CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Kevin Kelley, a contractor by trade, watched as a new roof was installed on a home across the street from his home on Padre Island in 2018.
The house on Goldfish Street was built in 1974 and is an investment property owned by Scott Schmidt and Cozy Coastal Properties.
Kelley contacted the Troubleshooters because he says he could tell it wasn't being done the right way.
"There's no rafter straps," he said. "Rafter straps. There's none of those attached to the bottom plate to the rafters."
According to Gene Delauro, an official with the city's Development Services Department, the homeowner should have pulled permits from the city, but that didn't happen.
"We have no record of ever being contacted, nor have no record of issuing a permit for that work," he said.
Kelley isn't sitting back waiting for the city to do something "because all the neighbors are concerned that that roof will fly. And in a high wind, it will fly."
He maintains the project was supposed to be a re-roof, which generally means all the shingles have to be replaced. Instead, a new pitched roof was installed on top of the original flat roof.
And ever since, the engineer who signed off on the project, Robert Creek, has been trying to get it windstorm certified.
Kelly has filed complaints against Creek with the Texas Department of Insurance, and the Texas Association of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, claiming Creek filed bogus WPI-8's for the roof, twice.
On Dec. 6, 2019, Delauro emailed Kelley, saying his department inspected the house, and have concerns, based on what they found.
And that the department will cooperate, should an investigation be done. He also called Robert Creek.
As we've reported, the house has been red-tagged, and the owner fined, because of these issues.
All utilities have been turned off, a second permit will be required for all exterior work, said Delauro.
We will continue following developments in this story, as we have since June.
We're here to help. Call the Troubleshooters at 361-885-0100 or email troubleshooters@kztv10.com
