Standing Out in Ohio Podcast
Brought to you from Ohio based home inspection company of Habitation Investigation. Information helpful to agents and buyers. Conversations with professionals and entrepreneurs regarding their stories and what makes their companies and themselves stand out and gain competitive advantages. Listen to stories from Ohio real estate agents and related businesses to help you know how to improve and who to consider using for yourself or friends. Created by the owners of a highly rated home inspection company in Ohio and the Winners of Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest https://homeinspectionsinohio.com/
Standing Out in Ohio Podcast
Toxic Houses: Hidden Dangers Homeowners Face
What happens when your dream home becomes a health nightmare? In this eye-opening discussion, Jim and Laura share three shocking stories of Ohio homeowners facing potentially life-threatening situations in their own homes.
The first tale reveals how one family's new HVAC system created toxic gas resembling mustard gas when improperly installed equipment overheated. Despite children showing abnormal EKGs and pets falling ill, the responsible company refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing. Laura details her team's hazardous materials investigation, complete with respirators and specialized chemical testing to identify the dangerous compounds contaminating the home.
Another disturbing case involves a newly constructed home built on former farmland, possibly atop an aquifer. With recent heavy rainfall, groundwater has risen into the house, bringing with it agricultural chemicals that leave residents with burning skin upon contact. The homeowners have been forced to abandon their property while fighting for the builder to take responsibility.
The third story highlights the dangers of unethical real estate practices, as a buyer with severe mold allergies was pressured into a hasty purchase by their own agent. With crucial inspection time cut short and important items removed from the property against contract terms, this new homeowner found themselves trapped in an unhealthy living situation with little recourse.
These cautionary tales emphasize a crucial message: due diligence is essential when purchasing property, and walking away from a questionable deal is often the wisest choice. As Jim and Laura note, ethical home inspectors can provide vital protection, but buyers must remain vigilant against pressure tactics and misleading information.
Visit homeinspectionsinohio.com to learn more about protecting yourself during the home buying process and ensuring your dream home doesn't become a health hazard.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Three-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest Plus the Winner of Consumer Choice Award for Columbus Ohio visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
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Hey everybody, welcome to Standing Out on how Podcast. This is Jim and, of course, laura the office. Goddess is with me.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone All right, so Laura. Jim.
Speaker 1:You've been on the phone quite a bit with homeowners. Yes, right, a lot, a lot. It's really has jumped up a lot in the last couple of years, but I'm noticing a lot this.
Speaker 2:This summer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the summer overall that you are getting phone calls from homeowners having issues. So what were some of the like two, like one or two stories from this week that you were getting and that people needed help with? And actually the thing from last week also I don't know if we talked about that the H, the hvac system no, I don't think we've talked about that one either.
Speaker 2:We've got a bunch of stories. I've got several at this point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what once you give?
Speaker 2:let's try and say under 10 minutes or so because, then but so go ahead and give a story of something that's going on so the first one was the hvac, and this poor couple, um finally saved up enough money, got themselves a new hvac system, got air central air in their house because I think they bought the house and hvac.
Speaker 1:They had no air conditioning for the house right like we did man, for many years we had window units but yeah I don't. I think they had window years, perhaps I don't. I don't know well they were.
Speaker 2:You know all proud of themselves because they'd saved up the money. They got a new system installed and then all hell broke loose. It wasn't installed right. The system had been recalled last year because of the issues with it and how it was installed, so what? The chemical, wait, wait, wait All all right, so let's back up a little bit.
Speaker 1:So there was, we have 10 minutes dude, I know, but there was a recall on this unit, air conditioning unit. Not so much the outside, you, I think the expansion coils on the inside was something to do with the wiring. The wiring instruction from the manufacturer was wrong right so what that happened? It would result in fires right overheating, which could then result in fire, but I apparently had some fire there. That was wrong.
Speaker 2:It was recalled, but this hvac company still put it in and not only did they put it in, they used a cleaning agent for a line that already had leaks in it and didn't listen to them and didn't pressure test it. So they put this cleaning stuff in and then they just put the refrigerant in. They didn't clean out the cleaner like you're supposed to do nitrogen after that, so that there's nothing that reacts to anything.
Speaker 1:So they didn't do that yeah, because there are strict like requirements that when you put refrigerant and you need to, you don you don't just release that into the atmosphere. You're supposed to recapture that and then clean the system out with nitrogen, which is, I think, a noble gas, so it's non-reactive. So you use that to make sure you've gotten rid of everything else in there before you put the actual refrigerant or maybe a cleaner inside there everything else in there before you put the actual refrigerant, or maybe a cleaner, inside there.
Speaker 2:So, given the fact, that they didn't. The equipment had a failure and had overheated and so basically, what the overheating did to the chemicals is it caused a form of mustard gas that was used in world war ii as chemical warfare. So not did that happen, but their animals are still sick. Their kids are having abnormal EKGs, she's having chest pains, he's not doing well and the people that put it in are not accepting responsibility for it at all.
