August 16, 2025 • 22 mins
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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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey everybody, welcome to Standing Out on how
Podcast.
This is Jim and, of course,laura the office.
Goddess is with me.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello everyone All right, so Laura.
Jim.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
You've been on the phone quite a bit with
homeowners.
Yes, right, a lot, a lot.
It's really has jumped up a lotin the last couple of years,
but I'm noticing a lot this.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
This summer.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yeah, the summer overall that you are getting
phone calls from homeownershaving issues.
So what were some of the liketwo, like one or two stories
from this week that you weregetting and that people needed
help with?
And actually the thing fromlast week also I don't know if
we talked about that the H, thehvac system no, I don't think
(00:47):
we've talked about that oneeither.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
We've got a bunch of stories.
I've got several at this point.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yeah, what once you give?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
let's try and say under 10 minutes or so because,
then but so go ahead and give astory 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 theirhouse because I think they
bought the house and hvac.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
They had no air conditioning for the house right
like we did man, for many yearswe 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 (01:23):
You know all proud of themselves because they'd saved
up the money.
They got a new system installedand then all hell broke loose.
It wasn't installed right.
The system had been recalledlast year because of the issues
with it and how it was installed, so what?
(01:44):
The chemical, wait, wait, waitAll all right, so let's back up
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
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, Ithink the expansion coils on
the inside was something to dowith the wiring.
The wiring instruction from themanufacturer was wrong right so
what that happened?
It would result in fires rightoverheating, which could then
result in fire, but I apparentlyhad some fire there.
(02:10):
That was wrong.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
It was recalled, but this hvac company still put it
in and not only did they put itin, they used a cleaning agent
for a line that already hadleaks in it and didn't listen to
them and didn't pressure testit.
So they put this cleaning stuffin and then they just put the
(02:33):
refrigerant in.
They didn't clean out thecleaner like you're supposed to
do nitrogen after that, so thatthere's nothing that reacts to
anything.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
So they didn't do that yeah, because there are
strict like requirements thatwhen you put refrigerant and you
need to, you don you don't justrelease that into the
atmosphere.
You're supposed to recapturethat and then clean the system
out with nitrogen, which is, Ithink, a noble gas, so it's
non-reactive.
So you use that to make sureyou've gotten rid of everything
(03:00):
else in there before you put theactual refrigerant or maybe a
cleaner inside there everythingelse in there before you put the
actual refrigerant, or maybe acleaner, inside there.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So, given the fact, that they didn't.
The equipment had a failure andhad overheated and so basically
, what the overheating did tothe chemicals is it caused a
form of mustard gas that wasused in world war ii as chemical
warfare.
So not did that happen, buttheir animals are still sick.
(03:29):
Their kids are having abnormalEKGs, she's having chest pains,
he's not doing well and thepeople that put it in are not
accepting responsibility for itat all.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
So I know some of these right now go mustard gas
bullshit.
There's no way that thathappened, but we looked it up.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And it does.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
The chemical that they use to clean this, which I
don't know what the chemicalstructure is it's RX-11.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
That's the cleaner.
That's the cleaner.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
And then the Refrigerant is a newer one.
There's not much, was it?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
R32?
R32.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
They mixed that, but those things are not supposed to
be mixed together.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
And when the mix combines and it's superheated it
can make like a hydrochloricacid, I believe, which was like
part of like what the mustardgas was yeah, yep so, and just
chlorine gas itself is notpretty healthy but all this
stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
So apparently they called complaining the hvac
coming.
They come back out and theysuck out the line they sucked
out the lines and there was notmuch at all in there so it
already escaped into the house,apparently, which obviously
because the kids were sick, petsick, and then the husband and
wife were ill as well so not agood situation.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
We did a really comprehensive voc test for them.
In addition, I sent, nobodyelse would come nobody else
would come out, nobody elsewould talk to them, nobody else
would help them.
It is so sad when somebodybreaks down crying because I'm
just being myself and being nice, because nobody was nice to
them like I.
I don't.
(05:18):
I don't understand why I don't.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
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'ssympathetic.
That sucks.
There's nothing we can do aboutit, but according to to her
people were mean.
They didn't want to getinvolved with it.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
So there's that one.
We're waiting for the testresults back, so what?
