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Old 07-29-2009, 08:25 PM
 
520 posts, read 1,645,577 times
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Due to the rain I went in my basement to see if there was any water. Luchily there isn't. Unfortunately, when I was in my basement I noticed some puddling around my heater and noticed a strong oil smell. What seems strange to me is that my house is gas - not oil. Then it struck me. We had someone come to properly abandon the old in ground storage tank(sellers had to do as part of contract). Can this cause the leak? Could the old plumbing still be in place and push the oil back into my house/basement when they were abandoning it? What the hell do I do? Is this safe or am I going to die? It wasn't a large puddle. Maybe 5" round.

This is a little scary. I will be calling the company that did the work. Is there anyone else I should call?
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Old 07-30-2009, 12:44 AM
 
Location: Long Island
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mambwe View Post
Due to the rain I went in my basement to see if there was any water. Luchily there isn't. Unfortunately, when I was in my basement I noticed some puddling around my heater and noticed a strong oil smell. What seems strange to me is that my house is gas - not oil. Then it struck me. We had someone come to properly abandon the old in ground storage tank(sellers had to do as part of contract). Can this cause the leak? Could the old plumbing still be in place and push the oil back into my house/basement when they were abandoning it? What the hell do I do? Is this safe or am I going to die? It wasn't a large puddle. Maybe 5" round.

This is a little scary. I will be calling the company that did the work. Is there anyone else I should call?
Did you confirm that it is indeed oil?
If so, how long ago was your closing and when did they abandon the oil tank?
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Old 07-30-2009, 01:37 AM
 
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It smells and looks like oil when I cleaned it up with paper towels. We have never had this smell before. We closed on the house June 1 2009 and they came yesterday July 29th to abandon the tank.
It seem likely that these are tied together somehow.
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Old 07-30-2009, 01:56 AM
 
Location: Long Island
9,915 posts, read 23,020,357 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mambwe View Post
It smells and looks like oil when I cleaned it up with paper towels. We have never had this smell before. We closed on the house June 1 2009 and they came yesterday July 29th to abandon the tank.
It seem likely that these are tied together somehow.
Was money left in escrow to take care of the abandonment?
Since this was just done, I would contact the company that did it and ask for someone to come back and check things out and also notify the attorney, just to "go on record", in the unlikely event this turns into something more serious. it could be that when they removed a pipe (?), a little bit of oil leaked out - nothing more.
Good luck!
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Old 07-30-2009, 06:27 AM
 
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Yes, they left $100k in escrow to get this done. They didn't come inside of my house. Everything was done on the outside. Were they supposed to remove the old plumbing? All they did, I think, was fill the tank with foam and then concrete at the top. They also cut off the vent pipe and filled it with concrete.

Thank for your help.
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Old 07-30-2009, 07:29 AM
 
Location: I'm gettin' there
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Did you clean the puddle up completely ? Monitor it to see if it does not spread or more oil is not coming in.
I'm not sure how this works, but before they fill the tank with foam or tank, they are supposed to suck all the oil out, maybe a little was left and it ended up through the pipes near your boiler ?
Regardless, the company needs to come back and look at this stuff, make sure they fix it. And if it was completely the sellers responsibility then make sure the additional expense comes out of the escrow (wow $100k escrow is huge !!)
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Old 07-30-2009, 07:41 AM
 
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We we're about to walk out of the closing because they had no paperwork showing the abandonment, which is why there was $100k in escrow.

My whole house also stinks of oil since it is by my heater and I'm guessing the smell is traveling through the duct work.

Last edited by mambwe; 07-30-2009 at 07:50 AM..
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Old 07-30-2009, 08:50 AM
 
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When the tank is abandoned, the oil lines from the tank that go through the side of your foundation are left in place -- you will probably see one or two copper lines anout 3/8 inch thick coming through the foundation wall, about 2/3 way up opposite where the tank was. There is no reason to take these out and risk foundation leakage.

If the supply lines are there, I suspect that some water or oil on the bottom of the tank was forced out the supply lines when the foam expanded. You definitely should monitor the situation.
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Old 07-30-2009, 09:34 AM
 
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Couldn't they just seal up the lines that are in the basement?
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Old 07-30-2009, 09:43 AM
 
520 posts, read 1,645,577 times
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I just spoke to the company and they are sending a guy. They are assuming that the supply lines were never capped which is why the oil was leaking in the basement. It seems like the leak is under the heater so I am not sure how they will access this without moving the heater around.
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