Above Grade Home Inspections

So nice to work with someone that’s good at their job and enjoys it at the same time. Buying a home can be overwhelming, especially the first time so it really helps to have good people around you. As much as he may joke around Chuck is no– nonsense when it comes to his job. I love the house that he inspected but he will definitely tell you the good and the bad which is what you need from a good inspector. He even threw the home owner out which sealed the deal.
Hire him

Chuck, or Professor Chuck as I like to call him, is the best inspector around. He is incredibly thorough and protective of his clients. He helped us avoid a major issue on a house we were looking to purchase. You may not want to hear all of the bad things, but he won’t let you down– I feel 100% safe and sure of whatever home we purchase because of him. Plus you always learn something new with Chuck, and he is funny to boot!

After the home in Wurtsboro fell through I searched for an inspector on Angie’s List with a lot of recommendations and someone who would take pictures and provide an electronic report. Chuck Sweed of Above Grade had both. Inspectors are out all day in the field so I figured it would be after hours before I got a response back. After sending an email where I provided my cell phone I received a txt from him during a break in a class he was teaching. He was straight up honest that he was quite booked up and would not be able to perform an inspection with three days notice. I was okay with that and told him that I had read that in the other Angie’s List reviews. The owner of the home I’m considering needed to get some work done so I was able to arrange for the inspection with 7 – 10 days notice.
Now what makes this particular inspection very unusual is that this is a passively built home with a 12V and 110V systems. It has a gravity fed water system, radiant heat floors and no septic; it has a grey water system and an incinerator toilet. It has a bank of 10 batteries that somehow run the water pump. Chuck didn’t want to do the inspection because he said these systems are not part of a regular inspection. I said that’s okay as most inspectors are going to tell me the same thing but since I already have a pretty good feeling about you I think you’ll do a pretty good job. He did an excellent job. The propane tank ran out so we couldn’t test the radiant heat and the water stopped running indicating possibly a problem with a well pump or a missing well pump. These two things plus a few others we’re clearly written up with pictures and I had a report within a day of the inspection. Chuck pointed out that the wood stove had not been installed correctly and he doubted it had been Permitted. He was spot on. The owner agreed to fix all including getting the permits through the town. I used Chuck to reinspect the property. Because of Chuck’s inspection all the re-​work was done and done well since the Seller knew it had to pass Chuck’s re– inspection.
Update: The house fell through because the bank declined to offer a mortgage on a rather unique green home.
I have found another home and will use Chuck for this more traditional property.

Chuck Sweed arrived on time, took his time, was very thorough and performed his job with integrity. He was open and responsive to questions as he worked. It’s clear within minutes of meeting Chuck that he is someone who knows what he is doing. I enter all such transactions with a big dose of doubt, but right from the start I felt confident that Chuck was the right person for the job. Now that the job is done, I’m happy to still feel the same. I recommend Chuck without reservation.

In the last month Chuck has conducted two (partial) home inspections for us. Chuck quickly identified some big issues with both homes, which is why we didn’t complete the full inspection. He was kind enough to let us end the inspection early and work out a very fair price. He is extremely knowledgeable, very thorough, always on time and funny on top of it all. We highly recommend Chuck and will be using him again.

We found Chuck Sweed of Above Grade Home Inspections to be pushy and condescending, and this really came out when I told him I wanted to speak to someone else before hiring him.
In the end, we decided to go with him, partly because of all his talk about the fancy equipment he has and how it gives him the edge over other inspectors. At the inspection, however, he never used any equipment other than a plug to test electrical sockets. He seemed more interested in banter and appearing witty than doing the job we were paying him to do.
Although his report was full of typos, he did an ok job with the inspection. Overall, however, Chuck left a VERY bad taste in my mouth.
He has a lot of good reviews on Angie’s list, but I don’t trust that those reviews are all genuine.