Speaker 1 (05:41):
we did.
We were the only company inOhio that had the ability to do
the stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
It sounds like it sounds like from what they had
done.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Go up there.
We suited up, we hadrespirators and we don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
So we smelled nothing when we went in because we were
suited up and we hadrespirators on like full face
everything.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
And gloves, and all that Because we don't know what
was in the air still.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
No, and I tend to be chemically sensitive myself, so
my going in and not suiting upwould have been bad so we went
in there, did voc testing sothat sample is.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Those samples are now in the lab.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
They should be done about the 25th, takes them 10
days to analyze this, and what Ialso did was I printed off the
manufacturer's data sheets forthe two compounds and then I
sent the interpretation of whatcould happen and the chemical
compounds that could be releasedif they were heated together to
the lab.
So the lab is now looking forall of those compounds.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
And one of those compounds was what was also
known as mustard gas.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Or a similar compound to it.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, yeah, because the kids were having, like heart
arrhythmias yeah, likeelectrical differences in their
heart and we and doing theresearch that we did.
Yeah, one of the chemicals thatis released or may be produced
that it will mess up theelectrolytes in your system,
which can result in heartproblems.
(07:10):
So it it's not looking good forthe HVAC company.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Or the manufacturer.
I don't understand why youwould do a recall and then not
make sure that all of your stuffwas destroyed.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, I'm not certain how recalls?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I don't understand how that works.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
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 notknow who has those.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Right.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
So I don't know if this is a similar thing.
The manufacturer has no ideawhere these are at, but they
should know.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
I'm like hey, you bought this.
You should know who bought,like, what companies purchased
that for installation?
There should be a chain ofcommand for that.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
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 thosein in the first place.
So they would only be going toprofessional companies to put
those in.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
So that's that one.
We can come back to that onewhen we get the results back and
kind of yeah, we should do anupdate.
We should do an update on thatone, because we've got two other
ones to talk about reallyquickly okay, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
So we're not relating to the 10 minutes.
Okay, there's no video on thisokay.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
So got a call from a gentleman who had just purchased
a house, has only been in ittwo weeks and when I spoke with
him his voice was very scratchyand and scruffy and obviously
there was something going onlike I could tell because like I
had allergies and I've had thathe called yesterday, was that
yesterday?
No, it was a couple days acouple days ago.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
okay, but he only lived the house two weeks.
He's only been in the house twoweeks, okay, I did not know
that part.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
So yeah, so his problem is that it was like a
comedy of errors and his realestate agent really did him
wrong.
But not funny, no, it washorrible.
He was forced into buying thehouse.
The sellers had taken outseveral components that weren't
(09:13):
listed on the contract, likethey were listed as they were
staying with the house.
So, like a ten thousand dollarfiltration system got taken and
he wasn't going to sign thepaperwork.
And so they were like, well,here we'll give you three grand
for it.
And he didn't realize howexpensive that filtration system
was and they forced they likebasically forced this guy to
sign.
(09:33):
Is what is how he felt, is whathe told me.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
So his agent didn't try to like stand up for him
Like.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
No, the agent was forcing him to sign the
paperwork.
And then the agent.
There was some other thingwhere, where he was filling out
a contract and like she said, oh, you need to check this off,
Like it was basically absolvinghim of getting like
representation or I can'tremember what it was.
But an agent that he talked toafter the fact said that should
(10:00):
have been a red flag, you shouldhave just walked.
So this agent was literallyonly in this for the money.
She didn't care about this guy.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
She didn't care.
Was she the listing agent?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
No, she was his agent .
She was the buyer's agent andshe did not care about him at
all.
She knew full well he hadsevere mold allergies and that
he had to have a place thatdidn't have issues.
So they did some kind of a testand something came back and he
went to try to push for it, butthey only had a three-day window
(10:30):
, because the agent once againonly gave him a three-day window
.
For inspections For inspectionsand it went downhill from there.
So probably what we're going toend up doing is going out and
doing I think we're going outMonday or Tuesday for him, as I
recall, and we're going to go dosome testing and figure out
(10:52):
some stuff for him.
I think you're doing like amoisture inspection to see
what's going on and what'scoming in.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Oh, I did see that the other day.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I think that's for him.
