Do-it-yourselfers strike again

[Duckslayer100]

I'm constantly reminded just how "special" our fellow humans can be.

Case in point: My folks put a bid in on a cabin near Nevis, MN. Nice looking place on a good chunk of property. Room to grow. We were all pretty excited about the thought of having a family cabin to start making memories at.

Dad was a bit worried about the floor as there was a pretty good sag, but figured it was just from the place settling or something.

Inspector comes out and finds the culprit. The previous owners decided they'd watched enough HGTV to do their own work and cut through a major load-bearing beam to put a set of stairs in to the basement.

So my folks said, "uh, yeah, you either pay to fix this or we're out." And that's if it can even be fixed.

They still haven't heard back. But honestly, when people do something like that, you can't help but wonder what other surprises we'll find if we get the place. Some do-it-yourself electrical work, perhaps? Jimmy-rigged plumbing? Or maybe they decided to save a few bucks on hardware and build the whole cabin with nothing but wood glue?

 

[guywhofishes]

Previous owner of my place really pulled some purposeful hiding of BS he did.

Nothing too expensive - just $hitty human being stuff that makes you sick to think someone can do that to other people for a few $.

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Why Nevis though? No good lakes in that area. ; )

 

[Duckslayer100]

Previous owner of my place really pulled some purposeful hiding of BS he did.

Nothing too expensive - just $hitty human being stuff that makes you sick to think someone can do that to other people for a few $.

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Why Nevis though? No good lakes in that area. ; )

Ha! The people who owned our home before we moved in were a special kind of stupid. It was a single mom and her daughter, and I'm convinced they updated their home solely based on what was trending on Pinterest or HGTV. You should have to pass a test before they let you own a house.

Yeah, we're going to be on a slough next to a big lake that's probably netted out by the natives. I don't have my hopes up...

 

[LBrandt]

Before you buy!!!! Home inspectors are money well spent.

 

[guywhofishes]

Before you buy!!!! Home inspectors are money well spent.

my inspector was "one of the best" and missed all the previous owner's BS

 

[luvcatchingbass]

I have found a great mix and match of quality work from one previous owner and crappy/stupid work from another. It is truly amazing what some people do. I really can't fully fault my inspector before purchase as I was with and feel he did the best he could. Has taken a few years to find the shabby work, at least they didn't do something like compromise main structure.

 

[Achucker]

I work in the electrical industry and come across a lot of wiring that owners do. It's amazing the work people consider safe...then cover up with sheet rock. Where Inspectors can't see.

 

[Yoby]

In my previous house (1952), there was alot of questionable work performed which included windows, doors, electrical and a couple other items. I went through and straitened out what I could, but I can only imagine that I would get blamed for some of the stuff the previous people performed. In the end, I remodeled the kitchen and bathroom, lots of stuff was hidden. New furnace, drain tile, shingles, deck, insulation and redone alot of electrical. Any guesses to how many bottles of booze can be hidden under a steel bath tub? or in a stud cavity?

 

[Achucker]

Just thought I would post this to get everyone's thoughts. Thankfully this did not pass but I can't believe it was even was proposed and had 24 people in support of it.

http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/65-2017/bill-actions/ba1327.html

 

[johnr]

I had new floor installed in my old house, the carpet guy was going to put carpet around some spindles and a post that separated our dinning area and living room area. I came home from lunch and he says, so you want me to carpet around this little railing or just remove it, I said, is that post load bearing? he says, nope, it can be removed. So I say just remove it then open it up some.
We go to put the house up for sale, and the home inspector says, what happened to the load bearing post that should be right here...haha. We had to replace the post to pass inspection..

Sometimes it might not be the homeowners fault.

 

[Mort]

Here's one for ya...who uses 3/8" tubing for main water line from pressure tank to house???? yup..thats right...you all know what I'll be doing come spring...replacing that with 1 inch.....they way they got this thing routed is enough to make you shake your head, the good thing is its an easy fix that requires to dig the ground up alittle bit next to the house to reroute the line with 1 inch. as the well is right next to the house/trailer.

 

[Duckslayer100]

I had new floor installed in my old house, the carpet guy was going to put carpet around some spindles and a post that separated our dinning area and living room area. I came home from lunch and he says, so you want me to carpet around this little railing or just remove it, I said, is that post load bearing? he says, nope, it can be removed. So I say just remove it then open it up some.
We go to put the house up for sale, and the home inspector says, what happened to the load bearing post that should be right here...haha. We had to replace the post to pass inspection..

Sometimes it might not be the homeowners fault.

I dunno man...you trusted a carpet guy to tell you the load-bearing qualities of a post...

 

[guywhofishes]

ha ha ha
#turniphomeowner

 

[johnr]

I dunno man...you trusted a carpet guy to tell you the load-bearing qualities of a post...

