Do "roots in the sewer in the past" require disclosure?

I think that deserves a citation. Note that many communities (including NYC) only have one sewer system.

Maybe where you live.

In VT it wasn't unheard of for water pipes to freexe and burst eight feet down. I remember a main that broke at the top of a big hill in Burlington. Lotsa ice! ;-)

I can easily see the 12K. I had a sewer problem. The town came out and checked their part and it was OK. I had a guy come and check my end and they found the problem, cause by the electric company hitting my sewer line with the new pole. Backhoe, repair of the line was $3500. They only dug a 3" wide hole. So much for Dig Safe. They told the utility where to drill.

It is informative. If you don't learn anything from it, then don't comment on it.

Newer cities usually have a seperaqte sewer and storm drainage system. but in the older ones, sometimes this isn't the case, and during heavy rains, the system becomes overloaded with water, and the sewage treatment plant has to be bypassed, and the water allowed to go in the river, lake, or ocean without treatment. (information only.... I was almost a sewage treatment plant operator before I became an engineer)

Again, you state the obvious.

Alcosan isnt all of allegheny county, just a part of it.

I live in mc candless, and our sewage is treated by the MTSA mc candless twp sanitary authority. They replaced a mile or so of main line some years ago in front of my home, the job took all summer. It was root infested terracota.

the line turns and runs between me and a neighbor, and because residents didnt follow the rules runs under a 20 by 20 foot shed in another neighbors yard, and under a large fancy patio....

neither of which had a building permit or they wouldnt be allowed.......

The sanitary authority tells me the line is as much as 15 feet deep because of where it goes, and it was installed around 1949.

Replacing this section of just over 300 feet will cost a fortune, and the neighbor with the offending shed and patio threatened legal action. The sanitary company wanted the owner to pay restoration costs.

I had a fence erected along the area and had no choice but to agree to pay removal and restoration if work on the line is necessary

We pay for our water twice - in and out. Sewage charge is currently equal to the water charge but it is going up, and we are also paying a stormwater management fee as well.

In Canada

here sewage is now about 3 times the cost of water...and going up more

allegheny county has strict inspection requirements on sewer lines. the inspections are done by retired plumbers.

they give anyone replacing say their own sewer main to their house a horrible time....

they only want registered plumbers to do plumbing

I got the tour from my brother many times. I'm not sure here, but the other borough made their rounds checking all houses for proper exits. I just had some interior work done. Always wondered how it was piped. Originally had septic and clean water, which I guess the clean water went into the yard, and clean water from roof. Im sure Pittsburgh let's the flood gates open, but improvements were on the way. I pay a little less than 50% of my water bill for sewage.

Greg

It may be obvious to you, but in my experience, many people don;t know that the sewer system and the storm drainage system are, or should be two seperwate systems, and when they are not, heavy rains can stop the sewage treatment plantss from working.

My water/sewage bill here in Oregon runs about $100 a month for my wife and myself, and we donlt water the lawn or any garden plants. Just the two of us.

We had a terrible scandal here in Jefferson County Alabama involving billions of dollars meant to be use to rebuild and modernize the sewer system. The county commissioners and people involved including Wall Street companies handling bonds and the huge sums of money just went bonkers and turned the whole affair into one giant cluster coitus. Now many of those involved are in prison and we the peasants are stuck with huge sewer bills that are often higher than the water bill in which both charges are combined. Long gone are the days when we had a water bill of $10 or perhaps a whopping $20. It's a travesty of justice for the people of the county and those in surrounding areas who may be dependent on the county sewer system. o_O

TDD

In my CT town we get billed quarterly. My water is $148, the sewer $92. That averages $73 a month combined. Rates went up this years to pay for a major overhaul of the sewer treatment plant.

m...

Sure, if it's 200 ft, I can see that. I'll bet DerbyDad's isn't

he looked at

Sure if it's 12 to 15 ft deep, which is what you claim they are where you are located. And if the street has to be dug up too, etc. But again, those are not the more typical case.

