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Scott Frederickson
ruins Lansing home, City pays him $12,900
July 10, 2022
Scott Frederickson Construction of Bath replaced
Tammie Arend's roof in May 2018, but did so much damage in the process that the house's net
value is zero. He was paid $12,900, $10,000 of which was a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The project was arranged through a Homeowner Rehabilitation Program
administered by Lansing's Department of Economic Development and
Planning. Here is how Frederickson ruined the home:
The leak. The roof was replaced around
the end of May 2018, but it was not until September 24 that
rainwater burst through the ceiling. The leak seemed to be coming
from around the main chimney that vents the
furnace and water heater as well as the fireplace chimney at the front of the house. During
the roof installation, the fireplace chimney
had been partially rebuilt, but not by a masonry specialist. Frederickson
had his son do it after watching a Youtube video.
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Water coming
through attic ceiling, 9/24/2018 |
Hole punched
in attic wall |
Tammie called and left messages
for Scott Frederickson and City inspector Dennis Graham. Graham came
the next day and was appalled at the quality of work. He said she
might have to file a lawsuit. He found that flashing and calking
around the main chimney was missing and the caulking around the
front fireplace chimney was done poorly. He wondered if the roof was properly vented.
Scott Frederickson came on
September 26th and fixed
the caulking, but the damage had been done. The front bedroom floor was drenched
and there were wet spots on the closet ceiling. Tammie moved as much furniture and belongings as she could out of
that room to the main bedroom, kitchen and living room. So much stuff
had been moved to the main bedroom that she could not get to the bed,
forcing her to sleep on the living room couch. She tore up the wet carpeting, hoping to get it up
before it began to mold. She opened the windows and ran a humidifier and
several fans to dry things out. The bathroom, which had just been remodeled, was
also wet. Water had run under the subfloor in the hall and dining
area. The walls in the attic had soft, wet spots. All of her winter clothing was wet and musty
smelling. The moisture exacerbated her asthma and the smell
was horrible.
When she next talked to Graham,
he said they had assured him the problems were corrected. His boss,
Development Manager Donald Kulhanek, told him to let it be.
The repairs. It wasn't until October 10
that Frederickson's son and a friend came to repair the damage to
the interior, and
they ended up adding to it. Tammie thinks some of it was
intentional. Here is her
full account of that
visit, but to summarize: They laid luan, a type of plywood, over
floors that were still damp; patched over wet ceiling; left wet
insulation inside the walls; took off a bedroom door and tossed in
the other bedroom, breaking her laptop; dumped drywall mud and concrete mixture down the
sink, toilet and shower in the bathroom; broke her shower door,
which was from a discontinued model and could not be replaced;
dumped drywall mud
and concrete mixture down the kitchen sink drain;
broke the kitchen faucet (which she did not notice at the time, but
caused more water damage; she had to pay a plumber to fix it); and
poisoned her cat by putting dry wall mud in its food and water
dishes.
Roof venting. Moisture levels remained
high long after the roof leak was fixed. Dennis Graham had expressed
doubts about the roof venting when he was there just after the roof
leak flooded the place. A year later, she said this in an
email to Scott Frederickson:
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Water
condensation on inside of window |
Mold along
lower part of wall |
An independent inspection was done 12/13/2019
by Steeleman
Inspections of East Lansing. The
30-page report said that
an examination of the attic
revealed ventilation problems. From page 24:
Gutters. New gutters had been installed
in July 2017 and Tammie had asked Frederickson to take them down while the roof was being replaced so
they wouldn't get damaged. They did not do so, and the result was -
as City inspector James Bennett says in a
report
of his November 19, 2019 inspection - the gutters along the south side of the house were damaged
with open joints, lack of end caps and no downspout, rendering he system
ineffective in channeling storm water away from the structure. This
could have been another source of the continuing high moisture
levels. Also, nails and trash accumulated in the gutters during the roof
installation and the contractor did not clean them out. Later, when
it rained, they washed down into the driveway and caused 4 flat
tires on Tammie's car, 3 of which had to be replaced.
Water heater/chimney. Tammie had a new
water heater installed in May of 2018, only two weeks before the
roof was replaced (see
permit). She soon began having trouble with it. It would shut
down and she'd have to re-light it. The furnace was acting funny,
too. In April of 2021, the water heater quit working entirely. It had a warranty,
but while installing the new one the plumber found that it was
not properly vented. Exhaust gases were backflowing into the
house. To find out why, he disconnected the ventilation pipes for
the water heater and furnace that run up the chimney liner to the
roof. The chimney extends 10 feet above the roof and goes all the
way to the basement on the inside. It has the type of cap on it that
prevents anything from entering it.
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Chimney |
Trash pulled out
of chimney |
He found that the
chimney was completely plugged. He started pulling things out of it:
shingles, sawdust, nails, short branches and leaves. Tammie thinks the trash was put in there deliberately.
There is no other way it could have happened. The shingles extracted from
the chimney were the same as on the new roof. She
remembers that the roofers had a ladder against the chimney, but
they told her they were going to replace the cap, so she thought
nothing of it.
A plugged chimney means that carbon monoxide from
the furnace and water heater was coming back into the house. It could
have killed Tammie if she had not kept her windows open because of the
mold and excess moisture. She has
been suffering numerous health problems from the mold, moisture
and mildew, but never could have imagined carbon monoxide could also
have contributed.
Frederickson never did any decent repairs. He has
not responded to her emails since October 2018.
Tammie
took out a mortgage on her home to pay for repairs, doing some herself
and paying to have others done. She has replaced carpeting, sub-floors,
and linoleum several times, repaired drains and calked. She has painted
walls, sometimes using Kilz to cover water stains.
Despite her efforts, her living situation is still
bleak. She
sleeps on an air mattress in her living room. She has to clean up mold
and mildew several times a week using bleach and a product called
Concrobium. She has no hot water. The stove doesn't work
because rodents - attracted by the
mold gases - invaded the house and chewed the wires and insulation. The
heat has been turned off because she couldn't pay the gas bill. She
cannot afford a different living arrangement because her income from SSI
and social security disability totals $803 a month.
She has retained a lawyer and a lawsuit was filed
against Frederickson Construction in July 2021. Frederickson's lawyers
are
Hackney, Odlum and Dardas of East
Lansing. They have agreed to mediation, but they seem to have no interest paying her enough to restore the home or
pay for another of comparable value. They should be happy to pay up. All
she's asking is to be made whole. She expects no compensation for the
hell she's been through for going on 4 years, or the damage to her
health. All she wants is a small home - big enough for her and her dog - with a roof that doesn't leak, hot water and heat, a bathroom
with a shower, and furniture and working appliances.
In May of this year, a realtor was kind enough to
do a market analysis
of the home. Without the damages caused by Frederickson and
his crew, its market value would be about $80,000. Add $20,000 for
furniture and appliances, $10,000 for replacing clothing and
furnishings, and $27,000 to pay off the mortgage she obtained for
repairs and we have a total of $137,000. Not very much. She could get
out of there by winter and Frederickson should be glad not to
have been charged with attempted murder.
Previous stories on Tammie's situation:
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