“Real estate is not just about bricks and mortar. People need to know if they’ll have adequate electricity for today’s standards or if the building has a leaky basement,” Gerry says.Gerry encourages homebuyers to follow him around and ask as many questions as they can during the inspection. “I’m happy to help buyers understand the basics of maintaining their new home.”

A handyman since childhood, Gerry was always the neighbourhood “fix it” guy. His career took him into the family restaurant business, but after two decades of working in hospitality, Gerry hung up his apron in pursuit of his real passion: renovating heritage homes in Westmount, Montreal.

He immersed himself in the Heritage Montreal Home Renovation course, got himself an RBQ license, and started his journey of renovating and restoring old buildings.

“My first house saw a lot of changes, I looked at it as a restoration and upgrading project, knocking down walls and putting in insulation, excavating and refinishing the basement and ventilation systems. We worked on making the fieldstone foundation less penetrable by water.”

“I took care to maintain the beauty of the woodwork, and took pride in removing imitation wood vinyl tiled flooring on quarter cut museum-quality oak floor.”
He says he likes thinking about the construction worker of a bygone era. “It’s impressive to see how passionate they must have been, when you see their endearing work that lasted into our generation.”

Many renovated houses later, Gerry found himself called upon by neighbours and friends for advice, and his construction company got busy. With 15 years of construction and renovation under his belt, he decided it was time to share his knowledge on another level and got certified as a home inspector.

“I like to make sure common problems are not affecting the home that is being purchased, like lack of insulation or electrical that doesn’t meet today’s standards. It’s fascinating to look at a building as a system, and see how the system fits to make sure all the components work well together.” Having owned and renovated 6 Montreal buildings over the years, Gerry has learned a thing or two about what it takes to maintain a home.

Gerry is a graduate of the Vanier Residential Building Inspection program, is fully insured, and a fully certified member of APCHQ. He is fully bilingual and can provide reports in English or French. He also speaks Greek and continues to maintain a membership with Heritage Montreal.

He maintains a RBQ licence and a Level 1 certification in infra-red thermography. ITC (Infrared Training Center) ANSI/ASNT CP-105 and CP-189 of the American Society for Non-Destructive Testing.

ITC Certification is the gold standard qualification within the thermography industry and exceeds the requirements of international standards.