Any idea for next steps and what their options are? They contacted the company and they said they could have someone come out on Monday to look at it. Do they have grounds to sue here for endangerment? They have our grandkids running around and someone could have been seriously injured if not worse.
Maybe also a case of “too much weight” or a little bit of “not enough bolts”
It’s a case of hanging cabinets with drywall anchors instead of screwing into the wall studs.
There are anchors that can technically support the weight, but they are not ideal and pretty sure in this case they were not used.
I used drywall achors to secure a vacuum mount that weighs roughly 6 pounds and it failed within the first week. Takes serious guts to trust it to be used as a shelf out of all things
Only 6 lbs? You must have used a generic plastic anchors instead of the special anchors designed for heavy duty wall mount
Toggle bolts
I use toggle bolts even in situations where toggle bolts are overkill. Because why not? I’ve literally never had a toggle bolt fail me.
Those aren’t anchor holes, they’re screws that didn’t hit a stud. You can see the one screw that hit a stud, held and pulled through.
He valiantly held the whole cabinet up pretty much by himself as long as he could, until it all collapsed around him. What a hero! Here's to you, lone screw. Here's to you.
There needs to be a "Ballad of the Lone Stud Screw" written.
More of an ode than a ballad and a shitty one at that. But you asked.
O stud screw, long and pointy, Why didst thou hold your weight? When your brethren have all given up, This mess they did create.
We see you and shall honor you, And pluck you from the wall, We'll build a plaque to put you in Because you did not fall.
Edit: corrected a word
Thank you it’s beautifully tragic but commemorated with honor 🫡
Here’s one that I spent a lot of time writing. And by a lot of time I mean 30seconds using ChatGPT. Which I think is apropos of the way this house was flipped:
In a house just six months standing, Newly flipped, with walls so bright, Stood a cabinet, tall and sturdy, Its shelves reaching to great height.
A single screw, so small and bright, Was driven in with haste, To hold the weight of treasures, In the cupboard, space by space.
Plates and bowls, they gathered high, Cups in stacks without a care, For six short months, the screw held firm, But strain began to wear.
One quiet night, without a sound, The screw began to groan, Its threads were strained and weakened, Its strength was overthrown.
With a final, mighty shudder, The screw gave way at last, The cabinet came crashing down, Its time of service passed.
In that new house, now chaotic, The tale of the screw was told, Of how it held the burden, Till it could no longer hold.
So here’s to unseen heroes, That bear the weight so true, To every screw that stands its ground, Until its task is through.
Fuckin' chat gpt. This is amazing
In a quiet room, in a humble abode, Stood a cabinet proud, bearing its load. With plates and cups, it held them all, But behind its strength lay a tale to recall.
There were many screws, small and frail, Just into drywall, destined to fail. But one was strong, one was true, A single long screw into a wall stud it knew.
Day after day, the weight did grow, And the weaker screws began to show. The drywall crumbled, the anchors cried, But the long screw stood, with unwavering pride.
It bore the weight, it held the line, Against all odds, through the test of time. But the strain was fierce, the burden great, And fate would play its hand of late.
The cabinet swayed, the drywall tore, The weaker screws could hold no more. With a groan and a shudder, down it went, But that lone screw stayed, its strength all spent.
Though it could not save the cabinet tall, Its valiant effort inspired all. For in its grip, through thick and thin, It showed what true resolve has always been.
So here's to the screw, steadfast and bold, A tale of endurance, brave and old. For when all else faltered, it stood fast, A hero unsung, till the very last.
Hanging anything heavy from drywall is like horse racing.
Studs are vital.
I feel like it would be more difficult to place anchors and have to trace the placement to the cabinet exactly to hit them rather than just finding the studs. Clearly they didn't even find a single stud and then use anchors as needed.
At least with new construction, areas with wall cabinets are supposed to have blocking at certain heights for the cabinet installers to use.
I did a self install of Kraftmaid Cabinets. I put in a temporary 2x4 on the wall for the cabinets to rest on while being secures.after marking the cabinet top, I cut out a strip of drywall where top and bottom of the cabine would be and installed either a piece of 1/2" plywood the full span of the cabinets. I still aimed for studs but also the plywood would hold the cabinets 10x better than drywall no matter what anchors you might use. Between cabinets behind the front face, I planed poplar to thickness soo that cabinets were straight across the faces and anchored together
Most civilians don’t know you don’t install cabinets, you hang them. Doors too.
