Ground Floor: C.R. woman making strides in male dominated housing inspection field

Kelly Murphy has never shied away from doing what others might consider a man's job.

In her former career as an electrician in IBEW Local 405, Murphy was one of less than 10 women in a union of over 700 members. In her new career as the owner of a HouseMaster home inspection franchise, she is believed to be the only female home inspector in town.

'Even though HouseMaster is the largest national inspection franchise in the country, I'm the only female owner/inspector they have,” Murphy said. 'They have a couple of other female owners, but none that do their own inspections.”

Murphy has been breaking gender barriers her entire working life. In college, she took a summer job framing houses, where she often was the only woman on the job.

After spending the summer watching the electricians at work on the construction sites, she decided she wanted to do electrical work.

'I went down to the union hall and got signed up to be an apprentice electrician,” Murphy recalled. 'It was kind of an intimidating process dealing with boardrooms full of men.”

Murphy completed the electrician training program at the Cedar Rapids Journeyman and Apprentice Training Center and obtained her journey card in 2010. To this day, she is the last woman to have graduated from the program.

Although she loved working as an electrician, she always had a goal of owning her own business. After conducting research and reflecting on her skills and interests, she determined that HouseMaster was the best fit.

Her HouseMaster franchise is the first in the state.

Murphy offers professional home inspection services to customers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and surrounding communities. Her services include reviewing and providing a detailed report on the condition of all accessible major systems of the home - heating, cooling, plumbing, electrical, roofing, and structural.

'A comprehensive home inspection is one of the most important things someone can do before buying a home,” she said, noting her services are backed with a one-year written guarantee.

Although Murphy has traded her electrician journey card for certification from the National Institute of Building Inspectors, she still has plenty of opportunity to use the skills she learned during her apprenticeship training.

'I use my electrical background a lot,” she said. 'I'm able to take a little bit closer look than someone who is not an electrician and am able to offer a little more advice about what work needs to be done.”

l Know a company or manager who has been in business for less than a year that would be ideal for 'Ground Floor”? Contact George Ford at george.ford@thegazette.com.

At a Glance

l Owner: Kelly Murphy

l Business: HouseMaster

l Email: kelly.murphy@housemaster.com

l Telephone: (319) 981-3337

l Website: www.corridor.housemaster.com