Three Rivers Inspection

Paul L’s review is much more substantial and insightful, but I have to give my support to Three Rivers Inspection and Russell Kowalik because I was so happy with them.
I used Three Rivers Inspection for two houses that I was interested in buying, and on both houses was extremely satisfied with their service and report. Russell is a superb inspector who doesn’t miss a thing, and Natalie was easy to set things up with and communicate a slight delay on one of the inspections. The pest inspection and radon inspection partners that Three Rivers Inspection Services uses were also very reliable and produced quality reports as well. If I ever needed another property inspected, I’d call Three Rivers Inspection Services again without hesitation

Three Rivers Inspection & Engineering, Inc, provides home inspection services to potential home buyers. They inspected my property for a potential buyer. Their report to the buyer claimed that the furnace had a crack in the heat exchanger, «The furnace has a crack in the second chamber from the right, in the back wall of the chamber, to the left of the seam». They were very specific about the location of the crack. Since it is impossible to see the rear of the heat exchanger without dismantling the furnace, it would be assumed that they utilized a digital inspection scope/​camera to view it.
As the seller, I did the following investigation:
1) The seller purchased a digital inspection scope/​camera with a 38″ flexible shaft to obtain digital images of the area that was claimed to be cracked. No crack was found.
2) The seller contracted with a certified HVAC company to inspect the furnace. The furnace required dismantling to view the heat exchanger. No crack was found.
In researching home inspections, the seller discovered that it may be common practice for some less reputable inspection companies to automatically reject furnaces over 12 years old without actually finding any defects. Nor do they have the expertise or equipment to properly inspect a furnace. The claimed defect is usually in an area that is not easily visible for verification by the seller (like a crack in the rear of the heat exchanger), hoping that the seller will not attempt to verify the defect resulting in the purchase a new furnace or negotiating a lower price with the buyer therefore clearing the inspection company of any liability regarding the furnace. It is highly unlikely that Three Rivers Inspection & Engineering, Inc. dismantled the furnace or utilized an inspection scope to view the heat exchanger. If they had, they would have seen that there was no crack. They provided no proof of the claimed crack. It is the seller’s belief that Three Rivers Inspection & Engineering, Inc, «made it all up» for liability reasons.
It is the seller’s belief that Three Rivers Inspection & Engineering, Inc, INTENTIONALLY MISREPRESENTED the furnace condition and exaggerated verbiage of other conditions of the house providing a biased report that was in favor of the buyer. A home buyer uses this report in price negotiations with the seller to obtain a lower price. The deceptive practice of automatically rejecting an older furnace has unnecessarily cost the seller time and money to rebut Three Rivers Inspection & Engineering, Inc biased and intentionally false report.

I highly, highly recommend Russell Kowalik at Three Rivers Inspection.
It’s absolutely essential to have your home inspected, given how much houses cost. The condition of your house will greatly affect its value, and it is important to know what patent and latent defects your house has. Inspection costs are not something you should try to save money on, given the investment required for a house. Most houses in Pittsburgh are old and likely to have some if not many defects, and it is critical to know what these are or could be. Here is why I recommend Russell:
* Russell is extremely KNOWLEDGEABLE
Russell has a Bachelors Engineering degree from CMU. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and has been performing inspections for many years.
As an Engineer myself, I can attest that Russell takes an analytical engineering approach to inspecting your house.
* Russell is extremely THOROUGH
He is meticulous. As soon as you enter the house, he will immediately start running the water in the house, run the dish washer, and start testing the heat and air conditioning. For over four hours, we pored over every detail of the house both outside and inside. He looked at cracks, inspected moisture, and I was very impressed that he was able to identify a potential drainage issue with my house based on some dirt in a basement sink. A few days later, he sent me a detailed 19 page report. The report categorizes issues found into «material defects», «relatively minor repair issues that which should be addressed now or in the near future», «maintenance issues to be addressed in the near future», and «Addenda.» This report was very thorough and detailed.
A couple of other things
* Russell is fairly well-​known amongst realtors in Pittsburgh. Two of my colleagues also used him based on independent references. Because of this, you sometimes need to wait over a week to schedule an inspection. This can become problematic if the contingency period is only 15 days. You should try to renegotiate this period if needed.
* Russell stutters, so be patient. Do not interrupt and listen carefully, as what he says is usually important.
Other general tips:
— Be sure to walk through with your inspector while the inspection is being done. Make sure to ask questions!
— Bring along a camera. While Russell will take some pictures for his own notes, taking your own pictures as well can be helpful. I also took some of my own notes.
— Read through your inspection report carefully. This can be an important part of negotiations or performing repairs on your house in the near future.
Good luck with buying your house!