"Civilians"
If you don't hire his Majesties Royal Engineers to put up a shelf, it's like you don't even care about making it Russian T-72 proof
Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed your suffering
As the cabinets hung high
Can’t a cabinet mounted properly hold upwards of 300lbs? I’d call this an error on the installers part for the mounting used.
Wouldn't call it an error I'd call it some jackass doing a shit job cutting corners so they can turn a profit...
That is super rough. Sorry that happened to your parents. But yes, this person above is correct, “your house, your problem”. Sometimes you just have to grin and bear things folks. I live in a house (1920’s build) that was purchased two years ago from a very elderly couple. Even after 2 years of repair and maintenance, I still turn a corner regularly and lol because I find some crazy “repair” the previous owners attempted. Most people are cheaper than they are skillful. Sounds like your parents ran into this exact equation. Someone on the contractor crew was more worried about “fast & cheap” than “correct & good”. Par for the course these days. I wouldn’t even THINK about buying a newly built home these days. Things are slapped together and so many bad contractors out there rushing & underpaying their crews. It’s no wonder there are 30K+ videos on YouTube showing construction inspections gone laughably wrong. Good luck in your clean up friend. Find an actual stud this time.
“Do this to an impossible standard or I’ll find someone’s family to feed who will”
Yep caveat emptor for any home – a good home inspector might have caught this with a stud finder but even then it’s tricky to catch everything.
OP, yall need to re-inspect this entire home with a contractor that has a good eye for spotting sloppy work like this.
Edit: this was the point of my comment: “OP, yall need to re-inspect this entire home with a contractor”
Unfortunately I preempted that with a statement of how unlikely it is for home inspectors to find such things, however my choice of wording has enraged a lot of redditors who read that I think inspectors should have found these things, so I apologize to you all
We are literally in agreement please stop attacking me
looks like thats not even the issue, screws are still in the wall. Looks like the cheap ass particle board on the back just fell apart almost
I bought a house that had not been flipped, and went to the cabinet shop to get cabinets for my disgusting kitchen that I gutted.
"I bet y'all are really busy, given all the house flipping going on," I said.
The man laughed and said, "We are really busy with people who have bought a flipped house and are now coming in to replace the particle board cabinets it came with."
Home inspectors are absolutely not inspecting the quality of the cabinetry material. lol
Do any home inspectors do that? It sounds like tremendous amount of work to check details like these.
Yeah cupboards not on the lists I have seen. That said now that they are concerned they could have someone look at everything touched by the flippers.
No. No they don’t
‘Could have been hurt’ is weak grounds for a lawsuit.
Ideal scenario is they remove and replace all the hanging cabinets.
It’s not weak, it’s non existent.
In the US at least, you need damages. You can’t sue for “could haves”. Endangerment is a criminal charge, charges don’t put money in your pocket..
They could try to sue for the damages to the plates and cabinets… and maybe for the cost of having all of the upper cabinets rehung. Really depends what sort of “warranty” was expressed or implied.. and if the company comes out and fixes it like they say they will, there won’t be many damages left to sue for.
There is no warranty implied on cabinet installs either they just need to clean up the mess and move on
Probable outcome: OP pays to fix it himself and has the guy check the other cabinets.
lol. 6 months? they aren't getting shit.
And when you sue somebody the only person cashing out is the lawyer...
Edit: This just in: lawyer stans big mad
Depending on the state small claims court it might be worth it to sue. Usually no lawyers, just the plaintiff, the company and the judge.
The cost to file should be minimal, some states do allow lawyers, but usually they are just there to defend, no "lawyer tricks"
Make sure you have everything well documented, pictures statements, etc. Maybe even a home inspector report to verify the other cabinets status.
They may not even show up, but in that case, even though you will win by default, good luck collecting.
Fix it. Buy some new plates.
And a dust pan and brush.
My reaction too… Are people really this helpless? Crazy!
Same. My reaction was "get out your broom and credit card, because you're going to the hardware store. Probably 3-4 times ."
