Help me. Tell me what I should do. Or can do.

Taytee · February 2012

Edited to correct late night spelling errors and correct electrical terminology!

It would appear that a solid half our downstairs is on one breaker. 6 lights, 12 receptacles that I know of. From what my FIL can tell me, the entire house is wired with the wrong gauge wire. The receptacles used are not rated for that wire (says so right on the label). The total amp or voltage going through that breaker for that kind of receptacles for that many receptacles is a total fire hazard and code violation.

I plan to ask our realtor tomorrow what suggestions she has. I also will call back our home warranty people to find out what coverage we have with their service. I'll ask for a different electrician as the one they sent not only failed to identify any real cause besides a loose outlet but he also replaced it with the same type substandard outlet. I can slap a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound to buy you time but you'll live longer if we remove the bullet and stitch the wound closed, KWIM?

At this point, I feel the urge to cut our losses and sell this deathtrap but I wouldn't feel right leaving some other family to die =(. I'm so scared and frustrated. This is unacceptable. I can deal with uneven drywall and poorly matched carpet seams. That the previous homeowners tiled over the vinyl in the bathrooms. But shoddy workmanship that leads to electrical outlets melting and potentially starting a fire that puts my family in harm?s way is unethical.

Do I call the news? Alert my neighbors? Call the builder? What legal protection do we have in this scenario? Our home was built in 1997 by a well-known but IMHO poorly respected builder who is still around. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. 1st picture is kitchen. 2nd is the living room and the larger one is the living room after I pried off the melted child safety plugs (which is not part of the problem FYI). When I saw the electrical current going, my heart skipped a beat and I dropped my Leatherman micra. It was dumb to deal with it at all without turning off the power.

KittyFX · February 2012

That really sucks Taytee. I don't have much advice but I would try starting with the builder after getting a good electrician to document what is wrong and ? cost to fix it.

AustinBride06 · February 2012

We're in kind of a similar place with the foundation on an addition to our house. Literally broken in half, crack running right down the middle of the room because of shoddy workmanship and bad engineering. But there's no one to blame at this point. All we can do is fix it correctly at our own expense and hope that one day we have enough equity to sell. That day can't come fast enough.

clynn58 · February 2012

I would also look to find out who the city inspector was.

FireChiefsBride · February 2012

Wow. That's really bad.

I agree with calling your warranty company and realtor. Good luck.

txtechmama · February 2012

Ditto clynn58.

Honestly....I want to know what builder it is since I'm looking at building in the near future & I would definitely alert the news. This is NOT okay!

userdeleted · February 2012

I would contact the builder. I have a friend who was able to get her builder to fix some issues with the brickwork on her house because she could prove that it was done incorrectly from the beginning. IMO this issue has lawsuit written all over it. I imagine they would rather deal with you so you go away, rather than possibly have any litigation*

*I am not a lawyer and have no idea what I'm talking about so take that for what it's worth.

userdeleted · February 2012

I'm also curious as to whether or not our houses were built by the same company...if you don't want to post the name here would you mind emailing it to me?

atlantic · February 2012

Ugh..I'm so sorry. I would first call your home warranty company and see what your coverage is. If it's not going to fix the issue, I'd call the builder. If they won't fix it, I would contact a lawyer. And even before the news, you could try social media. One of the great things about our new forms of communication is that it holds companies very accountable. Post the pictures on Facebook, their twitter, etc.
if you decide to sell, you'll disclose what you know on the sellers disclosure. So any new owners will buy with a clear understanding of the issue. Aldo, wonder if any of your neighbors have already dealt with this?

sweetdreams2000 · February 2012

Is the home still under warranty, and what has the builder said? I would suggest like PPs mentioned, calling the warranty company & realtor, but I would probably also look into getting a lawyer as well, at minimum to send a letter to the builder for restitution.

If you do sell the house, you'll have to disclose the electical issue anyways, which is going to have an impact on your sale price.

AustinAggie01 · February 2012

What a mess! Call Mike Holmes? Holmes on Homes? I think he needs a break from Canada, anyway... Too bad the hot property brothers would be of no help in this situation. Yes, I'm an HGTV junkie.

