MeowBricks
1145
31
6
I just want to rant a bit. I bought a house with my partner and the previous owner definitely left out some information about a problem we couldn't fully see. A roof we were planning on having repaired, and were able to use to negotiate the price down, ended up having an active leak that we only found out about when it rained heavy and the ceiling nearly collapsed. So extra expense we did not see. We went back to the seller and they said that we were "adequately informed about the problem" and refused to pay for the damaged. Talked to a lawyer and was told it would cost more to go after them than to fix the problem. Oh well. Fixed it. Finished paying the roofer this month.
Took a look back at my initial inspection and there was mention of needing a new valve on my main line. That was it. Fine. Have a plumber come out bc I don't want my basement to flood. Well it turns out the main line pipe is very fragile. Its copper and corroded and could break. Now I'm pretty upset. The pipe was easy to see during the inspection. The inspector even took a picture of it and recommended that we have a plumber out to give us an estimate on how much it would be to fix. We did not have time after the inspector came through before our due diligence was up. So now we are looking at another big expense and are well beyond the negotiating phase. We will have to finance the cost as is and now it's looking like we wont get the chance to go on vacation. It's already been three years since I had more than a long weekend.
I don't know why I'm ranting here. I'm just very fed up with the system in the USA. I don't like that people can get away with lying by omission. I hope karma shows up for those @ssholes.
Nomestoo
I feel for you, some people sell because there is too much to fix. Now it is your home to fix then love. I had to replace 3 pumps after 6 months of buying, septic system, the dam irrigation and the water tank pump but it is my home and once fixed you get over it. Best wishes to your future happy home.
Layinginbed
Im kinda the same boat. Within the first yr of buying my house had to replace whole HVAC system. Now I'm replacing the roof. Seller also didn't correct everything she was suppose to for sale.
oozabooza
totally cool to come here and rant, sorry you are going through this, I wonder if the inspector you used has some liability here..
IOnlyUpvoteBees
Shark bites and PEX tubing. Since buying a home I’ve had to teach myself(plus YouTube) to save a fortune. Shark bites and PEX tubing make plumbing jobs a piece of cake. It blows my mind how much they charge for simple plumbing jobs now.
Volpe42
An active leak would have left water stains that an inspector worth their weight could have found
MeowBricks
I mentioned it in another comment. There was a drop ceiling that he could not easily move and it was two inches away from the original ceiling. He could not look under that easily and its basically the wording of his contract. There was a piece of "wood" (I use wood lightly bc it was like a sheet of paper) with a trash bag stapled to it and then a shower curtain stapled under that all hidden under the drop. If he had hit just the right spot he would have found it, but he did not.
abraxasfury
How much was the roof leak repair? Try going after them in small-claims court?
MeowBricks
The whole back roof needed done. The last time it had been done was in the 80's I'm amazed there weren't more problems. Again we talked to a lawyer and they said it would have been cheaper to fix the problem than to go after them. There was also the likelihood that they would have simply refused to pay or claimed they couldn't.
Bystandr
Any good home inspector has insurance you can make a claim against when not warned about most things like this in Canada. Not sure how the
Bystandr
law works there, but if there was anything they could reasonably be expected to pick up and didnt , like a leaky roof, bad wiring etc, there
Bystandr
might be a claim you can make to offset renovation costs. Again if you used a bonded inspector.
MeowBricks
Ahh you are from a civilized country. I come from the US.
madmatt2024
How is this a problem with the US system? It sounds like you were informed about both issues beforehand by the home inspector, used them to negotiate the price down, and are now complaining when the issue reared their head after purchase. This is all part of home ownership.
MeowBricks
we were not told that there was an active leak in the roof. They left that out of the sellers discloser and the inspector was not able to see it bc it was covered by a drop ceiling that was literally two inches away from the original ceiling. They had a trashbag and shower curtain stapled up to the original ceiling so that it wouldn't apparent till after the sale and a really big rain storm. It is also a problem with the American system bc unless you can afford the attorney fees you can't 1/?
MeowBricks
go after the person. I mean you could, but the law is tricky enough that most people I think wouldn't feel comfortable without representation. But if you have the money you don't need to, but you can to either do the right thing or be petty.
madmatt2024
You could take them to small claims court for small court fee and get something out of them. You could also have probably have claimed the damages on your homeowners insurance policy.
RetrogradeLlama
Plumbing ain't rocket science. Plumbers generally are a horrible rip-off. Look for a "handyman" who does plumbing. Get your own permit, do it right, but save a bundle. (Assuming your state allows that - in some, the Plumbers have it locked up and you have to use a licensed plumber).
IOnlyUpvoteBees
Shark bites and PEX tubing are a dream for individuals like me who had no idea how to do plumbing prior to owning a house.
[deleted]
[deleted]
MeowBricks
I had one contractor say they would need to excavate and that would have destroyed what little of a front yard I have.
RetrogradeLlama
When you pull the permit, tell them YOU and hubby are doing the work.
[deleted]
[deleted]
RetrogradeLlama
You educate yourself, talk to the inspector about what he wants to see, and do it with the assistance (ahem) of someone who has soldered 1000 miles of pipe at handyman rates.
RetrogradeLlama
And I never had to sign an affidavit in my life... while living in one of the most tightass States in the country. I was responsible for making sure the work met code. Period. Didn't matter how it got done
[deleted]
[deleted]