Problem with 2nd hand house

[gramlab]

Bought my house a few years ago and about a year after moving in I found out the water supply was acidic and was corroding everything. Parents of person I bought it from live next door and told me they have the same problem and tried to make sure during the build of my house that the buliders used as much qualplex as possible to reduce the effects.

When I found out , I had the water tested and put in a treatment system to counter it. Even with that, a showers, 5 rads, an immersion, and a well pump later, things are still corroding (I assume its because of the years of being untreated). Another shower is now looking like it is going.

Asked my solicitor about this a while back and he said I had no come back on this. Surely if the owners had known about this before selling, then they should have made any buyer aware or be some way liable??

I wouldn't see it being much different than selling a car with faulty brakes etc

 

[mathepac]

Sorry to hear about your problems.

... Surely if the owners had known about this before selling, then they should have made any buyer aware ...

It would be up to you to establish that they knew about and deliberately concealed a serious problem.

If this is a private water-supply, did you not include a water-quality test in your pre-purchase survey(s) and inspections?

 

[gramlab]

Sorry to hear about your problems.
It would be up to you to establish that they knew about and deliberately concealed a serious problem.

If this is a private water-supply, did you not include a water-quality test in your pre-purchase survey(s) and inspections?

I cant prove deliberate concealment, but the fact that her father told me about minimising using the qualplex and that the well is approx 20ft from her parents well, indiacates they knew about it and knew there was a good possibility that there would be problems

Pre-purchase survey was standard as far as I know. Got an engineer and he did up a report for the approval. Didn't include any water tests as far as I am aware.

Is a water test supposed to be done?

 

[mathepac]

... Pre-purchase survey was standard as far as I know. Got an engineer and he did up a report for the approval. Didn't include any water tests as far as I am aware. ...

I don't understand your statements about "as far as I know" and "as far as I am aware".

As the purchaser, laying out a substantial sum on a property, it is up to you to specify the areas you want surveyed and the areas you want reassurance on and I would expect that if you commissioned and paid for structural survey / engineering reports you would at least read them.

If this was a "survey / valuation" for mortgage approval, then I think you'll find that as a commentary on the build quality or even the value of your property it probably isn't worth the paper its written on and almost certainly provides no protection to you as the purchaser.

... Is a water test supposed to be done?

Given that as I suspected, the house is connected to a private supply, I as a potential purchaser would certainly have specified that water-quality / acidity / alkalinity / microbial tests be performed. I would also have made receipt of satisfactory test results a condition of sale.

I'm sorry if my comments seem unsympathetic or harsh, but I'm dumb-founded at the trust / naiveté displayed by house and apartment purchasers.

 

[Bronte]

And don't forget that some public supply can be downright dangerous.

 

[gramlab]

I don't understand your statements about "as far as I know" and "as far as I am aware".

As the purchaser, laying out a substantial sum on a property, it is up to you to specify the areas you want surveyed and the areas you want reassurance on and I would expect that if you commissioned and paid for structural survey / engineering reports you would at least read them..

This was done 5 years ago so thats why the "as far as" etc is used. It was my first purchase and went with a recommended engineer. I read his report and all seemed fine. I didn't know what to check - thats why I hired him!

If this was a "survey / valuation" for mortgage approval, then I think you'll find that as a commentary on the build quality or even the value of your property it probably isn't worth the paper its written on and almost certainly provides no protection to you as the purchaser...

By approval, I meant my approval of the purchase based on his report on the property.

Given that as I suspected, the house is connected to a private supply, I as a potential purchaser would certainly have specified that water-quality / acidity / alkalinity / microbial tests be performed. I would also have made receipt of satisfactory test results a condition of sale.

I never even considered the water supply, probably due to living in a mains serviced house all my life before this. Maybe I expected too much from the engineer but I thought that was the whole point of hiring one - my bad.

I'm sorry if my comments seem unsympathetic or harsh, but I'm dumb-founded at the trust / naiveté displayed by house and apartment purchasers.