He was very convincing, and also my weed supplier...haha

 

[nxtgeneration]

my inspector was "one of the best" and missed all the previous owner's BS

Same here

 

[deleted member]

i got a few too. using copper pipe under a concrete floor to serve as a drain. also copper pipe in a wall to serve as a sewer gas vent. ever seen what happens to copper when it comes into contact with sewer gas? or maybe some draino? the first problem led to the digging up of about 20 feet of basement floor and an eventual complete remodel of said basement. the 2nd problem was revealed during an upstairs remodel and answered my question of why that particular bathroom always smelled a bit like gas. also... concrete cinder block stacked seam on seam. structurally super sound... not. another vent pipe cut off in the wall with a rag stuffed in to "close" it off and then covered with sheetrock. he also obviously had a drain field issue and was pumping it into the trees and pulled the pipe and pump a few months before he sold it. took me a few years to understand why there was a little depression in the form of a sunken trench running into the trees and a cut electrical wire sticking out of the pipe coming up from the septic tank. and the polarity in the wiring of the entire basement reversed. also the hot and cold of a particular faucet reversed. a light switch that appears to do nothing. i've tried for 7 years to figure it out. and we didn't touch that particular wall when we did the upstairs remodel because it will be done when we do an addition. so, i don't know what's behind the wall. best hope is that it will start a fire and burn that bitch to the ground someday when we and the dogs are gone.

i think i've blocked a few other things out of my brain. but, they will probably come back to me eventually.

 

[PrairieGhost]

Many times when we have built or added on I have had to take contractors to work. When I was still working I paid a contractor for a concrete pad for a new detached garage. I paid for 5 inches thick and an extra bag of concrete. Also rebar between garage and driveway pad so I could lay brick on the pad. I came at 10:00am and seen him skretting for three inches. He said oh I forgot we will reskreet. So he came that evening and I paid him. He had put on so much water that it was messing up the surface. Next day I drilled into it and it was three inches. He said I hit a small pocket. I hired a company from Fargo that does six inch cores. Three inches and it didn't meet specks for strength. I asked about rebar he said oh yes it's in there. I grabbed my metal detector and nothing. The judge made him reimburse me and gave me $1000 to have someone else remove the pad.
Second time we added on to the living room and had a wooden basement put under it. First rain and water all over in the new basement. I looked at my trail cam and he had knocked a lot of dirt in as they worked. He didn't remove that dirt, he just threw the drain tile in on top of it. Drain tile higher than the basement floor doesn't work that good. Again I was lied to. So hired a backhoe and sure enough. Went to court again and he had to pay for the repair. Don't pay for other peoples dishonesty. They think they can't be touched, but I nailed their behind every time.

 

[Bed Wetter]

Did the truck say "GST Contracting" on the side? That would explain a lot.

Many times when we have built or added on I have had to take contractors to work. When I was still working I paid a contractor for a concrete pad for a new detached garage. I paid for 5 inches thick and an extra bag of concrete. Also rebar between garage and driveway pad so I could lay brick on the pad. I came at 10:00am and seen him skretting for three inches. He said oh I forgot we will reskreet. So he came that evening and I paid him. He had put on so much water that it was messing up the surface. Next day I drilled into it and it was three inches. He said I hit a small pocket. I hired a company from Fargo that does six inch cores. Three inches and it didn't meet specks for strength. I asked about rebar he said oh yes it's in there. I grabbed my metal detector and nothing. The judge made him reimburse me and gave me $1000 to have someone else remove the pad.
Second time we added on to the living room and had a wooden basement put under it. First rain and water all over in the new basement. I looked at my trail cam and he had knocked a lot of dirt in as they worked. He didn't remove that dirt, he just threw the drain tile in on top of it. Drain tile higher than the basement floor doesn't work that good. Again I was lied to. So hired a backhoe and sure enough. Went to court again and he had to pay for the repair. Don't pay for other peoples dishonesty. They think they can't be touched, but I nailed their behind every time.

 

[Allen]

Back in Grand Forks the previous homeowner had done a little shingling. He was too lazy to take both some old shingles and a couple square of new ones out to the landfill when he was done, so he used the backyard to bury them. I discovered them when I went to put in a strawberry patch. Had a for a while wondered why there was a little "hump" in the backyard, a total of about 7-8 square of shingles were buried about 8 inches down. SMDH

 

[PrairieGhost]

Did the truck say "GST Contracting" on the side? That would explain a lot.

No it didn't, but I don't think GST would do a bad job. We agree on many things, it's just that he is destructive when one does not agree. I don't know what kind of fantasy world he lives in where everyone agrees, and anyone who doesn't agree 100% is the enemy. I know better than to say this because I know I'll have to listen to 20 pages of Plainsman, Plainsman, Plainsman. Oh well.

Say a couple of prayers for my son. He went into cardiac arrest last night. His son did CPR until the ambulance arrived. Things don't look good.