NewsTroubleshooters

Actions

Troubleshooters; Goldfish Street House

Troubleshooters; Latest Developments on Roof on Island House
Troubleshooters-graphic.jpg
Posted at 5:44 PM, Dec 11, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-11 19:21:43-05

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Troubleshooters first began reporting on a house on the Island in June 2019.
But there are issues with the roof that was installed.
Tonight, there are some new developments to let you know about.

The house is on Goldfish Street.
According to the Nueces County Appraisal District website, it was built in 1974, and is owned by Scott Schmidt and Cozy Coastal Properties.

Kevin Kelley, a contractor, lives across the street.
In June, he told the Troubleshooters he watched as a new roof was installed in September 2018, and could tell it wasn't being done right.
"There's no rafter straps. Rafter straps. There's none of those attached to the bottom plate to the rafters."

Before the work was even started, the owner should have pulled permits with the city, according to Gene De Lauro, a building official with the city's Development Services Department.
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 told us.

But Kelley isn't sitting back, waiting for something get done.
"Because all the neighbors are concerned that that roof will fly. And in a high wind, it will fly."

This 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.
But it wasn't done correctly, according to Kelley.
And ever since, the engineer who signed off on the project, Robert Creek, has been trying to get a WPI-8 for the house.
Windstorm certification.

So Kelley 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 re-roof, twice.
And now, TDI has informed Kelley that Creek, has rescinded his ongoing improvement application with them, and intends to file certification paperwork with TWIA.
And based on legislation passed in 2015, Creek can do that.

On December 6th, De Lauro emailed Kelley, saying Development Services did an inspection on December 4th, and have concerns based on what they found at the house.
And that the Department will cooperate, should an investigation be done.
He's also placed a call to Creek.

As we've reported, the house has been red-tagged.
And the owner has been fined because of these issues.