And so it begins...

[JeeberD]

Less than a week after moving into the new house, we're already having plumbing issues. This morning, after I took my morning pee, I heard this gurgling sound coming from the hallway bathroom. It went on for several seconds, so I got up from the computer to peek into the toilet, but I didn't notice anything obvious going on. So I sat down to finish my breakfast, etc...

About 45 minutes later it was time for me to get in the shower and get ready for work. I walked into the master bathroom, stepped on a bathmat, and SQUISH! The mat is soaking wet. We've had a little trouble with that toilet leaking when it's flushed (it's cracked and needs to be replaced...something we were planning on getting done next week) and I thought that maybe the wife had forgotten and used it this morning. There was way too much water on the floor for that, though...

That's when I looked over into the shower stall and noticed the standing water, and the brown stuff floating in it. Yum. Looked over into the bathtub, and it was backed up, too. Went into the hallway bathroom, and the bath in the there was backed up as well.

So less than a week into owning a house and I'm already having to miss work due to issues with it. Luckily, the Home Warranty we got when we bought the house should cover this for just a $75 charge...

Ah, the joys of home ownership.

[MikeVic]

Dammit don't scare me!

[Passacaglia]

Word. We just started looking at places last weekend. We looked again yesterday, and saw two places we like, but have big pros and cons for both. I don't need to hear this on top of all the "are we making the right decision" crap.

[JPhillips]

Within a month of buying our first home we had to replace the main drain line from the house to the street.

[MikeVic]

I said DON'T scare me!!

[Lorena]

I said DON'T scare me!!

+1

[Young Drachma]

+2

[Fidatelo]

We had two sides of our fence blow over during a windstorm one night during our first summer here. That put a dent in my weekend plans :)

[JeeberD]

The company that the warranty company uses was supposed to contact me within a half hour of my calling them (the warranty company). Here it is an hour and a half later and nothing...

[Lorena]

MIKE, STOP READING!

I should too, actually.

[st.cronin]

I've been in my house 2 years, still haven't called a plumber. It is on the list, though - the hose connection in the back of the house pretty much exploded the one time we turned it on.

[chesapeake]

Sadly, any time you buy a house that isn't brand-spanking new, you are probably getting a half-dozen problems that the previous owner didn't want to deal with but could plausibly deny that s/he was aware of. The most expensive of mine was a leaking dishwasher, which isn't even a drop in the bucket compared to the cost/headache of replacing the main line to the street.

[Fidatelo]

Many of the people I know that bought brand new homes (or had them built) went through way more issues than most of the people I know that bought 'previously enjoyed' homes. Sure, warranty covered most of those issues for the new houses, but they are still a major pain, and there were an awful lot of them.

[MJ4H]

Owned our house for 2.5 years now and haven't had to do any major repairwork at all, yet. We did have a minor leak during the big rains a couple of months back because one of the gaskets was old and cracked. Replaced it and will be repainting the bathroom this summer because the water came down and got under the layer of paint and bubbled it out. Will just smooth it out and repaint it and move on. I'm sure this post will be a major jinx, though.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Many of the people I know that bought brand new homes (or had them built) went through way more issues than most of the people I know that bought 'previously enjoyed' homes. Sure, warranty covered most of those issues for the new houses, but they are still a major pain, and there were an awful lot of them.

I don't know about 'awful lot' unless you've got a lousy builder. But I'd agree that new houses have similar problems. The best thing to do is to develop a good relationship with a builder when getting a new home. It makes follow up repairs a whole lot easier to deal with.

2-3 year warranty with an existing home purchase is an absolute must.

[Eaglesfan27]

Our window repair that I talked about is set to begin next week. Will cost a bit over 3k for the windows to be repaired and then another 1-2k for the hardwood floor repair. Only good news is that since it was a new house and there was some flashing missing, I convinced the original builder to cover about half of the cost. Oh yeah, our house was built in 2004/5.

[chesapeake]

You point to the difference, Fidatelo. With a new house, the manufacturer is on the hook to fix them. There is grief involved, but, ultimately, the homeowner is in the legal position of strength.

With a "used" home, to get redress from the previous owner, you have to prove that 1) the problem existed for the last homeowner; and 2) a reasonable person would have been aware of it. For a lot of problems, that is almost impossible to do. In my own case, the previous owner had been out of the house for 3 months and claimed that the last time they used the dishwasher, there was no water on the floor. Maybe it was a lie, maybe it wasn't, but there was no way I could prove it. So it was my problem.

