ComplaintsforCornerstone Home Inspections, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  02/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Brian of Cornerstone Home Inspections did a home inspection for me in January 2024. During this inspection, he looked at both the water heater and furnace, both of which are gas, and reported only a minor problem with the furnace (a loose fitting clamp on a water valve causing some rusting). Upon buying the home and having the gas company come to turn my gas on, they immediately noticed a potentially serious problem with the fuel lines to both the water heater and furnace, something that Brian did not even point out, let alone document. The gas company refused to turn my gas on over safety concerns. I had an HVAC technician inspect the damage and they also refused to turn the gas on until the damage is repaired. As of today, 2/15/24, my quote to fix this issue is $2000-4000, depending on the extent of the damage (this may go up dramatically). I believe Brian failed in his duties of what I paid for in the home inspection, as this is both a major issue and related to systems (furnace and water heater) that he looked at directly. I have tried to communicate with him about this to get some kind of a refund or compensation due to his negligence, and he has completely ignored me since I brought this issue up.

  

  Business response

  03/15/2024

  During the inspection in question, the furnace had been replaced with a high efficiency unit which is exhausted through a PVC pipe. The CSST( corrugated stainless steel), was above any exhaust that could possibly produce any heat that would have caused the melting of the yellow plastic covering on the pipe that indicates that the pipe is for gas service. The CSST attachment to the black iron pipe is well above my head height, which indicated that the melting of the yellow plastic covering was most likely caused by the previous furnace which still had a metal exhaust pipe. The furnace and water heater were functioning properly at the time of the inspection, therefore this was not a concern for me, as there was no smell of gas during operation of the furnace or water heater. No unsafe conditions were present. It is believed that the individuals that the client had come to the property, wanted to take advantage of the situation to benefit themselves. The cost of the home inspection was reimbursed, as that was all that was requested. 

  Customer response

  03/15/2024

  I have reviewed the response offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. The resolution is fine - per his contract, it's all I'm entitled to (a refund of the inspection fee). However, his explanation is ********. The pipes run from a couple feet off the ground up through the ceiling, well within his head height. Additionally, the gas company, who has no financial interest in this, is the one who initially pointed this out as a problem (they would not turn gas on because of it).Again, the resolution is fine. I just wanted to make it clear that the inspector ****** up and cost me a lot of money. Having something in your contract that absolves you from all responsibility for being negligent/incompetent is ********. Regards, **** ******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