BROWNS SUMMIT, N.C. — Lori Kittle loves almost everything about her Browns Summit house. There is however one thing she wishes she had, a covered spot to park her car.
“It would be nice to keep it out of the rain and weather,” Kittle said.
A couple of years ago Kittle hired Tar-Hill Painting and Renovations to build a carport for her. The cost was right around $7,000 and Kittle said she was told it would be completed in a few weeks.
“When they first started it looked good, it seemed like they would do a good job,” Kittle said.
The initial frame was set up and then plywood was put up on the roof. Kittle says that’s as far as they got. The carport sat partially finished for more than two years. After several months it started to lean, and pieces of wood separated from the frame. Part of the roof was falling apart and there were holes in several spots.
“It’s awful, really bad,” Kittle said.
The two brothers that own the company would communicate with Kittle on and off according to her, but they never came back to finish the job.
“(I) feel like I’ve wasted a lot of money, it’s been so long.
Kittle, who is deaf, has apparently never even parked under the structure because she feared part of the roof or the entire structure would fall. She said people have stopped by driving down the street and warned her that the carport looks unsafe and to have it torn down before it falls and may hurt someone.
Earlier this year Kittle reached out to us in hopes of getting some help. We contacted the company and while it took several weeks before either brother called us back, we did eventually speak with both.
One of the brothers admitted they should not have taken the job. It appears the other brother accepted the work and started the job on his own. When we spoke with the brother who was doing to work, he blamed part of the delays on COVID-19 and told us that support beams he put up were knocked down or removed and that’s why the structure was leaning. Kittle denies any supports being knocked over or removed.
When we asked him if he would finish the job or provide a refund, he danced around the question continually blaming Kittle for knocking down the supports he installed.
While he was not quick to respond to any of our emails or calls asking if he was planning to finish the job or provide a refund, he eventually said he would refund some of the money. It has been three months since we initially reached out and three weeks since he said he would refund some of the money. To date, no money has been refunded and no additional work has been completed.
Kittle is hoping someone may be able to help her finish the carport or build another one. She is in the process of taking Tar-Hill Painting to court.