A Sloppy Do-It-Yourself Job May Bring Lawsuit

In a litigation-conscious society, where no shortcut goes unpunished, do-it-yourselfers need to be more careful than ever about the quality of their home-improvement projects.

In the old days, you left your errors behind when you moved to your next home. Today, if the bookcase caves in and hurts somebody--even years after you’ve moved away--there is going to be a lawyer wanting to talk to you.

“Home buyers have higher expections than before because of the price of housing today,” said John Heyn, national spokesman for the American Society of Home Inspectors. “So, when something is wrong, buyers are more inclined to assert their rights--which in many cases may be a lawsuit.

“Even ‘handyman specials.’ In the old days, a handyman’s special was used to defuse buyer expectations. But now, even in those, people still expect everything to work right,” Heyn said.

Ralph Holman, senior legal counsel for the National Assn. of Realtors in Chicago, noted that “consumer liability” is still fairly limited, but “if you did a bad job on something and you know it, and sold (the house) without disclosing the defect, that’s good old-fashioned fraud.”

Specifically, “fraud by silence.”

Heyn, for 20 years a home inspector in the Baltimore area, said inspectors are legally obligated to write up obvious do-it-yourself projects when hired by potential buyers to check out a home.

“Whenever I see a do-it-yourself wiring job, I have to put in a budget to replace it,” he said. “Whenever I see a do-it-yourself plumbing job, I have to put in a budget to replace it.

“One of the worst things that stands out is an amateur roofing job. Even if it hasn’t been leaking, we have to recommend it be done over by a professional because of all the problems a do-it-yourselfer job could lead to. Nails are exposed when they shouldn’t be, the metal flashing isn’t sealed right.

“Even if the job has gotten the (current) homeowner through, we can’t recommend that it will hold up over the long term.”

That is not to say all do-it-yourself jobs are bad.

“There are many areas where do-it-yourselfers can enhance the value of a home. And even if they do a bad job, it will not detract from the value,” Heyn said.

“Putting more insulation in the attic can be done by the homeowner. And cosmetic items, like painting and wallpapering, tiling a floor, putting up wall paneling and even building a patio with blocks. Even if the do-it-yourselfer messes up, it won’t affect the structural components of the house.”

Can’t Hide Bad Jobs

Do-it-yourselfers should not think they can hide that curious wiring job inside a wall--nor should they, in terms of liability.

“You can tell when a professional electrician has done the job,” Heyn said. “Building codes require that the wiring be run behind the studs and shielded, in case someone comes along and pounds a nail into the wall to put up a picture. If the wiring isn’t shielded, it could cause a short and a fire.”

In 20 years of inspections, Heyn said, he had never seen a do-it-yourselfer shield a wiring job.

The best idea, he said, is to be up-front about do-it-yourself projects.

“Disclosure is the word in real estate today. It takes away a lot of the litigation and saves so many hours and dollars of dispute,” Heyn said.

Real estate agents are especially concerned about quality of workmanship these days because, typically, the courts view the broker as the “professional” in the deal. As such, judges increasingly are finding agents liable for the integrity of the transaction. If something is wrong, the agents should have known about it.

Said the NAR’s Holman: “We’ve gone from the days of ‘buyer beware’ to the days of ‘broker take care.’ ”