Bill and Melanie’s Family Dream Home Nightmare
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Bill and Melanie Brandley’s Family Dream Home Nightmare
My three sisters and I have set up a fundraiser for our parents, Bill and Melanie Brandley. Bill and Melanie have been saving up to build their family dream home in Raymond for over 30 years. As retirement drew near, they found a builder and the dream home they had been saving and planning for started to become a reality. Both of them were so excited. It started out as a dream coming true. However, soon their dream morphed into a 3-year twisted nightmare. A nightmare where the builder walked away, dissolved the company, and moved to the United States to escape liability. A nightmare of continual false promises and lies. A nightmare where Bill and Melanie have had to do emergency repairs to stay in their unfinished home—that was deemed unsafe to live in by engineers—and are having to pay for it twice over. A nightmare of sleepless nights, constant and growing stress, anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. A nightmare of endless complications, financial burden, and strain.
Their Dream
While living in Vulcan for the past 32 years, our parents lived in a modest duplex while raising us in order to save money for our education and for their dream home when both of them retired; Bill from teaching, and Melanie from nursing. They saved and invested early on so they would have sufficient funds to pay for their family dream home in full…or so they thought.
In 2015, they began designing their new home. Bill taught Design and Computer-Aided Design at the High School in Vulcan and was able to use those skills to design the house exactly the way they wanted it. Everything had a place and purpose. The entire design was based on the future needs of the family and furniture Bill had built including: kitchen cabinets, vanities, end tables, dressers, dining table, etc. Each room was meticulously designed with the family’s future growth and Bill’s custom furniture pieces in mind; where the windows would be in relation to the furniture, placement of outlets based on furniture uses, room dimensions, etc. They designed closets (“baby bunkers”) in some of the rooms to fit play pens and have proper venting and lighting for their grandbabies. Kitchen cabinets were created at specific depths and sizes for specific purposes. The woodworking shop was designed to not only build projects for the family, but also to put on future workshops for teachers.
Not only did they design the general dimensions like room size, but they also included details for each of the trades such as electrical diagrams for the electricians to follow so there would be no guess work. In Bill’s words, “Every inch of it was thought through and done with purpose.” It should have been simple to have the house done correctly and safely based on the plans that Bill and Melanie spent countless hours discussing, designing, and refining.
Deception
In August of 2017, Bill and Melanie were ready to find a builder for their family dream home. They heard of a builder that used SIPS construction, which is what they wanted to use for their home because of its ease of construction and energy efficiency. They did their homework and searched out different builders, talked with recent homeowners that had built, and decided on the builder. The builder they chose claimed to be experts on building with SIPS. Bill and Melanie searched for any online reviews of the builders, but no negative reviews surfaced. Later they found out it was due to the builder requiring client(s) sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) preventing them from complaining (or the builder wouldn’t finish/fix their home). On September 1, 2017, the deal to purchase the perfect lot went through and they started communications with the architect used by the builder. Over the next few months our parents met with the builders and architect several times to work out details and confirm costs.
On February 15, 2018, Bill and Melanie signed a contract with the builder. The contract stated the completion date as September 1, 2018 (6.5 months later). At the time the contract was signed they were told that they would most likely take possession in 4.5 months at the latest.
Bill was told by the builder to get busy making the kitchen cabinets in anticipation of the move. Bill and Melanie were excited at the thought of their family dream home—that they had worked so hard for—coming true. However, they were grossly misled.
Approximately one week after the contract was signed, the down payment of over $118,000 for the home was transferred to the builder. The builder broke ground and then basically stopped all construction. At the end of May, it was apparent to Bill and Melanie that the builder had lied about nearly everything that had been promised. The builder was slow to return any of their calls or texts. Bill confronted them with the concerns he and Melanie had but the builder reassured them that everything was fine and they would get back on schedule. They claimed it was a problem with finding good crews, however, that was just the beginning of empty reassurances, false promises, and blatant lies.
For the next two years Bill and Melanie spent much of their limited spare time making the 260 km round trip, often several times a week, to check on the progress of the home. On their visits, they caught many construction mistakes and thought they had caught them all. They assumed that structurally the house was sound, however, they would soon find out that that was not the case.
