WWYD - final walk-through last night

Like I stated in my other post, we got the keys to our new house last night and did our final walk-through. We noticed several troubling things. (We have money in escrow since the seller kept possession for 12 days after closing)...

1. There was a bottle of high concentration hydrochloric acid in the basement. It's hazardous waste and must be disposed of as such. Fortunately, they have drop offs for free disposal in the TOH, but unfortunately, the next one we'll be in town for is in NOVEMBER.

2. The light in the dining room will not shut off. We turned it on, th ere was a loud pop, blowing out one of the bulbs, and then the thing wouldn't turn off. We were worried, so we turned off the breaker switch going to that outlet. (DH is an engineer and removed the plate to have a look - but the problem wasn't readily apparent) We left the breaker switch off just to be safe for the time being since we don't move in for a couple weeks.

3. There were various dings (some sizeable) in the walls from the movers. These will need to be patched prior to painting. We can't have all these holes in the walls! Further, there is exposed low-voltage wire in one of the bedrooms. The wires are capped, but there is no plate over it (= dangerous). That same room also has an additional outlet-sized hole in the wall.

4. While this particular "built-in" was never discussed and I'm not upset that they took it, they took a table that was anchored (hanging basically) on the wall near th staircase. Left behind is the outline of the table -- in completely different paint. They had obviously never taken the table down, but just painted around it. This also left sizeable holes from where it was bolted in. Like I said, I don't want the table, but didn't want the holes in the wall either.

5. There is significant damage to the carpet in the basement. They had large bookcases down there when we looked at the house which are now obviously gone. Those bookcases were hiding tremendous damage to the basement carpet running along that wall. (There is a large patch of FILTY carpet - and that carpet doesn't match the rest of the room... meaning the carpet covering the entire basement doesn't go the whole room - there is a patch missing that was filled in with mismatched, old, dirty carpet)

I realize that we may not have recourse for all of these complaints... but any thoughts on which ones we do? We have money in escrow since the seller kept possession for 12 days after closing and we don't intend to sign off to release that money until discussing this with our lawyer (call is in!)

My specific question regarding the basement carpet is whether we can even say anything to them -- since it was likely under the bookcases, though we obviously didn't move bookcases (that were anchored to the wall) to inspect the carpet prior to closing... We may be SOL on this and several other problems...

I'm just annoyed... We had enough work we needed to do already! Ahhhh, welcome to home ownership, I guess!

ETA - I forgot to list a biggie -- there is a large hole in the ductwork of the CAC in the basment.

Message edited 10/3/2007 10:56:49 AM.

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

Bring everything up to your lawyer and he will discuss everything with their lawyer. They'll either have to fix it or give you money from escrow.

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

I believe you will be entitled to a fair amount of money from escrow. Your lawyer will advise you best. Sorry, that stinks!

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

Posted by mikeswife06

I believe you will be entitled to a fair amount of money from escrow. Your lawyer will advise you best. Sorry, that stinks!

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

If you thought the carpet was good and you planned on keeping it until you saw the area behind the bookcases, then I would bring it up. You might want some money back for new carpeting.

I would also ask them to remove the acid--you shouldn't have to deal with that. Hopefully, they will not just throw it in the trash.

You also should bring up the possible electrical issues--I would be more concerned about that than many other things since that could be dangerous and run you lots of money. Can you get an electrician in there to assess the problem? Then you can decide what to do.

I wouldn't worry much about the areas that need to be repainted or patched. That happens in every home to some degree, and you mentioned you planned to paint anyway, so I would just let that go.

Good luck!

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

Thanks!

I am most worried about the electrical issues, too. Our electrician is coming out Friday night to give us an estimate on other work, so we will get an estimate from him / have him take a look at it then. Until then, that breaker is staying off unless we are in the house -- and even then, it's only on when we really need it.

We did think the carpet was in great shape and wall-to-wall. I was LIVID to see it was not. We can't go find matching scraps to put there or anything - it'll need new carpet.

The only wall problem honestly bugging me is the stuff in one bedroom - exposed wiring and another random outlet-sized hole with nothing covering it. The one needs a plate (easy enough for us to do) -- but the other one? You can't just spackle that! We may have to cover it with a plate for now, too... not sure!

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

OMG I forgot another big issue -- There was a huge hole in the ductwork for the CAC!

I need to add that to the list!

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

Kara, I hope things go smoothly for you the next few days. Like others suggested, contact your lawyer and hope for the best.

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

Isn't hydrochloric acid used to clean the concrete or tiles in swimming pools? Check with a pool supply company - maybe they can dispose of it for you, or at least give you advice on neuetralizing it.

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

Posted by Kara

Posted by cjik


I would also ask them to remove the acid--you shouldn't have to deal with that. Hopefully, they will not just throw it in the trash.

k!

I know, my big fear is that they'll pick it up and drop it in the complex's outside trash cans on the way out... I don't want to be liable if something goes wrong or someone gets hurt! But you're right, we shouldn't have to deal with it.

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

Message edited 10/3/2007 9:34:09 PM.

Re: WWYD - final walk-through last night

When you buy a house, it has to be in the SAME condition as it was when you put the original offer on the house. If the damage was there at that point, you have no recourse. If the damage was not there, you can get money from the escrow.