Before you book
What actually happens at a free evaluation
"Free inspection" is the oldest hook in this trade, and you are right to wonder what the catch is. Here is the whole thing, step by step, including the parts where we do not make any money.
- 01
We look at the hatch first
Clearance gets measured before anything else. Some St. Pete bungalows — Kenwood especially — have crawlspaces too tight to enter safely. If yours is one of them we tell you standing at the hatch, not after an hour of billable-looking activity.
- 02
Then we crawl the whole thing
Every pier, including the porch and addition piers where settlement usually shows first. Every joist bay. Every duct run. Not a look around from the opening with a flashlight.
- 03
Moisture readings on the subfloor
Taken on the wood itself with a meter, not inferred from a hygrometer sitting near the vent. A number you can compare against next year.
- 04
Photographs of what is actually there
Including the parts you would rather not see. If a previous contractor did something odd down there, you get a picture of it.
- 05
A written report, emailed
Condition, readings, photographs, and what we would and would not do about it. Yours to keep, forward to your agent, or hand to another company for a second number.
- 06
A fixed price, if there is work worth doing
In writing, with the liner thickness and the dehumidifier model named. Not a range, and not a number that moves once we start.
So where is the catch
There isn't one, but there is an honest incentive worth naming: we do this free because a photographed crawlspace is the best sales tool in the business, and because roughly one house in seven inside city limits actually has a crawlspace — so a free evaluation costs us less than driving to slab houses on a paid appointment would.
The report being yours unconditionally is the part that matters. Take it to another company. Attach it to a repair addendum. Put it in a drawer for three years. None of that costs you anything.
What we will not do
Structural repair, foundation repair and mold remediation each require a separate Florida license, and we will not do licensed work without the license. If an evaluation turns up failing piers, damaged joists or mold, we document it with photographs and refer you to an appropriately licensed contractor.
Questions people ask first
- Is the evaluation really free?
- Yes, and the report is yours either way. We are a two-person company, not a franchise paying a commissioned inspector, so there is no quota that requires us to find something. If your crawlspace is fine, we say so and leave.
- How long does it take?
- About forty-five minutes for a typical St. Petersburg bungalow. Longer if the space is large or so full of debris that we have to work around it to see the framing.
- Do I need to be home?
- Someone needs to let us in if the access hatch is interior, which it often is in these houses. Beyond that, no — plenty of people leave us to it and read the report that evening.
- What if my house is on a slab?
- Then there is nothing under it to service and nobody should sell you crawlspace work. About 86 percent of Pinellas County housing was built after 1950, most of it slab-on-grade. We will tell you in two minutes at no charge. If you would rather check yourself first, the guide on this site walks you through it.
- Will you try to sell me something while you are there?
- We will tell you what we found and what we would do about it, and then leave you alone to think. No same-day discount, no price that expires when we drive away. Those tactics exist because the company using them does not expect to be believed.
- What if you find something you cannot fix?
- You get the photographs and a referral to a contractor whose license covers it. Structural repair and mold remediation each require separate Florida licenses, and we will not do licensed work without the license.
Still not sure you have a crawlspace? Work it out yourself in five minutes — it is free and it does not involve us.
Find out what is actually under your house
A free evaluation, photographed and written up, whether or not there is a job in it for us.