annual servicing.
I’m not there to make the house sound scary, or overwhelm you with jargon. I’m there to explain what is actually going on, what matters now, what can wait, and what deserves a closer look before you own it.
For a deeper look at the kinds of questions buyers should be asking, see my post on what to ask your home inspector before and during the inspection.
Who Is Buying in the Upper Valley
The Upper Valley attracts a pretty wide range of buyers, and they are not all shopping for the same kind of house.
Some buyers are trying to land close to Dartmouth or DHMC and need a clear report fast enough to fit a tight contingency window. Some are looking farther out because they want space, quiet, land, a barn, a workshop, or just fewer neighbors with leaf blowers. Some are buying older homes because that is what is available. Some are buying older homes because they love them. Those are not always the same thing.
For first-time buyers, I try to make the inspection useful without making it overwhelming. You do not need a lecture. You need someone to walk through the house, explain what is normal, what is not, and what could cost real money.
For sellers, a pre-listing inspection can help you deal with issues before a buyer’s inspection turns them into a negotiation problem.
For investors, especially around Lebanon, Hanover, White River Junction, Claremont, Newport, and the rental-heavy parts of the region, I focus hard on safety, major systems, moisture, maintenance history, and the kind of wear that can hide in plain sight when a property has had tenants for years.
For agents, my job is not to blow up deals or gloss over problems. It is to be clear, fast, and useful. See my inspection support page for realtors for more on how I work inside transaction timelines.
Radon & Water Testing
New Hampshire’s extensive granite bedrock means radon levels here run well above the national average, and Vermont’s side of the valley isn’t far behind. I offer radon testing as an add-on to any inspection. If you’d like to learn more about radon, here’s a post I wrote about it.
The tri-city core runs largely on municipal water and sewer, but step outside Hanover, Lebanon, and White River Junction and private wells become the norm. I offer water testing covering bacteria, nitrates, and other relevant parameters. Bundling radon and water testing with your inspection saves $100 off the combined total.
A Practical Inspection Report
After the inspection, you receive a digital report with photos, clear explanations, and notes that distinguish significant concerns from routine maintenance.
The report is written to be useful after the appointment is over. Something you can share with a contractor, bring to a negotiation, or refer back to months later and still understand.
I’m available to you to answer questions, both before and following the inspection.
Safety concerns are called out clearly. When something warrants further evaluation by a specialist — a structural engineer, electrician, plumber, chimney inspector, or septic evaluator — I will say so directly in the report.
What Does a Home Inspection Cost?
Pricing follows the size of the home. Condos and homes under 1,000 square feet are generally $500, and 1,000 to 1,500 square feet is $600, stepping up by $100 per size tier from there. Homes over 3,500 square feet are quoted individually, as are multi-family buildings, estate properties, and anything with unusually extensive systems or multiple structures.
Homes built before 1950 carry an additional fee because they take longer to inspect properly. Detached garages, barns, and outbuildings are optional add-ons, quoted based on what’s on the property — an attached garage is part of a standard inspection.
Radon and water testing can be added to any inspection, and bundling both saves $100 off the combined total. For 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.
Serving the Upper Valley Region in NH & VT
On the New Hampshire side we inspect in Hanover, Lebanon, Enfield, Canaan, Lyme, Orford, Piermont, Plainfield, Cornish, Croydon, Grantham, New London, Wilmot, Haverhill, Claremont, Newport, and Sunapee. On the Vermont side, Norwich, Hartford, White River Junction, Hartland, Thetford, Fairlee, Sharon, Strafford, Tunbridge, Pomfret, Barnard, Reading, Weathersfield, Corinth, Windsor, Woodstock, and Bradford.
If you’re up toward Topsham, Vershire, or Ryegate, you’re pushing the outer edge of what most people call the Upper Valley, but don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.
If you don’t see your town, ask — the answer is usually yes.
For the full list of towns we cover, visit the Service Areas page.
