Can you please tell us the update for this? Were the builders lying through their teeth on this one? Did they confess? Did the buyers end up getting stuck with the bill? So many questions haha
@shiv I would presume in this case since the house had not yet been bought by Mr. Munro's clients, that it's the developer that gets shouldered with the bill to get this fixed up if they want to have a hope of selling this house. This was a pre-purchase inspection that he was performing. If the developer tried to shoulder the bill onto the buyers, they'd know just from the already negotiated house price jumping up by some arbitrary amount. That said, I would *so love* to hear an updated to this story. I want to know if the builders were caught lying through their teeth about what happened in the basement. Allll those baseboards are gonna have to be replaced (at least if I were the client I'd demand replacement), because once you get MDPB wet, it pretty much just disintegrates very quickly--the wood particles absorb water and from there it's basically like tin pest or rust. And likely the drywall as well because drywall doesn't take getting wet terribly well either--shortens its lifespan considerably.
I would love to see follow-up videos detailing what happened after you gave your report! I would love to know how to builders handle the situation and what the potential buyers decide!
I admire your attention to detail. We need more people like you in the U.K. housing industry, because frankly, half the new homes being built in this country at the moment are not up to scratch.
So crazy they would cover that up . Very obvious it was completely flooded . People spend More money to cover stuff up, than to fix it right . Hopefully the buyers didn’t have kids playing down there !
That is a sump pump. Not sure about location you in, but in states you never, ever, have something like that for human waste. It has to be a closed system already part of the plumbing and not exposed AT ALL like that. That is simply a sump pump, putting water out. My guess is lots of rain happened and the pump did not activate and flooded. It really is only a matter of replacing baseboard. Evident by fact that "they should of cleaned dust out of here" is because that is what happens when it does that.
That's a sump pump, i'm guessing there was a power outage resulting in the basement flooding. If there was trace of sewage you would still smell it even after a clean up operation. Still.. the baseboards will need scrapped and the bottom portion of drywall cut out so the framing can dry out then replace the bottom portion of drywall. Easy enough to fix.
I highly doubt the basement was flooded with sewage. The flood occurred during new construction so the macerating pump would not have been filled with sewage. I suppose there is a possibility that workers used the basement bathroom but it is much more likely it was just water that flooded the basement. The water level did not rise above the sill plates (which should be treat wood) so the only real damage is the base boards.
The Truth is Tom a contractor? nothing you said refuted the logical claim that more than likely the flood did not contain shit.... since there was no reason for those toilets to have been used
If it's tied into city/town plumbing, it's everyone's sewage who lives on the street that comes up your lines when it backs up. Bathroom at that home could be never used it would still happen.
I just live your videos and looking to be an inspector here in Hawaii. Because when I bought my house the inspector here (which there aren’t many) missed a whole lot and we ended up spending another 70k in repairing 3months down the road🙏🤙🏽
If it's new construction why would there be waste involved? Are the builders pooping in the bathrooms? Also, that does not look like a macerating pump but rather a standard sump pump. As you can see there is no vent that you would normally see on a macerator.
I am pretty sure you would see some trace of septic inside that furnace. Those little bits of toilet tissue go everywhere. If they tried cleaning that, the sheet rock dust would all be disturbed.
That just looks like a sump pump to me, not a sewage pump. Also, in our area, sump pumps cannot be drained into a septic system, but must be drained out onto the ground away from the house. Perhaps there was a big rain and being new construction, the sump pump was not hooked up and the water overflowed the pit and filled the basement. If it had been a sewage flood, there should be staining with colors! This just looked like clean water.
Nice catch on the baseboards, but That looks like a sump pump (no vent pipe like a ejector pump would have) so why would there be fecal matter going through it?
How can a new empty house have a sewage overflow problem? Who was responsible for the sewage? I've never seen a contractor let people use toilets in a house under construction and I've been on at least 500 houses just in 2006! It's a big no-no for just such reasons!
Hey Tom not sure if its code where you are from in Canada but in Ontario there is a new code stating furnaces cant be used during construction. If there is drywall dust in the cabinet it is likely in the secondary heat exhanger fins
So I'm buying a new construction home as well. I live in Florida and we just had hurricane Ian. I went over to the property afterward which is in the drywalling stage. The roof is completely on the home. However there was water in almost every room, the carpets have not been laid yet. And there was a line of water around all of the baseboards and drywall just as you demonstrated in your video. What should I do about this? How can I protect myself from this? And do you have any other advice for my situation?
