Help!
We just bought this adorable 2 br townhouse in Countryside Sterling VA
20165 and there's a leak in the water line right in front of the house under the ground =(has anyone else had this problem?
if yes, any advice?
thank you for any help in advance.
sincerely,
n. lueck
Well, about 10 years ago when we lived in a place with "public water" there was a VERY hard freeze and the next morning the pipe was broken. The break was "before the meter" so the water company (actually the county) fixed it.
If the water company/authority will fix it, you are off the hook.
They have an incentive to fix it quickly because they aren't getting paid for the water.
If it turns out you "own" the pipe you have to dig down to expose the bad section. If it was just something that happened (an undetected flaw in the pipe that finanlly failed) you might be able to "fix" it with some kind of rubber or plasted "patch" hend in place by stainless clamps. "They" sell "patches" that you can slip around a leak.
If the damage was more serious than can be fixed with a "patch" you may have to get the water company to turn off the water. If you do the digging, a plumber might be able to do the job quickly and he will know the "mechanics" of getting the water turned off and back on.
Well, when i bought my second house it had a similar problem years ago. I was pretty broke at the time so calling out a pro was out of the question. I dug down and found a leaking iron pipe about 2 ft' on my side of the meter. The soil was sandy and the digging not that bad. I cleared out a big enough area around the leak to work, with the main valve at the meter off, I cut the pipe, and threaded the remaining part down in the hole. I rented a pipe threader and cut new threads then went to a hardware store that threaded pipe had a custom nipple made and put it aback together with a pipe union. If I had the same problem today, I would use the PVC repair things with the 2 threaded caps, 2 of them and a section of PVC pipe if necessary
Ask the neighbors if previous owner had troubles and did they warn you?
if they had previous troubles and didnt disclose it at time of sale then its their legal obligation to pay you for the repairs.
say it leaked a year ago and they had it patched and didnt warn you...........
a neighbor sold their home and didnt disclose sewer line was bad, new owner had trouble, old owner paid near 10 grand, for new sewer line and restoration of yard........
" snipped-for-privacy@aol.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com:
If they had trouble, fixed it (to the best of their knowledge), there is nothing to disclose. It is not required to disclose every repair you ever made while you owned it.
Of course everything is arguable. If you do a half assed repair but it makes it function properly then there is no "problem (malfunction or defect)" as worded in the local disclosures form here. If one were to argue that this is a defect then the counter argument might be unless you make any repair the same as when it was brand new then it is a defect.
Even with like termite problems. Look at the question.
10.PROBLEMS WITH PRESENT INFESTATION, OR DAMAGE FROM PAST INFESTATION OF WOOD DE-STROYING INSECTS OR ORGANISMS which has not been repaired?Note "which has not been repaired?
Bottom line is a subjective legal pissing contest. One clear winner is always the lawyers.
old neighbor had sewer snaked and was told terracota pipe had roots, as probably every home in area has.....
based on this old owner had to pay for new sewer line, since they didnt have line replaced.
if original owner patched the line, and didnt disclose they are on the hook foir a new line
" snipped-for-privacy@aol.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@e64g2000cwd.googlegroups.com:
Yep. At face value that sounds like hiding/sweeping under the rug. There was no repair.
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