Disclosure issues with illegal bedrooms
Dear Barry,
As a Realtor, I sell a lot of older homes with basementbedrooms. Sellers often can’t understand that these don’t comply as legal bedroomsbecause the high windows restrict fire escape. My question is this: When thehouse is sold “as is,” and the new buyers continue to use the illegalbedroom as such, is there liability for the sellers or Realtors in the event ofa fire. If so, what kind of disclosure should be made? –Frank
Dear Frank,
All you can do is provide full disclosure of noncompliancewith current fire safety standards, including the fact that the rooms cannot belegally used as bedrooms. If buyers choose to ignore such disclosure, theliability is their own.
Current building codes require bedroom windows to have sillsno higher than 44 inches above the floor. Additionally, window openings must beat least 5.7 square feet, with neither the height nor the width being less than24 inches.
Some basement windows can be upgraded to current standardsby constructing window wells at the exterior of the building. These areexcavated areas that are lined with concrete or masonry and provided with ameans of water drainage. Windows with lower sills could then be installed,enabling emergency escape by occupants. A person could simply crawl out intothe window well and then up to the exterior ground level. Disclosing thisoption to buyers would further limit liability in the event of a future fire.
Dear Barry,
Our home is less than 2 years old and has two mainproblems, but the builder won’t fix anything. The tile floor, installed on aconcrete slab, has cracked three times in the same place. Each time the tilesare replaced, the new ones crack within a few weeks. We also have two pocketdoors that won’t slide freely. If the builder won’t address these problems,what can we do? –Thomas
Dear Thomas,
Before communicating further with the builder, you shouldobtain a report from the most thorough and experienced home inspectoravailable. A competent inspector will discover more defects than you arecurrently aware of. Send a copy of the inspection report to your builder with aletter giving him X number of days to make repairs. Make it clear that afterthat time you will hire other contractors to complete the repairs and will holdhim responsible for the costs. Hopefully, the costs will not exceed the limitspecified for a small claims action.
When ceramic tiles on a concrete slab become cracked, theusual cause is common hairline cracking of the slab. Tile installers who doquality work laminate a slip sheet onto the slab surface before installing thetiles. This allows for slab movement at the cracks, without adversely affectingthe tiles. Recurrent cracks indicate that no slip sheet was installed. This isnot a code violation but rather an indication of mediocre workmanship.
Pocket doors that do not slide freely typically requireadjustments or repairs of a minor nature.
To write to Barry Stone, please visit him on the Web at www.housedetective.com.
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Copyright 2006 Barry Stone
