We are a full service certified home inspection team.
When you need a home inspection completed, you want to know that the inspector is trained, knowledgeable, and certified.
When you need a home inspection completed, you want to know that the inspector is trained, knowledgeable, and certified.
Home inspections are a smart investment in a home, whether you are looking at buying one or selling. A quality home inspection provides a thorough assessment based on professional, experienced observation and testing of the structural integrity of a residence, as well as the condition of systems in the home. When a buyer goes for financing, nearly all financial institutions now request a certified home inspection besides an accurate appraisal. It lets the institution know they are lending money on a property with no surprises that could be expensive, reducing both valuation and the ability of the mortgage holder to potentially pay the mortgage or take care of previously unknown repair issues. Colorado real estate is going up in value and around Colorado Springs it is not uncommon for properties with good listing prices to end up in bidding wars. A great tool for a seller to have in hand is a thorough, well documented home inspection, including radon, mold, water quality, a sewer scope and if necessary, asbestos testing in older structures.
This gives the seller an edge to make certain the appraisal and buyers’ inspection were reasonable and correct, and puts everyone on the same playing field when concessions for repairs or issues are brought to the negotiating table. A seller’s inspection report usually includes a statement of suggested repairs, allowing the seller to make corrections that otherwise might bring down bids or a final agreed upon selling price.
When you hire a home inspector Colorado Springs based, you should be able to expect certain standards are met and all major structural elements and systems in the house will be gone over.
This may not be the case if you do not hire a certified, qualified home inspector. Colorado has no formal licensing requirements for home inspectors, meaning that you must do due diligence of the firm to see if they are certified, belong to national organizations, follow up with continuing education, and are licensed and insured. When a large investment like a house is the object in question, you need to know the inspector knows what they are doing, know local materials and construction methods, and knows what all needs to be taken into account to create an accurate, well documented home inspection report.
Axios Home Inspection has a high standard for services we offer clients. We are certified, licensed, and insured, and follow best practices and industry standards for both inspecting and creating accurate reports for your property. We will carefully inspect your roof, exterior cladding or surfaces, the foundation for cracks, leaks, deterioration, intrusion and settling. The attic will be carefully looked through to check for leaks, insulation issues, problems with ducting, animal invasion, evidence of moisture, and anything that could compromise the home.
We will inspect the crawl space, the floors and joists, and any interior wall we can view. Plumbing, electrical, HVAC, drain lines, sewer lines that go under the home and other primary systems will be inspected. Appliances will be checked for working function and safety, including the water heater, dehumidifiers, whole house filtration systems, water filtration units, and other specialty equipment. All interior rooms, closets, and especially air handling closets or other areas will be checked for air flow, possible mildew or mold growth, and safety concerns. We will even check your garage, sidewalks, fireplace, stonework, outside living spaces, and any other area of concern.
We want your home inspection report to be complete, accurate, and give a thorough, transparent view of the condition of the home, showing if the home is sound, what might be an issue, and what could use repair. All of this information will be presented in a file accompanied by photographs of each area in detail. This is what every home inspector Colorado Springs CO should provide you, but sadly, many do not when you hire home inspectors in Colorado Springs.
Axios Home Inspection is a long-time Colorado Springs area small business that believes in quality customer service, honest, neutral reports, and good prices for our services. We are certified, licensed, and insured, and have many pleased customers that are glad to give referrals. We always provide a free quote in advance for all services, and even do some things without charge, such as mold inspections, to see if you really need to spend the money on mold testing. Some items, such as mold testing, radon testing, sewer scoping, asbestos testing, and water quality testing are not included in home inspection reports.
Several of those, namely water quality, radon, and sewer scoping are truly important things to have checked when you are either selling or buying a home. Colorado regularly utilized clay and concrete sewer line until 1984, and both materials are prone to deterioration and collapse. Sewer pipes are expensive to repair and can cause a myriad of much more serious problems, such as waste backup and deadly sewer gas accumulation. We are happy to provide a quote for your home inspection with these tests added at a reduced bundle price so you have solid answers to well safety, radon seepage, and sewer line integrity in your new home.
Water quality is an issue in some parts of Colorado. We have a tremendous amount of ground minerals, as well as radioactive elements in our soils. Drilling for gas and oil, as well as mining tend to disturb materials or end up with run-off or spillage. About 15% of Colorado relies on private wells for water. These wells are not monitored by the State of Colorado for quality and safety. It is especially important in agricultural areas (including those of the past) to get full spectrum water testing done to check for microorganisms, bacteria, and nitrate/nitrite issues, as well as insecticide, pesticide, and livestock treatment chemicals. Agricultural run-off in proximity to a well can cause direct or seepage contamination, and it is information you need to know. If the well has ground arsenic content, it is not advised to treat with hyper-chlorinating shock as this chemical combination can create deadly results. Home water testing kits usually only test for one element or organism. The list the State suggests checking is two pages long in single space type.
Having to guess why you have green stains on your porcelain or slimy red or gold gunk in the bottom of your sinks requires more than one item testing. Samples sent in to the State also take around 28 days to be returned for most tests. You need to know faster than a month if your well might have an issue and your family members or livestock are suffering intestinal distress, or your water has fishy, acidic, or soapy smells. Radon seeps into the water column and can be released into home air when aerated via a shower or tub run. Axios is certified for radon testing done with correct methods, as well as full service water quality testing. We also do sewer scopes, an important test that can save a lot of frustration and expense. It needs to be noted that water testing Colorado Springs is not included in most company’s home inspections. Axios can write a free quote for a bundled service for your home inspection, water quality testing, and other needed inspections for the property you are looking to sell or buy.
