I hired Jorve to do a pre-purchase inspection/repair estimate to determine the extent of decay in some beams in a house I was considering purchasing. At the time, Jorve claimed to be a "rot repair specialist" and said that their master carpenter could do an in depth inspection to determine how serious the decay issue was and how much they'd charge to make a complete repair. They claimed to be the most qualified company in the greater seattle area with regards to all issues pertaining to rot.
The master carpenter they sent over made claim to being a civil engineer and expert with such things as rotten beems. After climbing up on his ladder to inspect each beam, probing them and tapping them methodically... He told us that the rot was entirely superficial and "nothing at all to worry about." Since this man claimed to be an engineer and rot repair expert, we took his word and purchased the house based entirely upon assurance.
Well as it turned out, these beams were so rotten that when my carpenter went to make the repairs, they fell apart at the slightest touch... They could litterally be pulled apart with your bare hands. My carpenter, a very conservative and honest guy, firmly believed that it was simply imposible that a "master carpenter" could not have known that ALL The beams were 100% rotten through and through.in fact, he could even see the marks where the Jorve carpenter had pushed his screwdriver deep inside the rotten beams.
I've since been told that this type of dishonesty is not uncommon when you consult a contractor prior to purchasing a house. The theory is that these contractors want you to purchase a damaged home so that they might be in a position to get the repair contract.in my case, according to my carpenter, there can be no other possible explanation because the beams were so rotten that even a layperson couldn't have missed the severity and of course the deep screwdriver holes were a dead giveaway.
I have complained to the Jorve Management, but they now insist that they weren't performing an inspection but rather just submitting an estimate. This is a complete lie. There was a very explicit understanding that I was paying them for an inspection by a "rot repair" specialist. I expected better from Jorve, if only because they have the reputation for being 2 to 3 times the price of competitive roofers / carpenters.
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