Disclosure - microwave install affected cabinets

[txdogmom]

What is the name of your state? Texas

In July 2004, I purchased an Over-the-range microwave from Home Depot and arranged for their In-home services group to install it. All seemed fine until mid January 2005 when I noticed that the front face of my cabinets was being pulled away from the boxes, right where the microwave was installed. Long story short, the microwave was not installed correctly and all the weight (70 lbs.) was being borne by the cabinet rather than the wall. After tons of hassle, Home Depot finally agreed to fix the cabinets. They came to the home last week and removed them from the wall because they wanted to have a master carpenter evaluate what can be done.

They called last week and said, "Per our master carpenter, no glue known to man would hold these cabinets together with any structural integrity. We will make new boxes for you and install the same oak face frame and doors so that they match the other units. If we don't, he feels we will just be out there again in 6-9 months doing it all over again. The new boxes will take a week or two to complete." Then this week, I get a call that they are going to just glue it and say that the master carpenter now feels that they will be fine. I am leery about accepting this but I think my options are limited here.

I plan to sell my home within the next year or so and I feel that I should disclose to any potential buyer that the cabinets were reworked and why. (I know I would want to know that kind of info if I were buying a place.) Home Depot says they will stand by their rework of the cabinets and are willing to put it in writing.

My questions are this:
1. I think ethically and legally I should disclose to a buyer that the cabinets have been reworked; a friend of a friend in the real estate business said I don't have to disclose this. Are they right?

2. Would a letter from Home Depot accepting liability protect me from being sued by a buyer in the future and being held responsible for damages that might result?

3. I would like to draft some sort of statement that I can Home Depot sign that they accept liability if the cabinet reworks should fail and, as a result, the cabinets fall down or fall apart and cause damage. Can anyone suggest language I can use in this statement?