Need Advice on Problem with new home

I just bought a semi detached home in Toronto that was totally gutted and redone. Originally built in 1920.

The house is exactly like this one:
www.194coxwell.com

my address is 192 and is the other half of the one you see above in the link. (mine is the one on the left)

The same owners re-furbished both houses to be exactly the same from the inside and out.

Tonight I used the bathtub/whirlpool for the first time and to my dismay water leaked through the ceiling of my living room. Remember this bathtub is brand new as is all the piping that runs to it, in fact this was the first ever time it was used as a whirlpool. (we usually take showers and not baths)

My home inspector had tested the whirlpool when he inspected the house but it only must have run for a minute and obviously not leaked during the time we were there.

I immediatly called the sellers, and they sent their handyman to check out the problem, the guy that had done part of the install, but we coudnt locate the leak. Basically, the entire tub is going to have to be ripped out (I think). This tub has like 10 tubes attached to it (one for each jet) and it could be any one of those jets that is leaking.

What recourse do I have against the seller if any? IMO since this is brand new work it should be guaranteed by the contractor/s who did the job.

Im not even sure if these sellers got the proper building permits when they were renovating this house, but my lawyer told me that didnt matter because all houses in Toronto are sold with TITLE INSURANCE which protects you against any issues that might come up in that regards.

I have not contacted the lawyer who did the transaction for me yet, I will call him in the morning.

Maybe try Homes....seriously.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_on_Homes

I'm not sure title insurance covers something like this....if you signed off on your c-51 inspection I'm not sure what recourse you may have unless they think there was something fraudulent here. But I'm not in the biz so I'm not sure....I'm hoping the guy who did the work will fix it to how it SHOULD'VE been....at no charge.

Good luck either way

I'm not sure title insurance covers something like this

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the reason I thot title insurance might be involved is because im not 100% sure the guys who re-did this house got the permits from the city while they were doing it. If they didnt get the proper permits required I thought maybe this might be an issue.

My lawyer had told me initially that title insurance might cover something like this.

if you signed off on your c-51 inspection

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I think things in this regard are a bit different, there is no "signing off" that I know of.

More than likely if it only leaks when u run the whirpool then ur leak is around the pump/motor itself and not the piping. Reason is even when u just use bath or shower those pipes still get some water in them and if it was a half asses job u would have seen water leaking before now. Most of those baths have some access to the pump, isnt very complicated....

I dont see title ins. helping either or your worrying about permits now. You knew the were not premits and u signed off anyway? and ur lawyer allowed that also? Sounds like u bought "as-is"..
Your home inspector is where id go looking for a fall guy.

But 1st find someone competent to ck it out for you....if their handyman couldnt find a leak pouring thru a ceiling he isnt what u want and u certainly dont need to rip out a tub to find a leak.....

Then again your in Canada, i dont know a thing about how the process works there, so good luck..

I can tell you that title insurance in the State of Florida would not cover either a lack of permits being pulled or the permit not being properly closed out. Title Insurance would cover you if there was either a recorded violation in favor of the municipality or a lien.

However, if there was an open permit, you would have a claim against the person that handled your closing for you (unless you waived that right in some document you signed). If there was no permit ever pulled, you would have a claim against the seller.

However, if there was an open permit, you would have a claim against the person that handled your closing for you (unless you waived that right in some document you signed). If there was no permit ever pulled, you would have a claim against the seller.

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there are no open permits because we did a search to check that before buying the house, however, this does not indicate wether they ever had or didnt have permits, it simply states that none are open at time of closing.

update from my lawyer:

Hi . Further to our discussion this morning, I’m sorry to hear about your tub/ plumbing leak. As discussed, I suggest you speak to the vendor again and have him send a plumber in to correct the problem. Pursuant to the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, the “Seller represents and warrants that the fixtures and chattels as included in this Agreement of Purchase and Sale will be in good working order and free from all liens and encumbrances on completion of this transaction.” Base on this provision, the Vendor is responsible to correct this deficiency provided the problem existed at the time of closing. If this problem developed after closing, the issue is your responsibility. Given that the issue was discovered the first time the tub was used is good evidence that the problem existed prior to closing.

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SportSavant said:

update from my lawyer:

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That's got to be Good News

More than likely if it only leaks when u run the whirpool then ur leak is around the pump/motor itself and not the piping. Reason is even when u just use bath or shower those pipes still get some water in them and if it was a half asses job u would have seen water leaking before now. Most of those baths have some access to the pump, isnt very complicated....

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In my guest bedroom there is a closet with a small trap door that gives access to under the tub, the motor is there, you can see it slightly, unfortunatly we could not see any water there so that did not seem to be where it was coming from, not that we could see anyway. We could see about 1/4 of the tub through this access panel but cannot see more without removing physical walls.

I dont see title ins. helping either or your worrying about permits now. You knew the were not premits and u signed off anyway? and ur lawyer allowed that also? Sounds like u bought "as-is"..

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thats not 100% accurate, I SUSPECTED they had renovated without permits, I told my lawyer my suspision. He then initiated a search to see if they were any OPEN permits. He told me as long as there were none open we were good to go and that wether they had actually gotten any didnt really matter because if it turned out they hadnt, and then the city had a problem with this later, this issue would be covered under title insurance.

meanwhile, the RX must've upped pay for mods around here living in 475k townhomes!!

good luck with your water damage, SS!!

and thanks for your address...i will be by to rob you sometime in August while you are in Vegas.