Are sewage pumps common in Vancouver, BC? That looks a lot like a regular sump pump that just discharges ground water from around the house. It wouldn't have any fecal matter in it. Also, if is in fact a sewage pump and since this is new construction, how would there be any sewage in it? Unless the workers are all dropping deuces, there shouldn't be much to discharge.
Sewage pumps are fairly common in new construction James Mitchell. Yes the workers we’re using the bathroom. The outside perimeter drainage also have a pair of pumps too. Even if the flood came from the outside perimeter drainage pumps failing it still would have picked up fecal matter from the interior sewer pump and spread it through the home.
You are the best Tom, yup you are #BESTINTHEBUSINESS your awesome interviews with me were just posted to Reddit people need this information before they buy.
i have backup sump pump...for the main sump pump..cause the main pump fails when we have power failures which usually occurs during rain storms....Im still afraid to finish the basement by putting in a faimly room etc...just in case it failed...besides my backu[p is battery so its only good for a short time...ughhhh....water...it always wants to get into our homes :/
I need advice! Thank you for your video first of all. I have an a new home being built and the first floor flooded. I don’t know how to approach the situation. If you’re willing to help let me know maybe we could connect?
If it is a new house why would there be any body waste sewage in the reservoir? If no one lived there before hand it was probably just water. Unless the people building the home used the toilets while under construction I would just assume water. Still could be a serious mold problem.
What kind of recourse would someone have in a situation like this? Would that be grounds to void the purchase of the house? If someone tried to hide a basement flood I wouldn't have much faith in them to fix it o properly.
The home was most likely sold conditionally based on inspection clause. the buyers have a right to have an inspector come in and inspect the home and if the inspection does not come back good the buyer has the right to cancel the deal and recoup any deposit they may have made.
Question: I have a brand new home and the night before I got keys there was a water leak in the 2nd floor bathroom. I ran all night and leaked thru the light fixtures and found its way to the first floor. Around 8am, all hands on deck to rip out carpets, padding etc, and started drying and dehumidifying the whole house. Its been drying for 2, going 3 days. Should I be worried? Should I look for another home?
Seems like this should've been noticed before your client bought it. Water damaged baseboard and drywall is usually pretty easy to spot. Seems like a lot of assumptions here without actual proof. It definitely flooded, but anything past that is just an assumption.
Andrew Tolmasoff it is also an assumption that new home owners actually look closely or know what to look for. Most just go right in without knowing what they are getting.
And why is that anyone else's problem? If you're going to buy a home, educate yourself. There is more than enough free resources out there to 'Know what to look for when buying a home'. I have little sympathy for people who don't investigate a decades long investment. Sucks, but lesson learned hopefully.
Tom. My basement has been flooded and had water damage before. Including mold growth. What do you do in this situation when you have previous water damage/mold issues?
one case doesn't mean the person is shitty. I've noticed many clients keeping quite about an issue that aroused yet they learned from their mishap and look out for dangers like these in which the storm water drainage system did not work properly. Don't let one bad apple ruin the entire basket my friend
I'm not sure I can ask this particular question, so please ignore it if not. My house in Anchorage has a poured concrete foundation with crawl space. The foundation is well sealed with black sealer on the outside. There is a steep hill 15 feet from the foundation with no swale. About every 7 years we have a very heavy snow year and come spring there are several feet of snow on the ground. During breakup several inches of water stand against the foundation in the back of the house during the day and drain away during the night. This goes on for two or three weeks. The water never rises to the level of the siding. Since this happens so infrequently do I have a problem? The crawlspace remains bone dry at all times with no sump pump installed or needed. The house is considerably above the water table. What do you recommend, please?
The builder should be put all over the internet for his shitty work. This is just not acceptable, not only has there been a flood, you can tell all the work is shoddy and done as fast as possible
This dude is clueless no way there was that much sewage back up in a basement of a new house from a macerator pit. CLUELESS A broken water pipe yes def not sewage
