bought house.

[slurpie]

10 days short of owning the house for one year.This spring water came into the house bad in one corner when there was still frost. Now wegot this last 2 inches of rain came in a diffrent spot. This time it was by the driveway and the concrete has settled toward the house, for about 7 feet out from the basement wall. So there is about a stretch of 7 feet wide by 12 feet long that runs to the house. I'm [PoorWordUsage] I remember talking to the homeowner and the realtor about water and they said never had a problem. There is gutters on the house and the old homeowner said would not have a problem if the spout extenders are on. What are my options here is the old homeowner responsible for anything he clearly lied and i'm mad? And the realtor is [PoorWordUsage] dont return calls now and will not get any recomendations from me.

[Flooringuy]

If he didn't say anything about it on the disclosure statement and you can prove he knew there was an issue you possibly would have a case.

Could get pretty expensive in court.

I had the same issue only with can lighting icing up on the inside of the ceiling. He had to of known about it but I couldn't prove it. Not nearly as bad as yours though.

[Surface Tension]

Can't help in the legal aspect other then, good luck.

Note that heavy rain and or an unseasonal Spring thaw on account of snow depths and temps could be interpreted as an "Act of God". In other words forget about getting the seller to help your out.

In the meantime the next heavy rain or Spring thaw will bring more water into the basement.

You got to do some grading. Haul in dirt and get a good slope away from the house. Not following you on how the driveway is situated. Pics would help.

Is the slab up close to the house? Whatever the case you don't want the water running of the driveway and toward the house. It sounds like mud jacking eventually. For now if you can get any grade between the house and driveway taken care of plus getting that water diverted elsewhere would be what I'd be doing.

[nofishfisherman]

I've known a few people who had similar issues with sellers not disclosing information. However none of them were able to get a penny out of the sellers because its almost impossible to prove that the previous owners knew of the problem and didn't disclose it.

I'd say you have almost no hope of getting anything out of the sellers as all they would need to say is that we never had a problem and that the issue is new.

I'd do what ST mentioned and get the grading done as soon as possible to prevent any more damage. Unfortunately this is all part of being a home owner, things can go wrong at any time. When I bought my first home almost 2 years ago we bought a house that was well under our price limit so that we would still have enough money left over to deal with these types of situations that pop up.

Good Luck.

[slurpie]

First thanks for the replies. I'm not the greatest at posting pics sorry for that. Ths slab of the driveway comes up to the blocks of the house. I know it needs to be redone jacking is not an option. I noticed the low spot when purchasing so as a quick fix I cut part of the concrete and dug in a tile to help rid the water. And then noticed that the concrete was only one inch thick at this spot. Decent thickness in the other spots of the driveway 4" plus. If a person was to dig it up and put tar paper on the outside ot the house would that help? Or is there a diffrent Material a person should use?

[CJH]

You have very little recourse to go after the previous owner. A similar thing happened to my father in law in an expensive lake house. Got water within the first month. He took the previous owner to court and the judge just said it was the cost of ownership. Basically unless you get sometype of guarantee or warranty, you buy a house as is. Especially with water coming in the basement during spring or heavy rains, that is relatively common.

From what I read you tiled by the driveway, can you do that around the rest of the house?

[Surface Tension]

NO I wouldn't dig it up, I'd stop the water from getting there in the first place.

By removing part of the driveway and putting in drain tile on the surface along the house, all you did is made it easier for the water to disperse into the ground around the block. There would need to be an impervious liner under the drain tile along the house. That shallow trench along the block should be dished with the liner starting well above the grade along the block, over the trench and under the slab or to a point water won't be getting underneath it. Should have a high end and a low end day lighted that water can flow to and away from the house. Place the drain tile in, cover with landscaping fabric and back fill with p-rock. Trim off the liner that is against the house. Another option is cut back the slab, regrade and put a swale in and pour.

Coarse without seeing what you have that might not work. If you have pictures send them to me.

[crothmeier]

i got a waater softener and a new roof out of the guy i bought my first house from.

the disclosure said owned, working water softener. i plugged it in and water shot out everywhere. $800 later a new water softener.

following months the roof leaked. Disclosure for said new roof 2002. went to the lumberyard, got reciepts, roof was done in 1992. seller paid for materials, not labor, which i was satisfied with.

in your case unless you can prove water damage in your basement has been there for more than just the time you've been there i think you're out of luck.

remove that driveway and regrage and re-pour, and work on grading in the other areas of the house.

im guessing he knew about the water situation if he came out and said to make sure to have the gutter extensions on.

[slurpie]

ST i agree but the water was in a puddle there and now it goes down the tile. I can see the majority of rain goes down the tile by looking at the outlet. My ideal way to fix it is dig around the house and rip up the old driveway. Redo the driveway To grade away from the house. Put a tar paper on the outside of the house, and a tile below the foundation of the house, with p rock on top of the tile. Do you guys think that would work. Sorry ST Iknow you would like pics but i cant get any.