BTW, I recommend that you let the DW run through its whole cycle during your home inspection :)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

BTW, I recommend that you let the DW run through its whole cycle during your home inspection :)

In addition, you should turn on all sinks and bathtub faucets and let them run the entire time to check for any plugged drainage like the original poster mentioned. A/C and heat should also be run to verify that both functions work and provide enough airflow to do their job.

[Fidatelo]

You point to the difference, Fidatelo. With a new house, the manufacturer is on the hook to fix them. There is grief involved, but, ultimately, the homeowner is in the legal position of strength.

With a "used" home, to get redress from the previous owner, you have to prove that 1) the problem existed for the last homeowner; and 2) a reasonable person would have been aware of it. For a lot of problems, that is almost impossible to do. In my own case, the previous owner had been out of the house for 3 months and claimed that the last time they used the dishwasher, there was no water on the floor. Maybe it was a lie, maybe it wasn't, but there was no way I could prove it. So it was my problem.

BTW, I recommend that you let the DW run through its whole cycle during your home inspection :)

Actually in the case of a dishwasher, the previous owners easily could be telling the truth. When not used, the seals in dishwashers tend to dry out and crack.

[Fidatelo]

I don't know about 'awful lot' unless you've got a lousy builder. But I'd agree that new houses have similar problems. The best thing to do is to develop a good relationship with a builder when getting a new home. It makes follow up repairs a whole lot easier to deal with.

2-3 year warranty with an existing home purchase is an absolute must.

The problem with the market here is that there just aren't enough builders, so they are slapping up homes way too fast. Then they want nothing to do with fixing the old problems, because there is too much money to be made in building other new homes. So getting them to come back and fix what should have been built right in the first place is a MAJOR pain.

[bbor]

2 years into our new home.I think i changed a lightbulb......once:)

[Passacaglia]

2 years into our new home.I think i changed a lightbulb......once:)

Lightbulb? For some reason, I thought your house was gas-powered.

[johnnyshaka]

The problem with the market here is that there just aren't enough builders, so they are slapping up homes way too fast. Then they want nothing to do with fixing the old problems, because there is too much money to be made in building other new homes. So getting them to come back and fix what should have been built right in the first place is a MAJOR pain.

Ditto in my area.

Luckily we bought new about 2 years before the market went out of control and entering year 7, knock on wood, we haven't had one issue.

That said, I'm thinking of moving into an older neighbourhood as I'm growing tired of the sardine-style 'burbs we're in now but I'm a little reluctant because I'm not all that handy and I'm sure those skills would be a plus when moving into a 30 or 40 year old home.

[Lorena]

BTW, I recommend that you let the DW run through its whole cycle during your home inspection :)

In addition, you should turn on all sinks and bathtub faucets and let them run the entire time to check for any plugged drainage like the original poster mentioned. A/C and heat should also be run to verify that both functions work and provide enough airflow to do their job.

Thanks, dunno why i never thought about this.

[bbor]

Lightbulb? For some reason, I thought your house was gas-powered.


LOL:D

[JeeberD]

FUCK. ME.

So three hours later I STILL hadn't heard from the plumber, so I called the Warranty company again and this time got the voice mail of the rep who helped me out earlier, so I left her a message asking me to let me know what the deal was.

When I had talked to her earlier she gave me the name of the plumbers, so I googled them, got their number, and gave them a call. Yeah, the dude says that they can't come out any earlier than tomorrow morning (9 or 10am). Normally I might be able to live with that, but the fucking in-laws are coming to visit this weekend, and will be getting in around 4pm...

At least the water has receded in the tubs/shower and the hallway toilet is flushing now. The master toilet is still clogged, though. And I have soaked bathmats in the washing machine that I'm afraid to wash, as well as dirty dishes in the washer. AND, if they can't come until tomorrow morning, that means either the wife or myself will have to miss work to deal with the plumber. Of course, the in-laws WILL be here, and they can probably handle that part. Hmmm....

[Cringer]

We have had plumbing problems. Of course I blame half of this on the wife and daughter who let anything and everything go down the kitchen sink. In the past a simple rental from Home Depot of a plumber's snake has done the trick. Right now it is not working though and I will have to call in a plumber sometime soon. Until then the kitchen sink drains extremely slow.