Damn particle board.
Right? The screws in the wall still, seems like some real cheap thin cabinets. I thought they were all made of mdf now.
The bottom screw isn't doing a dam thing. Looks like they used those plastic anchors up top in the drywall. Once they gave the bottom screw was just along for the ride
Looks like they screwed it into drywall, I'm not sure if they even hit a stud. I mean they must have for it to have stayed up this long but who knows. There should be blocking behind those cabinets for those screws to anchor into behind the drywall.
The drywall would break before the melamine. The cabinets could use reinforcement where the screws go through but there's always a chance they were overloaded too.
Yeah, exactly. It went into drywall only. I think the melamine broke because of the fall, that or it was the only place that it did drive into a stud and when the cabinet came down it was the only anchor point which failed.
IKEA cabinets are so cheap but at least they come with a steel mounting rail and attachment clips so your fifteen drywall anchors might stand a chance
Put new cabinets up. Home sales are as is unless you can blatantly prove that they lied about something on the seller disclosure.
I see seriously shoddy work in non flipped houses just regular homeowners (I’m more worried about regular homeowner DIY lol)
That’s very unfortunate.
Not hard to fix though luckily.
New cabinets is extreme, unless you can get a new kitchen out of the flipper. Just install these ones properly and examine the rest of the house for shitty work.
The cabinet failed. It was partical board, probably put together with staples. It was flipped with cheap materials.
Yeah these shouldn't be rehung unless absolutely necessary.
It looks like some screws up top and to the right missed the studs, were pulled out of the wall and the left side that was in studs held but the particle board failed and ripped apart.
You could... Glue and staple them together... But it'd probably just be easier and cheaper to buy some IKEA cabinets or better yet something made with a 3/4 or 5/8 inch plywood construction.
Id be replacing all the cabinets with quality units. Those look like the cheapest garbage ever hung in the worst way.
Even then the seller disclosure is what they know or not know. They could’ve fully believed that they did that cabinet correctly
I learned a phrase while working in Germany that essentially translated to, "if you buy cheap, you'll buy it twice." That comes to mind in looking at this.
True in every part of life.
My mantra in hobbies has always been “Buy once, cry once” for the same reason. I got sick of buying and upgrading multiple times.
Buy it nice or buy it twice is what we always say.
My dad always told me. “There’s nothing more expensive than trying to save on home maintenance.”
Get a broom lol. Unfortunately if stuff like that breaks well after the fact it’s on the homebuyer. Fix it up and move on
You’ll never win a lawsuit over this tbh. The company that flipped it also doesn’t need to do anything. It sucks and I’m sorry it happened but the fact they are even coming to look is something. And for everyone reading this, never buy a flip!
Paint is one coat for dirt, two for rust...
Seriously they dump as much paint on issues to cover them up and move it down the road. Flipped houses are so bad. Rember when you buy a house, don't worry about the colors or the carpet. You can do those yourself or have them done, then they are the colors you want. Not the in colors right now with the cheapest possible paint and the cheapest plank the bix box store sells.
Yeah but most people don’t think too deeply and just judge by appearance. Like it’s obvious a company or individual that is flipping a house is going to cheap out on everything from materials to labour. That’s where their profit lies. Never trust anyone when money or your or loved ones health is involved. The most valuable life lesson is only trust yourself. I’m tired and rambling but gonna hit comment anyways when I probably Shouldn’t
I had this exact thing happen to me at my first house. Called a highschool buddy who had become a fairly well known real estate lawyer and was told that a case like mine was basically unwinnable in my locale for a handful of reasons.
So he asked if I was wanting a judgement or if this was a principal thing. One costs money and (hopefully) produces a result, the other just costs money.
That advice depends heavily on your location and the local laws though. If you want to, you can consult with a lawyer for free.l and they'll give you their thoughts.
... You could always write the flipper and ask them to come fix the problem, but it might not result in anything
In my case, I just re-placed and remounted the broken cabinets (3 separate cabinets fell over the course of 6 months) and rebought my glassware.
I was pissed about it for a good while, but ultimately decided it's a good anecdote and life lesson about flippers.
Can they sue for endangerment?
Um, no.