Many issues arose during the contracted building time, such as:
1. Refusal to install countertops because that company had not been paid by the builder for previous jobs.
2. The entire “peel and stick” waterproof membrane on the roof had to be stripped and redone even though the builder said it only needed to be repaired. When photos taken by our dad were sent to the shingle manufacturer, our parents were told everything had to be completely redone.
3. The roof leaks. Water runs under the soffit and drips onto the wall above the kitchen window.
4. The home being de-enrolled from New Home Warranty for a time because of too many claims against the builder.
5. A serious deflection (bending) of over 2” of the support beams in the garage floor/shop ceiling. In addition, there was nearly a 6” difference between the lowest part and the highest part of the ceiling in the shop.
6. The electricity being shut off (as the builder hadn’t paid the electrical bill) preventing various trades from finishing.
7. Plumbing issues including raw-sewage back up into the finished basement because the clean-out cap on the main sewer line was removed and the builder didn’t repair the main back-flow valve that was broken during pouring of the footings.
At a Stand Still- More Than One Year Later
Progress had halted. Trades hired by the builder stopped working because they hadn’t been paid. Bill and Melanie—through their bank—had already provided the builder with the money to pay them. Bill and Melanie had no choice but to pay an additional $105,000 out-of-pocket to play catch-up and pay the trades for work completed so they would continue to work on the house and remove a lien. Since the build was taking so long, they had to pay an additional $12,000 in interest while the house sat unfinished; this was on top of their mortgage which, by this point, was obviously not going to be paid off due to all the unforeseen costs.
Bill and Melanie were bleeding money because they were double paying for a significant amount of work done on the house. They bought and paid for the installation of the garage doors, air conditioning, generator, countertops, carpeting, flooring, some windows, concrete work, etc., all of which should have been paid for by the builder.
Once the tradesmen were paid, they continued to work so Bill and Melanie could move into their unfinished dream home—one year late. The builder had proved to be extremely unreliable, but Bill and Melanie chose to be resilient and do everything they could to keep the project going. They injected more money and invested additional time to personally work on unfinished projects around the house.
Bill has a talent for anything construction or building related and consequently used his expertise to help the builder everywhere he could. He replaced flooring that had been damaged; installed missing electrical outlets, switches, and lights (with the help of his friend Larry); finished installing the fireplaces; designed, made, and installed sleeves to cover the stairway posts (to help the builder reduce costs); patched holes in the walls and ceiling; and installed the kitchen backsplash tiles. The builder showed up here and there to work. They officially walked away from the home just before Christmas of 2019, abandoning Bill and Melanie and their family dream home. But Bill and Melanie still had hope and gave the builder the benefit of the doubt.
Hidden Dangers, Continual Problems
Bill and Melanie thought that the worst was behind them. Little did they know that every day would bring a new piece of hell into their life. Once they moved in, new problems began to surface. They had to start making claims through New Home Warranty just after Christmas because they could not keep up with all the issues that were arising.
In January of 2020 they put in a claim regarding the garage floor/shop ceiling as it was sagging and two of the metal beams—used to support the garage floor/shop ceiling—had not been installed by the builder; they feared the garage floor would collapse. In the days that followed they received the engineer’s report stating that the garage floor/shop ceiling was in danger of collapse and would have to be shored up—which they did.
After this report, a more thorough inspection of the whole home was completed. Bill and Melanie received a letter and report from the warranty company/engineers stating that the house has “potentially serious construction issues… and we strongly suggest that you make alternate living arrangements and exit the home immediately pending our further investigation." Thankfully the New Home Warranty's insurance company worked tirelessly with contractors to shore up the home and make it safe for Bill and Melanie to live in while all the repairs were taking place.
In addition they received another letter (Building Failure Report) from Alberta Municipal Affairs indicating that there were structural failure issues with the home. Our parents were devastated. The hope of their family dream home was slowly and excruciatingly being pried from their fingers more and more each day. Depression and anxiety worsened with each bit of bad news.