So that's the second guy.
We can update on him too.
Once we get test results backand do that inspection, then the
next one.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Habitation investigation is the way to go
for a home inspection in Ohio.
Trusted licensed homeinspectors for your needs.
From radon to mold towarranties For a great home
inspection, you really can't gowrong.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Visit HomeInspectionsInOhiocom.
I got a call yesterday from awoman and this is again a brand
new house.
They moved in in December.
They were forced to move inDecember.
They were forced to move in andwere told that they would start
(11:57):
to be getting fined if theydidn't sign the paperwork, in
spite of the fact that they hadconcerns about stuff.
And once again, they got forced.
Brand new build mold issues andit just goes downhill from there
Because, at this point, whatended up happening?
So let's see what all were wetalking about.
So they have severe moldallergies, both she and her
(12:18):
husband.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Oh wait, I know that this is the moisture coming in
somewhere.
Wet floor.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yeah, this is the one .
This is going to be a hugeongoing issue and this could
have some repercussionsthroughout the state.
Based on what happens here, Igenuinely believe that.
So the builder built onfarmland.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Okay, so it was.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
So the house was built on farmland.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Which is not necessarily wrong.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
bad because there's a lot of Well however, keep in
mind that with farmland comespesticides and fertilizers and
all that stuff.
To compound the issue, theythink they were built on top of
an aquifer, so their house haddirt brought in and it was
raised up so that the aquiferwouldn't come up and hit them.
(13:18):
But with all of the water thatwe've had and all of the rain
we've had the past couple ofmonths, it has come up high
enough that it's come into theirhouse.
So, like their carpet is wet,the baseboards are wet, the
walls are wet and it's leavinglike a white powdery residue all
(13:39):
throughout the house.
And who knows what that is, andwho knows?
And they're telling me that ifthey go into the house and they
have any bare skin, their skinactually starts burning.
So God only knows what's inthat.
That sounds like some nastypesticides, and I did do a
search and there are pesticidesthat can leave a white residue.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
So all right.
So that's what we're going tobe probably testing next week.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
We're probably going to be testing next week.
I'm still consulting with thelab, trying to make sure that we
got all of the tests that weneed to do for them, because I'm
sure that at some point this isgoing to go to court.
They want that builder to buythe house back so that they can
walk.
As it is, they've walked out ofthat house and they're actually
(14:25):
renting.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
So for the builder, their best we're not going to
give the builder's name, buttheir 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 andthen tear it down probably tear
it down, turn that little areato a park, maybe, or a pond I'd
say who knows.
But I know, yeah, if that was aswampy, low-lying area for like
(14:50):
decades and decades for farmland, you're gonna have a lot of
chemicals just kind of justnaturally running that, run off
toward that section and settling.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
And it's going to absorb into the soil and then
it's going to be released backinto that water and the house
was on a slab.
It was on a slab.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I'm also curious if the ductwork is getting filled
up with water.
Oh yeah, so we'll see if theductwork goes to the floor or up
through the ceiling.
Who knows how that?
Speaker 2 (15:20):
how they did that one ?
We don't know.
We don't know yet.
We'll find out.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
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, andthey apparently sound like they
asked what, what was the landused before and all, and they
got like three different answersyeah so you're getting
different answers for the samequestions there's a problem
something shady.
I can see where somebody go.
All right, they didn't get it.
(15:44):
Let me rephrase it a differentway, but the answer should
substantially same.
Yes, farmland is farmland yougot, cattle farms you got pig
farms.
You, you got pig farms you gotcorn.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, but if you.
But that's not what they said.
They were like farmlandswampland, and I can't remember
what.
The third one was that they hadgotten told which you know
either way.
That's ridiculous that youcan't go back and figure that
out.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Well, if you had a pig farm and you had a wet area
for the pigs, that's a mess toclean up.
I'm not a pig shit expert,You're rather a pig shit than
pesticides.
But I've heard of people theyfall into the pit where they put
(16:40):
the pig manure.
Okay, okay, they die.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
What.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Because it produces methane.
Well, yeah, and methanedisplaces all the oxygen in
there, so you suffocate, eventhough you're not drowning in it
.