Do you have any sort of home insurance/guarantee/warranty or anything from the seller? If not, hire a handyman to reinstall the cabinet and check the others as well. Depending on the cost it may not be worth it to file a claim with your homeowners insurance.
Nah, not an insurable homeowner's claim. They won't cover wear and tear or hidden/latent defects in the insured property.
Trust in the lord with all your heart…..
NO, TRUST HARDER
I am honestly disappointed that I had to scroll down so far to find this comment
I snickered at that, and I’m a Christian. 😂
I guess I'm confused. Looks like you have to fix it
Cheap cabinets screwed into drywall. The cheap cabinets are plainly visible, but your folks may not have realized. However, you expect even cheap stuff to be installed correctly.
Honestly not much you can do. If i were in your shoes I’d get someone to install the rest of your cabinets into studs.
Also probably make a post online with the company name and just warning people to be weary
That’s their fault for buying all grey flipped properties with subpar quality. Your only recourse is to fix it.
Is all grey flipped homes a real thing?
Mine was all beige.
The great beige to gray transition happened around 2016
All gray floor/paint and white cabinets is every flip in my area
Those may be the cheap cabinets from Home Depot that had a recall. Hung wrong, but combined with recall makes even worse.
Only put 27 Stanley mugs on top shelf. 28 is too many it seems
This is always my worst nightmare that someone didn’t properly secure the cabinets on the walls.
We recently bought a house that was definitely flipped. The cabinets were hanging off the wall about 2in which was caught in the inspection. My husband took all the cabinets off, reinforced them, and put them back up. I hate that this is what could’ve resulted.
What wasn’t caught? They literally spray painted the inside of the house white…I thought we had white outlets, they weren’t originally.
Our “new” kitchen floors that matched the rest of the house cracked at every seam because they laid it directly on uneven tile
There’s been a leak under the sink that was covered by them laying contact paper down to cover the mold instead of replacing the wood.
If there was a way I could sue the shit outta those people I would in a heartbeat. They don’t realize the trouble (emotional and financial) they cause to people.
I’m glad y’all are ok!
Start preparing for other shit to break. You have to try to miss the studs that bad.
We’re gonna need a cleanup on aisle 5
cry and rebuild, putting the nails on the stud this time.
And don't use nails.
Cabinets are just falling all over the place these days
Flippers doing shitty work once again. So glad no one was hurt.
This would make me expect calamity every time I walked into a room.
Learn from it and never buy a flipped house. Hope that nothing worse happens with the plumbing or electrical.
People need to stop buying "flipped" homes. Sorry they are going through this. Hope for the best outcome.
Well I'd get it fixed but this time use solid wood and not particle board for the backing of the cupboards.
Probably a better question for a legal sub. But it shouldn’t be too difficult or expensive to fix even if the flippers ignore you
I'd be concerned about that cabinet to the left side of the window. If they did a shoddy job hanging them, you might have a repeat performance.
Double-sided tape? Sorry for your parents.
Did they know it was a flipper?
Welcome to homeownership.
I see they went with the late 2022 Flipper's Special. An excellent vintage. How many barn doors?
As a contractor I can tell you that those cabinets are only the tip of the iceberg! House flippers are SCUM!!! I'm sure there are some decent ones that take pride in the houses they work on but they are few and far between! If this company couldn't even hang cabinets then imagine what else is wrong! DO NOT BUY HOMES OFF OF FLIPPERS UNLESS YOU HAVE AN IMPARTIAL PRIVATE INSPECTOR GO OVER IT!!!!!!! "House flipping" is a fancy way of saying"putting makeup on a shit"!
Bought my first house in 1990. It was a flipper before it became a thing.
However, those three guys were reputable and very local. One was an electrician. They did things right. They pointed out everything to me as this was my first house.
They left a six pack and a new plunger with bow on it for me as a housewarming gift. Quality dudes. And funny.
They each had full-time jobs. They made some cash and moved onto their next project. They had a great reputation. They did the for sale by owner thing to save money.
All I did was make an offer contingent on inspection and the title company & bank did the rest.
Nowadays those kinds of flippers are a rare breed.
A six pack of Rolling Rock and a plunger with a red bow. I'll never forget seeing that as I walked into my first house.
