I am selling my home and last week had a home inspection done. That night, I noticed my garden lights weren't on and they are plugged in outside. I just thought they needed a small repair or something and thought nothing of it. Well, Friday night I went into the garage to put some stuff in our extra freezer and noticed that it was turned off! The outlet it was plugged into no longer works and this outlet is connected with the GFCI that my garden lights are plugged into. I reset the breaker but still no luck.
First, any ideas how to fix this? Replace the GFCI outlet?
Second, what recourse do I have with this inspector? I estimate he spoiled about $400 worth of meat by doing whatever he did to make those outlets not work.
Any help is appreciated.
2007-02-12 05:44:04 · 4 answers · asked by Big AZ Guy 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
In addition to resetting the GFCI breaker did you check the breaker in your main electrical panel? Did you sign a contract of any kind with the inspector? If you did it may say that they are liable only to the extent of their fee. The other thing to consider is that electricity can be volatile and the inspector may have done nothing to cause this. If he actually tripped the GFCI breaker and didn't reset it, then you can talk small claims court. By the way...he doesn't have the authority to turn it off; only to report code violations in his report.
2007-02-12 06:59:34 · answer #1 · answered by Duke D 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm a home inspector and it sounds like he may have tripped a GFCI outlet breaker when testing the wiring . I know you said you reset one, but its possible that these outlets are wired to another GFCI outlet or the ground fault breaker in the panel which was never reset.
I know you dont want to heart this, but IF THIS IS THE CASE, he was just doing his job. Granted , he should have made sure they were still working when he finished testing but its kinda like turning off a light to test its operation.
2007-02-13 08:42:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You would have to prove the inspector did it and that it was working AND up to code. He had the authority and responsibility to disconnect it if it was not code.
2007-02-12 05:53:48 · answer #3 · answered by fancyname 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
it sounds like he done something to your house just for spite the best thing to do is report him and see if they can replace your lost especially if everthing was working fine before he came out to inspect your house
2007-02-12 05:56:22 · answer #4 · answered by rebelady28379 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