You suffocate because there'sno oxygen for you.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
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 phonecalls and, and once again this
couple, nobody would help them.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Like, like what and here's part of the issue is is
was it the woman that called youtypically?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
no, the guy was calling too like her husband.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Her husband was with her when we spoke last night
over a long time.
It's like 80 of the women arecalling you right she did reach
out to me.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
However, he had called others too like to try to
get like he said, I've sentemails, I've called, I've done
this, I've done that and theyeither only dealt with
commercial, or they heard it wasa new build and wouldn't touch
it, or they heard there was thepotential for litigation and
wouldn't touch it.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
okay, they wouldn't want to touch it, so, but we're
saying that the women women have30 percent more, uh, nerve,
nerve endings in their nose, sothey're more sensitive to things
.
That's what I was thinking.
No, he's feeling it too, butpeople not doing anything
they're going to think, oh, thisperson's crazy, they're just
(18:12):
imagining what, typically how itstarts off.
But then later on, as it goeson, then the husband goes oh
yeah, I'm starting to feelsomething also.
Then we do testing and confirmit everything.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
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 (18:34):
So the one that had the agent who did shady stuff
with having things like takenout and then some representation
, yeah, is he going to file acomplaint?
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I think he's waiting potentially for our testing to
come back okay and to see whatwe find, and then I think he's
going to make some decisionsyeah, because we.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
You heard the stat the other day told me 71% of all
agents last 18 months did notsell a single house.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Which you got.
A lot of people don't doanything in the first place, but
that's a large number, soimagine someone desperate, just
to get the sale down.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Don't sell your soul and sell your client.
You are supposed to, by law law, have a fiduciary
responsibility to your clientfor their best interest.
It was not in that man's bestinterest and what you did
screwed him over yep, butthere's always that five percent
in the industry that doesn'thave a soul.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
They don't.
They don't have.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I'm thinking this is sounding a little bit more than
five percent lately.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
So just saying yep.
So I think that's enough rightnow.
I guess the message of this oneis-.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Do your due diligence .
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Do your due, and which is-.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
If it doesn't seem right, don't sign, Walk away
from it, lose the money becauseeverybody that we've talked to
has said I wish I wouldn't havesigned, I wish I would have
walked.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Because it was the salesperson at the new build
who's pushing and threatening tofind them see that they like
that.
No, there's something wrong.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
You're gonna find me for not buying your house right
and at what point in time isenough enough?
At what point in time doessomebody from the state or the
representatives not say you knowwhat People need inspections?
People need to be protected,because not all agents are doing
it Correct.
Now, there are some that wework with that are amazing and
(20:29):
that would not have let theirclients get into these
situations, but for those thatdon't have them, there needs to
be some protection, because thisis ridiculous and we're seeing
this more and more with newbuilds.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Yeah, we have quite a few good ethical agents.
Have us on their recommendedlist.
The ones that aren't ethical,man, they we're not on it no,
we're not.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
So if your agent doesn't have habitation
investigation on your list forinspections, get a new agent all
right, that's along.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
In the short of this, that's one.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
That's one thing I would recommend as a, if you're
looking for a new agent, ask tosee your the recommended home
inspector list yeah, there's, weshould do a thing um later
where like what kinds ofquestions to ask your agent,
like red flags and another thingwe could do that local home
inspection company and ask themto refer agents to you.
(21:20):
We hear it all.
We hear clients complain abouttheir agents.
I know who that agent was, yep.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
So on the other podcast Adventures of Home
Buying, we can talk about someof these things.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Because that one is more geared toward people buying
a house, buying a house thisweek.
This podcast here stand on howis geared toward that, but
largely geared toward justsharing the stories that we have
with real estate agents, buyersand maybe homeowners, people
looking to maybe build a houseto go, holy shit, I need to be
careful, what's going on.
(21:52):
So, all right, thank youeverybody.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Bye you've been listening to the Standing Out in
Ohio podcast.
Be sure to subscribe on Spotifyor Google Podcasts to get new,
fresh episodes.
For more, please follow us onInstagram, Twitter and Facebook,
or visit the website of thebest Ohio home inspection
company athomeinspectionsinohiocom or
(22:17):
jimtroffcom.
That's J-I-M-T-r-o-t-h.
And click on podcast until nexttime.
Learn and go do stuff.
