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    Home Inspections in Vernon and the North Okanagan

    A house shows you its best side. Fresh paint, staged furniture, a tidy garage. What it does not show you is the thirty-year-old poly-B running behind the drywall, the flashing that stopped doing its job two winters ago, or the quiet slope of a floor that means something moved.

    A c4u home inspection takes three and a half to four hours and checks over 1,500 separate points. At the end of it you get a walkthrough with the inspector and a written report with photographs. Same inspection whether you are buying, selling, taking possession of a new build or answering an insurer.

    Don’t Assume

    The most expensive assumption people make is that a problem would be obvious if it were serious. It usually isn’t. Water gets in somewhere dry-looking. A panel that passes a glance fails a proper look. A roof that reads fine from the driveway reads very differently from a ladder.

    We do not guess and we do not soften. We tell you what we found and what it means.

    What we check

    Over 1,500 points across the whole property, inside and out. In practice that means:

    • Roof covering, flashing, penetrations and drainage, from a ladder where it is safe to get up
    • Attic — insulation, ventilation, visible structure, evidence of moisture
    • Exterior cladding, trim, windows, doors and the building envelope
    • Grading, drainage and how water moves away from the building
    • Foundation and visible structure
    • Basement and crawlspace, including signs of past or present water
    • Electrical service, panel, wiring type, outlets and visible fixtures
    • Plumbing supply and drainage, water heater, fixtures and visible leaks
    • Heating and cooling equipment and its distribution
    • Interior — floors, walls, ceilings, stairs, windows and doors
    • Kitchen and bathroom fittings and their ventilation
    • Garage, including the door and its safety devices
    • Safety items — smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, guards, handrails

    What the north tends to add

    Most of the housing in Vernon, Armstrong, Enderby and Lumby was built before 2000, and a lot of it sits on its own water and its own septic at the end of a long driveway. That changes where we spend the four hours, not what the inspection is.

    Older stock

    Original and part-replaced wiring, panels of a certain vintage, roofs on their second covering, additions built over decades.

    Wood heat

    Wood heat used as the main heat rather than a backup — the appliance, its clearances, the chimney and how it was installed.

    Wells and septic

    Wells and septic on unserviced parcels — we inspect the visible plumbing and note what we see, and tell you which specialists to book.

    Acreages and farm parcels

    Outbuildings, barns and shops, irrigation crossing the property, steep cut-and-fill driveways and access.

    Manufactured and modular homes

    Manufactured and modular homes on rural lots — set-up, skirting, tie-downs where visible, and the crawlspace under them.

    A 1970s split-level on the Vernon hillside, a hobby farm outside Armstrong and a Kelowna condo are three different afternoons. Same 1,500 points; different things worth writing down.

    What happens on the day

    1. 1

      You get in touch

      Phone, text or the booking form. We talk about the property, what is prompting the inspection, and any date you are working to.

    2. 2

      We book it in

      Around your timeline, not ours.

    3. 3

      The inspection

      Three and a half to four hours on site. You are welcome to be there — most people are, and the ones who are get far more out of it.

    4. 4

      The walkthrough

      When the inspection is done we walk the property together and go through what we found. Ask everything. This is the part you cannot get from a PDF.

    5. 5

      The report

      A detailed written report follows, delivered online, with photographs, notations and recommendations. Yours to keep, forward to your realtor, or hand to a trade for a quote.

    Which home inspection do you need?

    The inspection itself is the same. What changes is when you do it, what you do with the findings, and what we pay closest attention to. Pick the one that matches where you are.

    What a home inspection is not

    Worth saying plainly, because it saves disappointment later. A home inspection is a visual, non-invasive examination of what can be reached and seen on the day. We do not open walls, lift carpet or dismantle equipment. We cannot report on what is buried, sealed or blocked by the seller’s belongings.

    Some things need their own test and their own equipment — mold and air quality sampling, asbestos identification, and radon, which needs a detector left in place for at least 91 days during the heating season and cannot be measured in an afternoon. If we see a reason to recommend one of those, we will say so in the report.

    On a rural property, well water quality and the septic system itself are their own trades too. We are not pumping a tank or sampling a well, and we will tell you plainly if you should be booking someone who does.

    Who is doing the inspecting

    Vin McConnachie. Consumer Protection BC Home Inspector Licence #78731, Qualified Home Inspector with Carson Dunlop Canada, and thirty years of inspecting property across the UK and Canada. He has been doing this in the Okanagan since 2005.

    Credentials and licensing

    “Vin was a very thorough and honest home inspector. He really took the time to not only inspect the house, but also to break down all of his findings. As a first time home owner I felt confident in his skills and abilities”

    — SB

    Book your home inspection

    We inspect homes in Vernon, Coldstream, Armstrong, Spallumcheen, Enderby and Lumby, and south through Lake Country, Kelowna and West Kelowna to Peachland, Summerland and Penticton. Tell us the address and the date you are working to, and we will come back to you within one business day. Call or text (250) 212-4025.

    We look at your home with our heads so you can look at it with your heart.