Seriously, I think I would contact your realtor, the warranty company, your insurance company (although is that redundant with your warranty company?), get 2 (?) estimates and then see what happens with the info your realtor gives you. Maybe then move on to the news and the builder.

Please keep us updated!

abh1977 · February 2012

I would DEFINITELY call the builder - we've had some luck with that in the past on issues that were wrong from the beginning. We had to be fairly forceful and let them know we weren't going to be quiet about it if they didn't do anything, but they did fix it. Twice.

Also, assuming you had your home inspected prior to buying it and the inspector wasn't the owner of the company you used, I'd also let them know that he or she missed it.

Good luck!

PrincessBrideSarah · February 2012

Definitely try the builder and use the home warranty. You will have to disclose this issue if you sell the house, so it needs to be repaired.

I can't believe work this shoddy went un-noticed since the house was built. I wonder if the prior owner had issues and did not disclose them.

angelaggie · February 2012

Call the builder. I'll ask my dad as well, he's an electrician.

My uncle is a real estate lawyer. If you'd like his info shoot me an email. He's very reasonably priced. Angelaggie at msn

Taytee · February 2012

PrincessBrideSarah:

Definitely try the builder and use the home warranty. You will have to disclose this issue if you sell the house, so it needs to be repaired.

I can't believe work this shoddy went un-noticed since the house was built. I wonder if the prior owner had issues and did not disclose them.

Hmm I've been thinking a lot about that. It makes me angry if they looked into the eyes of my 8 month old baby girl and thought their financial future was more important than my daughters life.

angelaggie:

Call the builder. I'll ask my dad as well, he's an electrician.

My uncle is a real estate lawyer. If you'd like his info shoot me an email. He's very reasonably priced. Angelaggie at msn

I'll keep the lawyer bit in mind for sure if I can't get anywhere fast!

It's not covered =(. I'm waiting for a response from our realtor. For now the breaker switch is off. Another nestie offered advice as well and we'll be in touch! DH asked if he can call himself since he knows a little more about electric than I do.

Nessia · February 2012

Yeah, definitely try the builder. We had leak in the wall that because of a mistake on their part caused some mold and wet carpet. We called the builder and after some persistence they fixed the problem, repaired the damage and replaced the carpet in that room.

MnMShaw · February 2012

My DH also suggested calling your own homeowner's insurance if the other people aren't helpful. Insurance have attorneys that can fight law suits if necessary and that might be helpful.

thethomps · February 2012

Definitely call the builder. I had a roofing issue when I went to sell my house in AZ (the builder did not put proper sealant paper under the tiles on the roof and it caused the wood to decay). I told them this was no fault of mine, that someone on their crew did not do their job, and that I would go to the city letting them know that possibly the entire neighborhood was not up to code. They came out and fixed it posthaste. It was K B Homes, btw. I agree with pp who said to contact the city and the person who did your home inspection. Completely unacceptable.

PMBridetobe · February 2012

Is your home less than 10 years old? If so, it is likely still under the builder warranty. Even if it is older than that, I am sure you could have a good case to have the builder fix it. If not, KVUE on your side might help.

AustinAggie01 · February 2012

So, it's not covered under the warranty, but how about your homeowner's insurance policy? Most likely you have a deductible, but to me it seems like they should cover something like that. It's cheaper for them to pay an electrician than to pay a fire claim, right? I feel the builder should be responsible for paying at least the deductible, although, I can imagine that you'll have to pay it first to get the house fixed asap and then get reimbursed.

misjenn · February 2012

Awwhhh Taytee that sucks! I am sorry you are having to deal with this. My first reaction is call an attorney and the builder. If they knowingly put in hazardous materials in this case the wrong wire they should be responsible for fixing it properly. Unfortunately even if you call a realtor you would have to disclose this information or if their is a fire after you sell then you would be liable. I would definitely call an attorney though.

MrsH07 · February 2012

KittyFX:
That really sucks Taytee. I don't have much advice but I would try starting with the builder after getting a good electrician to document what is wrong and ? cost to fix it.

This exactly. Contact the builder, if they give you crap threaten to tell the news about their shotty work. Also, at this point if you did sell you would have to disclose this.

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