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Homeowner says independent contractors created life-threatening issues in her home
BATON ROUGE - A homeowner has a warning for others tonight after she says independent contractors did shoddy work in her home and it's now preventing her from moving back in following the August 2016 flood.
At first glance, Angela Clapper's renovated home may look beautiful. But if you take a closer look you'll see that door frames are off-kilter, nails sticking out of the trim, drywall isn't screwed in, wires run rampant, and she's living in a fire hazard.
"Obviously all this stuff needs to be redone and it's not free," said Clapper.
In her master bath, Clapper's shower has been ripped after she noticed something was off with the tiling. Underneath, she found a window had been closed with a piece of plywood and mold is growing. No moisture seal exists and wires run inches from the pex pipe.
"Installed the electrical right alongside the pex pipe, which could kill someone," she said.
Clapper says she hired Daniel Naquin with NCO Construction to manage the work on her home. Subcontractors Lee and Yolanda Greathouse were hired to do the actual work and before last week had been working on her home on and off since January. Clapper says the Greathouse's were paid about $26,000 in labor and were anticipating another $11,000.
"I don't think they ever had the intention of finishing the house," she said.
Thursday morning, Clapper met with 2 On Your Side and went over some of the charges for the work done. Some of the work had been paid in full but was not complete.
"Paint the doors and trim, neither door is painted that's $1,000 right there," she said.
It took some time for Clapper to catch on since the three formed a friendship.
"They put it up for show," she said. "And the more you go, 'Oh, that looks great,' every day we're like, 'Man, that looks so good.' But it's for looks because the door frames, they're up but there are no doors so you don't know that the door won't fit when they put it in."
Once she took the time to inspect her home, she quickly noticed things weren't up to code. That wasn't until a couple of weeks ago.
"We started looking through all the house and I was about to tears because their work was sub-par," she said.
Right now, Clapper fears a good portion of her house will need to be reconstructed, but the most pressing issue is electrical. One 20 amp breaker turns off the electricity in three-quarters of the house. Wires in the attic are not properly secured and instead lay unsealed in the attic among the insulation.
"I don't know how it hasn't burned yet," she said.
Although she has since cut ties with the Greathouse's, Clapper's next step is to find a way to pay for what needs to be fixed or fight to get her money back.
The number for Lee and Yolanda Greathouse goes straight to voicemail. The East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office confirms Clapper has filed a complaint.