I also noticed a spot where we have some termites, which I will take care of much sooner.

[Cringer]

FUCK. ME.

So three hours later I STILL hadn't heard from the plumber, so I called the Warranty company again and this time got the voice mail of the rep who helped me out earlier, so I left her a message asking me to let me know what the deal was.

When I had talked to her earlier she gave me the name of the plumbers, so I googled them, got their number, and gave them a call. Yeah, the dude says that they can't come out any earlier than tomorrow morning (9 or 10am). Normally I might be able to live with that, but the fucking in-laws are coming to visit this weekend, and will be getting in around 4pm...

At least the water has receded in the tubs/shower and the hallway toilet is flushing now. The master toilet is still clogged, though. And I have soaked bathmats in the washing machine that I'm afraid to wash, as well as dirty dishes in the washer. AND, if they can't come until tomorrow morning, that means either the wife or myself will have to miss work to deal with the plumber. Of course, the in-laws WILL be here, and they can probably handle that part. Hmmm....


Have you picked out the spot in the backyard for everyone to go to the bathroom? :D

[JeeberD]

Have you picked out the spot in the backyard for everyone to go to the bathroom? :D

No shit. I just tried the hallway toilet again and it backed up. :mad:

[Fidatelo]

Around here people have lots of problems with tree roots growing into the pipes beneath the house/yard, and every few years you generally need a company to come and clear them out (not exactly sure how that works). Maybe that could be a problem?

[Cringer]

The root system of a tree is usually 50-100% larger then the tree top.

[lordscarlet]

And the old homes sit empty while gigantic new homes are built, destroying the natural landscape, using up natural resources to build the new home and creating shoddily built houses that won't last a century in many cases.

[/rant]

(special apologies to my bro who is buying a new home that I am sure is perfectly wonderful :) )

[JeeberD]

Yeah, my dad said it was likely tree roots (we have two big, mature trees in the front yard). Hopefully it's something that's easy to clear out...though it sounds like roots aren't covered by the warranty:

EXCLUDED: Stoppages and clogs in drain and sewer lines that can not be cleared by cable or die to roots, collapsed, broken, or damaged lines outside the confines of the main foundation (even if within 100' of access point).

[johnnyshaka]

Yeah, my dad said it was likely tree roots (we have two big, mature trees in the front yard). Hopefully it's something that's easy to clear out...though it sounds like roots aren't covered by the warranty:

EXCLUDED: Stoppages and clogs in drain and sewer lines that can not be cleared by cable or die to roots, collapsed, broken, or damaged lines outside the confines of the main foundation (even if within 100' of access point).

Yup...not cheap...my old roommate had to have trees removed/main pipe replaced after his basement backed up one night...that was not a fun night.

[stevew]

Have you tried plunging/snaking the main line in the basement? Sometimes it works. A couple weeks after moving in here, I had a massive backup. Turns out I put too much stuff down the garbage disposal....once I finally plunged the mainline it receeded. Anyways, your setup is probably different than mine.

[JeeberD]

Basement? In Texas? Silly boy...

I finally got ahold of the wife (been getting her voicemail all day) and decided to call someone else to get this fixed today. After all, there's a decent chance it won't be covered by the warranty anyways...

[Eaglesfan27]

Basement? In Texas? Silly boy...

I finally got ahold of the wife (been getting her voicemail all day) and decided to call someone else to get this fixed today. After all, there's a decent chance it won't be covered by the warranty anyways...

This is the main reason that I'm skeptical of the value of the various home warranties such as AHS. I think that first plumber would have been much more responsive if you weren't a warranty customer.

[JeeberD]

Well, at least the seller paid for the warranty and not us...

[bbor]

This thread makes me feel like i have to poo.

[bbor]

Jeebs...can i lay it down at your place?


:D

[JeeberD]

You're welcome to use the back tree, like I did earlier...

[JeeberD]

So the plumber came, snaked out the pipe, and brought out a few small roots and said that was probably the problem. $150 for that. He then asked if I wanted him to run a camera down there to see for sure if that was the problem, and if there were any more problems. Since we're new in this house, I figured it was worth a looksee...another $150 for that.

He just showed us what he found...about 4/5 of the way down our sidewalk, just before our pipe hits the city pipe, our pipe has slipped and there's a good gap between the two pieces. He says it's about seven feet down and directly below our sidewalk. His guess is that to repair it would cost somewhere between $1800 and $3000. He's writing up a proper estimate right now.