Schedule Your Upper Valley Home Inspection
If you’re buying a home in the Upper Valley, I’d be glad to talk and see how I can help support your process.
Call or text: (802) 289-0025
Email: connect@resonanthomesnh.com
FAQs About Upper Valley Home Inspections
Do you inspect homes on both the New Hampshire and Vermont sides of the Upper Valley?
Yes. I’m licensed in New Hampshire and Vermont, and I regularly inspect on both sides of the Connecticut River. That includes the Hanover/Lebanon area, White River Junction and nearby Vermont towns, and the smaller rural communities surrounding them.
Should I test for radon in the Upper Valley?
Yes, I strongly recommend it. Radon is common in New Hampshire and Vermont, and you cannot tell whether a house has elevated radon by looking at it. I offer radon testing as an add-on to the inspection, and it can be bundled with water testing to save money.
Will you tell me whether I should buy the house?
No, and honestly, you should be suspicious of anyone who tries to make that decision for you. My job is to give you the clearest possible picture of the house: what is working, what is not, what may cost money, what needs further evaluation, and what is probably just normal maintenance. The decision is yours.
What makes your inspection different from a standard checklist inspection?
I spent more than 20 years building and renovating homes before becoming a home inspector. That changes how I look at things. I’m not just noting that something is cracked, stained, patched, sagging, damp, sloped, buzzing, leaking, or making a noise it probably should not be making. I’m trying to explain why it is happening and what it likely means.
Is it worth inspecting a newer home?
Yes. Newer does not mean problem-free. I’ve seen newer homes with poor flashing, weak drainage, sloppy mechanical work, bad attic ventilation, questionable deck connections, and repairs that already needed repairs. Age matters, but workmanship matters more.
Do I actually need an inspection, or is that just something realtors say to make more money off the deal?
No realtor makes anything extra off your inspection — I get paid by you, directly, for looking out for you. The honest answer is you don’t legally need one in most cases, but skipping it means finding out about problems after you own them instead of before. That’s a bad trade for the small relative cost of a home inspection.
The house looks great. Do I still need a full inspection?
Every house looks great with the lights on and the furniture arranged right. That’s kind of the point of an inspection — finding out what’s true whether or not it’s staged to look that way. I’ve had plenty of gorgeous houses turn up real issues, and plenty of rough-looking ones turn out fine.
Can you inspect a house if I can’t be there in person?
Yes. I’d rather you come for the walkthrough at the end if your schedule allows it, but plenty of buyers are working, out of state, or just can’t make the timing work, and the written report is built to stand on its own either way. I am also happy to do a phone call to review.
What’s the difference between something that fails an inspection and something that’s just old?
Nothing technically “fails” a home inspection — it’s not a pass/fail test, it’s a snapshot of condition. The real question is whether something’s a safety issue, a functional problem, or just the normal wear you’d expect from a house that’s been standing for decades. I’ll tell you which is which instead of flagging everything with the same red flag.
Do you test the water on a property with a private well?
Yes. Step outside Hanover, Lebanon, and White River Junction and private wells are the norm. 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.
Do you inspect septic systems?
No. A septic evaluation is separate work requiring a licensed evaluator with their own equipment. I’ll note visible conditions around the property, the plumbing, and the drainage, and I’ll tell you if something suggests the system deserves a closer look — but I won’t guess at the condition of a tank or leach field I can’t see. On a rural property here it’s worth arranging that evaluation during your inspection period, and I’m glad to refer you to people I trust.
How long does the inspection take?
That depends on the house, and if I gave you a certain answer I’d just be guessing. Size, age, condition, outbuildings, and add-ons like radon and water testing all change the answer. What I can tell you is that two licensed inspectors cover roughly twice the ground per hour, so a property gets the time it needs without the appointment dragging on. Ask when you’re scheduling and I’ll give you my best estimate for that particular property.
Also see: Home Inspections · Investor Inspections · Realtor Inspection Support