Speaker 1:So I know some of these right now go mustard gas bullshit. There's no way that that happened, but we looked it up.
Speaker 2:And it does.
Speaker 1:The chemical that they use to clean this, which I don't know what the chemical structure is it's RX-11.
Speaker 2:That's the cleaner. That's the cleaner.
Speaker 1:And then the Refrigerant is a newer one. There's not much, was it?
Speaker 2:R32? R32.
Speaker 1:They mixed that, but those things are not supposed to be mixed together.
Speaker 2:And when the mix combines and it's superheated it can make like a hydrochloric acid, I believe, which was like part of like what the mustard gas was yeah, yep so, and just chlorine gas itself is not pretty healthy but all this stuff.
Speaker 1:So apparently they called complaining the hvac coming. They come back out and they suck out the line they sucked out the lines and there was not much at all in there so it already escaped into the house, apparently, which obviously because the kids were sick, pet sick, and then the husband and wife were ill as well so not a good situation.
Speaker 2:We did a really comprehensive voc test for them. In addition, I sent, nobody else would come nobody else would come out, nobody else would talk to them, nobody else would help them. It is so sad when somebody breaks down crying because I'm just being myself and being nice, because nobody was nice to them like I. I don't. I don't understand why I don't.
Speaker 1:I don't get it. I don't understand why either, why somebody would be mean to them. I can see like oh, that that's sympathetic. That sucks. There's nothing we can do about it, but according to to her people were mean. They didn't want to get involved with it.
Speaker 2:So there's that one. We're waiting for the test results back, so what?
Speaker 1:we did. We were the only company in Ohio that had the ability to do the stuff.
Speaker 2:It sounds like it sounds like from what they had done.
Speaker 1:Go up there. We suited up, we had respirators and we don't know.
Speaker 2:So we smelled nothing when we went in because we were suited up and we had respirators on like full face everything.
Speaker 1:And gloves, and all that Because we don't know what was in the air still.
Speaker 2:No, and I tend to be chemically sensitive myself, so my going in and not suiting up would have been bad so we went in there, did voc testing so that sample is.
Speaker 1:Those samples are now in the lab.
Speaker 2:They should be done about the 25th, takes them 10 days to analyze this, and what I also did was I printed off the manufacturer's data sheets for the two compounds and then I sent the interpretation of what could happen and the chemical compounds that could be released if they were heated together to the lab. So the lab is now looking for all of those compounds.
Speaker 1:And one of those compounds was what was also known as mustard gas.
Speaker 2:Or a similar compound to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, because the kids were having, like heart arrhythmias yeah, like electrical differences in their heart and we and doing the research that we did. Yeah, one of the chemicals that is released or may be produced that it will mess up the electrolytes in your system, which can result in heart problems. So it it's not looking good for the HVAC company.
Speaker 2:Or the manufacturer. I don't understand why you would do a recall and then not make sure that all of your stuff was destroyed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm not certain how recalls?
Speaker 2:I don't understand how that works.
Speaker 1:Well, I do know that when somebody buys a house and if they check on the recall on, say, their dishwasher, the manufacturer really does not know who has those.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So I don't know if this is a similar thing. The manufacturer has no idea where these are at, but they should know.
Speaker 2:I'm like hey, you bought this. You should know who bought, like, what companies purchased that for installation? There should be a chain of command for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because typically a homeowner is not going to order an. Hvac system to put in it, because you're supposed to be licensed in order to put those in in the first place. So they would only be going to professional companies to put those in.
Speaker 2:So that's that one. We can come back to that one when we get the results back and kind of yeah, we should do an update. We should do an update on that one, because we've got two other ones to talk about really quickly okay, go ahead.
Speaker 1:So we're not relating to the 10 minutes. Okay, there's no video on this okay.
Speaker 2:So got a call from a gentleman who had just purchased a house, has only been in it two weeks and when I spoke with him his voice was very scratchy and and scruffy and obviously there was something going on like I could tell because like I had allergies and I've had that he called yesterday, was that yesterday? No, it was a couple days a couple days ago.
Speaker 1:okay, but he only lived the house two weeks. He's only been in the house two weeks, okay, I did not know that part.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so his problem is that it was like a comedy of errors and his real estate agent really did him wrong. But not funny, no, it was horrible. He was forced into buying the house. The sellers had taken out several components that weren't listed on the contract, like they were listed as they were staying with the house. So, like a ten thousand dollar filtration system got taken and he wasn't going to sign the paperwork. And so they were like, well, here we'll give you three grand for it. And he didn't realize how expensive that filtration system was and they forced they like basically forced this guy to sign. Is what is how he felt, is what he told me.