Hey everybody, welcome to Standing Out on how
Podcast.
This is Jim and, of course,laura the office.
Goddess is with me.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello everyone All right, so Laura.
Jim.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
You've been on the phone quite a bit with
homeowners.
Yes, right, a lot, a lot.
It's really has jumped up a lotin the last couple of years,
but I'm noticing a lot this.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
This summer.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Yeah, the summer overall that you are getting
phone calls from homeownershaving issues.
So what were some of the liketwo, like one or two stories
from this week that you weregetting and that people needed
help with?
And actually the thing fromlast week also I don't know if
we talked about that the H, thehvac system no, I don't think
(00:47):
we've talked about that oneeither.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
We've got a bunch of stories.
I've got several at this point.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yeah, what once you give?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
let's try and say under 10 minutes or so because,
then but so go ahead and give astory 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 theirhouse because I think they
bought the house and hvac.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
They had no air conditioning for the house right
like we did man, for many yearswe 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 (01:23):
You know all proud of themselves because they'd saved
up the money.
They got a new system installedand then all hell broke loose.
It wasn't installed right.
The system had been recalledlast year because of the issues
with it and how it was installed, so what?
(01:44):
The chemical, wait, wait, waitAll all right, so let's back up
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
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, Ithink the expansion coils on
the inside was something to dowith the wiring.
The wiring instruction from themanufacturer was wrong right so
what that happened?
It would result in fires rightoverheating, which could then
result in fire, but I apparentlyhad some fire there.
(02:10):
That was wrong.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
It was recalled, but this hvac company still put it
in and not only did they put itin, they used a cleaning agent
for a line that already hadleaks in it and didn't listen to
them and didn't pressure testit.
So they put this cleaning stuffin and then they just put the
(02:33):
refrigerant in.
They didn't clean out thecleaner like you're supposed to
do nitrogen after that, so thatthere's nothing that reacts to
anything.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
So they didn't do that yeah, because there are
strict like requirements thatwhen you put refrigerant and you
need to, you don you don't justrelease that into the
atmosphere.
You're supposed to recapturethat and then clean the system
out with nitrogen, which is, Ithink, a noble gas, so it's
non-reactive.
So you use that to make sureyou've gotten rid of everything
(03:00):
else in there before you put theactual refrigerant or maybe a
cleaner inside there everythingelse in there before you put the
actual refrigerant, or maybe acleaner, inside there.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So, given the fact, that they didn't.
The equipment had a failure andhad overheated and so basically
, what the overheating did tothe chemicals is it caused a
form of mustard gas that wasused in world war ii as chemical
warfare.
So not did that happen, buttheir animals are still sick.
(03:29):
Their kids are having abnormalEKGs, she's having chest pains,
he's not doing well and thepeople that put it in are not
accepting responsibility for itat all.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
So I know some of these right now go mustard gas
bullshit.
There's no way that thathappened, but we looked it up.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
And it does.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
The chemical that they use to clean this, which I
don't know what the chemicalstructure is it's RX-11.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
That's the cleaner.
That's the cleaner.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
And then the Refrigerant is a newer one.
There's not much, was it?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
R32?
R32.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
They mixed that, but those things are not supposed to
be mixed together.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
And when the mix combines and it's superheated it
can make like a hydrochloricacid, I believe, which was like
part of like what the mustardgas was yeah, yep so, and just
chlorine gas itself is notpretty healthy but all this
stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
So apparently they called complaining the hvac
coming.
They come back out and theysuck out the line they sucked
out the lines and there was notmuch at all in there so it
already escaped into the house,apparently, which obviously
because the kids were sick, petsick, and then the husband and
wife were ill as well so not agood situation.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
We did a really comprehensive voc test for them.
In addition, I sent, nobodyelse would come nobody else
would come out, nobody elsewould talk to them, nobody else
would help them.
It is so sad when somebodybreaks down crying because I'm
just being myself and being nice, because nobody was nice to
them like I.
I don't.
(05:18):
I don't understand why I don't.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
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'ssympathetic.
That sucks.
There's nothing we can do aboutit, but according to to her
people were mean.
They didn't want to getinvolved with it.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
So there's that one.
We're waiting for the testresults back, so what?
Speaker 1 (05:41):
we did.