Financial Nightmare- Cost of Repairs
In May of 2020 Bill and Melanie received a comprehensive report from the engineer hired by the insurance company. The report indicated that there were repairs in excess of $542,000 that needed to be done to our parent’s still unfinished family dream home. The house they had invested so much money, time, and love into over the last two years was considered a knockdown because of the costs of repairs. The list of repairs was 26 pages long.
Unfortunately, Bill and Melanie did not have the funds to knock it all down and start over; they would have had to pay off the current mortgage and take out another for $600,000. Our parents never planned on having a $1,000,000 mortgage. The maximum claim amount paid out by the New Home Warranty insurance company is $265,000. Bill and Melanie can’t say how much they received due to a Non-Disclosure Agreement. However, even if the maximum payment from New Home Warranty was received Bill and Melanie would not have enough to cover the repairs as outlined in the engineer’s report; they would need an additional $280,000 out-of-pocket to cover the repairs.
Our parents have depleted their savings, cashed in investments, and scrounged for odds and ends to come up with an additional $120,000. Now, after exhausting every financial avenue, they are having to take on additional debt of up to $160,000 just to get their family dream home to the point of being safe and finished, even though things like the driveway, landscaping, and concrete were already paid for in their mortgage. Bill recently decided to come out of retirement to help pay for the rebuild. He had an interview with a local school division so he can be a substitute teacher.
A Dream Slipping Out of Reach-Deficiencies that Still Need to be Repaired
The following is a partial list of additional repairs discovered by the second engineering firm after the initial engineer’s report of $542,000. All of these deficiencies must be fixed before the engineer will sign off on their family dream home. Shoring etc. has been installed to make the house safe while the following are fixed:
1. Concrete in the garage floor/shop ceiling was not to code for strength. 25MPA was used instead of 32-50MPA. Additional support was needed to keep it from collapsing.
2. Missing vapor barrier/taping of joints between SIPS panels and/or SIPS panels joints not sealed properly.
3. Missing caulking between studs for headers or columns.
4. Plywood sheeting on basement was installed horizontally instead of vertically and there was no blocking.
5. Non-galvanized nails were used in basement exterior walls.
6. Incorrect water barrier used on the basement exterior walls. The builders used regular blue tarp, not water barrier material. It was held in by place by nails and therefore compromised.
7. The weeping tile was not done according to code. In addition, insufficient gravel or no gravel was placed on the weeping tile. The weeping tile was plugged because it wasn’t capped and mud entered it through the window wells.
8. Switches, outlets, and recessed lighting were not weather proofed according to code, so wind blows through them.
9. Exterior basement walls were collapsing/caving in due to incorrect construction and backfill techniques.
10. Roof trusses that were shown in the blueprints were omitted under the eaves. The roof panels extend beyond the exterior walls more than the SIPS panels were engineered to extend. This has resulted in a dangerous cantilever effect.
11. The 33’ main beam holding up the roof is in danger of collapsing as the builder failed to install the LVL beam that was needed to bear the weight of the roof, as indicated in the blueprints. (A temporary wall was built to support the beam.)
12. Both showers were not built or waterproofed correctly. Both had to be demolished and need to be rebuilt.
13. Electrical lines are overloaded in cases (120V line carrying 240V), too many outlets per circuit, and circuits tripping all the time. Some outlets don’t even have power to them.
14. Negative slope in the main sewer line under the house.
15. Incorrect placement of in-floor heating lines. Code indicates they have to be a minimum of 12” in from the edge of a slab. They were on the outside of the slab and were accidently cut when repairing the garage floor and had to be repaired in three places. They were also on the bottom of the slab instead of in the middle.
16. Basement walls were under-engineered for the amount/height of backfill. The spacing of the studs was too far apart and all the walls were in danger of collapsing. (New basement walls were built around the entire perimeter of the home to carry the load.)
In addition, a couple of other instances that arose and increased costs for our mom and dad were:
i) $2600 of PWF plywood was stolen from the house during the weekend after it was delivered.
ii) The main power line was struck and had to be repaired. Alberta First Call marked where it went into the meter but missed where the builder took it out of the meter box down to the footings and under the corner of the house and then—instead of running it directly into the utility room—brought it out 4’ from the footings and up 3’ and ran it along the front of the house. They then took it back under the footings to the utility room.
