Inspection

[thispoorchump]

What is the name of your state? Oregon

We closed on our home on November 22nd. We had a full home inspection. Two days after we moved in I was sitting on the toilet in the main bathroom, bathing my children. I stood up to get the baby out and the tile cracked. There were a few loose pieces so we pulled them up and the floor underneath is completely rotten. You can step around the toilet and feel the floor sink. We immedately notified our realtor (who had asked to be notified if we had any issues). She sent the information to the inspector. The following Saturday my father in law came out and installed a new backdoor for us (it didn't latch or lock). While he was here he crawled under the house and could see dry rot. He took some pictures and we sent them to the realtor, who called the inspector. The inspector stopped by our home the following Monday, while we were out and went under the house. He insists that there is no dry rot down there.

Last Saturday, my father in law drove back down to go under the house with the inspector. My father in law was able to stick his screw driver in the wood underneath and a piece fell off but the inspector says that the grey, flakey wood just has water spots on it and that it's not dry rot. Two boards down they were unable to chip away any of the wood. The inspector said that because his pick didn't go through the wood that it is not rotten.

Obviously we are going to have to replace the floor all of the way down. Everyone is telling us that the inspector should refund our money, as this would have been an issue we would have brought into our deal and had the seller repair....not to mention the fact that we paid this man money to touch every surface in this house. He went into the bathroom and said he could feel that the floor was really soft there but that it was a "hidden" area because there's tile on the floor in there. We aren't impressed at all with this inspector. He said that the roof was bad as well but two licensed roofers went on top of the roof, walked it and both said it was completely fine. One certified it and the other said that they would if we needed it.

Our question is, are we entitled to our inspection money back since there's obviously dry-rot that he did not disclose in the inspection report? Thanks for your time.

[JETX]

Originally Posted by thispoorchump

are we entitled to our inspection money back since there's obviously dry-rot that he did not disclose in the inspection report? Thanks for your time.

No, you are not ENTITLED to anything. However, you can certainly request some compensation and file a lawsuit against the inspector for his failure in performing a valid inspection.

You can also file a complaint with your state agency. For more:
[url]http://www.ccb.state.or.us/CCB/consumer_help.shtml#What_should_I_do_if_I_have_a_problem_with_a_contractor_[/url]

[HUD-1]

Write the guy a letter, tell him your opinion regarding the dry rot and request a refund. The worst that can happen is that he says no. If you have already had some negative feedback from him, you can threaten a small claims lawsuit in the letter. Be prepared to show that he should have noticed it the first time around. He already gave his defense, that it was covered up and not inspectable. Also, what did the seller disclose as part of the Oregon disclosure law? Should they have known about the bathroom floor? Did they cover it up with tile before the sale?

[moburkes]

This inspector told you that the house needed a new roof, which it didn't, but you still relied on his findings?

[Gadfly]

If you father could find the dry rot, I'll bet the inspector could too if he had looked. When it was shown to him, he kind of prooved he doesn't know what he id doing.

Was there any kind of insurance or gurantee wtih the inspection?

Did you get a home warranty with the house? Look into it if you did.