Thomson Builder Group

Our agent recommended Bill as a building inspector for a «fixer-​upper» home we’d just purchased. Although he definitely seemed experienced, the smug demeanor others complained about was there as well. Ditto for the over-​estimating: I’m all for someone being measured and cautious in their estimates for something as large as an inspection on an older home, but the numbers he threw out proved to be so off they were borderline fictitious. He’s probably fine for the home-​improvement-​unaware buyer who’s got lots of cash to spare, but for my money I’d rather go with someone who’s more accurate and less condescending.

We contracted Bill to help us with a «pre-​inspection» as we are embarking on going condo here in SF.
Bill was thorough and accommodating, and obviously quite knowledgeable in his field. We thought that City was going to annihilate us given what Bill came up with as potential problems we might face. His estimates on labor were high and requirements on the scope of the work we might have to have done somewhat overwhelming. But we were happily surprised by our being in the «expecting the worst and hoping for the best» mindset his inspection put us in.
I found it necessary to call Bill a couple of times well after his services were rendered and he was extremely helpful, meeting with me, explaining and giving me a lot of very helpful recommendations on contractors. Everyone he recommended has worked up very well.
We’re very happy with the service Bill provided. Sorry this review took me so long to post!

If I could give a worse star rating I would. I have never written a Unilocal review before, but had such a bad experience that I was compelled to write one so nobody else would have to endure the experience. Extremely rude and unprofessional. There are far too many other inspectors available to subject yourself to his level of condescension.

On two occasions in the past seven years, we have had the pleasure of using Bill Thomson as a building inspector. He is knowledgable and thorough, and offers thoughts on «must do» items as well as «nice to do» items that have guided our house purchase decisions. I have found Bill to be quite friendly and respectful in his dialogue with clients. He does not treat people in an unprofessorial manner as others have described (perhaps those folks bring their own baggage to this conversation?). Overall, I am very happy with his level of service, quality of deliverable (inspection report), and pricing. He is a kind and responsive person, as well as a solid professional. I would recommend him to friends and family any time and every time.

Thoroughly disappointed.
I THOUGHT he did a good job, but 10 days after we moved into our newly purchased house we discovered a major leak on one wall that led to our having to spend over $ 9,000 on siding replacement. All four estimators were astonished that our inspector had not realized the siding was in such bad condition as it even had visible holes. If we had known this before we signed the contract with the seller we would have had leverage to get a better deal. It also turns out there is a roof leak that he did not mention so we are facing yet another couple of thousand dollars.
Reviewing his report in light of these I found weasel wording covering his you-​know-​what and realized that for all its apparent thoroughness the report only covered what he could easily see with no work at all, and it is full of «I didn’t check this» and «I could ‘t see this» phrases.
Bill was referred by our realtor and we thought he would be good, but very much disappointed and out of pocket well over $ 10,000. perhaps he’s too old for the job … anyway definitely cannot recommend him to anyone.

Bill Thomson inspected my Oakland home during closing and I found his knowledge, skills and expertise to be of the highest quality. He is also ultra-​professional and easy to talk to should you have questions or issues with your home. 5 stars!

My husband and I really enjoyed getting to know Bill through the inspection process and were very happy with the report he provided. We have each worked with inspectors in the past and none have compared to Bill. He was extremely thorough, pointed out several issues we would not have noticed otherwise, was prompt, and flexible with scheduling the inspection. Bill had a rich knowledge of our building structure, area, and year that the home/​homes in the area were built and answered all of our questions in detail. He was very patient despite having just come back from an overseas trip and probably being jet lagged! We could not recommend anyone more highly! Thanks, Bill!

