Vendor Spotlight | Beacon Home Inspections
Kevin Bobal | Beacon Home Inspections
For this month’s vendor spotlight we are featuring one of our favorite home inspectors to work with: Kevin Bobal from Beacon Home Inspections.
Kevin is truly a building expert. With nearly 40 years in the building business, we know he is going to find anything and everything our clients might want to know about their future home!
Read on to get to know Kevin a bit better.
How long have you been working as a home inspector?
My career began back in the mid 1980s when I began learning how large commercial buildings function. In the late 1980s I ended up working at the World Trade Center in New York City. I started off working operations of the 3rd shift -- when the work, maintenance, and cleaning really cranks into high gear to get ready for the next business day. By the time I left in 1996 I was responsible for all general operations so I really had to know how every system functioned, what it was designed to do, and how to make sure it gave us the best possible output. I left NYC in 1996 looking for a change of pace and ended up eventually in Raleigh. I’ve co-founded and worked with several locally loved businesses but always came back to my love for operations and now Home Inspections which inspired me to start Beacon here in Raleigh.
What is one piece of advice you would give to home buyers?
Have a great realtor in your corner because the realtor understands the moving pieces of the home buying process and understands how valuable inspections can be. Thinking about advice for home buyers specifically for inspections, there are too many things to list but a top priority is thinking about where does the water go? How are the gutters and pipes handling the water that is running through them. Is water being collected and moved away from the foundation of the home adequately? Also, be mindful of the HVAC system and its filters. Everyone, including your HVAC, likes to breathe so remember to change your filters every 60-90 days!
What is your favorite part of the work you do?
I feel I provide a valuable service to the home buyer. I love to educate the client whether in person or on zoom. Good news or bad, I get to inform the client and help them make wise decisions. I also really enjoy the investigation side of my work to determine why something is built or occurring in the way that I am seeing it.
What is the craziest thing you’ve ever seen during an inspection?
In Garner recently, I was inspecting a home that was being flipped. The exterior was gorgeous but noticed some concerning drainage. After getting into the crawl space, I determined that half of the floor system was completely gone. The wood members had turned to what seemed like pieces of paper. Think of the sound of scratching paper, that’s what the lumber under the home sounded like as I discovered what was left after years of deterioration by wood destroying fungi. I got out of that crawl space as soon as I could, I was afraid the home would collapse at any point!
Favorite local restaurant?
Mateo Tapas in Durham
Favorite local place to visit on the weekends?
When I’m not working, I’m usually out in the woods somewhere on my motorcycle. I frequently ride my trails bike up near Bunn or on properties in the Lake Wheeler area! It keeps me fit and allows me to be surrounded by nature which I love!