Loving Parents, Amazing People
Our parents never intended to retire with debt. Over the last 30 years they had saved what should have been enough to pay off their family dream home mortgage in full. However, with the continual additional costs of repairs and refinishing they have been bled dry. They have had to pay for their home nearly twice over. Almost every part of the home has been rebuilt or repaired.
No one deserves this nightmare, especially not Bill and Melanie. They have worked so hard, as a High School CTS teacher and half-time LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) respectively, their entire married life. They are money conscious and did everything they could to provide a wonderful happy life for us. They taught us to laugh, to see the best in people, and to find happiness in life.
They have always treated others with kindness and respect and have touched many people’s hearts. As a teacher, Bill always saw each student for the individual they were—for their strengths—and treated them with respect when others may not have. He never gave up on students that others may have overlooked. He has helped many students reach their potential and find hidden talents that have guided the lives of those individuals. As a nurse, Melanie works hard until the job is done. She is compassionate, kind, and sees the best in her patients. She is understanding, sympathetic, and takes care of her patients in any way possible. Both our parents love to bring happiness and laughter to the people they meet. They have been an example to us girls on how to be considerate, devoted, loving, and caring to each other and those around us.
Mental Health Nightmare
Our parents have tried so hard to look at the silver linings and tender mercies in this journey and have stayed as positive as possible. However, this nightmare has consumed their whole life and has been endlessly draining on their physical, emotional, and especially mental health. They are always stressed and worried if their home will be finished, what is going to break or not work properly next, and if they can even live in it safely.
Instead of retiring, our mom has had to commute 260 km round trip to Vulcan from Raymond and work her shifts at the hospital so they can afford to keep their dream home going. Every piece of never-ending bad news gnaws at them. With all of the constant stress, our parents have not been able to truly relax and be happy for 3 years. When we get the family update, it is heartbreaking. They have worked so hard their whole lives, and to see all their hard work and hard-earned money be stolen away makes us all feel sick inside.
Our dad used to love to ride his bike, hike, and design and build in his shop, but has struggled to do the things he loves. He retired early due to a diagnosis from his Psychiatrist of Major Anxiety Disorder and depression. He had it under control for the most part until 2018, when this nightmare began triggering countless sleepless nights, panic attacks, migraines, etc. Bill is a proud man, and wants to be seen as a stalwart pillar of strength for us girls, but he has quietly told us that “anxiety and depression have taken over my life again.” This whole experience has changed him. He no longer has the same desire to work in his shop and build the furniture he was once so excited to build because now all he sees is a collapsing ceiling, shoring, broken promises, and debt. At times his depression and anxiety overwhelm him. During quiet family conversations our dad has said: “I have nothing left in me. I feel dead inside.” It tears us girls apart to see how this whole experience has affected our parents, even though they put on a brave face. We are desperate to help this nightmare end.
Please Help
This should be an exciting time in their life. They should finally be getting the home they have worked so hard for and saved so much for. Instead, they have watched their family dream home be built, torn apart, and repaired/rebuilt almost in its entirety. It has been a seemingly never-ending, haunting nightmare, and in Bill’s words: “a nightmare I never wake up from.” This dream home has been a family affair and we have all invested time and energy to help Mom and Dad whenever we can. As a family, we have all done our best to stay positive through this whole insane ordeal, but we also recognize our parent’s limits and how much they can handle. Bill and Melanie deserve to be happy again. Let’s help them feel more happiness than stress and anxiety, and get them into their family dream home that is safe and sound. Please help us raise $160,000 and together we can help wake them from this 3-year nightmare. Thank you so much for your support. Every little bit helps.
Scroll for photos, supporting documents, and videos.
Link to Supporting Documents Provided to Bill and Melanie Regarding Home Safety and Repairs
Videos of Repairs to Garage Floor/Shop Ceiling
My three sisters and I have set up a fundraiser for our parents, Bill and Melanie Brandley. Bill and Melanie have been saving up to build their family dream home in Raymond for over 30 years. As retirement drew near, they found a builder and the dream home they had been saving and planning for started to become a reality. Both of them were so excited. It started out as a dream coming true. However, soon their dream morphed into a 3-year twisted nightmare. A nightmare where the builder walked away, dissolved the company, and moved to the United States to escape liability. A nightmare of continual false promises and lies. A nightmare where Bill and Melanie have had to do emergency repairs to stay in their unfinished home—that was deemed unsafe to live in by engineers—and are having to pay for it twice over. A nightmare of sleepless nights, constant and growing stress, anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. A nightmare of endless complications, financial burden, and strain.
