It has become obvious that we need to talk to a lawyer who is expert in things related to real-estate. We had the boss of the home inspector who told us that everything was “just peachy” out. He:
– Disclaims responsibility for his guy failing to notice that we have a plumbing that could never have been up to code
– Revealed two new things of interest:
(1) We could hack it by installing a “macerating, pump toilet,” which is what people use when pre-existing pipes can’t be corrected and they’re too small.
(2) We have no foundation under the master bathroom. It’s pressure treated 2×4’s resting on soil. “sort of like a deck” he says. Woo.
Further, the neighbor says that the previous owner (okay, the boyfriend / husband of the previous owner) was in the habit of hiring recent ex-convicts to come out and do labor for him on the cheap. He never took a permit for anything, and frequently the guys had no idea what they were doing. Double-woo.
So now I need a lawyer to tell me the following:
* I bought a house and now I’ve discovered that it’s not up to code in a variety of ways. What are my obligations?
* I was sold a house that wasn’t up to code. Is there anyone who ought to have done their job just a tiny bit better? For example:
– The inspector
– The sellers
– The title / closing agent
– The selling real estate agent?
I don’t think that there’s either joy or glory in going after any of these people for money (with the possible exception of the closing agent). The sellers are not well off at all, and it was their mom’s house. Mom is now in an assisted living facility. The inspector seems to be a good guy, and I don’t really want to destroy him.
I also need a couple of general contractors to tell me what it will cost to get this house (or at least, this part of it) up to code.
* Install concrete supports under the master bathroom
* Redo the piping under the bathroom
* Is it better to redo the entire piping in the basement, or to put one of these macerators in? Will the macerator bring it up to code?
The house is still not in danger of imminent collapse, but I now understand a little better what I bought into here. Still love it, just more work to do.
Bah. Time to get on the horn.
In other news, we bought a dining room set. The price was right, we had the cash set aside, and it was time. Table, six chairs, china cabinet, and “buffet” or “server” (basically a glorified table with some drawers in it, the place where you would put the big serving dishes after everyone had taken the food they wanted). Woo.
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