S
skijem
Guest
Prior to purchasing our home, eight months ago, we hired an ASHI certified inspector to inspect a six year old home we were interested in purchasing. We met him at the property for the inspection. He never indicated that there was a problem with the roof. His report, sent later, states he walked on the roof and the overall condition of the roof, as well as the flashing fascia, soffit, gutters and downspouts, were listed as being satisfactory. The seller's disclosure statement says the roof has never been repaired or replaced and the roof never leaked. The seller's were the original and only owners. We have only lived in the home for 6 1/2 months and during a storm, last week, suffered substantial damage to our interior drywall and carpet. The room this happened in is an addition built by the seller 4 years ago. We have had several contractors look at the damage and all agreed that there is no doubt that the roof had experienced leaking in the past and they showed us were several attempts to repair (obvious patching) the roof had been made in the past. They also agreed that the inspector should have picked up on this because the roof is blatently defective, and because the downspouts, gutters, fascia and soffit were installed incorrectly. They also said there are so many problems with the structure that even if they would fix the roof, we would still experience leaking around the windows, etc. A few suggested that it would be easier to rip off everything and start over than to patch and keep patching all the areas that are collecting water and entering the home. They also found exposed rotted wood on the ground against the house that is part of the same structure. I called an impartial ASHI inspector to the home to see if he could detect the problems. After coming from the roof, he said that the past leaking is evident by the repairs and the kind of repairs they made (exactly where our leaking occured). He said that any inspector should have noticed how poorly this addition was built including the shingles not even being placed correctly, exposed wood and nails, etc. I called the original inspector to come back and look at the roof. He stated he still saw no problem with it and also made the comment that if he were to point out every problem that may leak, the realtors would be angry at him for breaking up deals and he would be out of business. Our realtor, who was a buyer's agent, said there was not much he could do to help us. We have lost our insurance coverage for this room, until the roof is replaced, and the ins. co. will only pay for the interior damage because the roof was not damaged by the storm but was defective. Basically, we're looking at receiving, after our deductible, about $800.00 plus dollars for a project temporarily estimated to run well over $8,000.00. This small amount of money won't even begin to cover all the inside damage. Who are we most likely to recover from, the incompetent inspector, the deceitful seller's, both or nobody. The inspector has a limitation clause that states that refund will be limited to the cost of the inspection, $220.00, if the client is not satisfied with the inspection. Is there a difference in not being satisfied and the inspector, according to several contractors and the ins. adjuster,
being negligent? If we had known of a problem or potential problem on the roof, we would have had a contractor out to estimate the repair cost and offered the seller's less money. As a result of the seller's dishonesty and negligence of the inspector, we are left with having all these additional costs and having paid the full amount of the house the seller's listed it for. This doesn't make us happy given there were anticipated expenses we let slide and paid for already, like $4,000.00 in new carpeting to replace the indoor/outdoor they previously had in. Personally, even if we would win in small claims, against the seller's, I don't think we'll ever see the money. Any help would be appreciated.
being negligent? If we had known of a problem or potential problem on the roof, we would have had a contractor out to estimate the repair cost and offered the seller's less money. As a result of the seller's dishonesty and negligence of the inspector, we are left with having all these additional costs and having paid the full amount of the house the seller's listed it for. This doesn't make us happy given there were anticipated expenses we let slide and paid for already, like $4,000.00 in new carpeting to replace the indoor/outdoor they previously had in. Personally, even if we would win in small claims, against the seller's, I don't think we'll ever see the money. Any help would be appreciated.