Their Dream
While living in Vulcan for the past 32 years, our parents lived in a modest duplex while raising us in order to save money for our education and for their dream home when both of them retired; Bill from teaching, and Melanie from nursing. They saved and invested early on so they would have sufficient funds to pay for their family dream home in full…or so they thought.
In 2015, they began designing their new home. Bill taught Design and Computer-Aided Design at the High School in Vulcan and was able to use those skills to design the house exactly the way they wanted it. Everything had a place and purpose. The entire design was based on the future needs of the family and furniture Bill had built including: kitchen cabinets, vanities, end tables, dressers, dining table, etc. Each room was meticulously designed with the family’s future growth and Bill’s custom furniture pieces in mind; where the windows would be in relation to the furniture, placement of outlets based on furniture uses, room dimensions, etc. They designed closets (“baby bunkers”) in some of the rooms to fit play pens and have proper venting and lighting for their grandbabies. Kitchen cabinets were created at specific depths and sizes for specific purposes. The woodworking shop was designed to not only build projects for the family, but also to put on future workshops for teachers.
Not only did they design the general dimensions like room size, but they also included details for each of the trades such as electrical diagrams for the electricians to follow so there would be no guess work. In Bill’s words, “Every inch of it was thought through and done with purpose.” It should have been simple to have the house done correctly and safely based on the plans that Bill and Melanie spent countless hours discussing, designing, and refining.
Deception
In August of 2017, Bill and Melanie were ready to find a builder for their family dream home. They heard of a builder that used SIPS construction, which is what they wanted to use for their home because of its ease of construction and energy efficiency. They did their homework and searched out different builders, talked with recent homeowners that had built, and decided on the builder. The builder they chose claimed to be experts on building with SIPS. Bill and Melanie searched for any online reviews of the builders, but no negative reviews surfaced. Later they found out it was due to the builder requiring client(s) sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) preventing them from complaining (or the builder wouldn’t finish/fix their home). On September 1, 2017, the deal to purchase the perfect lot went through and they started communications with the architect used by the builder. Over the next few months our parents met with the builders and architect several times to work out details and confirm costs.
On February 15, 2018, Bill and Melanie signed a contract with the builder. The contract stated the completion date as September 1, 2018 (6.5 months later). At the time the contract was signed they were told that they would most likely take possession in 4.5 months at the latest.
Bill was told by the builder to get busy making the kitchen cabinets in anticipation of the move. Bill and Melanie were excited at the thought of their family dream home—that they had worked so hard for—coming true. However, they were grossly misled.
Approximately one week after the contract was signed, the down payment of over $118,000 for the home was transferred to the builder. The builder broke ground and then basically stopped all construction. At the end of May, it was apparent to Bill and Melanie that the builder had lied about nearly everything that had been promised. The builder was slow to return any of their calls or texts. Bill confronted them with the concerns he and Melanie had but the builder reassured them that everything was fine and they would get back on schedule. They claimed it was a problem with finding good crews, however, that was just the beginning of empty reassurances, false promises, and blatant lies.
For the next two years Bill and Melanie spent much of their limited spare time making the 260 km round trip, often several times a week, to check on the progress of the home. On their visits, they caught many construction mistakes and thought they had caught them all. They assumed that structurally the house was sound, however, they would soon find out that that was not the case.
Many issues arose during the contracted building time, such as:
1. Refusal to install countertops because that company had not been paid by the builder for previous jobs.
2. The entire “peel and stick” waterproof membrane on the roof had to be stripped and redone even though the builder said it only needed to be repaired. When photos taken by our dad were sent to the shingle manufacturer, our parents were told everything had to be completely redone.
