CBS 2 Gets Results: Crews Repair Roof After Ripping Open Wrong House In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A homeowner in Brooklyn was getting some relief at last Friday, after her roof erupted in massive leaks when contractors came to the wrong house and ripped it open.
CBS 2 first reported Wednesday on the Canarsie home that was ripped wide open by mistake. It all happened as resident Zennebe Milton was preparing to have a baby, and the timing for the manmade mess could not have been worse.
As CBS 2's Steve Langford reported, Milton's apartment has been turned into a construction site in recent days. The ceiling recently collapsed due to wet weather because the contractor came to the wrong address and ripped open a roof that needed no repair whatsoever.
"It's very overwhelming; a little stressful," Milton said.
The contractors were supposed to be repairing a roof that had been damaged by Superstorm Sandy. They opened the roof of 2 Paerdegat 3rd Street, rather than 2 Paerdegat 13th Street exactly 10 blocks away where they were supposed to be.
Milton and her mother, Vanessa Blakely, were quite unhappy when they first spoke to CBS 2 this past Wednesday.
"The dust, and the mess, and just inhaling all that stuff was, you know, was a major issue," Milton said.
Milton has been grappling with the major mess for nearly a week now, but that's not the half of it.
What makes the roof fiasco especially mind-boggling is the fact that Milton's due date for her baby was Friday.
"This week was supposed to be a week of just to relax and get my mind and my body ready to have a baby, because, you know, everybody knows that's not easy," she said.
A return visit by CBS 2 on Friday found a contractor saying the work wrapping up in repairing the case of mistaken address. An inspector said the leaky ceiling has been sealed.
"He said that it's fine; it's no mold," Milton said.
After spending several nights trying, with little success, to sleep on her mother's not-so-comfortable couch, Milton wanted a clean, dry place to call home as she prepared to deliver.
"Hopefully, everything is solved when the baby comes home," Milton said.
And of course, the baby will hear the story of a bumbling contractor and a needlessly ripped-up roof for the rest of his or her life.
Milton said the Sandy relief fund whose contractor went to the wrong address has offered to put her up in a hotel room until her baby is born.
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