It didn't take too long for us to have our first major hiccup in the dream home. The HVAC thing was a pain but since that started before we closed, I don't feel like we have ownership of that problem. The water dripping from the ceiling however is all ours. A friend came over to see the house the week of July 4th and as we entered the office, a big, fat, drip of water plopped down on our heads. Lovely. I called the warranty company to report the problem and to get a plumber out to see what in the world was going on. While we waited days for that to happen, we've had to turn the water off at the main just to be on the safe side regarding other possible plumbing problems.
Shortly after the original contractor hired by the warranty company cancelled on me two hours before our appointment window opened, my realtor and I had two separate come-to-Jesus phone calls with my account manager at the warranty company. After much gnashing of teeth, a new contractor was located and they came out later that day. Upstairs and downstairs, my contractor is a busy bee trying to figure out from where this leak is originating. He finally figures out it is coming from the master bathroom upstairs but the pipes are coming through the floor up there and the ceiling on the first floor.
It is never a good thing when a contractor comes to you and says, "Ma'am, I've got some bad news," but I dont' think I was prepared for the extent of this one. According to the plumber, the person who renovated the home did a bit of a short cut job on the plumbing and the pipes are not up to code. According to plumb-man, the pipes should be 2" and we have 1 1/2" pipes. Ohhhhkay. Now what? He comes up with a solution of taking out the dry wall ceiling in the office since it is water stained all over the place and will need to be repaired then fix the pipes that way. I can agree with that as it does make sense vs. tearing out the vanity and flooring in the upstairs master bathroom.
While he is writing up the report so he can submit it to the warranty company, my husband stops by the house and gets the rundown of our water woes. The contractor is from the same company who fixed the HVAC. Since we have yet to find the location of the filters, dear hubby decides to ask our plumber if he might know where they are located. Off the two go on a scavenger hunt for the home of the filters. Alas, he cannot find them either BUT he has discovered that all the pipes in the basement are also not up to code. Huh? To say my blood is boiling at this point would be a complete understatement but I do my best to keep my cool. In my mind I am trying to figure out how the house passes not one but two inspections and no one had mentioned code-less pipes.
The nice gent writes up his report and states since it is late on Friday, the warranty company will more than likely not review it until Monday. We are advised to keep the water off at the main and hang tight.
Late Monday afternoon, I have still not heard from my warranty account representative. Since I am at work, I shoot her a quick email around 4 pm asking for an update. This is when I have the joy of receiving her out-of-office notifier letting me know that she is on vacation the entire week. Boy that sure would have been great to know especially since I spoke to her twice on the Friday before.
Enter account representative #2 on Tuesday morning. She is extremely nice and very apologetic and promises to start working on our account. By lunch time, I am given the bad news that the pipe issue is not covered by the warranty because it was unknown and pre-existing. I am then told that for a small fee I can be upgraded to a "premium" policy that will cover future code issues. Of course I jump on that because Lord only knows what we are going to find as the months move along. Somehow I am also able to get this claim grandfathered in since representative #1 never told me I didn't have a premium account or that it was an option. Sweet!
Not so fast....
This week has been a roller coaster of "it is covered" or "it is not covered" in regards to the plumbing. Since the plumbing company now knows of the code issues in the basement and even though that isn't part of the leaky ceiling, they can't fix the leaky ceiling unless the do the entire job or it could jeopardize their license. That being said since it requires replumbing the entire house, the warranty company will not grandfather it. AYE!
Frustrated to no end, we have opted to have another plumber coming to give us a second opinion. Stay tuned...
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