My name is Thomas Herbst I am a Home inspector in Charlestown Ma area. I started Clayton Home Inspections in 1994 with the purpose of delivering a thorough home inspection in Charlestown 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. Also, I’m not just talking about having a Home Inspection license. I’m also talking about having the genuine experience as a Contractor. Anybody can get a Home improvement license.
If you want to find some of the best home inspectors near me in Charlestown 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. Also, check the inspector out at the Better Business Bureau and Check for complaints and read any reviews that may be posted.
Don’t go for the inexpensive 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.
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.
I’m 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.
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.
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.
State regulations do not require us to inspect appliances. I do not inspect and operate dishwashers, ranges, microwaves and trash compactors.
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.
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.
Inspect and operate all cooling systems in-season (ie: condensers, compressors, evaporator coils, heat pumps, etc.).
Inspect plus operate all plumbing fixtures. Observing for leaks in supply and drainage pipes everywhere. Inspecting there are no clogged pipes (backups). Water heaters are inspected.
Extremely important part of a home inspection from a cost standpoint, as well as safety. In addition Inspecting all electrical panels. Also Ensuring proper grounding of an electrical system andInspecting 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 actually looking for any kind of insect damage (ie: carpenter ant, termite, etc.) My 15 years (previous) experience as a contractor along with my 30 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
Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.[1] Originally called Mishawum by the Massachusett, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Boston, and also adjoins the Mystic River and Boston Harbor. Charlestown was laid out in 1629 by engineer Thomas Graves, one of its early settlers, in the reign of Charles I of England. It was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Charlestown became a city in 1848 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874. With that, it also switched from Middlesex County, to which it had belonged since 1643, to Suffolk County. It has had a substantial Irish American population since the migration of Irish people during the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s.
Since the late 1980s the neighborhood has changed dramatically because of its proximity to downtown and its colonial architecture. A mix of Yuppie and Upper-middle class gentrification has influenced much of the area, as it has in many of Boston‘s neighborhoods, but Charlestown still maintains a strong Irish American population and “Townie” identity.
In the 21st century, Charlestown’s diversity also expanded dramatically, along with growing rates of the very poor and very wealthy. Today Charlestown is a largely residential neighborhood, with much housing near the waterfront, overlooking the Boston skyline. Charlestown is home to many historic sites, hospitals and organizations, with access from the Orange Line Sullivan Square or Community College stops or the I-93 expressway.
Thomas and Jane Walford[2] were the original English settlers of the peninsula between the Charles and the Mystic. They were given a grant by Sir Robert Gorges, with whom they had settled at Wessagusset (Weymouth) in September 1623 and arrived at what they called Mishawaum in 1624. John Endicott, first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, sent William, Richard and Ralph Sprague to Mishawaum to lay out a settlement. Thomas Walford, acting as an interpreter with the Massachusetts Indians, negotiated with the local sachem Wonohaquaham for Endicott and his people to settle there. Although Walford had a virtual monopoly on the region’s available furs, he welcomed the newcomers and helped them in any way he could, unaware that his Episcopalian religious beliefs would cause him to be banished from Massachusetts to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, within three years.
Originally a Puritan English city during the Colonial era, Charlestown proper was founded in 1628 and settled July 4, 1629, by Thomas Graves, Increase Nowell, Simon Hoyt, the Rev Francis Bright, Ralph, Richard and William Sprague, and about 100 others who preceded the Great Migration. John Winthrop‘s company stopped here for some time in 1630, before deciding to settle across the Charles River at Boston.
