Inspection found previous water damage - now what ?

[Leo Arta]

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of closing on a property from a reputable turnkey provider.

Home inspection has identified standing water damage to hard wood floors (which were not replaced during renovation). The damaged areas is along the walls , in the corner of one of the rooms , where there are 2 windows on each wall.   Some minor repair was performed, per the report the floor is solid and there is no mold found in the house...  The damage was visible as cosmetically the repair is not blended in to the rest of the floors.

What assurance should I ask from the seller to ensure that the root cause of the standing water damage is taken care of ?

Any suggestion/guidance is appreciated...

Thank you

[Caroline C.]

Definitely reason to pause, but if the inspection says there is no mold and that the floor and walls/ceiling are dry (this is important that the walls/ceiling are dry), then it may very well be an old problem.  Is there some sort of indication that the windows are new or that the flashing around the windows is new? 

But given that the old damage to the floor is still visible (is it minor, or it is bad/obvious?), that is a bad sign - a real turn-key renovation would have addressed it by at least sanding or refinishing the floors.  

Also, any good turnkey provider will address any issues found in the inspection, so ask them to fix it.  For the turnkeys I've purchased, the provider always fixed things that surfaced in the inspection with very little argument.

Keep in mind also that inspections will turn up many things and sometimes make them sound worse than they are. Do you have photos of the water damage on the floor? Perhaps it is minor or a limited spot, and no big deal? But if it is obvious, then TK provider must fix it before you close.