Bill did an inspection for us about a month ago. I really liked Bill. He was flexible with timing as he did our inspection with a tight turnaround and late on a Saturday afternoon. He also got us the inspection report by Sunday night. We asked a lot of questions, and Bill answered all of our questions in a thorough manner. He also hopped on the phone with us the day after to answer a series of follow up questions we had.
I really wanted to give Bill 5 stars. However, we had a major issue ($ 1,800 cost to us) pop up on Day 2 after we moved in that was not diagnosed properly in the inspection. Bill identified a water pressure issue, but his inspection report said it was due to some debris in the system that could be cleaned out by a plumber for $ 200. Our water pressure came to almost a standstill on Day 2 after we moved in. We called two different plumbers, and both said that our hot water issue had gone bad which was creating the white debris in the system. Bill’s inspection report did not state that we would need a new hot water heater anywhere near this soon after moving in.
We ultimately had to replace the hot water heater at a cost of $ 1,800 to us. We explained the issue to Bill. He was understanding and apologized for not catching this issue. Again, I wish I could given him 5 stars because I really liked Bill. However, I can’t give someone 5 stars that costs us this much money so soon after moving in.

Our Zephyr agents, Marc Peschel and Seth Skolnick, recommended Bill to us and were able to schedule him last minute, and I am so glad they did!
Bill was incredibly careful and kind throughout the process of both inspecting our place and doing a complimentary followup meeting to review the building plans and job cards with us at his favorite café in NOPA. He was not at all condescending or careless as other reviewers suggested — our experience was completely the opposite in every way!
He was able to fit our inspection in at the last minute (even though he was heading out of the country the same week), yet spent almost 2 hours checking out every detail of the place, explaining things and answering questions along the way, and took a very gentle and educational (and humorous at times) tone throughout the process. We never once felt rushed or like we couldn’t ask a seemingly silly question.
We left feeling reassured about the place and also with eyes open about its maintenance needs and things to watch out for. He was honest and balanced throughout.
Also, to the reviewer who complained, keep in mind that the high prices he quotes for repairs are actually in the buyer’s favor — more leverage to negotiate with the seller!
P. S. In other news, it turns out his wife is a food blogger and top user of the site I cofounded, Foodspotting, and has interacted with us often! What are the chances?! Follow her on Foodspotting here:

Bill came to do a pre inspection on a property we were interested in buying. He was very thorough and informative. I almost felt like I was stepping into a private history lesson of historical San Francisco property construction. It was clear he was a wealth of knowledge. I would highly recommend Bill to do your inspections. We didn’t end up buying the property he inspected but I still felt like the money was well spent getting to look at a property through his eyes.

I’ve used Bill for years. What I like is he’s built, converted, bought, remodeled SF places for 30 years — so he knows a lot because he’s done it. He also knows BDI, how they work and he’s one of the few that you can call later and ask for vendors — he will actually recommend some. If you’re looking for a best friend — he’s not. He’s very methodical — introduction, scope, inspection, summary, what to expect, recommendations — then the report the next day. It is methodical — but he’s a great guy, knows his stuff and a great resource. I did have a fan fall from the ceiling a month after an inspection — not sure how one would figure that out though… You just can’t predict when and why stuff goes in a house… Great guy, timely, experienced but doesn’t have a crystal ball. Client just called Bill a month after inspection to discuss options of converting closets /​bedrooms, and client sent me an email «Going to remove 1 closet and put cabinetry on the walls instead — Was very helpful — thanks!»

My experience is very much like the others who found Bill Thomson’s demeanor to be rude and smug. I found him to have an unprofessional attitude about him. There are plenty of capable Home Inspectors in this City who also have pleasant cutomer-​friendly approaches.

I recently used Bill for a home inspection for a house we ended up purchasing. This was the first time I had ever been on a home inspection, however, I found Bill to be extremely helpful, knowledgable, and thorough.
He answered all of our questions patiently, including giving us a bunch of helpful tips probably outside the direct scope of the inspection (tricks on cleaning certain things, ideas for simple changes to make, things to look out for, etc).
He also had a very pleasant, patient demeanor. I would definitely work with him again.

Our realtor recommended Bill Thomson as an inspector for our potential home. Bill was thorough and detailed in both his examination of the house as well as his clear explanation of what he encountered, room by room and area by area. His knowledge is vast, his eyes are keen, and he’s able to explain it all. Kind and calm personality, which adds a good touch to what can be a stressful situation (since one never knows what will turn up at an inspection). in short, we felt like he was on our side in the process and gave us a thorough and honest inspection. A winning combination and we are very happy to have benefited from his services.

