What items outside your home warn you of needed repairs?
Water dripping at the edge of your home;s foundation is one of the most inconspicuous causes of damage to a structure. Water constantly dripping in one area, even at a very slow rate, can cause soil expansion and do thousands of dollars worth of damage to a structure by heaving (lifting in one area) the foundation. Consistent water penetration in one area of a foundation causes the soil in the wet area to expand and functions much like a hydralic jack. The dry areas stay put and the wet area rises, thus breaking your foundation in many instances. Think of soil as a lot of small spongues that expand when it soaks up water. There are three items that are always in need of constant monitoring:
- Dripping water faucets at the exterior - faucet needs repair
- TPR valves from water heater dripping out of overflow line - TPR valve needs replacement
- Secondary drain lines to an air handler in the attic - unclog primary drain line to AC
By monitoring each of these items you may be saving yourself thousands in foundation repair.
Did you say PEX? Another class action lawsuit
Almost every agent asks me, "Does this house have one of those non-metallic plumbing systems?" While labeling in the electric panel is required, not every house with PEX plumbing is labeled in the breaker box. I inspected a house just last week with PEX plumbing without a label in the breaker box. Looks like more action is coming our way in regards to more PEX class action lawsuits. I located the quote below in my web research on PEX systems.
The following quote was taken from Uponorlawsuit.com:
"This is an informational web site for a putative class action against Uponor, Inc. and a related company, RTI, for Pex plumbing systems. Uponor's fittings are identified by a P Pex or MB Pex stamped on their side. Homeowners who brought this case claim that Uponor's brass fittings were incorrectly designed and manufactured. As a result, the homeowners allege that the Uponor Pex fittings fail prematurely – sometimes only months after installation. Substantial water damage may occur when the fittings fail.
Uponor has stopped selling the style of brass pex fitting at issue in this lawsuit. In court filings, Uponor has admitted that these plumbing fittings were "defective," "unreasonably dangerous" and "not merchantable." These defects, according to Uponor, caused the fittings to fail prematurely."
I was informed that the average cost to replumb a home and replace these systems cost around $8,000.00 per house and in some cases take up to a month for repairs. When an inspector writes up a home and refers the client to a licensed plumber it isnt necessarily because there are leaks in the plumbing. It is because he sees something that COULD indicate that this type system was installed. And there are more then one or two brands of these systems having problems. Our goal is to protect our client, the agent and ourselves from a possible nightmare a year down the line.
