Madison's housing stock spans 1900s bungalows on the Isthmus, 1950s ranches on the west side, campus condos and new builds in Grandview Commons, and offers here often come with a five-day contingency. HomeStart's licensed, InterNACHI-certified inspectors work in every Madison zip code from 53704 to 53719 and publish the full report the same day.
Madison is the oldest and most varied market we work in. Of the Madison homes we have inspected recently, build years run from 1901 to 2019, the median house dates to the mid-1970s, and the typical size is about 1,700 square feet, far smaller and older than what we see in Middleton or Verona. That means a Madison home inspection is less about builder punch lists and more about a century of additions, repairs and deferred maintenance. Where the house sits tells us where to start.
Pre-1930 bungalows, foursquares and two-flats dominate here, and they are the homes where inspection matters most. We look for knob-and-tube wiring still live behind plaster, fuse and early breaker panels that cannot carry a modern load, galvanized supply lines with no pressure left, cast-iron stacks and clay sewer laterals full of roots, balloon framing with no fire blocking, and the chimneys and parapets that Wisconsin winters pull apart. The Isthmus also has a high water table between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, and the August 2018 flood put water in basements that had been dry for decades. We use thermal imaging on every inspection to find the moisture behind paneling and under flooring.
The neighborhoods around Monroe Street, Vilas Park and Nakoma hold 1910s-to-1940s homes that have been renovated repeatedly, often by many owners with many budgets. Our job is to sort original from updated: which circuits were rewired and which were not, whether the plumbing is copper or still partly galvanized, whether the "new" roof was layered over the old one, and what the addition in back was built on. Mature trees on these blocks make a sewer scope one of the highest-value add-ons in the city.
West of Midvale Boulevard the city shifts to 1950s and 1960s ranches and split-levels, including some of Madison's Lustron and mid-century modern houses. Here we focus on original furnaces and boilers, electrical panels including Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels that should be replaced, aluminum branch wiring in homes from the late 1960s and early 1970s, cast-iron drains, and foundation walls that have taken sixty winters of freeze-thaw. Many of these basements were finished in the 1990s, and the walls behind them have not been seen since.
The east side runs from 1940s and 1950s Cape Cods in Eastmorland and Lake Edge, through 1970s and 1980s subdivisions like Elvehjem and Heritage Heights, to the new construction in Grandview Commons, Door Creek and Reston Heights near Interstate 39/90. On the newer homes the list is familiar: grading toward the foundation, missing attic baffles, bath fans vented into the attic, HVAC never balanced, and panel errors. A third-party inspection before closing gets those fixed on the builder's dime, and our 11-month inspection catches the rest before the one-year warranty ends.
Madison has a large condo and multi-unit market downtown, around the UW campus, at Hilldale and along Williamson and Atwood. We inspect condos, two-flats, duplexes and small multi-family buildings every week and tailor the inspection to what you are buying: the unit's electrical, plumbing, HVAC and water heater, windows, shared walls and attic, plus the exterior, roof and common systems you will be assessed for. Do not skip the inspection because the association "handles the outside."
Madison has more clay sewer laterals than any city we serve, and root intrusion is the single most expensive problem we find. A sewer scope runs a camera from the house to the city main and shows roots, offsets, bellies and collapses before they become a $5,000 to $15,000 dig under a terrace tree. We recommend one on any Madison home built before 1980, and on anything with mature trees in the terrace regardless of age.
Dane County is in EPA Radon Zone 1, the highest-risk designation, and a large share of Madison basements test above the EPA action level of 4 pCi/L. Nearly every Madison house has a basement, and many of them have a bedroom or office in it. We set a 48-hour continuous monitor during the inspection window so you have results before your contingency expires. See radon testing.
HomeStart Inspections is a member of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, Dane Buy Local and an affiliate member of RASCW, and Madison is where we do more inspections than anywhere else. Our team is Wisconsin-licensed, InterNACHI certified and led by a Certified Master Inspector, and because we are a team rather than a single inspector we can usually be on site within a day or two, which matters when the contingency is five days. We walk the house with you, publish the full report with photos and video the same day, include thermal imaging on every inspection, and back it with a 200% satisfaction guarantee and free homeowner coaching for as long as you own the home. Pay-at-closing is available.