They do a bit.

Basically if a mechanic looked at a car for me and got it wrong I would not blame myself. I dont know enough about cars to assess one properly - hence getting a mechanic. Same with an engineer.

The horse may have well bolted by now but I just wanted to throw it out there to see if what my solicitor said was right or not.

 

[Bronte]

Asked my solicitor about this a while back and he said I had no come back on this. Surely if the owners had known about this before selling, then they should have made any buyer aware or be some way liable?? Seller's do not have a duty to make buyer aware unless specifically asked the question, as in 'Is there any problem with the acidity of the water? And who could rely on that in any case.

I've never heard of anyone being able to get money back on the purchase of a house because of a 'fault' in the house. It's called caveat emptor or buyer beware. It is your responsibility to be sure that the house is all that it seems.

In relation to the engineer's not picking it up, I wouldn't know how you could make them liable for not pointing it out to you. They're more on the structural side of things. I've read many engineer's reports and I don't remember any saying anything about the water supply other than it was mains/well/local supply etc.

Can you get a different water supply?

 

[gramlab]

I've never heard of anyone being able to get money back on the purchase of a house because of a 'fault' in the house. It's called caveat emptor or buyer beware. It is your responsibility to be sure that the house is all that it seems.

In relation to the engineer's not picking it up, I wouldn't know how you could make them liable for not pointing it out to you. They're more on the structural side of things. I've read many engineer's reports and I don't remember any saying anything about the water supply other than it was mains/well/local supply etc.

Can you get a different water supply?

I know I probably have no comeback but it grinds to know that they were aware of it and said nothing. If they had sat least said it after the sale I could have gotten the treatment system in sooner and maybe lessened the impact.

As regards a new supply there is no mains option. The furthest point on the site from the well is ca. 150ft so I could try getting a test well there (neighbours about 300yards away in that direction have no problems). If its OK then I would have the cost of running pipe and cable to the house etc. Will enquire and see how much I might be looking at.

A friend suggested trying the house insurance - probably a no-no but I'll check it out.

 

[jeanhib]

durin the conveyancing process the solr for the purchaser sends what are called Requisitions on title and I'm almost sure that one or two of the questons relates to water supply, faults with the house etc- ask your solicitor to review the replies he received to see if you were actually mislead/misrepresented by the vendors -that may give you some comeback. Also double check the survey you had carried out- see if anything was mentioned about water supply....I think an engineer worth his salt should have addresed water quality if he was aware of the fact that it was a private supply or at least recemmended you had indep tests carried out......

 

[onq]

This is an annoying question and one which you are rightly aggrieved about.

The fact is that most house inspections are based on visual inspection only and seldom include opening up work or testing of services.

I have never heard of a full design team doing a standard house inspection, whereas when trouble is suspected, I always make sure I have a structural engineer and a mechanical & electrical engineer backing me up by looking at their specialist elements - structure and services respectively.

However even with the team in place, water testing is not usually within remit. This is a specialist test, not normally carried out by us, although after reading your sorry tale, I will add it to me check list and thank you for highlighting it here.

A previous poster has referred you to the solicitor for the vendor and catching him out in a negligent misstatement may be your only recourse.

You should also check what testing was done for the well initially and pursue the results and the company that tested them, although as another poster has said, this may be a matter of caveat emptor.

While not wishing to add to your woes, given the history to date you should check the condition of your septic tank if you're not on a pipe. The acidity of the water and effluent may be impairing it in some way, or corroding any metal elements.

Finally, please get the water comprehensively tested - you may experience health problems if there are other issues besides the acidity and the acidity itself could prove to be inimical to good health.

Hope this helps.

ONQ.

 

[gramlab]

Thanks for the replies.

Checked the report and it mentions nothing about the water supply.

I have to see my solicitor about something else and will ask him to look into it, but seeing that he told me last time that I probably had no recourse I doubt I wll get anywhere.