Want to vent about previous homeowners hiding a leak

[joefrompa]

Hi all,

I bought my house last May and moved in in late June. About 2.5 weeks after moving in, during a very heavy rain storm, a leak developed in the my foyer ceiling. Pretty good leak, so I tore out the ceiling (which was perfectly flat/had no seams). Well, the water was coming in pretty good past the ceiling 2x8 joists and the subfloor above that that led to an attic space. The joist and subfloor above the ceiling were nicely discolored showing long-term saturation.

But it didn't look to be a patch job from what I could tell. And the buyer's disclosure didn't mention a history of a leak there.

Now, looking back, they knew exactly there was a history of an unfixed leak there. And I'm annoyed. So here's the story:

1. Leak formed as named above.

2. Tried to track it down and couldn't figure it out. Siding LOOKED fine (asbestos shingle). Then finally I realize that someone had put massive beads of caulk in the edge between the roof and a vertical wall of siding coming out of the roof. And the caulk changed colors/look several times - so they had tried to chase the leak down many times with thick beads of caulk.

3. Got the house re-sided and found out that somehow the water was getting behind the siding running right down the edge of the roof and going through a huge hole in the house sheathing. Ugh. Fixed!

4. Finally got up today to square off the ceiling hole (about 3x2') now that it's fully dried out so I can patch it and stop letting a massive air-leak occur up into that attic space.

So as I'm cutting the drywall square, I finally get a close look at it.

HOLY %*&*% - they had definitely patched it - there were rusted drywall screws next to original drywall nails. And some mudding pro put a solid 1/4 of mudd/plaster on the entire ceiling surface. It's the hardest most consistent looking plaster job I've ever seen.

I didn't even realize I was looking at plaster until i was cutting it and the knife was barely going into it and then I realized I wa sseeing 1/4" of white plaster THEN PAPER then Gypsum.

...

So now I'm about to patch a ceiling that has a 1/4" of perfectly done plaster over it's entire surface. SOB that's gonna be a pain to match

...

That's my venting story. Previous owners knew of a chronic leak and didn't mention it, and they patched the ceiling so well it's going to be a royal PITA to get it right.

 

[midwestcoast]

Sucks. Some people will do anything they can get away with. Could be the leak was there before they bought too... Who knows. The P-O's of this place disclosed no water issues either, but there was so much damage in the sunroom that the framing was rotted right away behind the panelling, and puddles on the floor. Fresh caulk job in the shower to hide the mold & fact that there's nothing behind the tile on one wall.
You mention it's in a foyer, (small area?) could you rip the rest of that ceiling out & just drywall the whole thing? That way there's nothing to have to match.

 

[Dune]

That type of thing is illegal arround here.

 

[midwestcoast]

That type of thing is illegal arround here.

Yeah,'just ring them up & tell them that. Check should be in the mail the next day

 

[joefrompa]

It's illegal here too. They disclosed 2-3 other leaks (minor in comparison) during their tenure. But proving they knew it is another matter and then getting some sort of payment, etc.

The ceiling wouldn't be horrible, but there's complicating factors preventing me from wanting to rip it all down. If it looks like crap when I'm done, I might though.

That being said, I swear I've never had drywall as tough to rip down as drywall that has a freaking 1/4" of plaster on it. I would cut it with a knife and just slam at it and it'd never crack. Tenacious stuff

 

[maverick06]

good luck, you'll never get anywhere.

A friend had a previous home owner go in, between walkthrough and closing and take the entire kitchen island. Pursued it for a while and eventually realized the legal costs would outweigh replacing it many times over.

My previous owners were told to replace some outlets with CGFI(kitchen, bathroom, etc). I missed it at the walkthrough, but instead they wipped out the outlets, capped off the wires and put plates over the outlets.

They were jackasses, didnt have a clue. Every repair they did to the house was terrible and I had to redo it. (even small stuff, they Spackled holes and painted over it.... never scraped nor sanded, thats a pain to fix).

i hope they choke.

 

[btuser]

But wait a minute, I just paid for a home inspection!

 

[maverick06]

The home inspection isnt worthless. I am an engineer and a pretty good one at that, in my opinion.... arrogant and outspoken at that. i followed the home inspector around and made sure he got everything (he was good but missed a few things).

What they are good for is acting as another set of eyes, and acting as the "impartial "expert" to help vouch for the "needed" work. If you say something is wrong not much will happen, if the inspector says something is wrong, they might be willing to pay for it.

useless - no...... expert - no....

 

[woodgeek]

stinks. par for the course. I figure 90% of the time the new owners don't put two and two together.

My new, inspected house had a periodic leak around some flashing and the plumbing vent, undisclosed. previous owners had drowned the outside in (cheap) caulking and the inside in spackle.

 

[Swedishchef]

Wow, sorry to hear about your misfortunes.

In my province, there are regulations under the consumer protection board that covers things like that. Even getting a used car, you have a 1 month warranty! And I would damnwell take the previous owners to task!

Some times small claims court will allow payment of legal fees.

Also, you could approach them and ask them if they are willing to pay for the repairs

Andrew

 

[joefrompa]

It's too late now and I've accepted it. What's interesting is that it was not a fresh repair - yet the amount of water coming it was massive. So maybe they repaired it awhile ago and it just now worked its way back down to the ceiling. I don't know.

My inspector was good and I spotted a few things going into this. Not enough though....not enough.

 

[woodgeek]

that caulking job could have lasted for a few years. I know mine did before I got the new roof. Not to defend the previous owners, but they might have been 'unsophisticated' in building science, and hired a handyman who took their money and said the roof was permanently fixed. It seems more likely that they thought it was 'fixed' for real for a period of time and didn't bother to disclose, than they had a tradesman patch up a leaking ceiling a week before going on the market.

Wishful thinking is powerful, until the water drips on your head, AGAIN.

 

[jharkin]

That kind of thing is par for the course for many POs... Even well meaning ones. DIYers who don't know what they don't know.

 

[joefrompa]

This house is pretty solid structurally, and there's some really nice stuff in it. But SOOO much of it was DIYer gone bad. From paint color choices (flourescent green in a closet, green-almost-black baseboard trim, etc.) to awfully done floor re-staining (pools of dried stain anyone?) - to a basement that was finished by the guy and seems half-decent....

The bones of the house are good. And a year's worth of painting, floor sanding, re-siding, new electrical devices, a wood burning insert, caulking, leak-fixing, re-landscaping....

And it's getting htere

No frigging idea why we bought the house