Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 11, 1992 TAG: 9203110087
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
They bought a home on Grove Drive in Pulaski last year on April Fool's Day but, because of expanding cracks in walls and a collapsed ceiling, they have moved to rented quarters next door.
"It just all happened so quick that we were afraid it wouldn't stop," Rod Kegley, 33, a corrections officer. "I didn't think it would stand this long . . . but it's definitely unsafe to live in now, in my opinion."
The sale was handled by Richard Repass of Century 21 Hometown Realty in Pulaski. Repass referred questions to Wayne McGlothlin, his broker.
"There's been a crack there for 10 or 15 years or more. . . . It's not a new crack," McGlothlin said. "It was there when the house went on the market."
Dominion Bank required the buyers to have an engineer check the foundation because of the crack. Century 21 brought structural engineer Ronnie Trout over from Giles County to make the inspection, and Trout found no problems with it.
From the drawings and information he had about the house, Trout said, "It looked like it would have been all right." If the new owners are experiencing new or bigger cracks, he said, the problem might be roots from a tree that used to be there.
The tree had been removed when he made his inspection, Trout said, so he could not say where it was, but possibly its roots were not completely removed.
The house was appraised at $60,000. The Kegleys ended up paying about $47,000, "so we thought we were getting a pretty good deal," Kegley said.
Three-and-a-half months later, the ceiling in the basement fell. The crack, which had been repaired with cement, split again. A window in the room of the couple's infant daughter, Miranda, started bowing out. New cracks formed throughout the house. Paneling began to crack.
"We've talked to at least six different lawyers here in town, and we've been told by all of them that, due to the way the contract is worded, we have no legal recourse," Kegley said. "They said we'd be throwing good money after bad."
The Kegleys had obtained a letter from an architect saying the earlier crack had been caused by frost action and roots under the foundation. A new wall had been built around a corner where damage occurred, the roots were removed and the problem was solved, in the architect's opinion.
Kegley said the inspection by the structural engineer on top of that seemed sufficient to him to guarantee a safe building.
"We paid for all the repairs that the appraiser wanted to have done, plus a couple of others that we wanted to have done to make the house look nicer," Kegley said. They also paid for the inspection by Trout. "I don't know if you'd call us gullible or what. I did all of what I thought was necessary."
"We're not experts, either, but basically he was well aware of the crack in the house," said McGlothlin, the broker. "As far as I know, the house is in good shape. Maybe he couldn't afford the heat bill or something. . . . I'm sure someone will end up buying it or living in it without any problems."
It would take $30,000 to repair the house, according to estimates the Kegleys have received. They say they can't afford that in addition to the house payments. And they certainly can't afford another house.
Kegley said he and his wife had dreamed of owning a house of this kind, in a neighborhood like the one around it, where they could raise their daughter. It seemed to him their dream had come true. "But it just didn't turn out that way."
by CNB