Every corner of the Valley, one free inspection

Phoenix

The city itself, from the 1950s brick ranch houses of the central neighborhoods to Ahwatukee, Laveen and the newer north end around Anthem.

West Valley

Glendale and Peoria's 1980s and 1990s subdivisions, the retirement communities of Sun City, and the newest building in the Valley out through Surprise, Goodyear and Buckeye.

East Valley

Tempe and Mesa, where much of the housing went up between the 1970s and the early 2000s, and Apache Junction and Gold Canyon against the Superstition Mountains.

Southeast Valley

Chandler and Gilbert's master-planned neighborhoods, then Queen Creek and San Tan Valley, where whole subdivisions are still being finished.

What changes from one side of the Valley to the other

House age more than weather. In the Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey, 42 percent of Phoenix homes and 41 percent of Tempe homes were built before 1980, and Sun City's median home dates from 1973, so that is where brick wood-burning fireplaces, dampers and crowns still turn up. In Buckeye, Queen Creek and San Tan Valley around nine homes in ten were built in 2000 or later, after the state's 1998 clean-burning fireplace deadline, and nearly every fireplace there is a factory-built gas unit in a stucco chase. Gas service follows the same line: utility gas is the main heating fuel in 62 percent of Queen Creek homes and 51 percent of Goodyear homes, against about 23 percent in Phoenix, where most houses heat with electricity.

Air rules split by county, too. Maricopa County's No Burn Days cover most of the Valley, but San Tan Valley, most of Apache Junction, Gold Canyon, the city of Maricopa and part of Queen Creek are in Pinal County, which runs its own air-quality program. We tell you which one applies at your address.

Booking

The price list is the same in Buckeye as in Gilbert. Choose a 3-hour window, 8 to 11, 11 to 2 or 2 to 5, any day from Sunday to Friday, and we phone before the truck leaves so nobody waits at the door in the heat.

Don't see your town? Call (520) 523-2930 and we'll tell you if we can get there.