Homefront Inspection

Looks like the bad reviews are piling up and just like my experience they are big ticket items! Also looks like he got my original review red flagged/​hidden but my review is completely valid so I’m submitting another. Robert really appears to be out of his depth and it shows in what people are reporting that he’s missing.
***I could not more strongly advise looking elsewhere for a home inspection!!!

I took my realtor’s suggestion and hired Robert Whittenberg for my home inspection. I am a home buyer, not an inspector, but I have what I believe is a reasonable expectation that the person I pay for home inspection will understanding basics of most things about homes. I don’t expect perfection. Plumbing, heating, foundations, electrical, etc.
Got the inspection report and house, all seemed good.
Then my plumber came to fix a leak identified by Robert. After about 4 minutes in the crawlspace my plumber came out and asked if I’d had a home inspection done, and if so then who. He was astounded that so many basic plumbing issues did not make it into the report: plumbing drainage has been done by homeowner or equally unqualified person with fittings put in upside down, sealant (basic caulk) used between fittings, plastic to abs to iron pipe connections, drainage pipe poorly installed so that it has to go UPHILL to drain. There’s more, but too much to list.
As someone I hire to protect my interests, I expect my home inspector to be reasonably knowledgeable about the skill/​service he is selling. Either Robert is not knowledgable or he just decided not to list these items. I’m not sure which, but it doesn’t matter. I paid him to make me aware of what I was walking into and he did NOT do it. I am not happy. I want my money back. I don’t expect perfection, but when a person I hire to ID red flags ignores/​is unaware of several very basic red flag items I feel like I’ve been swindled.

We purchased a 1950 mid century and had Robert inspect it. While of course we wanted him to check everything out, we specifically told him our concern was big ticket items — the red flags — as we are extremely novice when it comes to home construction.
He said the house was in great shape and gave us a detailed report of all the things we should maintain and service annually. There were a few minor things to fix, but no big deal.
We moved in a couple of weeks ago to find all of our registers blow cool air. The house has a newish furnace, but it turns out that the ducts are in the slab and they are ‘seriously damaged’ and no reparable. We’ve had 3 HVAC guys come in, and all said the same thing. They also said that it should have been discovered and mentioned in the inspection.
So now we have a $ 7000+ estimate to put a furnace in the attic with new ducts, vents, etc, etc. Robert’s report said the heat system showed ‘adequate gains of 10 – 20 degrees’. When I confronted him about this he said 10 – 20 is on the ‘low end’. I told him I wish his report would have said ‘low end’ and I also wish he would have thought to bring it up at the end of the inspection. He told me about maintaining the cedar siding, he told me about getting the gutters to drain towards the downspout, he told me the greenhouse has electrical issues, but he never mentioned ‘ducts are in the slab’ and in a house 50+ yrs old, there’s a good chance they aren’t good.
I asked for a simple refund of the inspection. He said he stands by his work and it’s all in the report.
To sum up — the report you’ll get will be generic and all encompassing so that if your inspector misses something — it’s all in the report…

Robert handled my recent home inspection and I was thoroughly impressed. He arrived on time and got to work immediately. At the end of a ~4 hour inspection, he walked through the highlights of his findings before he left and had the report to me by early the following morning. He moved around as if he had a mental checklist for every room, but he also carried what appeared to be a master checklist that he consulted regularly.
His meticulous approach and attention to detail is evident in the report, which also contains photos of all of the issues he documented as in need of repair. The report is informative, well-​organized and written in plain English. It also describes limitations of each phase of the inspection.
Given all that, I was surprised to see Sarah’s very negative review. Can’t know what happened there, so I will simply relate my experience as it relates to some of the points she raises:
–Robert donned coveralls and squeezed into some pretty tight and not very clean crawl spaces and inspected the attic, so Sarah’s comment about the attic inspection was particularly surprising. However, when I Googled vermiculite (fortunately not present in the attic Robert inspected for me), I found this advice from the EPA, which suggests he may have had good reason his refusal: «Vermiculite insulation be left undisturbed in your attic. Due to the uncertainties with existing testing techniques, it is best to assume that the material may contain asbestos.» Also, «DO NOT DISTURB IT. Any disturbance has the potential to release asbestos fibers into the air.» The EPA recommends hiring professionals certified to handle and dispose of the material.
–I specifically asked him to inspect the sump pump, he was not able to do this because it had rusted over. Although I was disappointed that he wasn’t able to do the inspection, I think he handled it professionally. He told me what he could (e.g., from a visual inspection of the exterior, it does not appear to have been recently maintained) and clearly explained why he wasn’t able to assess the pump’s condition both during his oral briefing and in the written report. So, I’m now going to have a specialist take another look at it.
–I also watched him check a lot of outlets, even though the report states he’s only going to do a random sampling. He even checked the outlets hidden behind the grate below the gas fireplace, not just once, but several times (he flipped different combinations of the switches that control the fireplace while testing power to the outlet).
I also agree with Natalie that Robert’s services are in demand (my Redfin agent seemed surprised that Robert was available for the inspection). He probably doesn’t need another positive Unilocal review, but a pretty tough customer, so I think it’s only fair to give props when someone exceeds my expectations.

I’m a first time home buyer, and don’t exactly have a whole lot of experience with inspections to be able to effectively evaluate. However, HomeFront Inspection came highly recommended by our RedFin agent who has the cumulative experience via dozens of other buyers. And after shopping around at other web sites and looking at the sample reports, I really felt that Robert’s were by far the clearest and most professional. He was very methodical and thorough with his work, and took the time to explain things clearly to us.
My only critique is that he does enjoy a lot of business, so his availability isn’t guaranteed. Additionally, some other inspectors turn around their reports on the same day, whereas Robert will send it the following day. These were both minor points, since he already gives an overview at the time of inspection and I’m willing to wait for the best.
All in all, a good experience! I’ll update if I’m proven wrong later. ;)