3. The roof leaks. Water runs under the soffit and drips onto the wall above the kitchen window.
4. The home being de-enrolled from New Home Warranty for a time because of too many claims against the builder.
5. A serious deflection (bending) of over 2” of the support beams in the garage floor/shop ceiling. In addition, there was nearly a 6” difference between the lowest part and the highest part of the ceiling in the shop.
6. The electricity being shut off (as the builder hadn’t paid the electrical bill) preventing various trades from finishing.
7. Plumbing issues including raw-sewage back up into the finished basement because the clean-out cap on the main sewer line was removed and the builder didn’t repair the main back-flow valve that was broken during pouring of the footings.
At a Stand Still- More Than One Year Later
Progress had halted. Trades hired by the builder stopped working because they hadn’t been paid. Bill and Melanie—through their bank—had already provided the builder with the money to pay them. Bill and Melanie had no choice but to pay an additional $105,000 out-of-pocket to play catch-up and pay the trades for work completed so they would continue to work on the house and remove a lien. Since the build was taking so long, they had to pay an additional $12,000 in interest while the house sat unfinished; this was on top of their mortgage which, by this point, was obviously not going to be paid off due to all the unforeseen costs.
Bill and Melanie were bleeding money because they were double paying for a significant amount of work done on the house. They bought and paid for the installation of the garage doors, air conditioning, generator, countertops, carpeting, flooring, some windows, concrete work, etc., all of which should have been paid for by the builder.
Once the tradesmen were paid, they continued to work so Bill and Melanie could move into their unfinished dream home—one year late. The builder had proved to be extremely unreliable, but Bill and Melanie chose to be resilient and do everything they could to keep the project going. They injected more money and invested additional time to personally work on unfinished projects around the house.
Bill has a talent for anything construction or building related and consequently used his expertise to help the builder everywhere he could. He replaced flooring that had been damaged; installed missing electrical outlets, switches, and lights (with the help of his friend Larry); finished installing the fireplaces; designed, made, and installed sleeves to cover the stairway posts (to help the builder reduce costs); patched holes in the walls and ceiling; and installed the kitchen backsplash tiles. The builder showed up here and there to work. They officially walked away from the home just before Christmas of 2019, abandoning Bill and Melanie and their family dream home. But Bill and Melanie still had hope and gave the builder the benefit of the doubt.
Hidden Dangers, Continual Problems
Bill and Melanie thought that the worst was behind them. Little did they know that every day would bring a new piece of hell into their life. Once they moved in, new problems began to surface. They had to start making claims through New Home Warranty just after Christmas because they could not keep up with all the issues that were arising.
In January of 2020 they put in a claim regarding the garage floor/shop ceiling as it was sagging and two of the metal beams—used to support the garage floor/shop ceiling—had not been installed by the builder; they feared the garage floor would collapse. In the days that followed they received the engineer’s report stating that the garage floor/shop ceiling was in danger of collapse and would have to be shored up—which they did.
After this report, a more thorough inspection of the whole home was completed. Bill and Melanie received a letter and report from the warranty company/engineers stating that the house has “potentially serious construction issues… and we strongly suggest that you make alternate living arrangements and exit the home immediately pending our further investigation." Thankfully the New Home Warranty's insurance company worked tirelessly with contractors to shore up the home and make it safe for Bill and Melanie to live in while all the repairs were taking place.
In addition they received another letter (Building Failure Report) from Alberta Municipal Affairs indicating that there were structural failure issues with the home. Our parents were devastated. The hope of their family dream home was slowly and excruciatingly being pried from their fingers more and more each day. Depression and anxiety worsened with each bit of bad news.
Financial Nightmare- Cost of Repairs
In May of 2020 Bill and Melanie received a comprehensive report from the engineer hired by the insurance company. The report indicated that there were repairs in excess of $542,000 that needed to be done to our parent’s still unfinished family dream home. The house they had invested so much money, time, and love into over the last two years was considered a knockdown because of the costs of repairs. The list of repairs was 26 pages long.
