ACP Interviews: Nic Wirch, Home Inspector

“From Bob to Job: Autism and Home Inspections”

This month I had a very eye-opening conversation with Nic Wirch, a twenty-five year old autistic man from Monroe, Washington who just recently started his own business, Snohomish Home Inspection.  Nic has a very interesting backstory that led him to this career.  Nic’s childhood SPIN (special interest) was Bob the Builder, a BBC produced animated show that featured a building contractor and all around fix-it guy named Bob. Along with the help of some talking construction vehicles, Bob undertakes various building projects and solves all sorts of problems in the fictional town of ‘Bobsville’.

Nic was mesmerized by the show, and at the age of 8 he assisted his parents in the construction of a fairly elaborate ‘Bob’ theme for his bedroom, and was adamant about attending any BTB Live! events that came to town. His interest prompted him to pick up the hobby of creating extremely detailed and intricate drawings of homes that he was familiar with. It wasn’t long before he developed an admittedly ‘weird’ fixation on any and all facts or data related to home building. His SPIN allowed him to collect a broad cache knowledge in the areas of building codes, quality control and housing materials.  He could frequently be found repurposing some recycled wood and metals donated by his neighbors into scaled down structures in his sandbox.

“…it wasn’t until about 15, when I fully discovered myself, that I don’t see and think things that most others see and think. I started to notice that not everyone see’s all the little things, the details that I see anywhere I go. I always notice the small things that not a lot of people look at, or see.”
– Nic Wirch

From his youthful Bob the Builder days, Nic moved on to remodeling area homes as a teenager as a side gig.  As an adult, Nic decided to channel his admittedly ‘weird’ passion for anything regarding construction into a career, and started his own business, Snohomish Home Inspection.  That’s when he came up on our radar, and I just had to talk to him.  In this LiveIG recording, Nic walks me through the process of becoming a certified home inspector, makes recommendations on the preferred software he uses to manage his business and shares his hopes for the future of his company.

Maisie Soetantyo
Founder, Autism Career Pathways