Speaker 1:So his agent didn't try to like stand up for him Like.
Speaker 2:No, the agent was forcing him to sign the paperwork. And then the agent. There was some other thing where, where he was filling out a contract and like she said, oh, you need to check this off, Like it was basically absolving him of getting like representation or I can't remember what it was. But an agent that he talked to after the fact said that should have been a red flag, you should have just walked. So this agent was literally only in this for the money. She didn't care about this guy.
Speaker 1:She didn't care. Was she the listing agent?
Speaker 2:No, she was his agent. She was the buyer's agent and she did not care about him at all. She knew full well he had severe mold allergies and that he had to have a place that didn't have issues. So they did some kind of a test and something came back and he went to try to push for it, but they only had a three-day window, because the agent once again only gave him a three-day window.
Speaker 2:For inspections For inspections and it went downhill from there. So probably what we're going to end up doing is going out and doing I think we're going out Monday or Tuesday for him, as I recall, and we're going to go do some testing and figure out some stuff for him. I think you're doing like a moisture inspection to see what's going on and what's coming in.
Speaker 1:Oh, I did see that the other day.
Speaker 2:I think that's for him. So that's the second guy. We can update on him too. Once we get test results back and do that inspection, then the next one.
Speaker 3:Habitation investigation is the way to go for a home inspection in Ohio. Trusted licensed home inspectors for your needs. From radon to mold to warranties For a great home inspection, you really can't go wrong.
Speaker 2:Visit HomeInspectionsInOhiocom. I got a call yesterday from a woman and this is again a brand new house. They moved in in December. They were forced to move in December. They were forced to move in and were told that they would start to be getting fined if they didn't sign the paperwork, in spite of the fact that they had concerns about stuff. And once again, they got forced.
Speaker 2:Brand new build mold issues and it just goes downhill from there Because, at this point, what ended up happening? So let's see what all were we talking about. So they have severe mold allergies, both she and her husband.
Speaker 1:Oh wait, I know that this is the moisture coming in somewhere. Wet floor.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is the one. This is going to be a huge ongoing issue and this could have some repercussions throughout the state. Based on what happens here, I genuinely believe that. So the builder built on farmland.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it was.
Speaker 2:So the house was built on farmland.
Speaker 1:Which is not necessarily wrong.
Speaker 2:bad because there's a lot of Well however, keep in mind that with farmland comes pesticides and fertilizers and all that stuff. To compound the issue, they think they were built on top of an aquifer, so their house had dirt brought in and it was raised up so that the aquifer wouldn't come up and hit them.
Speaker 2:But with all of the water that we've had and all of the rain we've had the past couple of months, it has come up high enough that it's come into their house. So, like their carpet is wet, the baseboards are wet, the walls are wet and it's leaving like a white powdery residue all throughout the house. And who knows what that is, and who knows? And they're telling me that if they go into the house and they have any bare skin, their skin actually starts burning. So God only knows what's in that.
Speaker 2:That sounds like some nasty pesticides, and I did do a search and there are pesticides that can leave a white residue.
Speaker 1:So all right. So that's what we're going to be probably testing next week.
Speaker 2:We're probably going to be testing next week. I'm still consulting with the lab, trying to make sure that we got all of the tests that we need to do for them, because I'm sure that at some point this is going to go to court. They want that builder to buy the house back so that they can walk. As it is, they've walked out of that house and they're actually renting.
Speaker 1:So for the builder, their best we're not going to give the builder's name, but their best option would be like let's start having problems, let's buy it back, give it back to us and then Tear it down and then tear it down probably tear it down, turn that little area to a park, maybe, or a pond I'd say who knows.
Speaker 1:But I know, yeah, if that was a swampy, low-lying area for like decades and decades for farmland, you're gonna have a lot of chemicals just kind of just naturally running that, run off toward that section and settling.
Speaker 2:And it's going to absorb into the soil and then it's going to be released back into that water and the house was on a slab. It was on a slab.
Speaker 1:I'm also curious if the ductwork is getting filled up with water. Oh yeah, so we'll see if the ductwork goes to the floor or up through the ceiling. Who knows how that?
Speaker 2:how they did that one? We don't know. We don't know yet. We'll find out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll find out and we'll update you on that one but if you're buying a house, you really need to do the research on where you're at, and they apparently sound like they asked what, what was the land used before and all, and they got like three different answers yeah so you're getting different answers for the same questions there's a problem something shady. I can see where somebody go. All right, they didn't get it. Let me rephrase it a different way, but the answer should substantially same.
Speaker 1:Yes, farmland is farmland you got, cattle farms you got pig farms. You, you got pig farms you got corn.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but if you. But that's not what they said. They were like farmland swampland, and I can't remember what. The third one was that they had gotten told which you know either way. That's ridiculous that you can't go back and figure that out.
