Discovered a slab leak, would you still buy?

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davenlei_IHB

New member
I am in the process of purchasing a short sale property and discovered there is a slab leak in the kichen area. The cost to repair is going to be around $14K-$18K and sellers stated they will 'fix' it. Not sure they really will since they do not have the money to fix it and it is a short sale.

Either way, let's say they will pony up the money. Would you still purchase the house knowing there is a slab leak and to repair it they had to cut into the foundation and part of the exterior wall to repair it?
 
What exactly is a "slab leak"? Do you mean that there's a water supply line in the foundation that's leaking? Or is it a drain pipe?
 
[quote author="Daedalus" date=1253800321]What exactly is a "slab leak"? Do you mean that there's a water supply line in the foundation that's leaking? Or is it a drain pipe?</blockquote>


Fom my understanding, a slab leak is a water supply line in or directly under the foundation. When I was looking at the house I noticed water coming outside the house from the base of the exterior wall but no water inside the house. If you pressed the wall with your foot, water dribbled out faster. Had the agent order a plumber and he identified the slab leak along with a lot of mold in the wall/cabinets.



I have told my agent to draw up the cancellation paperwork. The Escrow states a $250 cancellation fee but can they really charge me since there is a slab leak and visible black mold growing? I took pictures of the mold we can see.
 
[quote author="davenlei" date=1253824434][quote author="Daedalus" date=1253800321]What exactly is a "slab leak"? Do you mean that there's a water supply line in the foundation that's leaking? Or is it a drain pipe?</blockquote>


Fom my understanding, a slab leak is a water supply line in or directly under the foundation. When I was looking at the house I noticed water coming outside the house from the base of the exterior wall but no water inside the house. If you pressed the wall with your foot, water dribbled out faster. Had the agent order a plumber and he identified the slab leak along with a lot of mold in the wall/cabinets.



I have told my agent to draw up the cancellation paperwork. <strong>The Escrow states a $250 cancellation fee but can they really charge me since there is a slab leak and visible black mold growing? I took pictures of the mold we can see</strong>.</blockquote>
As long as you are within the 17 day contingency period and you did not waive the inspection contingency you have the right to cancel escrow at anytime without any cost to you. Who is trying to charge that $250 cancellation fee? The seller? Your agent? The escrow company?
 
We were in escrow on a house in NB and were still waiting for the seller's disclosures. Got the disclosures back (literally 4 days before the close- we had a 3-week closing because I wanted my daughter in the new school distrcit). When I got the disclosures, it said that there was erosion on the hillside caused by a pool leak and they were fined by the HOA. They said they repaired in (coincidentally 1 month prior to putting the house on the market). I asked for the receipt, HOA citation, and they wouldn't give it to me. Their answer to me was that "we have 2 all cash full price offers". They also told me that "they strongly suggest a geological survey". I asked AGAIN, in writing, for the documentation, who did the repairs, and they told me "The house is being sold 'as is'". We immediately pulled out of the contract. Guess what, the house is still active.



I say- RUN!
 
[quote author="JoonB" date=1253828945]<strong>We were in escrow on a house in NB and were still waiting for the seller's disclosures. </strong> Got the disclosures back (literally 4 days before the close- we had a 3-week closing because I wanted my daughter in the new school distrcit). When I got the disclosures, it said that there was erosion on the hillside caused by a pool leak and they were fined by the HOA. They said they repaired in (coincidentally 1 month prior to putting the house on the market). I asked for the receipt, HOA citation, and they wouldn't give it to me. Their answer to me was that "we have 2 all cash full price offers". They also told me that "they strongly suggest a geological survey". I asked AGAIN, in writing, for the documentation, who did the repairs, and they told me "The house is being sold 'as is'". We immediately pulled out of the contract. Guess what, the house is still active.



I say- RUN!</blockquote>
Based upon Section 14a, the seller/s normally have 7 days after the acceptance (unless otherwise increased) to provide the buyers all of the reports and disclosures. Failure of the seller to provide that information in a timely manner should be viewed as a possible red flag.
 
[quote author="JoonB" date=1253830195]And guess what- the owner was a realtor.</blockquote>
Oh the irony. Why am I not shocked? haha Too bad that wasn't a reportable offense. If the listing agents are idiot and deceptive on properties that I put an offer on, I have no problem reporting them for any possible DRE violations. We need to weed out the idiots.
 
You can compare things like hillside erosion, slab leaks, and/or foundation cracks on homes with cars that have been in accidents. Sure you can fix the car, but really it be the same even after the repair? How do you know that same issues won't pop up again? So just like with the used car market, you move on to the next home with those major issues (even if they are fixed/repaired).
 
[quote author="no_vaseline" date=1253825336]Who found the leak? You or the inspector?</blockquote>


I saw water coming from where water should not. I asked for the leak to be looked at prior to inspection. A plumber found the problem.
 
[quote author="davenlei" date=1253831072][quote author="no_vaseline" date=1253825336]Who found the leak? You or the inspector?</blockquote>


I saw water coming from where water should not. I asked for the leak to be looked at prior to inspection. A plumber found the problem.</blockquote>
Did the seller/s disclose the leak on the sellers disclosure forms? It was great that you were diligent like that and another reason why I would recommend that ALL BUYERS have an active role in inspecting the property when the inspector is there (especially with older homes).
 
After WWII slab construction were cheaper to build vs raised foundation by minimizing labor cost of framing the ground floor. Older homes have the advantage of access to the crawl space to check for plumbing leaks or routing a brand new plumbing line.



For post WWII construction Copper plumbing were laid on the dirt and elbow vertically before pouring the concrete slab over pipes. Builders often did not wrap sleeves over the pipes. Without the sleeves the pipes rub against the concrete when the pipes contract and expand in extreme temperature change.



The most obvious is when taking a hot shower in the morning after a very cold night. When hot water passing through a cold pipe the coefficient of linear expansion due to temperature difference for a copper pipe is high resulting in at least 1/2 of expansion displacement. As the pipe expands below the concrete it bows below the slab. However the part where the pipe rises vertically through the slab the restriction produces scraping between the copper surface and concrete. As years passed the copper lining became thinner and thinner from the constant sanding friction. Eventually the endless cycles of scraping tore a hole on pipe.



To fix it one must find the location of the leak and that is usually around the outer radius of the elbow or other mysterious locations below the slab. Sometime it will take several guesses. To repair the leak it will require jack hammering the slab. Post tension slab would be very difficult because of the steel tendons. At 35,000# psi tension a severed tendon shoots out like a spear at 10x the speed of a bullet.



Pipes will not last forever. For all slab foundations the problem is inevitable. The hope is this does not happen in your lifetime.
 
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