saturday i inspected a forclosed home that’s been vacant for nearly 2 years.
it had been winterized up until a few days prior to the inspection.
ran the dishwasher (my biggest mistake )…didn’t discharge, so the kitchen floor got soaked.
clients watched me clean up all the water and empty the dishwasher of the majority of the remaining water. water has stopped coming out at this point.
everything looks fine prior to me leaving…dishwasher is definately turned off. locking mechanism was not even thrown.
realtor tells me today that the vinyl tile in the kitchen, the surrounding carpet, and a few ceiling tiles below are soaked.
appraiser came by and turned the main water line off today.
realtor went out today and said the dishwasher was full of water also.
what leg do I have to stand on?
i figure they’ll point the finger at me.
i guess i was the dumb one for even running the dishwasher after it’s been sitting for 2 years, huh?
dried out seals/parts on the washer?
please help with advice and any possible words of comfort.
Dishwasher failed during under normal operating conditions.
Now it might have been clever to be nearby while operating the dishwasher to minimise the risk of water damage.
How did the water leak if the machine did not discharge?
How did the ceiling get wet?
What condition was the flooring in before it got wet?
Why aren’t you a NACHI member yet?
In my opinion it is not a mistake to run the dishwasher.
Did the dishwasher run through its entire cycle?
I would think the only thing you did wrong was not check the dishwasher as it was running. You may have been able to save yourself some grief.
On the bright side, I am sure your client will be happy to find this out before purchasing the house.
Did anyone tell you about the defective dishwasher? Isn’t it in the Real Estate contract that everything is supposed to work when you get there?
Don’t roll over so quickly.
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Marcel, I’m just curious,…
Say you turn on the gas furnace and it erupts in flames right in front of you, you run to your truck to get a fire extiquisher (I have one, & I hope everyone else does) to put the fire out,… but by this time it had taken over a good area of the basement, garage or what have you,… so your fire extiquisher isn’t going to do much, now you run out to turn off the gas, and call the fire department. Later you get a call from the listing agent to tell you there is $50,000 worth of damage,… and wants to know “what you’re going to do about it”. Your telling me you would “face the music” or take the blame so to speak?? Just a scenario, not attacking your msg. Or anyone else can jump in.
CC
The bank will probably take care of it. They know it was an accident. You were just doing your job. When they turned on the water someone should have been their to check for leaks and make sure all appliances that use water were checked. This should have been done prier to your inspection. Of course they never do this. Like Brian said, Don’t roll over so quick.
Larry
This is a good lesson also for those of us that happen to inspect foreclosed homes…they are generally sh*tholes…I know this because I work with them almost daily nowdays.
If the dishwasher hasn’t run in 2 years…I wouldn’t bother running it at all.
That doesn’t help you now does it? I also wouldn’t roll over too fast…I’m guessing clearer heads will prevail.
You said you drained the MAJORITY of the remaining water…perhaps the rest of it leaked out of a cracked tub and caused this damage?
Vinly tiles. They may contain asbestos and require specific remediation. Can only add to your woes.
However, your job is to test. I would have put in my report that the dishwasher failed under test, and explained exactly what I did to clean up the mess. After that, let them make the first move. Do not offer anything.
i reported exactly what you’ve explained here.
since the client witnessed it first hand, I also stated that there were no signs of leaking by the time I left.
My state’s SOP requires testing the dishwasher. So not running it is not optional for me.
You are not responsible for a component of the home that fails during testing. You didn’t break it and it was not identified as being defective, so you ran it. If you hadn’t tested it, your client’s would have been stuck with a broken dishwasher.
Personally, I wouldn’t have cleaned up the mess. I’d have called the listing agent and advised them to send someone to clean up the flood.
