Thread: Crawlspace

Here in the Chicago the majority of the homes have basements.
I've done a few inspections where its a crawlspace.
Of course inspecting a basement is easier than a crawlspace.
I'm curious if most inspectors charge extra, and if so how much more ?
Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Bob Garza

Here in the Chicago the majority of the homes have basements.
I've done a few inspections where its a crawlspace.
Of course inspecting a basement is easier than a crawlspace.
I'm curious if most inspectors charge extra, and if so how much more ?
Thanks.

My fees are the same for a slab, basement or crawl. I also do not charge extra for multiple HVAC, bathrooms, etc. The only time I start to raise my fees(outside of my normal fees based on the size of the home) is if the home is on a historical register or district, over 100 years of age, out of my normal service area or if I think the client is going to be a pain in the rear.
I just raise my quoted fee, I do not tell the person that I'm charging extra because the home has X....

VERY different areas since most homes are slab foundations here; but I do charge $100 if I have to suit up and crawl. If I have to crawl, it is going to be worth my while. If a customer does not understand the extra charge (which never has happened) I will waive the fee and hand them my mask and flashlight!

Almost every house in my area has a crawl. A few slab, almost never a basement. No extra charge. Just a happy day when slabs or basements.

Charge extra for homes more than 25 years old. Charge is sliding scale. The older the home, the more the surcharge.

As Jim I charge a minimum fee of 100. extra for the crawlspace. If it is not completely accessible, I do not discount it either. I do make comments on what I can see and what I cannot see.

If I see standing water or electrical wiring on the ground, I do not enter the crawlspace.

Being also in the termite business for the last 25yrs. I've crawled my fair share of pier and beams homes. If you have a phobia of entering crawlspaces, I would encourage you to find another line of work.

rick

Electrical cables lying on the crawlspace dirt floor with unsealed vapor retarder.

This is a modular home and the cables were spliced together with interconnect connector like AMP 3 wire splice.

There was standing water at the other end of crawl.

Crawls are hazardous duty... dust, mold, wet, varmints, snakes, sharp objects everywhere,

belly crawling basic training required

If it's so easy then the buyer can do it themselves!

i charge extra... especially when i know they are going to be a pain in the arse.

We never charged extra unless there were visible signs of snakes or raccoons. Then we gave the buyer a jump suit, hard hat and flashlight to get him involved in the inspection. (tic)

We charge $50 extra. Been thinking about raising that price, but most around here do it for $35. It doesn't hurt my feelings much if they want to use someone else on these homes as we are plenty busy with mostly slabs. We do about 15% crawl space homes. Not many basements here. It is good to do some as it makes you appreciate the others more. The crwal space homes here never have vapor barriers and if you get one with 18-inch clearance you're lucky. Most were built from the mid 50's back and have outdated electrical, difficult attics, old wooden windows that are painted shut, plumbing of all kinds, tons of spiders, and just generally suck.

Basement, Slab and crawl space all same price.

Bill

If you had 2 clients standing next to each other and told the slab buyer he will be paying 300 and then turn to the crawl buyer and tell him his inspection is going to take much longer due to having to crawl under the home and the hazards that exist are countless such as all mentioned above as well as the amount of time added to a report due to your findings and then tell him while looking at the slab buyer that it will still only cost 300..........................................Serio usly.....how much sense does that make. Your liability just went thru the roof due to the fact you are trying to twist your neck this way and that to see everything, slide under support beams that barely allow you to fit under dragging brown recluse and black widows and dead animals along with you, breathing in all kinds of over applied now banned pesticides (yes, even with a mask on that you cannot breath in because of the conditions in the crawland sweating your backside off etc etc etc etc).

For those that say all homes of the same size get the same price ?????? Just curious. Why ??? Unless of course you live in an area with mostly crawls and your prices are already at a higher scale for such. Or your prices are customarily higher due to a large amount of basements in the area adding to the square footage. Walking in a basement versus crawling on dirt in a to tight, musty, buggy, chemical ridden, way to many items to even remember to look at, crawl is just a tiny bit different from one another.

This is the problem I run into all the time in the DFW area. Folks having a flat fee for the home inspection, no matter the configuration of the home, giving free termite reports with the home inspection, IR scans, calling in the ghost busters for free, free urinalyses exams, blood tests, free gas and electric for a month, free satellite TV, free psychiatric exam and last but not least taking care of the husbands mother in-law at your home for the first month they live in their new home. Oops, almost forgot....their next six vehicle payments and 6 months worth of gas for their vehicle. Free lead test. Free mold test. Lets not forget baking a cake for them in the oven to see if it bakes evenly. Write in your report exactly how much water each toilet flush uses and be accurate within an ounce and if it is not a good flush due to low water volume and you have to flush twice to get rid of the spoils from the day before.

I am sure I could think of a few more items folks around here give away just to get the inspection.

It tends to hold pricing down just a wee tiny bit.

Ted
If something is bothering you, don't hold it in, just let it out, you'll feel better.

Originally Posted by Rick Cantrell

Ted
If something is bothering you, don't hold it in, just let it out, you'll feel better.

Naaah. Nothing is bothering me

I am just thinking of where to get some brunch. So, so busy inspecting and all this morning I was actually thinking of calling AD and see if we could get together for lunch but I forgot I was out of antacid

I was charging $75 afor crawlspaces. I dropped the fee about a year ago to stay competitive in this economy. I live in a hilly area where a good amount of crawlspaces are easily entered and walked instead of crawled, but there is still plenty of raised foundations on flat lots. Almost all newer construction is on slabs.