My name is Thomas Herbst I am a Home inspector in Boxboro Ma area. I started Clayton Home Inspections in 1994 with the purpose of delivering a thorough home inspection in Boxboro Ma so, homebuyers can feel good about moving into their new home. Prior to that, I was in construction since 1979. I started from the ground up and have a Pest Certification License over many years and Certified Wood destroying certification for many years now and retained my pest license and Home inspector License ever since.
This knowledge and Experience is useful when inspecting the structure also electrical system, plumbing system, heating system and looking for signs of active insect or damage, as insects can cause significant damage to a house. It is highly unlikely that you will find another home inspector with that much experience in House construction and pest damage Identification, along with that much experience in home inspections. Now, I’m not just talking about having a Home Inspection license. I’m speaking about having the genuine experience as a Contractor who has overseen multi-million dollar house constructions. Anybody can get a Home improvement license.
If you want to find some of the best home inspectors near me in Boxboro Ma, you certainly need to do some research. There’s nothing worse than moving into a house and then recognizing that you need to drop $10,000-50K into it immediately, all because of an unskilled home inspector.
First, go to the State’s Board of Home Inspectors’ website and make certain the inspector’s license is still effective. Next, check the inspector out at the Better Business Bureau. Check for complaints and read any reviews that may be posted.
Don’t go for the inexpensive home adviser home inspector. In this industry, oftentimes you usually get what you pay for. Whatever you’re spending for that house, it’s a lot of money and searching for a home inspector with a “bargain-basement hunter’s” mentality is certainly not the right method. Hope to hear from you soon.
Water damage
This is a significant part of a home inspection, as water is a home’s “worst adversary”. I am additionally inspecting the gutters and downspouts to safeguard they are taking the water far enough away from the structure.
Exterior
I’m also examining the walls/siding, fascia’s, rake boards, soffits, and windows. I’m also checking the structural integrity of the building. Inspecting for structural integrity and safety. Inspecting underside, as well (if possible). Examining the condition of the roofing material (ie: shingles, etc.). Also inspecting vent pipes, exhaust vents, and skylights.
Attic Inspection
Confirming fundamental reliability of the roof. Making sure the attic is appropriately vented and insulated. Examination support system and for signs of water infiltration. Inspecting chimney (if present) and making sure there is a sufficient amount of insulation.
Interior
Walls, Floors, Ceilings, Doors & Windows Inspection. The State regulations only require that we operate one door and window per room. I go well beyond that.
Kitchen Inspection
State regulations do not require us to inspect appliances. I do not inspect and operate dishwashers, ranges, microwaves and trash compactors.
Bathroom Inspection
Inspect plus operate all toilets, sinks, tubs, and showers, checking for leaks and proper functionality. Also, inspect any exhaust fans.
Ensuring structural integrity, looking for signs of water penetration and also inspecting bulkheads.
Heating System Inspection (Temperature Permitting)
Inspect and operate all boilers, furnaces and air handlers. Making sure each room has a heat source. Inspection of oil tanks is not mandated by the State but they are certainly included in my home inspection.
Cooling System Inspection (Temperature-permitting)
Inspect and operate all cooling systems in-season (ie: condensers, compressors, evaporator coils, heat pumps, etc.).
In addition Inspect plus operate all plumbing fixtures and observing for leaks in supply and drainage pipes everywhere. also Inspecting there are no clogged pipes (backups). Water heaters are inspected.
Electrical System Inspection
Extremely important part of a home inspection from a cost standpoint, as well as safety. Also Inspecting all electrical panels and ensuring proper grounding of an electrical system. Also Inspecting all visible wiring throughout the building for loose and/or exposed wires. The Home Inspection State regulations only require us to check one outlet per room. I go way beyond that.
I am also looking for any kind of insect damage (ie: carpenter ant, termite, etc.) In addition my 15 years (previous) experience as a contractor along with my 24 years experience as a home inspector simply cannot be matched. If you or someone you know has more experience than me in each of these two fields (and can prove it) then I will gladly remove this claim.
Well water test
This test is highly recommended for any house with Well water. I can test for up to 26 items in the water (ie: bacteria, lead, iron, VOC’s etc.).