Every Madison inspection includes an infrared scan at no charge. It is how we find the wet wall behind a finished Isthmus basement, the uninsulated knee wall in a bungalow attic, or the knob-and-tube splice running hot behind plaster.
Close with us and you can call about the house for as long as you own it. A 1920s boiler making a new noise, a sump pump that will not stop in April, a contractor quote that looks high: we will talk it through, free.
Madison contingencies are often five days. Your interactive digital report, with photos, video and a repair summary your agent can write the amendment from, is published the day of the inspection.
From the Isthmus to the Beltline to the far east side, Madison is where we inspect most. We are not a national franchise or a one-truck shop; we are a team of Wisconsin-licensed, InterNACHI-certified inspectors who live and work in Dane County, so we can meet a five-day contingency and we have the depth to handle a two-flat on Willy Street and a new build in Door Creek on the same day. We stand behind every report with a 200% satisfaction guarantee.
HomeStart is a family business. Every Madison home is inspected the way we would inspect it for our own relatives, and the people who answer the phone are the people who show up with the ladder.
Every inspector holds a Wisconsin home inspector license and InterNACHI certification, and we train continuously on the century of construction methods that show up in Madison houses.
Book online, by text or by phone, and we will confirm a Madison time slot inside your contingency. Attend if you can; we will walk the house with you, publish the full report the same day, and stay available for questions long after closing.
On the Isthmus, Near East Side, Vilas and Greenbush, the recurring items are live knob-and-tube wiring, undersized or recalled electrical panels, galvanized supply lines, cast-iron stacks and clay sewer laterals with root intrusion, layered roofs, and basement moisture behind finished walls. We include thermal imaging on every inspection so we can see what plaster and paneling hide.
Yes. Dane County is EPA Radon Zone 1, and a large share of Madison basements test above 4 pCi/L. Most Madison homes have a basement and many have a bedroom in it. We run a 48-hour continuous monitor during the inspection so you have a number before your contingency ends; radon testing usually needs to be written into the offer.
Madison home inspections start at $345. Price depends on square footage, age and add-ons such as radon, sewer scope or well. The instant quote on our site takes under a minute, and pay-at-closing is available.
Yes, every week. Downtown, campus, Hilldale and Willy Street condos, plus two-flats, duplexes and small multi-family buildings. We tailor the inspection to what you are buying: the unit’s systems, shared walls and attic, and the exterior and common systems you will be assessed for.
Yes. Because we run a team rather than a single inspector, we can usually be on site within one to two business days, and the report is published the same day as the inspection.
All of them: Downtown and the Isthmus, Marquette, Tenney-Lapham, Atwood, Williamson Street, Vilas, Greenbush, Dudgeon-Monroe, Nakoma, Westmorland, Midvale Heights, Hill Farms, Meadowood, Orchard Ridge, Allied, Eastmorland, Lake Edge, Elvehjem, Grandview Commons, Door Creek, Reston Heights, plus Shorewood Hills, Maple Bluff, Monona and McFarland. Every Madison zip code from 53704 to 53719.
Cheese curds and a brandy Old Fashioned on the Capitol Square. Where we take out-of-state clients after closing to explain Wisconsin.
Lake Mendota, the Gates of Heaven, and a view of the Isthmus neighborhoods we inspect more than any others.
Where a few of us train before a day of attics and crawlspaces, and a good landmark for the west side ranches we see every week.
Madison's own ice cream, and the standing reward for kids who sat through a three-hour inspection.
A small Victorian garden in the Mansion Hill historic district, surrounded by the oldest houses in the city. We walk past it on the way to a lot of inspections.
The Thai Pavilion and the conservatory on the east side, and the best place in Madison to wait out a 48-hour radon test.
