Meet Our Team
Solid Ground is a certified, licensed home inspection company that educates buyers and sellers on the condition of their home, top to bottom – inside and out. Established by Stephen and Erika Houmard in January 2006, our Solid Ground team has conducted over 8,000 home inspections in 18 years -- now that's a lot of houses!
After operating as a single-inspector company for a few years, Steve and Erika expanded Solid Ground into a multi-inspector company based on increased demand for our unique, interactive style of home inspecting, now with a team of four excellent home inspectors working to serve the needs of home buyers, home sellers and real estate agents throughout the Charleston and surrounding areas. In fact, you're just as likely to see our inspectors in Summerville as in Mt. Pleasant or on James Island. Beyond metro Charleston, we'll easily travel from Kiawah Island to Awendaw to Moncks Corner and every place in between to inspect the home you're buying or selling.
Stephen Houmard
Owner, Certified Home Inspector
With 18 years as a home inspector under his belt, Stephen brings not only his technical expertise but his humor with him to (just about) every inspection and has a natural ability to connect with home buyers and sellers from all walks of life. If you're especially nervous about your big purchase or are the detail-oriented, analytical type who just has to know why the outlet doesn't work, Stephen's humor and knowledge will help put you at ease so you can learn what you need to from your home inspection.
While living in Atlanta, Stephen and Erika (and mostly Steve) renovated a 1950 traditional home and a 1920 arts and crafts bungalow both from the ground up. It was from this work that we realized Steve had a true talent for understanding how a house, and all its major systems, work together and that this knowledge would translate well into a career as a home inspector. From buying and selling the homes we renovated, we fully understand how important the home inspection is and have factored our learnings into the inspection service we offer today.
Interestingly, Stephen actually started his career in nursing and spent ten years in the medical field. During this time, he honed his analytical and systems-thinking skills, utilized a scientific approach to diagnose problems and developed his wonderful ability to convey conditions to patients in a manner that was both educational and comforting.
When not inspecting, you can catch Steve working on various house projects for his James Island home, out fishing or at the beach with his wife. His son Michael just graduated from high school and went right into Marines boot camp (same weekend!) Three months later, Mike earned the title 'U.S. Marine' (fall 2021) -- Steve is so proud!
Stephen is a Certified Home Inspector through the American Society of Home Inspections (ASHI) and is licensed as a Residential Building Inspector by the State of South Carolina #2046. For more information about ASHI, please visit them at www.ashi.org. Additionally, Stephen is Infrared-Certified trained in the use of thermal imaging for residential homes using an infrared camera and is a Certified Remote Pilot as well.
Brian Whitsitt
Certified Home Inspector
Brian has been conducting home inspections with Solid Ground for more than 3 years now. And when he's not inspecting, you can find Brian running his own company Sea Island Residential which replaces roofs. So of course, Brian is our team roofing expert!
Originally from Ormond Beach Florida, Brian has lived in Charleston since arriving here to attend The Citadel in 2001. He went on to get a Master’s degree from MUSC in 2010 and worked as a hospital and private practice administrator until recently when he parted ways to fulfill his dream of working in the outdoors. From his years in hospital administration, Brian brings a meticulous attention to detail to his home inspecting and report writing along with his natural ability to communicate effectively with people from all walks of life.
Brian currently lives on Johns Island where he lives with his wife, Erin, their two Labradors and their adorable daughter Ella and son Cade. As an athlete growing up, he still enjoys playing basketball with his friends, or any other sport, as well as fishing, biking, hunting, running... anything outdoors! He also has an old ’51 Plymouth Cranbrook that he likes to tinker with on the weekends. With his love for working with his hands and his attention detail, Brian has created a whole new career for himself between home inspecting and roofing. We are excited to have Brian on our team!
Brian is a Certified Home Inspector through InterNACHI and licensed as a Residential Building Inspector by the State of South Carolina #49372. For more information about InterNachi, please visit them at www.nachi.org. Additionally, Brian is Infrared-Certified trained in the use of thermal imaging for residential homes using an infrared camera. Plus, Brian has a specialty license as a roofing and siding contractor in SC and is our team's go-to 'roofing' expert!
Erika Houmard
Owner, Business & Scheduling Manager
For the last 18 years, Erika (and Steve) have worked to build Solid Ground from a single home inspector company to a multi-inspector company (since 2010). In terms of the day-to-day business, Erika manages the scheduling and all other non-inspecting aspects of the business so that our home inspectors are free to be out and about performing home inspections!
One of Erika's responsibilities is to ensure that our clients consistently receive an outstanding inspection experience in a convenient and timely manner. Additionally, Erika is dedicated to understanding what home buyers, home sellers and real estate professionals want and need in a home inspection and is continually improving our services based on those insights.
Prior to creating Solid Ground, Erika has over 12 years of marketing experience from corporate America having spent time at both Coca-Cola USA Foodservice and United Parcel Service (UPS) world headquarters in Atlanta giving her the knowledge and experience needed to head up Marketing and Business Development.
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