New Homeowners Tale of Woe

[smokeyblue]

So I bought myself a little house. I had a full inspection with a really great inspector. All of the appliances and electric were working just fine. Fast-forward to closing day. The realator says, oh lets just do the walk-through right before the closing. Nothing really appeared to be wrong, no holes in the walls, scratches on the floor, lights and faucets were working. I go to do laundry, the washer doesn't work. Turns out all the outlets in the basement don't work! I try to use the dishwasher, same thing. Tried the circuit breakers, nothing. So to sum it all up, try ALL the appliances and ALL the outlets when you do your walk-through so you don't have any suprises! I still don't quite know whats up yet. Hope it's something really easy to fix.

 

[Ericandjenng]

Congrats on the new house!

Have you contacted your real estate agent yet? Depending on what laws are in your state and your sales contract, the seller may be responsible.

Hope you get things fixed soon!

 

[QVCshopper]

I'm no electrician, but try to see if you have (what I think is called) a grounding switch. It's a little red button usually on a electrical outlet. Mine are in the bathrooms. If one of those gets hit accidently, it can shut down the electronics in various parts of my house.

If it's not that, then good luck! I'm sure it's something easy to fix. I've learned the hard way to stay calm... houses always have something going on.

 

[bas71873]

Did your inspector not test all the outlets? I know ours had a little gadget that he used to test them all. And I also know that he turned the stove/oven on to be sure it heated properly, same with the AC/Heat and hot water. Nothing I could do about the fridge and washer/dryer cause the house I bought didn't come with those, but check your inspection report. The inspector should have tested your electrical?

 

[DisneyaholicRaquel]

Your home inspector should have checked every outlet in the house. I bought my first house 1.5 years ago and I walked around with him. He had a little gadget that he stuck into every outlet. One outlet in the basement didn't work and he figured out it was connected to a light switch. The home inspector should have given you a book documenting his results. Look and make sure they were checked and his results. If they say they worked then contact your real estate agent and the home inspector.

 

[java]

Are you sure they didn't just have the electric turned off? In other words you have to get it turned on and in your name?(seems too simple but worth a shot)

 

[Swimalie]

All great suggestions about why things aren't working. The inspection should have caught any outlets not working and check for a GFI (ground fault indicator) outlet. It's one with a red and black button. If you find one, push the reset button and see if that helps. We have one that will reset itself in the laundry room in he basement which will knock out the lamp post in our front garden. And one in our upstairs guest bathroom that will knock out 1 of 2 outlets in the master bathroom. Go figure. So check all GFIs in the house. Good luck and congrats on the new house.

 

[sam_gordon]

My guess is either the electric is turned off to the entire house or a GFCI outlet (these are the ones that have the little 'test' and 'reset' buttons on the outlet) is tripped. Any outlets installed where they might get wet need to be protected by a GFCI. One GFCI outlet can protect multiple outlets. In our old house, the outlets in our bathroom were protected by the GFCI in the garage. So if we didn't have power in the bathroom, we had to go out to the garage and hit the 'reset' button.

The only other likely possibility is a circuit breaker tripped, but you said you checked that.

My suggestion, after looking around for the GFCI (look in bathrooms, kitchen, utility rooms, garage, etc), if you can't find it, have your real estate agent contact the sellars. They may have had the problem and can tell you right where to go to reset it.

If that's no luck, contact the inspector and asked him if he tested the outlets in question.

 

[woodkins]

If the lights are working then obviously there is electricity in the house. A washer/dryer/dishwasher should each have its own dedicated circuit. It could be possible that these appliances are on an electrical sub-panel and there is a problem with that. Try turning the circuit breakers all the way off and then all the way on.

 

[smokeyblue]

Good news! I was just over there and thought to myself hmmm I wonder if I hit the GFI will that do anything. The dishwasher works now! I just came on here and saw that many of you suggested it, and you were right on. I got a rural development loan so after the appraisal they made the seller put in a new GFI in the kitchen. He probably didn't use the dishwasher after that and didn't even know it wasn't working.

The basement outlets still don't work. I'm sure there is something really simple. I was there for the inspection and he did test every single outlet. I have my parents coming over this weekend to help move in my new furniture, clean and set a few things up. My dad is pretty handy, so I'm sure he will fix or at least figure out what is going on.

 

[Swimalie]

Good news! I was just over there and thought to myself hmmm I wonder if I hit the GFI will that do anything. The dishwasher works now! I just came on here and saw that many of you suggested it, and you were right on. I got a rural development loan so after the appraisal they made the seller put in a new GFI in the kitchen. He probably didn't use the dishwasher after that and didn't even know it wasn't working.

The basement outlets still don't work. I'm sure there is something really simple. I was there for the inspection and he did test every single outlet. I have my parents coming over this weekend to help move in my new furniture, clean and set a few things up. My dad is pretty handy, so I'm sure he will fix or at least figure out what is going on.

Yea! I'm glad it was a simple fix.

 

[scrapquitler]

Good news! I was just over there and thought to myself hmmm I wonder if I hit the GFI will that do anything. The dishwasher works now! I just came on here and saw that many of you suggested it, and you were right on. I got a rural development loan so after the appraisal they made the seller put in a new GFI in the kitchen. He probably didn't use the dishwasher after that and didn't even know it wasn't working.

The basement outlets still don't work. I'm sure there is something really simple. I was there for the inspection and he did test every single outlet. I have my parents coming over this weekend to help move in my new furniture, clean and set a few things up. My dad is pretty handy, so I'm sure he will fix or at least figure out what is going on.

it's going to sound like a stupid suggestion, but check the light switches. I have an outlet in my master bath that only works if the basement lights are turned on (it actually comes in sort of handy...I have a night light plugged into it, and if the night light is on, I know that someone left the light in the basement turned on) Maybe somehow you've got something like that going on in the basement?

 

[cglaura]

Good news! I was just over there and thought to myself hmmm I wonder if I hit the GFI will that do anything. The dishwasher works now! I just came on here and saw that many of you suggested it, and you were right on. I got a rural development loan so after the appraisal they made the seller put in a new GFI in the kitchen. He probably didn't use the dishwasher after that and didn't even know it wasn't working.

The basement outlets still don't work. I'm sure there is something really simple. I was there for the inspection and he did test every single outlet. I have my parents coming over this weekend to help move in my new furniture, clean and set a few things up. My dad is pretty handy, so I'm sure he will fix or at least figure out what is going on.

For the basement...I know this might be a simple question, but did you check the breaker box to see that none of the circuits were tripped?

 

[bas71873]

it's going to sound like a stupid suggestion, but check the light switches. I have an outlet in my master bath that only works if the basement lights are turned on (it actually comes in sort of handy...I have a night light plugged into it, and if the night light is on, I know that someone left the light in the basement turned on) Maybe somehow you've got something like that going on in the basement?

so true. i have outlets all over my house like that. it actually drives me crazy most of the time.

 

[fab5friend99]

I bet it's the GFCIs too. Shortly after I moved into my newly buily house the outside plug at the front of the house didn't work. Flipped all the circuit breakers on and then off but that didn't help. (Sometimes the circuit breakers look on but have been tripped so it's good to flip them back and forth yourself.) I called the builder who said to check the GFCI in the garage. The garage is detached and sits at the back of the lot and it about as far away as you can get from that socket but that did it!

 

[a1tinkfans]

CONGRATS on your new home, so exciting!
I hope your outlet situation in the basement works out nice and simple for you.
Best of Luck in your new home and again, CONGRATS!!!