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Andrea Kewish thought she had done a good deal with her first home, until it started to rain.
It was at that moment that he learned that his new house also “rains inside.”
The Kewish builder says failed repairs after the earthquake may be the reason the floor of his North Canterbury home has become uneven, leading to a sagging roof that leaks every time it rains.
Ask EQC to cover the costs.
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ALDEN WILLIAMS / Stuff
Kewish says 7-month-old Arthur has been in the hospital with breathing problems.
The leaky house had taken its toll on Kewish and his family. Her 7-month-old baby has been in the hospital with bronchiolitis and Kewish herself has felt like a “cute mother.”
“It is heartbreaking.
“I feel like I’m causing my kids to get sick and not feel well because I can’t do anything with the roof and I’m trying, but we’re not in a situation where we can do it.”
Kewish said the family was struggling to buy groceries right now, let alone replace the roof.
ALDEN WILLIAMS / Stuff
Andrea and Corey Kewish with their three children, Arthur, 7 months, Abel, 6, Aria, 4.
“It’s something that’s always in the back of our head, trying to figure out how we can do it, it just gets us down, it’s hard,” he said.
“It is not a pleasant situation at all.”
Kewish, a photographer, and her husband Corey, a retail manager, bought their first home in mid-2019, paying just under $ 300,000 for it in Oxford, North Canterbury.
Kewish said he grew up in nearby Cust and wanted his family to grow up there too. Other factors that convinced them to buy were the price of the property, having a section large enough for the children to run around, and being more in the field.
She said that when they bought the property, it was agreed that there was a rotten window sill where a window would have to be replaced.
The only flags raised in the building report were dampness in a room and some non-urgent rust on part of the roof that would only cost a couple hundred dollars to fix, he said.
But when the rain came, leaks appeared.
ALDEN WILLIAMS / Stuff
Last year a tarp was installed on the roof to prevent leaks.
“Every time it rains, it rains inside, like we find a new leak every time it rains,” Kewish said.
He estimated that about 10 builders and roofers had visited his home, and many of them recommended a new roof.
No permanent solutions had been found, and he now lived with a tarp over part of his house.
Kewish was now working with the Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service (GCCRS) in the hopes that EQC would cover the cost of the repairs.
ALDEN WILLIAMS / Stuff
The Kewish family purchased their Oxford home in mid-2019.
He wanted EQC to review his original claim based on advice from its builder, Steve Waghorn, who suggested that the original scope of EQC’s works may have overlooked the earthquake damage and allowed for improper repair methods.
EQC’s original scope of works determined that there was about $ 5,600 in earthquake damage.
The GCCRS committed to the Community Law, which said an independent building surveyor would need to review the scope of the EQC works.
Kewish said that after creating a Givealittle page, a builder offered to fill out the report for free and that was well underway.
In an email to Kewish, Community Law informed him that the report could go in either direction and EQC would choose whether to accept the report or not.
In a written statement, an EQC spokesperson said the commission was committed to working with Kewish and GCCRS on the claim.
“We recognize the difficult situation Ms Kewish and her family find themselves in with their property.”
The spokesperson said damage caused by the earthquake had not yet been identified.
“If new information confirms that the property damage is the result of an earthquake, EQC will work constructively with all parties to resolve the situation,” he said.
Kewish didn’t trust an EQC result.
“I hope that [building surveyor’s report] It will push it, but I feel like it’s been going around in circles, ”he said.
“I just lost all hope now.”
