The walls
are telling
you something.
One inspector. One property at a time. I read century-old rowhouses — pressing palms against cracked parging, tracing moisture paths, and telling you exactly what the walls are hiding before you sign.
Five zones.
One complete picture.
Click any image to read the field note — exactly what I write in the report, no translation needed.
Where water decides everything.
The difference between a
negotiating point and
a deal-breaker.
Most inspectors check boxes. I read buildings. After 200+ rowhouse inspections across Brooklyn and Philadelphia, I know what century-old masonry hides — and exactly how to tell you about it.
200+
Rowhouses Inspected
18 yrs
Masonry Experience
3-day
Report Delivery
Improper repointing with Portland cement
Hard cement traps moisture inside the softer original brick, accelerating spalling. Correct mortar matches the original lime-based mix — softer than the brick, not harder.
Missing joist blocking at bearing walls
Lateral bracing was never installed in pre-1920 construction. Modern loads from renovated kitchens and wet rooms create racking forces the original framing cannot resist alone.
Interior waterproofing over active moisture
Crystalline coatings and dimple mats installed by previous owners have trapped hydrostatic pressure. The wall is holding back water, not managing it.
Knob-and-tube circuits under blown-in insulation
K&T requires air circulation to dissipate heat. Insulation installed over it creates fire risk and voids homeowner insurance in most jurisdictions.
Active diagonal cracking at window headers
Stair-step and diagonal cracks read like a timeline. Fresh, sharp edges mean recent movement. Lichen-softened edges mean decades of stability. I tell you which you have.
Fresh paint over efflorescence
A coat of masonry paint hides the mineral deposits but traps the moisture pathway. When it fails — and it will — the damage is twice what it would have been.
See exactly what a full report looks like.
A redacted 42-page report from a 1903 Park Slope brownstone — the kind of document that changes what you see.
What clients say
after the walkthrough.
She walked through the parlor floor and told us the crack above the window header was forty years old and stable — not moving, not structural, a negotiating point not a deal-breaker. We bought the house. That crack is still there. She was right.
Nadia Okonkwo & James Whitfield
First-time buyers · Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Pre-purchase inspection, 1902 rowhouse
I needed a structural narrative for a contested estate — a 1918 Philadelphia rowhouse with three heirs and a buyer threatening to walk. The report she produced held up in mediation. Specific, dated, defensible. I've used her on four estates since.
Margaret Callahan, Esq.
Estate Attorney · Philadelphia, PA
Estate settlement inspection, 4 properties
Before we touched a single wall, I needed to know what the building was actually doing. Her report gave us a sequence — which repairs had to happen first and why. It became the spine of our renovation scope. Worth ten times what we paid.
Rafael Domínguez, AIA
Renovation Architect · Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
Pre-renovation structural assessment
Schedule
Your
Walkthrough.
I inspect one property at a time. Every walkthrough takes three to four hours. The report arrives within three business days — plain language, annotated photographs, no jargon.
3–4 hour walkthrough
Every zone, every system
42-page annotated report
Delivered in 3 business days
Follow-up call included
Walk through the findings together
"I'm currently booking 2–3 weeks out. If you have a contract contingency deadline, include it in the notes."
— The Inspector
Before You Sign