$65,000 drain fly problem

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

We've never had drain flies at our house, but I've seen them at work a few times. I found this interesting video that tells the story of a pest control company that took extreme measures and charged $65,000 to cure an extremely persistent drain fly infestation for a homeowner. It's seven minutes long, but that's because the story is extremely complicated:

 

 

 

[4wheeldog]

Amazing story. Interesting case of a hidden problem that was not easily found in pre-purchase inspection. Truly, the homeowner story from hell.

[Albert]

We get them from time to time but not $65k bad. My wife discovered something interesting a couple of weeks ago when we had a small outbreak. We couldn't figure out where they were coming from until she lifted one of those mesh looking scrubbers by the kitchen sink and a bunch flew out. She ditched the scrubby and they're gone.

[Uncle Beemer]

I thought the Christmas lights were a nice touch!

 

[Quinn]

We had an invasion of mealy moths a few years ago that we couldn't get rid of until I lifted up and dropped the 50lb bag of sunflower bird seed in the basement. Also had to throw out all the open boxes of cereal, grains, etc. They must have a really fast life cycle because they were gone practically overnight once the bird seed was thrown out.

 

In the interim, we had fun with an electric fly swatter chasing them around the kitchen.

 

 

For $65k, I think I'd consider a total lose house fire caused by an electrical short near a bucket of gas and a do-over.

 

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[Gregori]

Unfortunately, in the real estate business, we see this kind of thing far too often.

 

In this particular case, since the sellers failed to disclose the problem (and it was demonstrated that they knew at least something about it from the weekly draino purchase) they may remain liable for some of it.

 

The home inspector who simply advised dumping bleach down the drain also shares some culpability. A home inspector should have advised that such a problem is outside the scope of his expertise, and recommended a pest control company be consulted.

 

I'm a huge proponent of transparency. I always advise my sellers to disclose ANYTHING that could cause someone a problem, or affect the value of the home. While it's human nature to want to put a shine on things, it is ALSO human nature to demand compensation after you're found out to have been less than entirely forthcoming.

 

 

[Ken H.]

The home inspector who simply advised dumping bleach down the drain also shares some culpability. A home inspector should have advised that such a problem is outside the scope of his expertise, and recommended a pest control company be consulted.

Hijack – I’m a licensed home inspector (second job) here in Alberta and participate in a couple of HI Forums. It’s a subject of endless debate – should a HI offer corrective advise or just identify an issue and recommend contacting a specialist? On one hand (potential) buyers or owners say they want practical useable advise and some HIs say we are not adding enough value if we don’t. 'Call an expert’ is a copout. OTHO, we can’t be experts in every field and we’re only there on average about 3 hours. Plus offering specifics, as you say, can put us in a liability position. It’s a real tight-rope walk issue.

/hijack

 

[Gregori]

What I advise my buyers is that a home inspector is a generalist.

If you go to your family doctor for a checkup, and finds something wrong with you, it's a sure bet that he'll refer you to a specialist. A home inspector is much the same - if he discovers any issues with the home, his responsibility is simply to identify the issue, not propose remediation. By law, he cannot offer referrals to other specialists, nor can he give even 'rough estimates' of what a problem might cost to correct.

 

While some might view that as a cop-out, it is ultimately in the consumers' best interest to have the RIGHT answer, not the expedient one.