To be fair, no inspector is probably going to tug on the cabinets and find this. There are too many things hidden behind the walls that cannot be seen no matter how good an inspector is. A good inspector would probably find visible things that should make you think twice about what is hidden.
Cheap particle board cabinets
Grab a broom
I would say I could come over and install that cabinet correctly for your parents but I’m only 22 and as a result I don’t know a thing about installing cabinets
You could probably watch a couple YouTube videos and do a better job than the flippers
Those cabinets look like the cheap Ikea furniture that looks decent until you try to move it.
Try screwing your new cabinets into the studs
Not sure what you’re asking
It’s not a new house
The cabinets weren’t put into studs, so you better check the rest. Inspect every shelf for cheap and bad hanging techniques
This may be 1 of many bad makeup coverups
Fuck home flippers for shit like this. Cutting corners and shoddy work.
If it was a weight issue the screws should still be in the wall in the studs. Try and put a screw in the wall where the holes are and see if it was screwed into a stud. If not then it was just screwed into the drywall which will not hold that cabinet up. It was just a matter of time. I would have someone come in and inspect the installation. I only see one screw in the wall. All the screws should be in the wall if it’s a weight issue. I can screw one cabinet screw in the Ceiling studs and pull down all my weight down on it and it would not come out.
I think they should sue who ever did the paint. Look at that edging at the ceiling line.
Looks like they anchored it in drywall lol
I’m a construction defect attorney. Assuming they installed the cabinets, it’s almost assuredly a defect. The damaged plates, the cost of new cabinets, damage to wall, etc. is recoverable damages. Anyone saying otherwise is wrong.
Most states require flippers to carry CGL insurance along with contractors licenses (or use general contractors).
There is likely a claim here, whether it’s worth enough to make sense suing is a different calculation.
Out of curiosity did your parents get an inspection done? I’m settling on a house that was flipped and although my inspection cost $800, he picked it apart From top to bottom. One of the items he found was with the cabinet screws. They installed screws that would NOT support the weight of glassware etc. needless to say, all items that were found are getting fixed before we close.
Start checking every cabinet. Shoot, start checking everything. Get an inspector out there.
You needed a load bearing toilet.
Put a claim on whoever did your home inspection
Trust in the lord, but anchor to studs.
Thats normal in a flipped or new build. Its just the house settling
Not a lawyer, but you had the opportunity to inspect the house, signed the papers etc.
This was a shoddy job in the first place, and you want the company to come fix and do it again? Hire someone to put in a new cabinet and look at the rest.
home inspectors don't rip the cabinets off the walls to see how they're screwed in...I don't think kitchen cabinets in general are really a focal point of that process to begin with
Once you sign the paperwork on a house it and all it's problems are yours. Sweep the floor and rehang the cabinets
Looks worse than it is. Cleanup in aisle K! Then rehang cabinets on a cleat plus screw system. Hit the damn studs, will ya?!
Let me guess- waived home inspection
That company flipped the house for sure 👀
There is absolutely nothing that is going to cost less than just replacing the two hanging cabinets. I would contact the company to see if they'll tell you the cabinet manufacturer so you can buy the same cabinets.
Replace the cabinet and contents, make sure others are joined to studs, and move on.
Damn flppers. Buy a studfinder and svree the cabinets into the studs. Do this for all cabinets, including bathrooms.
The real travesty is the paint job. I’d take a careful look at the inspection report, hire a handyman to come in and address what must be a long list of little problems that will turn into big ones like this.
I expect a wave of stuff like this for the next 10 years .... the flipper epidemic hit us hard !!!!!
Fix it and move on.
Wait for the rest of it to fall in.
Slap face with palm. Buyer beware.
You clean up and you find those studs and you get some real wood cabs
I guess they learned an important lesson about buying homes.
Drywall anchors for hung kitchen cabinets. Jfc
Clearly they didn’t go through the studs when hanging the cabinet. Did they get a warranty with the house? Might cover repairs
Find the bodies, throw guns in a Stoney Gulch.
goddamn did they just screw or nail it to the drywall?
Hope you have insurance
What state was this in?
Next is take the damn baby off the refrigerator!