Bob seems to think that anyone threatening a lawsuit is worse than the grim reaper and that anyone actually filing a suit against you is the end of the world. And on that basis, if you're going to sell a house, you must fix everything and anything that a potential buyer might object to or one day sue you over.

So, you could pay to fix 10 things that cost $10K each on the chance that one day they could result in a buyer coming back to you demanding payment for something. And that something might still not be on the list of things you did fix. And I think we're on the same page, that if that person comes back and says, it cost me $12K to put in a new sewer, you could just pay it then;. Or offer to pay $8K of it, etc. Yeah, I guess there is the pathological case, where the sewer clogs up, the dummies living there continue to flush the toilet, filling the basement up with 7 feet of sewage, grandma opens the basement door, falls in and drowns, the house develops mold and is condemned, but it doesn't sound like the more common outcome to me. The more common thing would be they have a problem, they fix it, they shell out the money, then try to recover what it actually cost to fix from you, the seller.

And again I'll issue the disclaimer that I'm not saying that you should not disclose the sewer issue. I'm just saying that living in fear of some mega lawsuit doesn't make sense to me. It's going to be mighty hard to turn a blocked sewer line into some huge lawsuit. The plaintiff has to prove actual damages, ie what they really spent to fix it. They can't just show up in court saying pay me $100K. He also thinks lawyers take these cases on a contigency basis and I doubt that is true for the typical sewer clogged up case.

well if you had a choice would you like to be sued? and even if you win theres still lawyers fees.... they can amount to thousands...

all easily prevented by disclosure... hey the sewer has backed up a few times roto rooter cleared them

now I live in pittsburgha very hilly area with freeze thaw cycles that make the ground move, two old friends do backhoe work, they report lines deeper around here to minimize earth movement and breaking lines.. Its very common to see a dig around here with those heavy steel plates supported by heavy steel rods holding them apart, to keep ditches from collapsing.

my neighborhood water line is 6 foot deep, its broken a few times and it gets fixed... my dads water line in phoenix is just a foot deep at best.,.

it all depends on where you live

Can one put a home up for sale, with the specific disclaimer "as is"?

I'm in a 100-year-old house in a declining neighborhood, that I've owned since 1988.

It has LOTS of problems. Such as

- messy combination of knob-and-tube/BX wiring (60 amp service w/fuses). Looks to have been "converted" in the 40's or 50's, don't know how much is BX and if any of the K&T is still in use. Almost all house wiring is "2-wire" (no grounds).

- siding old, loose in spots, really needs to be torn off and replaced.

- windows all old in need of replacement.

- main bath shower has loose and missing tiles, ceiling plaster peeling (really needs an entirely new bath)

- sewer needs root cleanout every 3-4 years

- cellar entrance needs replacement, back steps need replacement

- 40-50 year old wallpaper everywhere -- awful stuff

- kitchen looks to have had some updating in 40's or 50's, but needs replacement

Over the years, I've had work done when it absolutely needed to be done, but I have refrained from a full remodeling (which would be EXTENSIVE) because I see no point in dumping money into the house in a neighborhood that isn't what it used to be (the small city I live in has been taken over by illegals).

The house is in an area where 2-family (or multi-family) conversions are common. In fact, the house next door (same size as mine) was converted into a "Mexican hotel", doubled in size, property paved over -- a mess.

I have no illusions about what this place is worth. I'll sell it for what it brings and be satisfied with what I get.

I'm thinking this could be a decent 2-family conversion (it's a 2-story and the interior could be easily "convertible") -- IF whoever did it was willing to rip out the entire interior down to the framing, and then do new wiring, put in new interior walls, insulate, reside the exterior, new windows, etc. (The roof is new in 2012 -- couldn't wait any longer). But literally EVERYTHING inside would have to be rebuilt along with the exterior.

When it's time to sell, I'll tell any potential buyer everything I can, but I'm sure there could be problems I don't see.

With a house in need of this much work, how does the seller proceed? Disclose everything about which you know, and then say that the sale must be "as is"?