We were the only company inOhio that had the ability to do
the stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
It sounds like it sounds like from what they had
done.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Go up there.
We suited up, we hadrespirators and we don't know.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
So we smelled nothing when we went in because we were
suited up and we hadrespirators on like full face
everything.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
And gloves, and all that Because we don't know what
was in the air still.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
No, and I tend to be chemically sensitive myself, so
my going in and not suiting upwould have been bad so we went
in there, did voc testing sothat sample is.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Those samples are now in the lab.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
They should be done about the 25th, takes them 10
days to analyze this, and what Ialso did was I printed off the
manufacturer's data sheets forthe two compounds and then I
sent the interpretation of whatcould happen and the chemical
compounds that could be releasedif they were heated together to
the lab.
So the lab is now looking forall of those compounds.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
And one of those compounds was what was also
known as mustard gas.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Or a similar compound to it.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Yeah, yeah, because the kids were having, like heart
arrhythmias yeah, likeelectrical differences in their
heart and we and doing theresearch that we did.
Yeah, one of the chemicals thatis released or may be produced
that it will mess up theelectrolytes in your system,
which can result in heartproblems.
(07:10):
So it it's not looking good forthe HVAC company.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Or the manufacturer.
I don't understand why youwould do a recall and then not
make sure that all of your stuffwas destroyed.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, I'm not certain how recalls?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I don't understand how that works.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
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 notknow who has those.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Right.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
So I don't know if this is a similar thing.
The manufacturer has no ideawhere these are at, but they
should know.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
I'm like hey, you bought this.
You should know who bought,like, what companies purchased
that for installation?
There should be a chain ofcommand for that.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
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 thosein in the first place.
So they would only be going toprofessional companies to put
those in.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
So that's that one.
We can come back to that onewhen we get the results back and
kind of yeah, we should do anupdate.
We should do an update on thatone, because we've got two other
ones to talk about reallyquickly okay, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
So we're not relating to the 10 minutes.
Okay, there's no video on thisokay.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
So got a call from a gentleman who had just purchased
a house, has only been in ittwo weeks and when I spoke with
him his voice was very scratchyand and scruffy and obviously
there was something going onlike I could tell because like I
had allergies and I've had thathe called yesterday, was that
yesterday?
No, it was a couple days acouple days ago.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
okay, but he only lived the house two weeks.
He's only been in the house twoweeks, okay, I did not know
that part.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
So yeah, so his problem is that it was like a
comedy of errors and his realestate agent really did him
wrong.
But not funny, no, it washorrible.
He was forced into buying thehouse.
The sellers had taken outseveral components that weren't
(09:13):
listed on the contract, likethey were listed as they were
staying with the house.
So, like a ten thousand dollarfiltration system got taken and
he wasn't going to sign thepaperwork.
And so they were like, well,here we'll give you three grand
for it.
And he didn't realize howexpensive that filtration system
was and they forced they likebasically forced this guy to
sign.
(09:33):
Is what is how he felt, is whathe told me.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
So his agent didn't try to like stand up for him
Like.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
No, the agent was forcing him to sign the
paperwork.
And then the agent.
There was some other thingwhere, where he was filling out
a contract and like she said, oh, you need to check this off,
Like it was basically absolvinghim of getting like
representation or I can'tremember what it was.
But an agent that he talked toafter the fact said that should
(10:00):
have been a red flag, you shouldhave just walked.
So this agent was literallyonly in this for the money.
She didn't care about this guy.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
She didn't care.
Was she the listing agent?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
No, she was his agent .
She was the buyer's agent andshe did not care about him at
all.
She knew full well he hadsevere mold allergies and that
he had to have a place thatdidn't have issues.
So they did some kind of a testand something came back and he
went to try to push for it, butthey only had a three-day window
(10:30):
, because the agent once againonly gave him a three-day window
.
For inspections For inspectionsand it went downhill from there.
So probably what we're going toend up doing is going out and
doing I think we're going outMonday or Tuesday for him, as I
recall, and we're going to go dosome testing and figure out
(10:52):
some stuff for him.
I think you're doing like amoisture inspection to see
what's going on and what'scoming in.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Oh, I did see that the other day.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
I think that's for him.
So that's the second guy.
We can update on him too.
