I inspected a vacant property 10 days ago and received a call back from the sellers agent about water damaged to the kitchen cabinets, and they want me to be liable for it. When I inspected the kitchen two shut-off valve was off. I turned on one valve to run the dishwasher, but the refrigerator line turned on instead and water came from the back of the refrigerator shooting out. I quickly shut-off the valve. I figured that the line was not connected to the refrigerator. I proceeded with the inspection confirming the valve was shut-off and no appearance to water spilling from the refrigerator line. I went to the house to check the water damage the refrigerator was pulled out showing were the water was coming from. There was a copper pipe that was cut flush to the cabinet which was supposed to be connected to the refrigerator. It happened that the valve was corroded and was not completely shut-off leaving the water to leak out to damage the kitchen cabinets and drywall. The seller had to used a pliers to shut the water. Now they are coming after my insurance to put a new cabinet and drywall. What do you think I should do. My insurance is investigating the case.
Have your insurance company contact me and I’ll help them win and pay nothing out.
Wow, Rick, that is impressive! That is really backing up your members, and it makes me consider joining even more. So far, I am just not really into the whole home inspection thing, as a career. Beyond, for my own purposes for the purchase of a home, I am just not too enthusiastic about doing it every day. A situation like this is why I really don’t like fiddling with shut off valves, especially those that see little if any actual active use. I recommend replacing valves on toilets, faucets, refrigerators, dishwashers, evap coolers, etc, every 10 years in places like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Pueblo, Tucson, El Centro & other cities with hard calcified & mineral laden water. I usually keep a few spare valves on hand just in case. For an inspection, if the valve is off, I figure there is a reason for it, and I usually will just fail the appliance outright, rather than risk dealing with a bad valve. The last dishwasher I looked at that was shut off was beyond disgusting. The disposal’s grinder mechanism was so out of balance it shook the sink so hard water was leaping off the bottom of the sink 12-16 inches above the counter top, and all the cabinets shook very violently. I did not even want to know what the dishwasher was going to do. None of the other appliances worked anyway, so why bother with the dish washer. It was gross, with soap scum & old icky food scum deposits, and the door seal was deteriorating . I did NOT need to see if it ran or not. Good luck, and God bless! You have won a lot of respect & admiration from me with this post!