A C Home Inspections

A C Home Inspections did an excellent job with my home inspection for a potential purchase. Mr. Chavez looked at a home near Abiquiú, did a very thorough report on the house, and sent the full report over the same day. He was even willing to talk through questions I had over the phone and was incredibly knowledgeable about New Mexico architecture. Very impressed with his knowledge and professionalism and would highly recommend this company.

Summary: I do not recommend AC Home Inspections. Albert is a nice guy with good intentions but missed 3 major red flags that ended up costing us close to $10,000 in repairs. He took no ownership of the issues and after offering to refund the inspection fee he went back on his word and did not give the refund (a small pittance in comparison to the repair costs).Long: My home was originally inspected back in January of 2019 with a projected closing of February 2019. I choose AC Home Inspections due to the generally favorable reviews. Albert's price was a good bit higher than other inspectors I researched, and I incorrectly associated that premium price with premium inspection services. If you have a tile roof look elsewhere; Albert will not walk on tile. For reference, the inspector I used for my prior home was all-inclusive and cost a couple hundred bucks cheaper. If he was available, I would have used him again. The inspection seemed fairly normal based on what I had experienced in 2 previous home purchases. I did notice that it went a bit more quickly than my prior inspections. There wasn't anything significant noted in the report that led me to believe I would expect any issues. I know inspectors can't catch everything but there is a basic level of thoroughness a customer can expect. The only thing of note was a water stain on the kitchen ceiling that looked like it occurred from an old leak. This was actually spotted my realtor and added to the report by Albert after it was pointed out to him. The issues began a few months after we moved in. The first thing we noticed was that the bathtub in the "renovated" master bathroom leaked down to living room below. This was found by simply filling up the bathtub and letting it sit for a few minutes. The leak was almost instantaneous. In previous home inspections, the inspector has filled up the bathtub and let it sit for a while to check for leaks. Albert didn't do this simple test. Once that leak was found, we noticed that there was a big circular patch in the ceiling below that was not noted in the report. This patch is pretty obvious and tells me that the leaks had been present for some time. We thought the issue might be related to the drain so decided to stop using the tub until it was figured out. Next, while the bathtub saga was ongoing, we noticed during the first big rain in July that there was a pretty big leak from the roof above the kitchen (where my realtor noted the stain). Technically since it was in the report I can't complain about that specific leak. However, after a few days in a row of heavy rain we noticed another leak above the master bedroom closet. This is directly above where the attic access panel is located. During the inspection Albert did stick his head up into the attic and look around. When I went to track down the source of the leak, I saw obvious, old water staining on the underside of the sheathing directly next to the attic entry. There was also a purpose cut piece of fiberglass insulation placed underneath the leak location so that it would "soak up" the water and not leak below. Well, once it rained hard enough to soak through the insulation, we became aware of the issue. This leak location is right on the edge of where the tile and shingles (for a roof mounted swamp cooler) sits. The exterior of the house also shows stucco work which leads me to believe the swamp cooler float had been leaking consistently which originally caused this issue. I ended up speaking with my next-door neighbor and he confirmed exactly that. To recap, for this leak Albert missed the following: Obviously damaged sheathing visible directly from the attic opening, fiberglass insulation placed directly underneath the damaged sheathing, and exterior signs of stucco repair in the same location. Wait there's more, we continued to use the master shower for a few more months until we noticed that it too was leaking to the floor below. Guess where it was leaking? Directly where that patch in the ceiling existed. At this point (around September '19) I decided I needed to cut into the ceiling myself and figure out where the leak was coming from. I cut two holes into the ceiling where the drains for the shower and bathtub were located. I ran both to try and figure out where the leaks were coming from and unfortunately figured out that the drain was not the issue. The bathtub was leaking through the tub itself and the shower was leaking through the pan. Repairs: I ended up getting a roofing company to fix the roof issues to the tune of ~$2,000. For fun, I had them first check the roof from inside the attic just as Albert would have seen it. The guy spotted the issue right away. Next, I had a plumber check out the shower and tub. He noted incorrect installation techniques (raised floor) and stated that it was an obvious DIY job that he wouldn't touch. In the end I had a contractor rip up the entire shower/tub and rebuild it. After it was torn out, we could