[skisickie]

I just luv Tony and Olecapt
So right and Oh so wrong
More fun than Clash of the Titans

[PinkString]

Originally Posted by eventusstultorummagister

Hey, no need to act snotty! I was just passing on information relevent to this thread's topic. Those of us who are still somewhat interested in purchasing a home in Las Vegas and refuse to buy-in to the hype or make an uninformed decision could very well benefit from the information that I post.

I am not acting snotty. But it seems you are. Now run along and go play somewhere.

[PinkString]

Originally Posted by delgadobb

At what point was the Kitek problem essentially well known enough that plumbers & builders stopped using their product? From what I've read, I'm guessing somewhere in the 2005-2007 range, as it sounds like there were still problems with some of the houses built in boom times of 2004-2005. My house was new construction in 2008 so I haven't worried about the Kitec issue, though I do have other issues with the plumbing work the builder/subs did.

I think but not sure that the problem with Kitec pipes started appearing around 2006-2007. If I recall at one of our board meetings, it was brought to our attention around the latter half of 2006. We moved into our home in january 2004.
Also, there is something regarding windows made by Atrium. They of course went into bankruptcy. I wonder how many were affected by that. Seems lots of homes have lots of problems out here.

[KiwiKate]

The Kitek problem was in Anthem from 2000 to about 2005.

[PinkString]

So it's been going on longer than I thought. I bet just about every home in the valley has that problem. Plus many more.
Next we should find out how many homes were built on expanding soil. (fault line)

[Sheryl_Jones]

Originally Posted by PinkString

So it's been going on longer than I thought. I bet just about every home in the valley has that problem. Plus many more.
Next we should find out how many homes were built on expanding soil. (fault line)

You guys are scaring me away from LV with all these problems and potentials for disaster. It's now gone from bursting pipes to expanding soil. Are there really fault lines throughout the city that are pulling areas apart? There aren't sinkhole problems swallowing up houses are there?

I knew there were fault lines but I thought they were up in the mountains and not very active, only once in a while and not major earthquake activity, just a little.

For newer homes, one would think there should be less problems than buying something older in obvious need of repair, but maybe not these days, not just in LV but online, from other parts of the country I hear about newer homes having problems too. Maybe homes aren't being well built because they're rushing through work and taking shortcuts or not checking suppliers during periods of building booms and they have to meet deadlines and quotas.

I got an email back from the HOA manager saying to ask my question and I responded asking about the lawsuit, if it's for the plumbing problem prevalent in other HOAs, but so far they went silent on me and aren't answering back. So it might be difficult getting information from them and might be glossed over if it comes to disclosures later on, if I even get accepted for what is a short-sale long wait offer. I wish sellers, agents or HOA managers could just say the truth about a particular problem and just lay it out in the open from the beginning. It's not necessarily a deal-killer but it is better knowing upfront and planning for it than having it come as a big "Surprise!" at the end.

[PinkString]

Sorry Sheryl, no sinkholes that we know of. I think those are mainly in the midwest and back east where it rains much more than here. Rain? What's that?
Sad to say, but some communities are built on expanding soil. It just gets added to the builder defects lawsuit that some communities have.

What I do know about the pipe problem, sellers are required to disclose it to potential buyers. I think they only have to do it if it isn't fixed yet. Like where I live, about 60% of the homes had the re-piping done. There are still many that never had it done. And they are usually owned by investors from out of state. Or are bank owned due to foreclosure.

I wonder if you could find out from a housing inspector about potential problems with the place you are interested in. Someone HAS to tell you. And most communities home's are being done for free by different plumbing companies. Check out plumbingexpress.com website. They explain the piping problem and I think, but not sure that they have a list of communities that they covered or will cover. Won't hurt to check it out. You can also ask questions from owners at the neighborhood you want to buy in. You may get lucky and get a chatty Cathy.

Please don't be too worried about buying out here. It's not that bad. If we can survive it all, you can too. Good luck.

[nfapps]

Originally Posted by Sheryl_Jones

You guys are scaring me away from LV with all these problems and potentials for disaster. It's now gone from bursting pipes to expanding soil. Are there really fault lines throughout the city that are pulling areas apart? There aren't sinkhole problems swallowing up houses are there?

I knew there were fault lines but I thought they were up in the mountains and not very active, only once in a while and not major earthquake activity, just a little.

For newer homes, one would think there should be less problems than buying something older in obvious need of repair, but maybe not these days, not just in LV but online, from other parts of the country I hear about newer homes having problems too. Maybe homes aren't being well built because they're rushing through work and taking shortcuts or not checking suppliers during periods of building booms and they have to meet deadlines and quotas.

I got an email back from the HOA manager saying to ask my question and I responded asking about the lawsuit, if it's for the plumbing problem prevalent in other HOAs, but so far they went silent on me and aren't answering back. So it might be difficult getting information from them and might be glossed over if it comes to disclosures later on, if I even get accepted for what is a short-sale long wait offer. I wish sellers, agents or HOA managers could just say the truth about a particular problem and just lay it out in the open from the beginning. It's not necessarily a deal-killer but it is better knowing upfront and planning for it than having it come as a big "Surprise!" at the end.

You can also call the clark county Development Services to see if any permits have been pulled for the house you're interested in, or on neighboring houses. Generally if the builder used kitec fittings, the entire neighborhood had them and all would be covered under the class action suit. Many have already been repaired, the permits would show if the repairs were done. They will not show if the house needs it, only if it's been done. The home inspector should be able to give you more of an idea.

[Sheryl_Jones]

Oh wow, what great information, from both of you! Thanks!

Yes, I wrote down the website and will check out that plumbing place in a bit, see what they have to say and their list of communities. It may be that someone like them can just do the work at no cost to me and then they deal with the reimbursement paperwork however the procedure works. So it might be that solves the matter and isn't a major issue.

The info about the county having permits on file that would show if it's been done or not is a great thing to know. I wouldn't have thought of that but I guess I just call them and they can tell me, yes/no, the work has/hasn't ever been done - and then I'd know. They might even be able to tell me the entire permit history for the house and then I'd know anything else of significance too.

It's too early in the process for disclosures as we haven't a final contract yet, but hopefully toward the end I would get the disclosure that would say yes/no, the home is affected, yes/no, the work has/hasn't been done and yes/no, there is/isn't money still available, in an ideal world. Meantime I will do this research and find out on my own.

Are there a lot of instances where houses are being pulled apart because of sitting on a fault line? Is this common or unusual to be happening - and in what areas are the worst, north, south, east or west? I would imagine it not common, but maybe it's the reason for little things like hairline cracks, things people wouldn't associate with earth movement underground.

The soils maps I saw on LV said that the areas to the southeast, from Winchester down into Boulder Highway direction tended to be alluvial and more subject to flooding because of low elevation or seismic shaking in event of earthquake - but other than seeing that I hadn't thought much about entire communities being pulled apart by fault-line drift.

I'll do more research on that now too, but I'm guessing that kind of damage happens over such a long slow period of time that I'll be dead from natural causes and old age before the faultline creep collapses my house on top of me. And if it did, then it would save anyone left over the expense of having to deal with funeral arrangements as it would bury me along with the house and that would be that. So there's a golden lining behind every storm.

[lyra33]

This is the first I've heard about this issue. I wonder if having a water softener alleviates the issue since the fittings have to do with hard water buildup? I have not seen or heard of any problems in my neighborhood.