Flat pricing, paid at the inspection.
No deposits, no add-on fees, and no financing charges on a diagnostic that costs less than the estimate most remediation companies give away.
Short answer
Sterling accepts Card, Check, Cash and Zelle. Commercial properties can also pay by wire transfer. Payment is due at the time of the inspection, and the price is the published package price — there is nothing added afterwards.
Commercial properties
Commercial, HOA, and multi-unit work can additionally settle by wire transfer, and can be invoiced rather than paid on site. Buildings over 4,000 sq ft, common areas, and portfolios are scoped and quoted individually before any visit — see how commercial scoping works.
Why is the price the same whether or not you find mold?
Because that is the entire point of an assessment-only practice.
A remediation company can afford to inspect for free because the inspection is a sales call — the money is in the work it recommends. Sterling has no remediation to sell, so the assessment itself is the product and it has to be priced like one.
The practical consequence is that the fee does not move based on what is found. An inspection that rules a problem out costs exactly what one that finds a failed shower pan costs. There is no version of this business where Sterling earns more by finding more.
Laboratory analysis, where sampling is warranted, is performed by Daane Labs, an independent accredited laboratory. Sterling does not analyse its own samples.
Questions about payment
No, and at this price point that is deliberate rather than a limitation. A Sterling inspection is $400 for the Basic package or $700 for the Premium Indoor Air Quality package, up to 2,500 sq ft. Financing products are built for four- and five-figure remediation and reconstruction jobs; adding a finance charge to a several-hundred-dollar diagnostic would cost you more than it saved.
Ready for clear answers about moisture and mold?
Request an inspection or call Sterling. We explain what we find, what it means, and what to do next — with no remediation upsell.