Inspector Dee has left the building.
In fact, he’s left all the buildings behind, because after more than two decades in the home inspection business, Didier (Dee) Bourgois has decided to bid adieu to the four walls that encompass his work and enjoy retirement instead.
“Inspecting homes and being with people has been my life for the last 23 years, so I will miss meeting my clients and I will miss assisting and helping people, but the time had come for me to look at other things,” Bourgois said of retiring from his business, Housecheck Professional Inspection Services Ltd.
“I plan to enjoy the outdoors. I have many hobbies that I could not pursue when I was working. So, I think all these things will fill my days.”
Prior to starting his home inspection business, Bourgois worked as a manager of the building inspection division for the City of Yellowknife, so it was a nearly seamless transition into his current role.
“My dream was to inspect every house in Yellowknife, and I think I got really close. I believe I inspected over 5,000 houses in Yellowknife,” Bourgois said.
Furthermore, he said he has inspected some homes multiple times as they passed from buyer to buyer.
“A few houses I’ve inspected six, seven times over the years. One house I’ve inspected nine times over the 23 years that I’ve been in business,” he said.
None was more familiar than one house for Bourgois, however.
“I built my own house in Yellowknife, and one day, I was asked to inspect my own house,” he said of the home that he had previously built and sold, which then came back on the market to be sold again.
“We got a call to do an inspection… and I said, ‘but that’s my house,’” he laughed.
Inner workings
Bourgois said buying a house is one of the biggest investments most people will make, so having it inspected prior to purchase makes good sense.
“There is very little information for buyers when they buy a house. Of course, a seller wants to sell the house, a realtor wants to sell the house, but there is nobody really to help a potential buyer to understand what he is buying,” he said.
“It always has amazed me that you go and buy a toaster and you’re gonna get an instruction manual that’s 50 pages and you buy a house and there is not a single piece of information.”
He said the harsh Northern climate can be hard on houses, so ensuring they are inspected, especially in very cold temperatures, gives the potential buyer a heads-up for any issues that might exist “because that’s when you see the house under the harshest conditions and if there is any weak component in the system,” such as frost on inside walls or windows or frozen pipes.
“In the summertime I could see clues, but in the winter, you will see the problems,” he said.
As much as he will miss his clients and work, Bourgois looks forward to retirement.
“I realized that I immigrated to Canada and I have worked for 45 years since I came to Canada, so I think it was time to look at other things,” he said. “I love the North, I love Yellowknife and I have no plans of leaving Yellowknife.”
—By Jill Westerman