There is little more frustrating than a sewer backing up, or failing. It always seems to happen on a weekend, during a holiday, or at the start of a bad snowstorm. Sewer lines are more delicate engineering feats than many realize, and taking care of one can prevent some very expensive, inconvenient problems from developing. A sewer scope consists of a flexible line with a camera, basically a borescope, be fed down into the sewer line most often by way of the cleanout, and allows access to intimately view the entire line that feeds your septic system or street hub from you home’s drain system. The camera allows the technician to see in detail the condition of the line, where they can check for cracks, leaks, slumps, pooling, blocks, tree root masses, and other issues. It is also a great way to finally figure out the problem you have been cursing for three days trying to clear the backed up sewage in your lines. If possible the technician will mark the spot of any located problems at ground level with flags. The video often is accompanied by taping so there is a record of the scoping. Our technician can then show you in actual video what they observed and what needs attention.
Being able to spot problems ahead of time in sewer lines is a wise use of household repair funds, as it nearly always saves a great deal of expense in the future. It is strongly suggested for any home you consider buying that is 20 years or older that a sewer scope inspection be conducted. Sewer problems can cost thousands of dollars to fix, and often compromise the health of the occupants of the home. Older clay and concrete sewer drain pipe are especially subject to breaking down, collapsing, slumping into what is called sewer pipe stomach, and other problems. Knowing that the sewer line is in good condition is an important fact when you are preparing to make an offer and sign a contract for purchasing a home, and many lending institutions are now starting to ask for a certified sewer line scopes. Sewer scoping is rarely included in standard home inspections Colorado Springs CO. Axios offers a combined package for inclusion of this important inspection with a home inspection. Call us or send in our contact form for a free estimate to get this work completed.
Home inspectors Colorado Springs CO often do not talk about mold, thinking that the dry climate in the south central region prevents the need to check for the problematic growths. Many homeowners have been unpleasantly surprised to learn they have black mold growth in their drywall that got wet, subflooring that was left damp after the toilet overflowed, or the area behind the washer is webbed and black from a leaking drain hose. Black mold is actually brown, and only turns black after it has gone through a growth cycle, reproduced spores, and died. If you see black, webby patterns on your paint, drywall, or paint, you already have mold spores distributed through your home, air conditioning ducts, and elsewhere. Black mold is destructive and physically problematic, especially for anyone
with compromised immune or respiratory systems in your home. Black mold breaks down materials and can cause collapse of ceilings, drywall, plaster, mortar between tiles, and will eat wood over time. It is toxic and requires correct professional treatment to end the growth cycles and to clean out the deposits. Colorado Springs home inspections do not test for mold. Axios does free mold inspections to see if you need testing done for mold and our home inspection cost Colorado Springs quote can include at a very reasonable rate mold testing when warranted. We also do them as stand alone tests. Home mold tests are not accurate and have to be repeated, like radon tests. Have our professionals do the testing for you so you know if there is an issue that has to be treated as soon as possible.
Few home inspection companies do asbestos testing Colorado Springs. There is a lot of misinformation about asbestos, as many people think it is no longer used in building materials. Nothing could be more incorrect, as the regulations banning asbestos were overturned 3 years after they were put in place. While we do not produce asbestos construction materials in the U.S., there are many products imported from overseas for construction use and it is present in dozens of different materials. As long as not disturbed asbestos poses little danger. When disturbed, abraded, or when it starts to deteriorate with age, asbestos becomes a dangerous particle that over time causes lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma. Once you breath asbestos particles, they lodge in your lungs and stomach and never leave. The average time for asbestos exposure and ingestion to cause problems is 15-50 years. Most older buildings in Colorado Springs contain some level of asbestos, in a wide variety of construction materials ranging from asphalt roofing, roll roofing, mastic and adhesives, insulation, linoleum flooring, certain plasters and stucco, and many others. It was used extensively as it was inexpensive, a good insulator against temperature and electricity, and had high tensile strength. If you suspect asbestos in your structure, call Axios. We can inspect the area and take samples for testing that are carefully handled so there is as little disturbance as possible to the potential hazard.
Not all Colorado Springs home inspectors are certified to test for radon. Colorado has the infamous distinction of having the highest average radon levels of any state in the nation. It is due to our abundant mineral and element content in our soil and rocks, with higher than normal deposits of both uranium and radium. Radon gas is created through the deterioration of these and other radioactive materials, and being a gas, it works its way to the surface through spaces in the soil. Disturbed soil, well shafts, drill rigs, and other openings created in the earth, including when foundations are dug and laid, allow radon to rise and pool. A tiny amount of radon occurs naturally in the air we breath, but when it seeps from an underground source, it is heavier than the surrounding air and it collects in places where there is still air. Favorite spots include crawl spaces, dead air in walls, and pockets between floor joists. Radon gas has a direct link to lung cancer, and if there is a smoke source in the home, the likelihood of lung cancer raises significantly. Radon is fairly easy and inexpensive to treat with ventilation, but you have to know it is there, and the amount, so you know what needs to be done. And, if radon is discovered on your property and you have a well, your well needs radon tested also. Radon easily joins into a water column, getting released via aeration in your shower or sink.
We are a leading home inspection company in the Colorado Springs area, and we serve the entire south central region including Pikes Peak and the Rocky Mountain Front Range. Our technicians are skilled, trained, and thorough. We want your home purchase or sale to go smoothly, and for the structure to be safe. We also want you to know when there are issues. Call us or send in our contact form for a free quotation on the inspections you need completed at a reasonable cost. We look forward to helping you learn the truth about the home you want to sell or plan to purchase.