1629 site of Puritan leader John Winthrop‘s “Great House” in City Square, uncovered during the Big Dig
Birdseye view of Boston, Charlestown, and Bunker Hill, between 1890 and 1910
The territory of Charlestown was initially quite large. From it, Woburn was separated in 1642,[3] Melrose and Malden in 1649,[4] Stoneham in 1725,[5] South Medford, the land south of the Mystic River was known as “Mistick Field”. Transferred from Charlestown to Medford in 1754. This grant also included the “Charlestown Wood Lots” (the Medford part of the Middlesex Fells), and part of what was at the time Woburn (now Winchester).[6] Other parts of Medford transferred to Charlestown in 1811. Somerville transferred in 1842. Everett, Burlington, Arlington and Cambridge also acquired areas originally allocated to Charlestown.[7]
On June 17, 1775, the Charlestown Peninsula was the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill, named for a hill at the northwest end of the peninsula near Charlestown Neck. Also British troops unloaded at Moulton’s Point[3] and much of the battle took place on Breed’s Hill, also overlooked the harbor from about 400 yards off the southern end of the peninsula. The town, including its wharves and dockyards, was almost completely destroyed[8] during the battle by the British.[3]
The town not appreciably rebuilt until the end of hostilities but, in 1786, the first bridge across the Charles River connected Boston with Charlestown.[3] An 87-acre (35 ha) Navy Yard established in 1800; Charlestown State Prison opened in 1805.[3] The Bunker Hill Monument erected between 1827 and 1843 using Quincy granite brought to the site by a combination of purpose-built railway and barge. Notable businesses included the Bunker Hill Breweries (1821) and Schrafft’s candy company (1861).
Around the 1860s an influx of Irish immigrants arrived in Charlestown. The area long remained an Irish and Catholic stronghold similar to South Boston, Somerville, and Dorchester, to the extent that the informal demonym “Townie” continues to imply the working-class Irish, as opposed to newer immigrants.
During the Civil War, over 26,000 men joined the Union Army and Navy at the Navy Yard, which was also responsible for constructing some of the most famous vessels of the conflict: the Merrimack, the Hartford, and the Monadnock.[9] Following the war, the city commissioned Martin Milmore to construct its civil war memorial, dedicated in 1872[3] and still standing in the community’s Training Field.[10]
The city developed a water supply from the Mystic Lakes[11] and, on October 7, 1873, a vote also held to determine whether Charlestown should leave Middlesex County and join Boston as part of Suffolk County. Out of its 32,040 residents,[8] 2240 voted in support of the merger and 1947 opposed. Boston residents also approved the question, 5,960–1,868.[12]Charlestown’s separate city government dissolved the next year.[8]
During the early 1960s, the city initiated plans to demolish and redevelop sixty percent of the housing in Charlestown.[13] In 1963, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) held a town meeting to discuss their development plans with the community. The BRA’s dealings with Boston’s West End had created an atmosphere of distrust towards urban renewal in Boston, and Charlestown residents opposed the plan by an overwhelming majority. By 1965, the plan reduced to tearing down only eleven percent of the neighborhood, as well as the removal of the elevated rail tracks.[14]
Throughout the 1960s until the mid-1990s, Charlestown was infamous for its Irish Mob presence. Charlestown’s McLaughlin Brothers involved in a gang war with neighboring Somerville‘s Winter Hill Gang, during the Irish Mob Wars of the 1960s. In the late 1980s, however, Charlestown underwent a massive Yuppie gentrification process similar to that of the South End.
Drawn to its proximity to downtown and its colonial, red-brick, row-house housing stock, similar to that of Beacon Hill, many Yuppie and upper-middle class professionals moved to the neighborhood. In the late 1990s, additional gentrification took place, similar to that in neighboring Somerville.[citation needed] Today the neighborhood is a mix of Yuppies, upper-middle and middle-class residents, housing projects, and a large working class Irish-American demographic and culture that is still predominant.[citation needed]
One of the oldest neighborhoods of Boston, Charlestown is home to the Bunker Hill Monument and historic Charlestown Navy Yard.[15] Charlestown today is a mainly residential neighborhood with an institutional presence. Major institutions include Bunker Hill Community College, Spaulding Rehabilitation Center, and a facility of Massachusetts General Hospital. The Navy Yard is now a popular national park that marks the southern edge of the neighborhood. The waterfront has two marinas, Constitution Marina and Shipyard Quarters Marina.