Once we get test results backand do that inspection, then the
next one.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Habitation investigation is the way to go
for a home inspection in Ohio.
Trusted licensed homeinspectors for your needs.
From radon to mold towarranties For a great home
inspection, you really can't gowrong.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Visit HomeInspectionsInOhiocom.
I got a call yesterday from awoman and this is again a brand
new house.
They moved in in December.
They were forced to move inDecember.
They were forced to move in andwere told that they would start
(11:57):
to be getting fined if theydidn't sign the paperwork, in
spite of the fact that they hadconcerns about stuff.
And once again, they got forced.
Brand new build mold issues andit just goes downhill from there
Because, at this point, whatended up happening?
So let's see what all were wetalking about.
So they have severe moldallergies, both she and her
(12:18):
husband.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Oh wait, I know that this is the moisture coming in
somewhere.
Wet floor.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Yeah, this is the one .
This is going to be a hugeongoing issue and this could
have some repercussionsthroughout the state.
Based on what happens here, Igenuinely believe that.
So the builder built onfarmland.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Okay, so it was.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
So the house was built on farmland.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Which is not necessarily wrong.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
bad because there's a lot of Well however, keep in
mind that with farmland comespesticides and fertilizers and
all that stuff.
To compound the issue, theythink they were built on top of
an aquifer, so their house haddirt brought in and it was
raised up so that the aquiferwouldn't come up and hit them.
(13:18):
But with all of the water thatwe've had and all of the rain
we've had the past couple ofmonths, it has come up high
enough that it's come into theirhouse.
So, like their carpet is wet,the baseboards are wet, the
walls are wet and it's leavinglike a white powdery residue all
(13:39):
throughout the house.
And who knows what that is, andwho knows?
And they're telling me that ifthey go into the house and they
have any bare skin, their skinactually starts burning.
So God only knows what's inthat.
That sounds like some nastypesticides, and I did do a
search and there are pesticidesthat can leave a white residue.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
So all right.
So that's what we're going tobe probably testing next week.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
We're probably going to be testing next week.
I'm still consulting with thelab, trying to make sure that we
got all of the tests that weneed to do for them, because I'm
sure that at some point this isgoing to go to court.
They want that builder to buythe house back so that they can
walk.
As it is, they've walked out ofthat house and they're actually
(14:25):
renting.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
So for the builder, their best we're not going to
give the builder's name, buttheir 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 andthen tear it down probably tear
it down, turn that little areato a park, maybe, or a pond I'd
say who knows.
But I know, yeah, if that was aswampy, low-lying area for like
(14:50):
decades and decades for farmland, you're gonna have a lot of
chemicals just kind of justnaturally running that, run off
toward that section and settling.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
And it's going to absorb into the soil and then
it's going to be released backinto that water and the house
was on a slab.
It was on a slab.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I'm also curious if the ductwork is getting filled
up with water.
Oh yeah, so we'll see if theductwork goes to the floor or up
through the ceiling.
Who knows how that?
Speaker 2 (15:20):
how they did that one ?
We don't know.
We don't know yet.
We'll find out.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
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, andthey apparently sound like they
asked what, what was the landused before and all, and they
got like three different answersyeah so you're getting
different answers for the samequestions there's a problem
something shady.
I can see where somebody go.
All right, they didn't get it.
(15:44):
Let me rephrase it a differentway, but the answer should
substantially same.
Yes, farmland is farmland yougot, cattle farms you got pig
farms.
You, you got pig farms you gotcorn.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, but if you.
But that's not what they said.
They were like farmlandswampland, and I can't remember
what.
The third one was that they hadgotten told which you know
either way.
That's ridiculous that youcan't go back and figure that
out.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Well, if you had a pig farm and you had a wet area
for the pigs, that's a mess toclean up.
I'm not a pig shit expert,You're rather a pig shit than
pesticides.
But I've heard of people theyfall into the pit where they put
(16:40):
the pig manure.
Okay, okay, they die.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
What.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Because it produces methane.
Well, yeah, and methanedisplaces all the oxygen in
there, so you suffocate, eventhough you're not drowning in it
.
You suffocate because there'sno oxygen for you.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
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 phonecalls and, and once again this
couple, nobody would help them.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Like, like what and here's part of the issue is is
was it the woman that called youtypically?
