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If the son died from CM poisoning, and/or drugs, imagine how the parents feel!
If you added the CM stuff, then they would feel a ton more blame for their son's death.
Guess I'm the only one thinking he should tell. What if the parents could sue, what if they THINK the death was caused by drugs, but it was this reason? As a parent or loved one, I feel they have the right to know. Maybe there is no listed cause of death, and by telling them what you know, they can finally be at peace, knowing what caused it. If this was even a contributing cause of death, I'd want to know.
Plus, the builder should be held accountable. I'd be worried others have this same issue with their homes, and know nothing of this problem. How would you feel if you say nothing, and hear of more deaths? Better safe than sorry. At least ask a attorney.
I agree with not contacting the sellers. Did they have access to the building inspection report? If so, they have the same information that you do. Let it lie.
I do think that you have a moral obligation to share the issue that you repaired with your neighbors in case the problem exists in their homes and they don't realize it.
Are you in a neighborhood with an HOA? if so, you might want to mention it to the HOA president to pass the word along or you can mention it to your immediate neighbors and/or pass it along the neighborhood gossip to have homeowners check their hot water exhaust lines because of a problem your home inspector found & repaired. I wouldn't mention or get involved with conversations about the prior owner/death.
and I'd buy a CO detector quickly and put in sleeping areas.
The HOA is aware of it. Another neighbor of mine put in CO detectors and immediately they went off. They got the company who installed them to guarantee a 2x extension in warranty and replacement of the exhaust no questions asked if the CO detectors go off.
I let the seller's agent know what we found out and let it go from there. He said he'd share the info with the sellers if it's related to their son's death, but won't push it, and we agreed we wouldn't push it further.
I am pretty sure it was a mix of CO poisoning with drug use. I found an 2 years old newspaper article with a crime report of a "pothead" who apparently passed out from smoking too much of it and let the pizza that was in his over burn and set off the fire alarms. Medics found him sleeping while this happened. If he was using drugs and didn't know / didn't care about the exhaust issue, then it is possible he died that way.
At any rate, that's just conjecture on my part. I won't push it any further. I fixed the exhaust system a couple days after moving in and am just moving on with it. Time to fix the hydronic system! (it never ends!) Thanks all.
Don't know what state you are in, but my state requires disclosures of any deaths in the house within the last five years.
From a Feng Shui perspective, this is very bad . . . I personally would do a ritual to cleanse the house. You can PM me if interested. In Feng Shui it is considered "predecessor energy." It matters what happened in the house because the energy of trauma lingers . . .
In good conscious you are trying to inform the seller of something that they weren't aware of. It may make the difference in them feeling perhaps their Son died suspiciously...and this discovery might clear that up. Wierd that things like that slip by inspections, or anyone...and I would think an autopsy, would have caught Carbon Monoxide poisoning. I would call the folks, or stop by and let them know what you discovered. It may mean a great deal to parents whose Son was obviously the neighborhood gossip subject. It is almost impossible for a person to live down bad personal choices by some mean spirited folks. You never know, this kid may have been making great strides....it may give the parents peace rather than thinking drugs took their son.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eskercurve
On the very first day we got the keys to our house, we met the neighbors, and they all seemed fine. There was one lady who I initially wrote off as the neighborhood gossip spinster, who said that the prior tenant (the sellers' son) had died of a drug overdose.
We were going to get our locks changed anyway, so that just lit the fire under our butts to do so. We also priced in some of the initial home repairs as well... so that wasn't as big a deal.
Then it got me curious. I remembered that the exhaust for our hot water tank was totally disconnected from the exhaust pipe leading to the outside. It was PVC and the prior owner probably never realized it was disconnected or bothered with cycling the hydronic heating system (that much is obvious by how much air was in it when we did it, along with little chips that I believe to be the impeller on the pump).
The plumber who came to fix it told me that it is state code to have purple primer and yellow paste to affix the PVC to the hot water tank exhaust, and it bewildered him that it passed inspection. He said the prior owner was probably constantly sick, and there weren't any carbon monoxide detectors in the house prior to us moving in.
That got us thinking, and a quick call to the seller's agent confirmed he had died in the house, but didn't say how. A police report filed in the newspaper said a friend discovered him in the living room, but nothing more detailed.
Now, normally, state law only requires disclosure if the prior owner had been murdered.
I can only imagine how my mom would feel if she lost me or if I lost my wife. I don't have any kids yet, so I can only imagine the pain they felt and probably still feel.
On the same token however, if there's a reason why he died so young (he was 26) I'd like to know what it was if it was safety related.
How should I go about asking the sellers about this? Or should I completely butt out (that's what my gut says)? If I should butt out and mind my own business how can I rest my mind about the safety aspects? As I said, we changed the locks and fixed the hot water tank venting issue and installed carbon monoxide detectors. Any other suggestions?
On a side: if their son had died of carbon monoxide poisoning, I should probably tell them about the exhaust issue and ask if they considered suing the builder and/or the inspectors. Another reason why I feel like asking ... but it is delicate, so I'm being cautious ...
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What if the parents could sue, what if they THINK the death was caused by drugs, but it was this reason? As a parent or loved one, I feel they have the right to know. Maybe there is no listed cause of death, and by telling them what you know, they can finally be at peace, knowing what caused it. If this was even a contributing cause of death, I'd want to know.
