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GregB
Guest
My wife and I bought a 100 year-old, painted brick townhouse in Washington, DC 14 months ago. We paid for an inspection before settlement and our inspector didn't notice any problems with the masonry--said it looked good (although he didn't check the exposed side of our house--since to do so one must go through neighbor's houses and yards). After several weeks, I noticed accumulations of mortar dust in areas of our basement apartment that were not covered by drywall(and in the basement fireplace and utility room). Then, in September, I was in my neighbor's yard and noticed small areas of mortar that were completely gone or just falling out like dust. I know that the previous owner must have known about this (especially since there was no dust when we had the inspection and was told by a neighbor that he had pulled ivy off the wall months before). Then, while on the roof to make a repair, I noticed other areas along the roof-line where the mortar was crumbling out. Shouldn't the inspector have picked up on this when he inspected the roof?? Is it likely we would have any recourse with the inspection company? Should the seller be held accountable for trying to hide it? (They also lied about hardwood floors in one room; we found their speaker wire under the carpet so they obviously knew the make of the floors.) Certainly, such deterioration in mortar would not develop in the time since we bought the house. Does it seem likely we would have any recourse with the inspection company or with the sellers? Would a statute of limitations prevent us from pursuing this? Is this worth pursuing (since mortar repair is quite expensive)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.