Speaker 1:Well, if you had a pig farm and you had a wet area for the pigs, that's a mess to clean up. I'm not a pig shit expert, You're rather a pig shit than pesticides. But I've heard of people they fall into the pit where they put the pig manure. Okay, okay, they die.
Speaker 2:What.
Speaker 1:Because it produces methane. Well, yeah, and methane displaces all the oxygen in there, so you suffocate, even though you're not drowning in it. You suffocate because there's no oxygen for you.
Speaker 2:Okay. So that's a little bit. More's a whole bunch of things, oh no, no uh so so we we've had some very interesting phone calls and, and once again this couple, nobody would help them.
Speaker 1:Like, like what and here's part of the issue is is was it the woman that called you typically?
Speaker 2:no, the guy was calling too like her husband.
Speaker 1:Her husband was with her when we spoke last night over a long time. It's like 80 of the women are calling you right she did reach out to me.
Speaker 2:However, he had called others too like to try to get like he said, I've sent emails, I've called, I've done this, I've done that and they either only dealt with commercial, or they heard it was a new build and wouldn't touch it, or they heard there was the potential for litigation and wouldn't touch it.
Speaker 1:okay, they wouldn't want to touch it, so, but we're saying that the women women have 30 percent more, uh, nerve, nerve endings in their nose, so they're more sensitive to things. That's what I was thinking. No, he's feeling it too, but people not doing anything they're going to think, oh, this person's crazy, they're just imagining what, typically how it starts off. But then later on, as it goes on, then the husband goes oh yeah, I'm starting to feel something also. Then we do testing and confirm it everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or now the husband's completely on board with this one. He has mold sensitivities too, so and that's that's it's just crazy.
Speaker 1:So the one that had the agent who did shady stuff with having things like taken out and then some representation, yeah, is he going to file a complaint?
Speaker 2:I think he's waiting potentially for our testing to come back okay and to see what we find, and then I think he's going to make some decisions yeah, because we.
Speaker 1:You heard the stat the other day told me 71% of all agents last 18 months did not sell a single house.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Which you got. A lot of people don't do anything in the first place, but that's a large number, so imagine someone desperate, just to get the sale down.
Speaker 2:Don't sell your soul and sell your client. You are supposed to, by law law, have a fiduciary responsibility to your client for their best interest. It was not in that man's best interest and what you did screwed him over yep, but there's always that five percent in the industry that doesn't have a soul.
Speaker 1:They don't. They don't have.
Speaker 2:I'm thinking this is sounding a little bit more than five percent lately.
Speaker 1:So just saying yep. So I think that's enough right now. I guess the message of this one is-.
Speaker 2:Do your due diligence.
Speaker 1:Do your due, and which is-.
Speaker 2:If it doesn't seem right, don't sign, Walk away from it, lose the money because everybody that we've talked to has said I wish I wouldn't have signed, I wish I would have walked.
Speaker 1:Because it was the salesperson at the new build who's pushing and threatening to find them see that they like that. No, there's something wrong.
Speaker 2:You're gonna find me for not buying your house right and at what point in time is enough enough? At what point in time does somebody from the state or the representatives not say you know what People need inspections? People need to be protected, because not all agents are doing it Correct. Now, there are some that we work with that are amazing and that would not have let their clients get into these situations, but for those that don't have them, there needs to be some protection, because this is ridiculous and we're seeing this more and more with new builds.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we have quite a few good ethical agents. Have us on their recommended list. The ones that aren't ethical, man, they we're not on it no, we're not.
Speaker 2:So if your agent doesn't have habitation investigation on your list for inspections, get a new agent all right, that's along.
Speaker 1:In the short of this, that's one.
Speaker 2:That's one thing I would recommend as a, if you're looking for a new agent, ask to see your the recommended home inspector list yeah, there's, we should do a thing um later where like what kinds of questions to ask your agent, like red flags and another thing we could do that local home inspection company and ask them to refer agents to you. We hear it all. We hear clients complain about their agents. I know who that agent was, yep.
Speaker 1:So on the other podcast Adventures of Home Buying, we can talk about some of these things.
Speaker 4:Yep.
Speaker 1:Because that one is more geared toward people buying a house, buying a house this week. This podcast here stand on how is geared toward that, but largely geared toward just sharing the stories that we have with real estate agents, buyers and maybe homeowners, people looking to maybe build a house to go, holy shit, I need to be careful, what's going on. So, all right, thank you everybody.
Speaker 4:Bye you've been listening to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast. Be sure to subscribe on Spotify or Google Podcasts to get new, fresh episodes. For more, please follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, or visit the website of the best Ohio home inspection company at homeinspectionsinohiocom or jimtroffcom. That's J-I-M-T-r-o-t-h. And click on podcast until next time. Learn and go do stuff.