We have used Bill Thomson on 2 potential home purchases and found him to be very prompt, knowledgeable, and very aware that we wanted to know «the good, the bad, and the ugly» re: the home (s) we were considering. He was very accommodating; willing to answer questions about the home; and peppered his visual inspection with historical facts related to the period the home was built.
He readily helped us meet our contingency deadline and provided an excellent account of items he found that needed repairs. If repairs were not immediately needed, he offered an estimate life span and approximate timeline on future repairs.
If we ever decided to move and make another SF home purchase, we would certainly put out faith in him.
Thank you, Bill!
The Lees

Passed inspection.
30 days since moving in. Pipes haven’t burst. Hardwood floors are intact. Drains aren’t clogged. So far. So good.
Excuse me for a moment while I knock on wood.
Bill Thomson gave an oral history of San Francisco building codes as he was inspecting my place. Learned quite a bit as I kept my fingers crossed.
Followed all his advice. Cost $ 500 for peace of mind.
Will be sleeping peacefully tonight.

My fiancée and I just went through the process of buying a TIC. Since it was a two-​unit TIC, there were two buyers and hence we had the benefit of seeing a bunch of inspectors in action. This one was recommended by the other buyer’s agent, and we paid to have him inspect our unit as well.
While his inspection found most of the issues at hand, I think he was overly cautious on some points and missed others. The most noticeable sign of his over-​cautiousness is the inflated estimates on repairs. While it’s really nice to have an inspector get into how much an issue will take to resolve, it’s only as valuable as the estimates are accurate. In most cases, the estimates were about double what the actual price would be. In a case where we’re trying to make a judgement on the viability of a home, it was worrying at first to have such inflated numbers in the mix.
He also misdiagnosed the situation with a dryer vent — failing to find the actual point of egress from the building and recognizing that the vent piping had been crushed.
All in all, I’d say he did a good job. He missed very little, and pointed out several things that may be an issue into the future. It would just be nice to get some of the information sorted into more of a list of «dire issues» vs. «informational notes». Also, while the estimates on repairs were a great addition, it would be nice to tone down the numbers to more accurately reflect current repair costs in San Francisco.

We bought a home after Bill Thomson’s inspection did not turn up anything major, only to discover glaring omissions that are quickly adding up to many many thousands of dollars immediately after we closed on the house. We now have to deal with leaking sewage pipes (which are visibly rusty and leaking visibly in the garage — this was not a problem hidden only in the walls), leaking inside-​the-​wall downspout that had caused extensive damage to the wall (he should have noticed the stains on the wallpaper and alerted us to possible damage), and a few windows that have dry rot and need immediate replacing (his report only stated that windows need servicing).
After coming back for a reinspection Bill admitted the problems were indeed there, but he did not even offer to refund the entire inspection fee. He told us we can take him to court if we wanted to recoup any losses.
He presents himself well and sounds as if he knows what he is talking about with an air of smug self content, but we learned the hard way that he cannot be trusted.

Kinda smug and didn’t even notice gas was not connected to furnace nor even to entire downstairs unit of building I wanted to buy. Not happy. Remember never to use an inspector recommended by realtor. Inspectors that kill sales will not get used again.

Bill Thomson was recommended to me by my realtor for home inspection; I was very disappointed with the service he provided.
Bill was not thorough with the inspection itself and there were several key topics that I had to specifically ask about in order for him to address (the main gas valve, electrical amps, to name a few of the obvious ones that should have been automatically included in his review). He missed a few other glaringly obvious construction faults, causing me to have to do a second round of contingencies. Bottom line: he is not thorough and I learned nothing about my property that I couldn’t have figured out for myself.
I also found Bill to be extremely difficult to work with, he threw attitude when I asked questions, was condescending (ie, spoke to me like I was a 3^rd grader), and is just not really a people-​person or a people-​pleaser.
I don’t think he really cares about the quality of his work: he keeps getting referrals from realtors. My theory is that Bill is recommended *because* he is not thorough; he doesn’t find issues and therefore, the sale is more likely to go through. I used Burk Karr for a different inspection and thought he was a rockstar. I learned a ton about the property and was able to make a well-​informed decision. If this is what you want to get out of your inspection, my advice: don’t use Bill!