Speaker 2 (17:21):
no, the guy was calling too like her husband.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Her husband was with her when we spoke last night
over a long time.
It's like 80 of the women arecalling you right she did reach
out to me.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
However, he had called others too like to try to
get like he said, I've sentemails, I've called, I've done
this, I've done that and theyeither only dealt with
commercial, or they heard it wasa new build and wouldn't touch
it, or they heard there was thepotential for litigation and
wouldn't touch it.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
okay, they wouldn't want to touch it, so, but we're
saying that the women women have30 percent more, uh, nerve,
nerve endings in their nose, sothey're more sensitive to things
.
That's what I was thinking.
No, he's feeling it too, butpeople not doing anything
they're going to think, oh, thisperson's crazy, they're just
(18:12):
imagining what, typically how itstarts off.
But then later on, as it goeson, then the husband goes oh
yeah, I'm starting to feelsomething also.
Then we do testing and confirmit everything.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
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 (18:34):
So the one that had the agent who did shady stuff
with having things like takenout and then some representation
, yeah, is he going to file acomplaint?
Speaker 2 (18:46):
I think he's waiting potentially for our testing to
come back okay and to see whatwe find, and then I think he's
going to make some decisionsyeah, because we.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
You heard the stat the other day told me 71% of all
agents last 18 months did notsell a single house.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Right.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Which you got.
A lot of people don't doanything in the first place, but
that's a large number, soimagine someone desperate, just
to get the sale down.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Don't sell your soul and sell your client.
You are supposed to, by law law, have a fiduciary
responsibility to your clientfor their best interest.
It was not in that man's bestinterest and what you did
screwed him over yep, butthere's always that five percent
in the industry that doesn'thave a soul.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
They don't.
They don't have.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
I'm thinking this is sounding a little bit more than
five percent lately.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
So just saying yep.
So I think that's enough rightnow.
I guess the message of this oneis-.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Do your due diligence .
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Do your due, and which is-.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
If it doesn't seem right, don't sign, Walk away
from it, lose the money becauseeverybody that we've talked to
has said I wish I wouldn't havesigned, I wish I would have
walked.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Because it was the salesperson at the new build
who's pushing and threatening tofind them see that they like
that.
No, there's something wrong.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
You're gonna find me for not buying your house right
and at what point in time isenough enough?
At what point in time doessomebody from the state or the
representatives not say you knowwhat People need inspections?
People need to be protected,because not all agents are doing
it Correct.
Now, there are some that wework with that are amazing and
(20:29):
that would not have let theirclients get into these
situations, but for those thatdon't have them, there needs to
be some protection, because thisis ridiculous and we're seeing
this more and more with newbuilds.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Yeah, we have quite a few good ethical agents.
Have us on their recommendedlist.
The ones that aren't ethical,man, they we're not on it no,
we're not.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
So if your agent doesn't have habitation
investigation on your list forinspections, get a new agent all
right, that's along.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
In the short of this, that's one.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
That's one thing I would recommend as a, if you're
looking for a new agent, ask tosee your the recommended home
inspector list yeah, there's, weshould do a thing um later
where like what kinds ofquestions to ask your agent,
like red flags and another thingwe could do that local home
inspection company and ask themto refer agents to you.
(21:20):
We hear it all.
We hear clients complain abouttheir agents.
I know who that agent was, yep.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
So on the other podcast Adventures of Home
Buying, we can talk about someof these things.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Because that one is more geared toward people buying
a house, buying a house thisweek.
This podcast here stand on howis geared toward that, but
largely geared toward justsharing the stories that we have
with real estate agents, buyersand maybe homeowners, people
looking to maybe build a houseto go, holy shit, I need to be
careful, what's going on.
(21:52):
So, all right, thank youeverybody.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Bye you've been listening to the Standing Out in
Ohio podcast.
Be sure to subscribe on Spotifyor Google Podcasts to get new,
fresh episodes.
For more, please follow us onInstagram, Twitter and Facebook,
or visit the website of thebest Ohio home inspection
company athomeinspectionsinohiocom or
(22:17):
jimtroffcom.
That's J-I-M-T-r-o-t-h.
And click on podcast until nexttime.
Learn and go do stuff.
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