Article
and Video Courtesy of Channel 10 Local News
By Christina Vazquez
Published
April 2, 2016
|
Watch
VIDEO
|
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - When the new roofs began to
fail at a Coral Springs community, residents began wondering whom to
hold accountable and how to keep this from happening to others.
Residents called Local 10 News investigative reporter Christina Vazquez
to help them get answers that they weren't getting from the city of
Coral Springs.
"Any kind of wind
we have, there's just thousands of projectiles scattered
across the neighborhood," Dennis Chavis, of the Eagles
Nest Townhomes, said.
Chavis took Local 10 News on a tour of blue tarps that
protect the roofs in his Coral Springs neighborhood.
"They are supposed to last for twenty years," he said.
"They basically lasted for four."
The roofs replaced those damaged by Hurricane Wilma in
2005. A few years ago when he was putting up his rooftop
Christmas decorations, Chavis discovered there may be a
problem. |
|
|
"All the shakes started pulling away from under my feet," he said. "This
is where the nails should be. But they are gone. They are just totally
disintegrated away."
Homeowners question how the roofs passed a final city inspection.
"You hear about these things happening to other people. You never think
it's going to happen in your community," Beth Licata said.
A roofing consultant hired by Eagles Nest found that
more than 25 percent of the roofs are damaged beyond repair
and that some materials didn't meet Florida building code.
Among the many problems the consultant's report cited: the
uses of steel nails, which he noted have rusted away leaving
a majority of the roofs not fastened to the sheathing. The
report also noted problems with the roof flashings, noting
they were not copper as required with a Cedar Shake roof,
and that some of the skylights were "packed with roof
cement," and "lead plumbing pipe flashings were left open
which allows water in to the roof." |
|
|
Building permits for Eagles Nest Townhomes roofs show
ABC/TriCoast roofing LLC as the contractor and list Joseph Taylor as
contact person and project manager. Vazquez visited Taylor Roofing and
Construction for comment, but an employee said Joseph and David Taylor
weren't there.
Eagles Nest homeowners filed a lawsuit against Barry Carter, ABC/TriCoast
Roofing LLC, and David and Joseph Taylor earlier this year.
In a phone conversation, David Taylor denied the findings that the job
was not done to code and blamed nails he said were made in China.
"Either the nail was defective or they ran out of nails," Coral Springs
Mayor Skip Campbell said. "What I have been able to surmise is that
there is something called an in-progress inspection, where you go out
and inspect the product to make sure the product meets our code, and in
this particular case, the product met code and you are supposed to use
galvanized nails."
"We know that some of the project did use galvanized nails, because some
of the project did not have any type of problems, like other portions of
the project. So I don't know if they didn't use galvanize nails or
whether the nails were actually defective that caused the problems to
this particular property."
Campbell was in the Florida Senate at the time the roofs were replaced.
After Hurricane Wilma, legislation was passed tightening the Florida
building codes.
"This was inspected. The job was done according to standards; Florida
building code, and something happened," Campbell said. "And it was done
by a city of Coral Springs employee who is no longer with the city."
That employee, Fred Squires, is currently retired.
"He did a good job," Campbell said.
According to Eagles Nest Townhomes board member Mary "Beth" Licata, it's
costing each homeowner about $31,000 each; money they hope to recover in
their lawsuit.
"Shame on you. They have seriously impacted other people's lives,"
Licata said in reference to the contractors and roofing construction
company.
"You got to make sure the people you are dealing with are reputable,
responsible. And that's who I'm going to hold responsible. We are going
to make sure it doesn't happen again," Campbell said.
Licata has some advice for other community associations: "Don't leave
the hard work to everybody else. Get in there and figure it out. Try to
find out everything that's going on and step up to the plate."
Since the Call Christina team began the Eagles Nest Townhome
investigation, the community has hired a project manager and is in the
process of installing their new roofs.
A note to readers about ABC Roofing: there is more than one ABC Roofing
company listed in state records. The ABC Roofing in this story is not
the company currently doing business from a Coral Springs, Florida
address. Campbell said the ABC in Coral Springs has a very good
reputation.
The Eagles Nest Townhomes lawsuit is still pending.
Local 10 News also reached out to Barry Carter of ABC/TriCoast roofing
for comment on the Eagles Nest Townhomes lawsuit, as well as the
inspector for Coral Springs who passed the final inspection to find out
what may have happened during the job. So far, they have not returned
any requests for comment. |