Termite Damage & Oil Tank

I had an inspector inspect a house I made an offer one. He said there is signs on termite damage but no signs of eggs or live termites. He can't tell us more because he can't move things or rip out walls or anything. But that just scares me...those words t-e-r-m-i-t-e
d-a-m-a-g-e. He says a lot of people have termites/termite damage and don't even know about it and usually find out after they replace walls or whatever else. Does anyone here have an experience with this?

Also he said the house has a oil tank that is starting to leak and is probably 50 years old (orginal of the house) and should have been serviced and replaced a long time ago. And if we buy the house he recommends replacing it right away or up to a year or so. How much does this cost?

The sellers and us are renegoiating. They said they would fix any termite damage and have someone look at the oil tank. I don't think that they will replace it...And the termites, what happens if you can't find them and they appear/discovered a year later?

Re: Termite Damage & Oil Tank

The house we bought has termite damage, which the inspector found. We used that in our negotiation with the sellers.

The damage was from awhile ago (it appears) and the sellers have a contract with Terminix. Does the house you're looking at have termite protection?

I *think* termites are very common on LI but you want to try to make sure that the damage isn't significant and/or that you're compensated for what you'll have to repair.

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We had the same 2 problems! The inspector said there was termite damage but the termites weren't active (I think that was the wording). They also had 3 huge tanks underground and there was not evidence that they were leaking but they were the originals so we weren't comfortable with that. We negotiated that they would replace the tanks with one in the basement. Close to our closing they still had not done and wanted to give us a "credit." We decline just in case the tanks were leaking we didn't want to be responsible for any damage. Good luck!

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We just got a new oil tank and had it moved to a different spot. It cost us $1350.

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if the oil tank is underground i personally would run.

those 2 items would scare me a bit and make me reconsider. if you are willing to take the risk, have plenty of extra $$ aside in case the problem is larger than it seems...

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They discovered termite damage at our inspection too. Try to find a part of Long Island that does not have termites. One of the conditions of our contract was to have the damage repaired. They cut out the beam and replaced it with a new piece and put in a steel column underneath the center of it all for additional support.

Message edited 5/26/2006 1:44:30 PM.

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another question if someone knows, should you discover extensive termite damage years or whatever down the road, does your homeowners insurance cover that?

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without knowing the extent of the damage from the termites I wouldn't by the house. The oil tank is replaceable though.

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My Inlaws had a leaking in ground oil tank and it cost them 15k to remediate!!! He had to have the town come to inspect, they dug a MAJOR hole, and had to have the epa come or something. It was terrible!!! Stay clear of inground tanks!

Also, about the termite damage-- I don't know if I would do that. Heaven forbid, there are live termites. You would have to set up a centricon baiting system and that would be money. Can you do a further inspection?

Message edited 5/26/2006 5:30:24 PM.

Re: Termite Damage & Oil Tank

Posted by newhome

My Inlaws had a leaking in ground oil tank and it cost them 15k to remediate!!! He had to have the town come to inspect, they dug a MAJOR hole, and had to have the epa come or something. It was terrible!!! Stay clear of inground tanks!

Also, about the termite damage-- I don't know if I would do that. Heaven forbid, there are live termites. You would have to set up a centricon baiting system and that would be money. Can you do a further inspection?

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We walked away from one house due to termite damage- our inspector saw major termite damage. I think there were live termites and they had a centricon baiting system, which scared me. Our new house needs a TON more cosmetic work but could not have had a cleaner inspection. My husband always said to me- you don't want to buy other peoples problems. $400 just saved you a whole lotta headaches. I would look at other homes- you could always return to this one- it won't go quickly with this problem. Good luck!

Re: Termite Damage & Oil Tank

Posted by maryg

Posted by newhome

My Inlaws had a leaking in ground oil tank and it cost them 15k to remediate!!! He had to have the town come to inspect, they dug a MAJOR hole, and had to have the epa come or something. It was terrible!!! Stay clear of inground tanks!

Also, about the termite damage-- I don't know if I would do that. Heaven forbid, there are live termites. You would have to set up a centricon baiting system and that would be money. Can you do a further inspection?

Yes I can but I'm also afraid to lose more money to thoroughly inspect the amount of termite damage. I'm starting t think maybe just to forget my $400 inspector loss and move on and look at another house. I mean really, can every house in long island have termites?

Re: Termite Damage & Oil Tank

Fixing termite damage is only part of what the sellers need to do. They should call in a termite control expert and have the place sprayed for existing termites. Just because they are not seen, doesn't mean they don't exist. They then need to replace any damaged walls, joists, floorboards, etc. If they just do a superficial job and assure you that everything has been taken care of (get it in writing) and anything happens down the line, they can be held legally accountable.

