Troubleshooter: Bathroom remodel gone wrong
HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Bud Elvin dreamed of a new bathroom, but that dream soon turned into a nightmare so he called Troubleshooter Diane Wilson.
Remodeling jobs should be exciting, but if they are done incorrectly, they can be expensive and stressful.
"See the shower was put in upside down," Elvin said.
The remodeling company, International Home Developers, LLC installed a large portion of the shower improperly, causing a big problem for Elvin.
"See the plumber, when he put it in, I don't think he knew what he was doing," he said.
Elvin paid more than $6,000 to International Home Developers, LLC for the bathroom remodel project.
At first, Elvin and his wife did not realize the attached shelving was installed upside down, until his wife slipped and reached to grab on to it.
The gripping surface on the shelves was facing down, not up, so she had nothing to hold to prevent her from falling.
They called the owner of Internal Home Developers right away.
"He promptly came out and he said, 'Oh my God, this is going to cost me some money,'" Elvin said.
The owner did not want to pay for the damages, and wanted the plumber who did the original work to take care of the costs.
"Some calling and a lot of e-mails and he kept putting us off and putting us off," Elvin said.
The owner continuously promised to fix the mistake, but never followed through.
"It's been four months and I thought that was long enough, but I haven't gotten any satisfaction from the fellow," Elvin said.
Elvin reached out to ABC11 and I got in touch with the owner of International Home Developers.
"You contacted him and within an hour he's over with the money," Elvin said.
Instead of getting the plumber to fix it, the owner gave Elvin a check for $1,680. That's the amount it cost for the new contractor that Elvin found to fix the problem.
"It was a big surprise," Elvin said. "If we hadn't gotten in touch with you, there's no doubt in our minds that we would be paying $1,680."
The owner of International Home Developers never got back to me, but Elvin is very happy with getting the money.
Elvin's shower has already been fixed by another contractor.