Well first of all, that sucks don’t get me wrong. But on the other hand, while this sucks I would not worry and start stressing too much about this. This is just one shelved going down, maybe it was not properly installed or something like that. Probably not the best idea to panic or even seek for the old owner for something like that. Shit happens.
Baby killing altar on top of refrigerator
Have you asked the baby that lives on top of the fridge what happened?
Sb 800 bill, they can sue the contractor/
You probably need a lawyer.
flip the company
Why would this be the house flipping company's fault after 6 months
Your parents confused an art piece for a storage solution.
Poltergeist
God didn't want them to have dishes. Trust his work
I hate flippers.
I bet they didn't know that there's things called studs in the wall. I'd be concerned about the other cabinets and any heavy thing on the wall.
Fuck flippers
Did the company also do the wall painting, or was that your parents?
Those cabinets look cheap as shit. I'd never buy a flipped house because of the shortcuts.
We have title insurance here in Canada. You sue for damages to make a claim. This company flipping houses should know how to install cabinets. The other thing you cash try, is to send them a legal letter with pictures showing the damage. If the company has any conscious about his reputation, they may offer a settlement.
They should trust in the lord that everything will be alright.
Well, after reading these comments I'm probably not going to be purchasing any home that's not been built by the Amish.
‘Caveat Emptor’ means it’s your issue now depending on your state. I’d clean up the mess. Clean up the wall, and hang a new cabinet.
Idk how someone messes up ikea cabinets. There should be a rail mounted to the studs and these just sit on them.
They own that home as of six months ago; so I’d assume clean up the mess and hang a new cabinet the right way would be the way to go.
Replace the cabinets with solid wood shaker style frameless cabinets. You have particle board. Its a fault in the cabinet construction and materials more than install.
Im so sorry.. this all was supposed to be screwed into the studs.. I would call that company! It’s their fault.. see what they can do
They should have hung the cabinets up when they flipped the place. The shattered dish ware is a choice though.
In some states a flip need’s to come with a 1 year warranty.
Everyone is saying particle board particle board. That's not the problem. These look like Ikea cabinets, which have a brilliant system for HANGING both the upper and lower cabinets to tracks that are attached to the wall at the studs. Similar to Elfa if you've ever used their products. When installed as instructed, which is simple to do, Ikea kitchens have a 25 year warranty and they stand by it.
Since the uppers were not hung, I would assume the base cabinets were not hung either. Ikea bases come with weak plastic footings that are explicitly not intended for support; they're used to attach the plinths. It's possible the contractor built a platform for the lower base cabinets, but that's custom work I would not expect from a flipper.
I would get them out, document it, and let others know to stay away from this company so they don't suffer the same fate. This is horrible. Someone really could have been killed.
Do what the wall says. Just trust the Lord. And he'll sort it out. ;)
Was the Live,Laugh,Love sign affected
I hate home flippers
You’re gonna need to learn how to rehang that cabinet and buy a few dishes before you feel good about the kitchen decor.
Your parents need to make home repairs on their house.
America!
Welcome to home ownership, shit happens
Why is there a recliner in the kitchen?
I can only imagine what the people who installed these cabinets look like….pretty sure I’d win money betting on that
26 yr GC carpenter here.
Take pictures of the screws that were used and take pictures of the drywall anchors that were used (if any)
Cabinets are supposed to be screwed into studs any contractor worth their salt knows this and the installation instructions for the cabinets manufacturer likely says to do so as well (check the instructions if you can find them)
If what they used to install the cabinets goes against what the manufacturer recommends then you’ve got a case against the contractor (they voided warranty) If there are no installation instructions then you may even still have a case given that it’s common knowledge that you’re supposed to screw into studs.
This is fixable. But IMO the contractors should fix
Wow! That's some company that did the work. Did they remove all the studs from the walls when mounting the cabinets?
Don't ever buy from flippers.
If the cabinets are not hung properly. What else is not up to code? I would hire an inspector and explain what happened and tell them that you need to make sure that everything is up to code.
When I first read the title I thought the house was actually flipped upside down.
Insurance claim.
It's their problem now that's what
You want to sue someone for that? That's ridiculous.
Sadly I think this is a case of “your house, your problem” What a pain for them!