Hundreds of residents dissatisfied with home builders
It is quite likely the biggest investment you'll ever make, but it shouldn't cost you everything. Hundreds of Tennessee home buyers are filing complaints about mold and water leaking into their brand new homes. The problems are eating away at their investments and making their families sick. When you buy a brand new home you don't expect it to leak.

Reported by Dagny Stuart

See Video: WSMV TV - Investigates Unhappy Homeowners

It is quite likely the biggest investment you'll ever make, but it shouldn't cost you everything. Hundreds of Tennessee home buyers are filing complaints about mold and water leaking into their brand new homes.

The problems are eating away at their investments and making their families sick. When you buy a brand new home you don't expect it to leak. And you expect that your local codes inspector checked for water problems before approving the construction. But if that's what you'd expect, in many cases you would be wrong.

Ricky and Kathy Stahl built their Hendersonville dream home two years ago. But the dream washed away when they realized they had water under their house, and mold on the floor joists.

They got the Hendersonville Codes Department to issue a letter to the builder, spelling out the problems. But the Stahls say the Codes inspector backed down...even though the department's own documents say crawl spaces are not allowed to have standing water.

"When I showed him the codes book that the county has adopted to go by, his words were, 'Well we don't have to go by that,' " said Ricky Stahl.

The I-Team asked two independent home inspectors, Walter Jowers and Rick Cozby, to check out the Stahl's home. They found water problems immediately, starting with the slope of the lawn.

"The grading required by the building code is for the soil to drop 6 inches in the first 10 feet away from the house,” said Walter Jowers, Independent Home Inspector.

Instead, the grading slopes toward the house sending water straight at the foundation.

Under the house, they find evidence the builder probably didn't waterproof the foundation which is a building code violation.

"That is efflorescence, which is salts that leach our when water seeps through masonry such as that concrete block,” said Jowers.

Up on the floor joists, mold is starting to grow. Though it isn't bad yet, some molds can be deadly for buildings and for people.

"Some of the fungi that can grow on wood can destroy wood and some of the molds that grow on wood can make people sick,” said Jowers.

All around the house Jowers and Cozby find what they say are codes violations.

The independent inspectors say water intrusion is the number one problem caused by the construction standards used by many area home builders.

"We see the new houses every day that are just not being built right,” said Rick Cozby, Independent Home Inspector.

And wet, rotting wood is a silent killer that can destroy new homes.

"When we're talking amongst ourselves we call them landfill. We figure in not too many years they'll be in the landfill," said Jowers. "They're not built to last. The whole idea behind building a shelter is to keep the water and weather out."

But if you think you can pay more for a home and escape these problems...think again.

Trevor Hubert and his mother spent half-a-million dollars on a Franklin house built by another home builder, Turnberry Homes. Hubert made a home video that show water trickling into the house during a recent rain storm.

Water is pouring through his foundation from obvious holes in the block wall. He says the constant water is rusting these steel supports under the house.

"What are you afraid will happen if this metal continues to rust with the weight of your house on top of it?" asked Dagny Stuart.

"It'll eventually give way,” said Trevor.

The water problems continue all the way to the leaking rooftop, according to Hubert's architect. "The boards were improperly installed, there's mold up there, which is causing mold and mildew in the attic,” said Trevor Hubert.

Hubert says these are codes violations. While our home inspectors didn't visit Hubert's home, they say they routinely find codes violations in new homes throughout Middle Tennessee.

"The code is not being enforced. Why that is I don't know but I know that in many cases, and in virtually all new houses that we see, codes are not being enforced,” said Jowers.

The Stahls say the lack of codes enforcement leaves them at the mercy of their Wynbrook builder, Tyree Homes.

"And I reminded him when he built my home, if he did give me that guarantee that if I was not satisfied he would buy it back at 100 percent and said I remember that. And I said, I'm not satisfied and he said, put it on the market, find you a good realtor,” said Kathy Stahl.

The Stahls and nearly a dozen other home buyers have complained about Tyree to the State Contractor's Board. The Stahls hope the contractor's board will intervene on their behalf. Trevor Hubert wonders why no one seems willing to protect consumers.

"When we purchase an automobile we are federally regulated and we spend 10 times or more on a home and there's no regulation or accountability here. And these are people's lives,” said Hubert.

Don Tyree, co-owner of Tyree homes, says they don't build a perfect house, but they build good houses. In the case of the Stahl's home, they said they did everything required by the Hendersonville codes department.

In the case of Trevor Hubert's leaking house, Turnberry homes issued a statement which said in part:

"Turnberry Homes is proud of the reputation it has earned for quality homes..."

The company said it met with Franklin codes officials and hired a licensed professional engineer and a licensed architect and they all confirmed the house complies with building codes and is built well within industry standards.

As a result of our stories and consumer complaints, State Senator Diane Black has introduced a bill to protect homeowners. Under her measure, cities could make home builders buy insurance bonds to pay for repairs if a house doesn't meet building codes.

Senator Black says responsible contractors are supporting her bill because it makes it harder for unscrupulous home builders to do business.
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