Def. Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 (edited) Hey all, just looking for some insight on a smelly situation. I recently started the purchase process on my first house. Went through all the stuff with the mortgage, realtor and so forth. Got the home inspection done yesterday and pretty much it was on par with what I was expecting. However, I had a question for the inspect on a hole that was cut into the floor of the basement. We notice air holes bubling up from under some water in the hole. The Inspector went and turned on all the water and flush the toilets and sure enough I got to watch the hole file with raw sewage. Now, obviously that is something I will be addressing with my attorney before we close on this house. But I thought I'd do some investigation first and have been drawing some blanks in some areas. The house a little over a hundred years old. Based off this I believe the sewer line on the property is a Tile sewer line. My plan is to ask for the line to be repaired of course, but to also have the sewer line inspected. My concern here is that if it is a tile sewer line that in order to repair it I would need to convert the whole line to Pipe. Anyone have any insight on the coding and cost for sewer lines or any other thoughts on how I should handle this before closing? Just trying to ensure I can have this handled properly and not have an unexpected extra thousands of dollars come up for repair on the line after I close on the house. This problem was clearly known about. I saw the hole both times we walked through with the realtor, but yet it was not foreclosed to my realtor or myself. Thanks for any insight in advanced. Edited July 12, 2007 by Def. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmarc117 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 dont buy it.....sounds like a major headache coming down the pipeline Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdrudge Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 If you want the house, YOU pay for the inspection of the line and any initial estimates of the work by a plumber of your choice. Then you provide the estimate to the seller and work out a deal, most likely where they pay for most/all of the bill. If the seller balks at the repair and/or anything else the full inspection turns up, walk away. Unless you really want the house and are willing to pay for it out of your own pocket. But no matter what, don't do ANYTHING prior to getting the home owner's consent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cre8tiff Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Don't buy muck's house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Roller Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Just rent a plumbers camera and send it down that tile. Should clear everything up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Def. Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 If you want the house, YOU pay for the inspection of the line and any initial estimates of the work by a plumber of your choice. Then you provide the estimate to the seller and work out a deal, most likely where they pay for most/all of the bill. If the seller balks at the repair and/or anything else the full inspection turns up, walk away. Unless you really want the house and are willing to pay for it out of your own pocket. But no matter what, don't do ANYTHING prior to getting the home owner's consent. Ya I hear that, I actually did bring it to my lawyer first and he brought it to them. I got the response just earlier today that they're willing to repair all these other minor things (IMO) and give us $700 for the sewer. I almost laughed in my agents ear. I told her that I could care less about anything else listed on the inspection, but that line needs to be inspected and repaired. And if they're not able to do it we request to bring in a certified plumber to inspect it and give an estimate on the cost to repair. Since its an older house I'm afraid that it is a Tile Sewer and not a Pipe, which means it could be out of code and would have to be replaced if repaired. I've got a very bad feeling that the seller may walk away at this point. I like the house, but I'm not willing to go bankrupt over possibly having to replace a whole sewer line, and I can't find crap on the coding for it on the web. I'm hoping an inspection only shows a minor thing. What pisses me off to no end is the seller is all casual about it. When we inspected the house we saw the dirt vac used to clean the sh*t up sitting right next to this dam sewage hole. It was known by someone theres a problem there, and to just blow us off with $700 and cleaning the gutters like that makes me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqualung Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Ask for a smoke test. They insert smoke into the line. If you have tile this will more than likely show you a leak. When we had ours done the whole neighborhood looked like it was on fire there was so much smoke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whomper Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 (edited) A seller is supposed to fill out a disclosure form when they list..If this wasnt on it I would at least have your agent ask the selling agent why QUOTE(cdrudge @ 7/16/07 3:53pm) If you want the house, YOU pay for the inspection of the line and any initial estimates of the work by a plumber of your choice. Then you provide the estimate to the seller and work out a deal, most likely where they pay for most/all of the bill. If the seller balks at the repair and/or anything else the full inspection turns up, walk away. Unless you really want the house and are willing to pay for it out of your own pocket. But no matter what, don't do ANYTHING prior to getting the home owner's consent. This is absolutley the way to go Edited July 17, 2007 by whomper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dread Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Just rent a plumbers camera and send it down that tile. Should clear everything up. I've heard those cameras can be quite damaging. See, that's what's cool about the huddle...first you get the perspective of a homeowner trying to sell a house with sewer issues, now we get to see it from the buyer's side. Where else can you get that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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