Radon Testing (add’l fee)
Radon
If there is a finished basement or if you plan on finishing it, then this test is highly recommended. There are also other situations that would constitute performing a radon test.
Any Questions?
Call Today (978) 793-1346
History of Boxboro was characterized in 1873 as “…a small farming-town, somewhat hilly and of a passably good soil, lying on the westerly edge of Middlesex County”…inhabited by “nearly all farmers, who earn their living…by the sweat of the face.” This description was entirely fitting from the town’s founding through to the beginnings of suburbanization in the late 20th century.
Disliking the distance to church services or perhaps just seeking their own identity, a group of town founding families acquired Harvard’s old meeting house and transported it to the hilltop intersection of Hill and Middle Roads. In 1775 Orginizers petitioned the Colonial legislature to become a separate entity and in 1783 Boxborough incorporated as a district of about ten square miles, made up of parts of Stow, Harvard, and Littleton. By 1800 a small center village had grown up around the meetinghouse at the top of Hill Road, but at its incorporation as a town in 1835, Boxboro was still an agricultural community of dispersed farms raising grain and livestock.
With the exception of small local industries including gristmills, sawmills, and cooperages as well as some minor boot and shoemaking, comb-making, and a lime quarry and kiln, Boxboro’s economy remained almost entirely agricultural through the 19th century. In 1806 the Union Turnpike was extended west from Concord (today’s Massachusetts Avenue/Route 111), passing through Boxboro a short distance south of the center easing the local farmers’ access to regional markets.
The 1829 founding of the Evangelical Congregational Society and its erecting of a meeting house on the Union Turnpike marked the beginning of a shift of the town’s center of activity from the old Hill Road Town Common. Growing of hops was a specialty on many Boxboro farms in the early 19th century, when the town had the reputation as the largest hop-growing town of its size in New England. In 1845 the Fitchburg Railroad came through the northeast corner of town with a flag stop at the Littleton border, further speeding the shipment of farm products such as butter and cheese, and setting the stage for agricultural specialization.
Even as late as 1860 the heart of the town still dominated by an ancient oak wood of perhaps a thousand acres. It was visited in two well documented 1860 visits by Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau characterized Inches Woods as “just the most remarkable and memorable thing in Boxboro…The most handsome thing I saw in Boxboro was this noble stand of oak wood. I doubt if there is a finer one in Massachusetts.”
The woods subsequently lumbered as part of the Civil War efforts and became crop and grazing lands. Dairying became increasingly important in the second half of the 19th century, with farmers shipping milk to regional markets in Worcester, Lowell, and Boston. After the Civil War, many Boxboro farms also included large orchards of apples, pears, and peaches, and some farmers were doing a brisk business in grapes and berries. By 1900, poultry raising was another important specialty, lasting into the 1940s.
While orcharding, poultry farming, and some dairying continued into the 1970s, farming of all types declined throughout Boxboro after World War II. Commuting to jobs outside of Boxboro increased, spurred by regional highway construction including Interstate 495 which came through the west part of town in the early 1960s. Old farms divided to make new house lots, and residential growth skyrocketed through the end of the 20th century, dramatically changing the character of the community.
Suburbanization caused the population of the Town to double in the 1960s and to double again in the 1970s. Beginning in the 1960s a number of multi-family buildings, first as apartments and later as condos built, particularly to the west of I- 495. The 1990s saw an increase in office park construction also mostly on the west side of I-495.
Increased awareness of development pressures coupled with the change in demographics led to a town focus on landscape conservation and on the development of recreation resources. The Town began acquiring land for conservation and, notably, a private group secured the preservation of the endangered Beaver Brook Esker, which remains under the management of the Boxboro Conservation Trust. Surveys of historical resources performed resulting in the Boxboro Old Town Common and Steele Farm being placed on the National Register. Steele Farm, a municipal property, also protected by a conservation/historical preservation restriction. Active recreation resources developed during this period include athletic fields at Flerra Meadows (a mixed-use property) and at Liberty Fields.
‐ Alan Rohwer, Boxboro Historical Commission, August 2015
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