Rotten Transom
 

I bought a1999 Formula 382 in September 2007 . I noticed water in the bilge but forum members seemed to think 5 gallons or so was pretty normal. This year when I put it in the water the bilge pumps were keeping up but just barely. To make a long story short the transom was rotten all the way to keel.

A lawyer friend thinks I ought to make a claim against his “omissions” insurance. Conventional wisdom has held that surveyors are pretty immune to claims and I am wondering if anyone has ever made a claim

it depends on what is disclosed in the survey even then its still doubtful youd get anywhere. it has also been almost two years since purchase, that will make it tough as well. in the end it may cost as much going after the surveyor as it would to just get it repaired. sorry to hear this, that really sucks.

I agree forget about the surrveyor and get it fixed and enjoy the boat again.

Surveyors are worthless. I hate paying for an opinion.

I'm actually going through the same thing right now. Surveyor missed a completely rotted transom. Not a thing you can really do about it. Very expensive lesson. If he'd done his job correctly, I'd have never bought the boat. From what I've found out, the fight ain't worth the cost. You might try simply confronting him with the embarrassing truth and see if you get any traction that way....some people still have pride in their reputation.

2 year old inspection, we all know what the answer would be. It was ok when he checked it. Do you still have his report? Was there any mention about moisture levels in the transom or any other part of the hull? There should be something about moisture levels somewhere in that report. If not just not looking for soft spots is a halfazzed job. However, not wort the fight. Have you pulled it apart yet? I had a Scarab that was filling up the same way and it turned out to be just the gimble to transom gaskets.

fix it, move along, forget it.. just ride the boat... cheapest way to fix the problem I think

by the way, I'm still surprised, only 10 years old, probably out of water most of its life and rotten transom?????

Take a look at this 04 Rotten transom just out of warranty and he is a second owner.http://forums.endlessboating.com/for...read.php?t=600

my friends 33 Donzi was taking on a lot of water under one motor, turned out that the "Y" pipe block off plate on the transom assembly had rusted out.

It's a sad day when you hire someone to do a job and they fail, then you are better off (read cheaper) to not pursue them to hold them accountable.

I can't count the number of times it is recommended here to do just that, understandable so.

I agree if its been 2 years you'll just spend more money trying to fight him over it and it will still be an out of pocket fix for you. If you have the ability to do so I would suggest pulling engines, drives and transom assemblies yourself and just hire out the transon job and reinstall it all yourself. That would cut the cost down alot for you. Then again I'm a cheap a$$ and do everything possible myself when it comes to my boats and cars.:party-smiley-004:

TWO YEARS AGO! You gotta be kidding. He's a surveyor not a clairvoyant. How much was your house worth in September 0f 07?

Out of curiosity, who on here thinks 5 gallons of water in the bilge is normal after every outing???

No water should be normal.

I don't think there should be ANY.....

Most boats have water in the bilge. It can get in a number of ways. You can have it come in though a problem like a bad bellows or leaking fitting, or it could be as simple as a cover that leaks. I bet if I was to go down to the marina now I would not find a single dry bilge. Mine probably has a few gallons in it now.

My bilge is normally dry unless it rains or we do a lot of swimming off the boat.

Once it gets wet the pumps leave about a gallon which takes a long time to go away as I decided not to put in a drain plug after my transom was rebuilt.

Frequent bilge operation is a sure sign of a problem that needs to be investigated.

Seems to me when you go to court there always are two winners, your lawyer and the other lawyer.

Bottom line it WAS rotten to the keel. The glass guy said the problem started with Formula's layup! He said the problem started years ago. Surveyor should have caught it.

That simply did not happen in the last couple years.That is day one screw-up.That is rotten all over the place.


Friggin scary to think about it.

What was with the layup? A friend did his transom in his 98 353 last summer but that was because of the previous owner not sealing the new exhaust tips and got water there, we were able to see where it started when removing it, if you have a leak coming in I don't care what manufacturer it is, it will rot eventually, alot of giuys just let them leak and keep going....

According to my glass guy there was a 1/8" gap between the glass and the wood down near the bottom of the transom. I think he is suggesting that gap allowed water to get in at the bottom of the extension boxes.