Here we answer questions about getting a home or commercial inspection, give tips on home maintenance, and share our knowledge about common home and commercial property issues. We are here to help you. If you can’t find an answer to your questions here, you can always contact us via our contact page.
One of the most common assumptions buyers make is that newer homes are somehow exempt from inspection concerns. If the house was built recently—especially within the last five to ten years—it’s easy to believe the big risks are behind you. After all, everything looks clean. Systems feel modern. Materials haven’t
Some buyers expect a home inspection to feel intense. Serious tone. Urgent language. A long list of warnings. When that doesn’t happen, they sometimes wonder whether the inspection was thorough enough. In reality, the calmest inspections are often the most experienced ones. At Upchurch Inspection, our goal isn’t to impress
One loose outlet cover doesn’t mean much.One small crack doesn’t tell a story.One stained board could be nothing. But when those things start repeating—when they show up in related places, under similar conditions, or alongside other subtle clues—that’s when experienced inspectors start paying close attention. At Upchurch Inspection, we don’t
One of the more confusing moments for buyers happens when they read an inspection report and see notes about things that aren’t broken. No defect. No failure. Just commentary. It’s easy to wonder why those observations are there at all. If something is working, why mention it? The answer is
Buyers often want a simple verdict at the end of an inspection. “So… is it a good house?” It’s an understandable question. Buying a home is emotional, expensive, and stressful. A clear thumbs-up or thumbs-down would feel comforting. But experienced inspectors almost never answer that question directly—and it’s not because
Buyers often expect a home inspection to feel like a long list of individual items: roof, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, foundation. Each part checked, noted, and moved past. But experienced inspectors don’t actually think that way. We think in systems, because houses don’t fail one component at a time. They fail
Thermal cameras, moisture meters, drones, gas detectors—inspection technology has come a long way. Buyers see inspectors arrive with cases full of tools and assume that the tools themselves are what make an inspection thorough. The reality is less flashy and far more important: equipment doesn’t find problems—experience does. At Upchurch
Most buyers assume that a home inspection is the same everywhere. That if an inspector follows a recognized standard, the results should be interchangeable whether the home is in Memphis, Nashville, Little Rock, or Cape Girardeau. On paper, that sounds reasonable. In practice, it’s wrong. National standards matter. They create
At some point during almost every inspection, a buyer asks a version of the same question: “Okay, but which of these things really matters?” It’s a fair question. Inspection reports can feel dense. Issues are documented individually, often with similar formatting and similar language. To someone new to the process,
Most buyers assume protection comes from spotting defects. That is part of the job, of course, but in practice, the real protection often comes from understanding patterns—how houses behave over time, how problems usually escalate, which issues tend to remain stable, and how local conditions shape the meaning of what
There is a difference between knowing how houses are supposed to work and understanding how they actually do. That difference only shows up after years of walking through real homes—occupied homes, aging homes, renovated homes, neglected homes, inherited homes, flipped homes, and homes that have been repaired just enough to
Most investors have had a “commercial inspection.”Far fewer have had a Property Condition Assessment (PCA) that actually satisfies lenders. There’s a big difference. Under the updated ASTM E2018-24 standard, lenders and institutional investors aren’t looking for a checklist or a narrative report. They’re looking for a baseline risk document that