*sigh*

There goes that HDTV we were saving up for (plus plenty more cash)...

[JeeberD]

Dola-

At least I can take a dump now. I've been holding this thing since 8am...

[PilotMan]

Damn that sucks. Welcome home. What a major league bummer.

[johnnyshaka]

Hopefully his estimate comes out on the lower end.

[JPhillips]

Sorry Jeebs. That's almost exactly what happened to me with my first home.

[SFL Cat]

It's just amazing how this stuff always falls apart just inches before hitting the city lines...which would be the responsibility of the city to fix.

[stevew]

Basement? In Texas? Silly boy...



Yeah, I forgot the part about Pee Wee's bike being hid in the basement at the Alamo

[JeeberD]

The estimate came back for $4100 (though that includes the $370 we paid yesterday for the snaking and video). The plumber also said he could likely get another $500-600 knocked off the price if I got back to him soon. The sad thing is that the vast majority of that cash would be going towards digging the goddamn hole. My wife asked him how much it would be if we dug our own hole, and he said about $700 bucks...is FOFC up for a digging party if I provide a couple of kegs? ;)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The estimate came back for $4100 (though that includes the $370 we paid yesterday for the snaking and video). The plumber also said he could likely get another $500-600 knocked off the price if I got back to him soon. The sad thing is that the vast majority of that cash would be going towards digging the goddamn hole. My wife asked him how much it would be if we dug our own hole, and he said about $700 bucks...is FOFC up for a digging party if I provide a couple of kegs? ;)

Invite 5-6 friends over and dig it out. Seriously. It's well-worth the 'blood and sweat' investment. I had the same thing at my old home and brought over 4 friends. We dug it out in 4-5 hours and put down 2 cases of beer in the process. You'll be sore, but you'll still get your TV. Just make sure that the guy lets you know exactly where to dig.

[Fidatelo]

How big does the hole need to be? You could probably rent a bobcat or some other automated augering-type machine for a lot less than $3000.

[JPhillips]

I'd at least get a few more estimates. When I had to replace the main drain the estimates varied by thousands of dollars. Because you're stuck having to get this fixed, a lot of plumbing companies really play tricks with the estimate. When I had to do this it was eight years ago, but I eventually found a plumber than would do the work for about 1000 total.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I'd at least get a few more estimates. When I had to replace the main drain the estimates varied by thousands of dollars. Because you're stuck having to get this fixed, a lot of plumbing companies really play tricks with the estimate. When I had to do this it was eight years ago, but I eventually found a plumber than would do the work for about 1000 total.

Agreed. It certainly wouldn't hurt.

If you don't want to shop around, most Home Depot stores now have a 'bid board' where you can post jobs and contractors can submit sealed bids for the job when they come into the store to buy supplies. It's an easy way to get several bids without much work.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'll add my agreement as well. For our soon to be completed home repairs, we got 6 estimates and found they varied by over 4,000 dollars from the lowest to the highest.

[JeeberD]

Invite 5-6 friends over and dig it out. Seriously. It's well-worth the 'blood and sweat' investment. I had the same thing at my old home and brought over 4 friends. We dug it out in 4-5 hours and put down 2 cases of beer in the process. You'll be sore, but you'll still get your TV. Just make sure that the guy lets you know exactly where to dig.

Did I mention that the pipe is supposedly SEVEN feet down? That would be a hell of a lot of digging...

My wife talked to our realtor, and he suggested a guy that he's used before. Our realtor thinks he would probably do it for around $1800, so that would be great. But yes, we're certainly going to be getting several estimates done. This doesn't appear to be an emergency situation where we have to get it done ASAP...

[JeeberD]

My wife wound up calling the city today to see what/if they could do anything about the problem, or at least if they could come out and look at it. The lady she talked to said that they won't come out unless there's a current back-up, so that the next time it happens we need to call and they'll clear it out and then put a camera down to determine exactly whose problem it is. The lady then asked for our address, just for reference. When my wife told her, she the lady from the city said, "Oh! We've been out there before! January 31, 2008!"

Soooo...it looks like the previous owners knew there was a problem yet failed to mention it in their disclosure. Does anyone know if we have any recourse against them, or they're at all liable for the cost of repairs?

[MikeVic]

That sucks! I don't know how it works exactly, but I'd guess a home buyer would be protected against something like this?