Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?
- Thread starter mimico_polak
- Start date
Mostly finished basement, standard proviso of "we only look at what is plainly visible" is my bet.
Nothing. We fired 2 home inspectors as they were total twats. Plus we saw the waterproofing membrane and as @GreyGhost said ‘we only see what we see’. So dad and I did it and didn’t notice any water damage in the basement.
Kevin was fairly straightforward about the repair. That was it.
It’s def wet under the stairs. Just got the scope camera out. Can’t see much, but it’s def damp under there.
EDIT: actually my dad asked if we can sue Kevin but I had to remind him we signed a document saying we accept the state of the house the way it is. Plus after 2.5 years I think it’s an east GFY from him to us.
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Hack
Well-known member
Started the reno of the bathroom... Plan on pretty much gutting, getting rid of the soaker tub that's only been used a hand full of times back when the kids were toddlers... gonna frame out and build a giant shower enclosure re jig the counters/vanities and do whatever else the wife tells me to.
GateKeeper
Well-known member
@Hack……
you doing just the demo, and have someone put it back together? Or are doing doing the whole thing?
I have 2 bathrooms that need to be done, I can do the demo, but afraid to do the “put together“ part…lol
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you doing just the demo, and have someone put it back together? Or are doing doing the whole thing?
I have 2 bathrooms that need to be done, I can do the demo, but afraid to do the “put together“ part…lol
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sburns
Well-known member
So what is the relation of the hack waterproofing (black membrane inside) to the stairs?
Ever thought to pull it off and see what's hiding behind there?
The water proofing ends at the stairs. I’ve never wanted to pull it off because up to now all appeared fine. It’s very possibly the water is travelling along the wall to the stairs….but we will see. No water marks today but I can tell it’s wet under the stairs.
I’m pulling the bottom 1-2 treads to see wtf is there.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
You might try leaving a few risers off once you pull the treads. If the area behind the stairs gets no ventilation, condensation or a tiny amount of seepage that would normally get absorbed into your house as humidity might be condensing in the trapped closed in area.
The extra ventilation might make a small problem smaller.
Is it insulated under the stairs?
I figured you had done it yourself , I won’t hire a home inspector unless it’s required in the sale . There may be a good one somewhere, but I have yet to meet them .
I’ve actually seen three or four that were just plain wrong , and one was an attempted fraud .
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I hired one last time mainly because I wanted an ir gun to check vaulted ceilings as they are a prick to fix if insulation has issues. He was marginal. Some things we fed him like popped window seals were used to get a price adjustment. Without the report, I suspect the seller would have been less likely to do that.
My biggest concern is their 'not liable for anything' clause. What's the point?
When we sold our complex we knocked off 50k due to the inspection report (which was very thorough considering the price of sale). But we knew it needed work.
It's not an insurance policy, it's just a bargaining chip. For the truly clueless purchaser, it may provide them some insight.
The last House we sold the buyer came back with a few things from the home inspector told them price was not going to be renegotiated. They backed off and everything went through fine.
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We dropped our price 50k on the investment property. But the issues they identified were fairly major. Maybe not 50k major...but close.
Upcoming issues with flat roof, some brick falling off, etc. I've got the report here somewhere.
Also potentially a reasonable position. It's not a magic bullet just a tool in the box. Based on this house being less than 15 years old with half the windows popped, I wasn't impressed. I asked for half of what I expected replacement IGU's to cost. Seller offered less than half that. I was happy to walk away and get a different house. Seller complained but agreed to our number.
The demo is the worst part psychologically. Every day it looks worse. When it starts going together things improve.Started the reno of the bathroom... Plan on pretty much gutting, getting rid of the soaker tub that's only been used a hand full of times back when the kids were toddlers... gonna frame out and build a giant shower enclosure re jig the counters/vanities and do whatever else the wife tells me to.
It depends how ugly it was to start. Sometimes things improve from the first popped tile.
Also very likely different markets. Try pulling that nowadays to a seller and they'll just pass to the next offer (if they already didn't accept an unconditional offer).
We spoke with our agent, mortgage broker, and some buddies in contracting and each one said the same thing:
"You like the area, have good neighbours, have a good size lot, and good access to everything. Don't bother selling, and then trying to buy in this market. Look into the renovation instead."
In addition:
"How sure are you the MIL will be alive in 10 years? Or even still living with you? May not be worth the expense for an extra 600sqft."
I mean technically....families around the world live with more people crammed into less space than we have. We'll see what the broker says. Last time we talked he said he can add 100k to our mortgage, and our payments go DOWN. If that's still the case we may pull the trigger on the modular addition.
I would hope there is a wall under the garage door as a mud sill would likely shift.
Theoretically they could have used stepped footings at the garage but they require a bit more form work. It might have been just as economical to dig the same depth around the whole house and pay for a few more blocks.
If you use a hole saw on the risers instead of taking out treads you should be able to get a decent view of what's happening back there.
I'm all for knocking holes in anything that would shed more light on what the builder did and what it may be contributing to the problem. You might find Kevin's wife's remains or a place to store stuff.
Once, while trying to find a junction box at a low rise condo complex I found the shell of a three bedroom apartment in the parking garage. The only way in was through an access panel and, while the walls were an exact copy of a typical suite, the floor was just dirt.
I don't know if they ever did anything with the space. It couldn't be used as a residence but popping in a steel door would make it a man cave for the janitors.
Seems like a great location for a "garden" to supplement the janitors income.