As for the oil tank, it needs to be handled immediately. If the tank is that old and it is leaking, it needs to be replaced. If it is in the ground and it ruptures, the Environmental Protection Agency becomes involved and it becomes VERY expensive. Not only does the tank need to be replaced, but the soil needs to be dug up and disposed of. The easiest solution is to have the tank drained and filled with foam. This is relatively inexpensive. We had this done and the cost was about $200.00.
We put a replacement in the garage. We bought our tank through my husband's work and had a local oil company run the lines. Check with someone who is experienced in this field for prices. As far as the sellers saying that they will have someone "look" at the tank, that is not good enough. This could become an environmental nightmare if this is not corrected. If they have any work done, it must be done from a licensed contractor and a certificate is issued. Don't just take their word for it and don't close on this house until this addressed properly. You need to protect yourself. However, you can always negotiate with the sellers and have them pay you at closing what it would cost to have this work done. The choice is yours. Good luck!

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We're re-renegoiating with the sellers. They had the oil tank inspected and the company said it was fine but my dh and I believe our inspector. As for the termites, they had someone examine the extent of the damage and there are live termites and there is some damage but nothing that needs to be fixed. So they are not going to do anything. We are trying to negoiate either $5,000 off the accepted offer price or a guarantee for a year that they will, replace any termite damage they didn't find, pay for termite service for a year (standard practice), guarantee the oil tank will hold up another year, and fix up all the little things that we had already agreed to. I don't these are outrageous contigencies. Although our accept offer price is already I $15,000 lower than asking and the rest of the house is recently updated. I really like the house but after this little fiasco, I am not so much in a rush to move. It's taken me 3plus years to save enough for a downpayment and closing and I feel almost proud or something. $375,000 may not be a lot of money to some people but this is pretty much my breaking point. I don't want to pay my outrageous mortgageevery month in a house I don't love or hell one that may fall down from termite damage (My biggest worry...) I am waiting for the sellers to respond and if they don't give either way, I am just going to walk.

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No matter what the seller's say an oil tank that old is NOT structurally sound... there is a good chance it is already leaking or it will start leaking any moment now. The termites MUSt be treated immediately.

Always go by what your own inspector says. Of course, it is in the best interest of those being paid by them to not tell you the whole truth.

Any house will be the most expenive purchase you will make... it's worth it to pay a few hundred dollars more to get a second inspection, if need be. What's a few hundred dollars when you couls be saving thousands?

Good luck.

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Re: Termite Damage & Oil Tank

Posted by Ambersmom

Posted by maryg

I had an inspector inspect a house I made an offer one. He said there is signs on termite damage but no signs of eggs or live termites. He can't tell us more because he can't move things or rip out walls or anything. But that just scares me...those words t-e-r-m-i-t-e
d-a-m-a-g-e. He says a lot of people have termites/termite damage and don't even know about it and usually find out after they replace walls or whatever else. Does anyone here have an experience with this?

Also he said the house has a oil tank that is starting to leak and is probably 50 years old (orginal of the house) and should have been serviced and replaced a long time ago. And if we buy the house he recommends replacing it right away or up to a year or so. How much does this cost?

The sellers and us are renegoiating. They said they would fix any termite damage and have someone look at the oil tank. I don't think that they will replace it...And the termites, what happens if you can't find them and they appear/discovered a year later?

We sure did!! We opened pandora's box when we started removing the lower floor (we're in a high ranch) paneling. Not only did we have EXTENSIVE termite damage (they literally ate the sill of the house to the point where you could wave your hand underneath the house to the back yard) but we also had active swarms in both the 1st and 2nd floor. They had literally chewed my bedroom window straight out of the house to the point where you could push the entire windowframe out of the wall. It was a nightmare. That's why we ended up rebuilding over 80%of the existing structure. The concrete patios had to be destroyed because they were pitched towards the house. Termites love nothing more than damp old wood to chew on (yummy ). Don't ya know the DAY before we were supposed to have our sheetrock team come in and do over the entire house (after 7 months of rebuilding) we had a swarm of carpenter ants coming out of the main header of the house??? Termites is a very common thing but be proactive. Scrutinize the property even moreso than the inspector does. We 2nd guessed ourselves on stuff we thought was "off" when they were in reality tremendous RED FLAGS not to buy the property. What's done is done and the house is awesome but I would never do it again. If my brother/father weren't construction inclined, we would have let the bank foreclose - it was that bad.

Re: Termite Damage & Oil Tank

we got temrites last yr but luckily caught them early on and they weren't half as bad as many others have told us abotu since.....even the terminix guy was "impressed" - there was no damage to the house structurally and he said it might have been the first day they were "in" the house that we saw them (b/c I am nuts I used ot set up tape "trpas" - long lines of tape sticky side up on the flr where we had seen them and all kinds of ther "tests" - and we never saw any again, THANK GOD!) We had just done major construction on the house and apparently, termites are attracted anytime on li there is new constuction - we had a system to control them put in that looks like sprinklers and are actually termite bait. We only had two mud tunnels (forget the real name of them) on our foudnation originally and after the first three month check, there has never bene any acitivity since. But, they did not fidn any old or new damamge to the house either.....

We also got a guarantee on temrinix's work and have maintained a steady contract with them again this yr despite no damage or evidence they are still here....

I don't know anything about the oil tanks - we have gas.....but good luck in whatever you decide!