The City Is Forcing Me to Tear Down My Duplex

TLDR

The city condemned a rented duplex after water got under it. I fixed the water and the frame, but the legal fight was still open when I made the video.

Table of Contents

• The Condemnation Notice
• The Three-Step Repair
• The Drywall Risk
• What the Engineer Did
• The Main Lesson
• FAQ

The Condemnation Notice

The city condemned this duplex while it was fully rented. In 15 years of real estate, I had never had a fight like this. The notice said the home had frame damage and was not fit to live in.

This was still a live legal fight when I made the video. My lawyer might have asked me to take it down. I might still have had to tear down the house. I said it was not over yet.

The city had not seen the inside before the notice. It had seen the outside. The home looked sound from the curb. Yet there was a real water issue under the home.

The lot sat at a low point in the neighborhood. Hard rain sent water toward the house. Water also came up from a storm drain in the street. It got under the home, and the floor frame sank.

The water issue was real. The fight was about what had to happen next.

The Three-Step Repair

I asked the city what it wanted. It asked for a letter from an engineer. The repair then had three parts.

Water came first. We brought in dirt so rain ran away from the house. But the new dirt blocked the crawl space vents. That could trap damp air under the home.

We added powered vents. We also opened parts of the floor. The crew worked by hand because no machine could fit below the house. They graded the soil, laid down plastic, added rock, and put in sump pumps. The pumps sent water to the back of the home.

The engineer signed off on that part. We had stopped the water. Then we moved to the frame.

Common Mistake

Do not repair a wet frame and ignore the source of the water. Stop the water first, then repair the damage.

The Drywall Risk

The city said it needed all the drywall off to check the frame. That sounded simple. It was not.

Open walls may reveal work that must be fixed. What must change depends on local rules and the work being done. My fear was that opening these walls would make this job much bigger. That was about this case. It was not a rule for every old home.

The city also gave me a rule in an email. It said I would have to tear down this home if the work cost more than 50% of its value. The city set the value at $80,000. That put the line at $40,000.

Those were the numbers the city gave me for this home. Local rules can differ. Get the rule for your own home in writing.

This is when I brought in a lawyer. I did not want to open the walls before I knew what it could cause. With a large loss at risk, I pushed back.

Get the request and its effect in writing before you open walls on a condemned home. If the step could put the whole home at risk, get advice from the right local pros first.

What the Engineer Did

A licensed engineer gave me strong facts for the fight. The engineer’s plan and letter helped. They did not make the city end the case.

The engineer checked the floor frame. The plan called for a beam through the middle of the crawl space. It also called for new wood beside some weak joists. I recalled the work as about $10,000, but I also said I did not know the exact sum.

The crew did the work. The engineer wrote a letter. The city still raised a concern about the slope in the floors.

I saw the slope as a surface issue in this case. The engineer said the frame work was done. The city did not yet agree. That was the live fight when the video ended.

An engineer’s letter can be strong proof. It is not a promise that a city will agree or that a case is closed.

The Main Lesson

You are not the damsel in distress. Nobody is coming to save you except you.

You need facts and skill. Knowledge times experience builds skill. Reading the rules is not enough. Past work with no study is not enough. You need both.

I knew that taking off the walls could change the job. That changed how I dealt with the request. But I did not claim a final win. The home might have been fine, or I might still have had to tear it down.

Pro Tip

Learn what a step will cause before you take it. I said this case could put hundreds of thousands of dollars at risk.

FAQ

What did “grandfathering” mean in the video?

I used that word for old work that may be left alone until new work changes or opens it. The rule can vary by home, work scope, and city. Get the rule for your own job in writing.

Why did you call a lawyer?

The city wanted the walls open. It also gave me a cost line that could lead to a tear down. Those two facts put a large sum at risk. That is when I sought legal help. It is not a rule for when all owners need a lawyer.

Can a city make an owner tear down a rental?

This city said it could happen in this case. Its email set the line at 50% of the city’s $80,000 value. The video does not show that this rule applies in all places. Ask the local office what applies and get it in writing.

What should a new owner learn from this?

Find out what each step can cause before you act. Ask for the order, value, cost line, and next steps in writing. Use the right local pros when the risk is high.

Why was water moving toward the home?

The yard sloped toward the house. The storm drain in the street also failed to move all the rain. The home sat at the low point, so water got under it.

This account records one unresolved property fight. It does not establish the rules for another house or city.