In Oct 2017 I purchased a 1955 home in a very desirable location that needed updating on the inside...cosmetic stuff only...or so I thought. I paid for a home inspection and it had the usual jargon in it that home inspectors use to cover their ass...i.e. some moisture on crawl space walls...etc. but the home inspector VERBALLY told me it was a solid house. I sunk $35,000 into remodeling the inside within the first few months. This included all new widows, 2 remodeled bathrooms, a remodeled kitchen, a remodeled laundry room and all new flooring/paint throughout. Things started going wrong...
1 week after moving in I realized the water softener was not working. In addition, I found out the plumbing for it was not to code. $1,200 for a new water softener and $500 to bring plumbing to code. The home inspector told me he does not check the water softer functions as part of the inspection.
2 weeks after moving in I had no heat from my vents. The metal plate under my furnace fell off as it was so rusted out. $500 repair. The home inspector said he had mentioned evidence of rust on the bottom of the furnace. It was mentioned in the report but it said nothing about the extent of rust damage-related that the bottom would fall out
Within 3 months of moving in I found out 1/2 the yard and back porch consistently flooded when it rained/snow melted. In spring 2019 I broke down and paid $3,200 to regrade entire back yard and route downspouts to the front street as my yard and porch was always under water. The home inspector told me to refer to language in his report about moisture on crawl space walls
In spring 2018 I found out the huge back tree in my yard was dead (no leaves sprouting). $1,000 to cut down. The home inspector said his report mentioned all trees should be inspected by a specialist (apparently this is standard jargon if you ever have trees in your yard)
In spring 2019 the roof starting leaking so I had to put on a new roof. $7,000. During the home inspection he verbally said my roof had several years left on it.
In spring 2019 I noticed a crack forming on my bedroom wall. Crack got bigger over time. Well is turns out my crawl space gets saturated when it rains and large pools of water form in the middle of the crawl space around the support posts. 3 of the post have sunk about 1/2 - 1 inch re. Also found a 14ft section of sill plate that had old termite damage (and needs to be replaced) and 6 cracks in the crawl space block wall, none of which were mentioned in his report. Cost to install drain and sump system, shim columns, replace sill plate and fix sagging spots $8,000. The home inspector told me to refer to language in his report about moisture on crawl space walls
I’m at my wits end with this house. I cannot fathom why the inspector told me it was a solid house. I have to fix the crawl space before I even think about trying to sell the house and if I do sell the house I’ll have a loss of about $30,000 given all the money I’ve sunk into it (per my realtor). Obviously I would,never have purchased the home if I knew about all the underlying issues. I love the location but I’m stressed out all the time about the house and constantly wondering what’s coming next. This is the 5th house I’ve owened and I’ve never experienced anything like the issues I’ve encountered here. I’m taking anxiety meds because of the dam house!
I left the home inspector a negative review on google and his lawyer sent me a letter threatening to sue me if I didn’t remove the review. The reason I hired this home inspector was because he had all 5 start reviews! I spent $500 for an inspection on a 1,400 sqft ranch on a crawl space that wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. So I’m not sure what to do next. Do I have any legal recourse regarding the home inspection? Should I fix the crawl space issues and hope that’s the end of it or should I take the loss and sell up.
Submitted January 20, 2020 at 06:40PM by dlm5774 https://ift.tt/30J49xd
