Hello... I bought a home 2 years ago in Minnesota the owner now lives in Wisconsin... when we moved into the house we started having problem with coming through the ceiling in the kitchen... we had a plumber come to fix something else and he said it must be coming from the shower... but there was so much styrofoam, boards shoved above that he could not tell... there are two bathrooms on the second floor and it was not until my father inlaw moved in with us that the 2nd bathroom was getting used daily... then we started having huge down pours of water coming through the down kitchens ceiling... I had to get a plumber out there and he pulled all the boards and styro foam out and just started laughing... he said that someone had tried to camouflage the problem with the boards and styro foam and that the one show did not even have a sub floor and advised us no to us it at all... then he went up and measured the shower and said that the shower stall size was to small /not up to code to even replace it. The problem is we bought the house 2 years ago... we have a disclose sheet from them that does not say anything about the shower.. we also had an inspector who did not catch it because it was hidden... we contacted the real estate agent and she told us the sellers did not sign of on arbitration and said we would probably have to take them to court.. but it would probably have to be in there state... help!! Thanks RHonda

Sorry but there isn't much help to give. Your real estate agent told you pretty much the way it is, you must sue the seller. You will also need to PROVE he was aware of the shoddy work. Maybe he'll say it was a prior owner or unscrupulous repair man. This is very, very difficult to PROVE.

How bad is the damage now?

Who did the home inspectin before your contract was written?

Building code is building code. If the "modifications" were atrocified (word?) after the build, there's still a paper trail: what was repaired and by whom...

I hate to say it but a legal representative may be in order. Sorting this out will take some time. If you don't have the time, you'll need help.

Howerver, MilMan is on it... What will it take to fix it properly? Would it be less hassle and less money (out of pocket for you) to just bite the proverbial bullet and be done with it..