Unfortunately, Bill and Melanie did not have the funds to knock it all down and start over; they would have had to pay off the current mortgage and take out another for $600,000. Our parents never planned on having a $1,000,000 mortgage. The maximum claim amount paid out by the New Home Warranty insurance company is $265,000. Bill and Melanie can’t say how much they received due to a Non-Disclosure Agreement. However, even if the maximum payment from New Home Warranty was received Bill and Melanie would not have enough to cover the repairs as outlined in the engineer’s report; they would need an additional $280,000 out-of-pocket to cover the repairs.
Our parents have depleted their savings, cashed in investments, and scrounged for odds and ends to come up with an additional $120,000. Now, after exhausting every financial avenue, they are having to take on additional debt of up to $160,000 just to get their family dream home to the point of being safe and finished, even though things like the driveway, landscaping, and concrete were already paid for in their mortgage. Bill recently decided to come out of retirement to help pay for the rebuild. He had an interview with a local school division so he can be a substitute teacher.
A Dream Slipping Out of Reach-Deficiencies that Still Need to be Repaired
The following is a partial list of additional repairs discovered by the second engineering firm after the initial engineer’s report of $542,000. All of these deficiencies must be fixed before the engineer will sign off on their family dream home. Shoring etc. has been installed to make the house safe while the following are fixed:
1. Concrete in the garage floor/shop ceiling was not to code for strength. 25MPA was used instead of 32-50MPA. Additional support was needed to keep it from collapsing.
2. Missing vapor barrier/taping of joints between SIPS panels and/or SIPS panels joints not sealed properly.
3. Missing caulking between studs for headers or columns.
4. Plywood sheeting on basement was installed horizontally instead of vertically and there was no blocking.
5. Non-galvanized nails were used in basement exterior walls.
6. Incorrect water barrier used on the basement exterior walls. The builders used regular blue tarp, not water barrier material. It was held in by place by nails and therefore compromised.
7. The weeping tile was not done according to code. In addition, insufficient gravel or no gravel was placed on the weeping tile. The weeping tile was plugged because it wasn’t capped and mud entered it through the window wells.
8. Switches, outlets, and recessed lighting were not weather proofed according to code, so wind blows through them.
9. Exterior basement walls were collapsing/caving in due to incorrect construction and backfill techniques.
10. Roof trusses that were shown in the blueprints were omitted under the eaves. The roof panels extend beyond the exterior walls more than the SIPS panels were engineered to extend. This has resulted in a dangerous cantilever effect.
11. The 33’ main beam holding up the roof is in danger of collapsing as the builder failed to install the LVL beam that was needed to bear the weight of the roof, as indicated in the blueprints. (A temporary wall was built to support the beam.)
12. Both showers were not built or waterproofed correctly. Both had to be demolished and need to be rebuilt.
13. Electrical lines are overloaded in cases (120V line carrying 240V), too many outlets per circuit, and circuits tripping all the time. Some outlets don’t even have power to them.
14. Negative slope in the main sewer line under the house.
15. Incorrect placement of in-floor heating lines. Code indicates they have to be a minimum of 12” in from the edge of a slab. They were on the outside of the slab and were accidently cut when repairing the garage floor and had to be repaired in three places. They were also on the bottom of the slab instead of in the middle.
16. Basement walls were under-engineered for the amount/height of backfill. The spacing of the studs was too far apart and all the walls were in danger of collapsing. (New basement walls were built around the entire perimeter of the home to carry the load.)
In addition, a couple of other instances that arose and increased costs for our mom and dad were:
i) $2600 of PWF plywood was stolen from the house during the weekend after it was delivered.
ii) The main power line was struck and had to be repaired. Alberta First Call marked where it went into the meter but missed where the builder took it out of the meter box down to the footings and under the corner of the house and then—instead of running it directly into the utility room—brought it out 4’ from the footings and up 3’ and ran it along the front of the house. They then took it back under the footings to the utility room.
Loving Parents, Amazing People
Our parents never intended to retire with debt. Over the last 30 years they had saved what should have been enough to pay off their family dream home mortgage in full. However, with the continual additional costs of repairs and refinishing they have been bled dry. They have had to pay for their home nearly twice over. Almost every part of the home has been rebuilt or repaired.
No one deserves this nightmare, especially not Bill and Melanie. They have worked so hard, as a High School CTS teacher and half-time LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) respectively, their entire married life. They are money conscious and did everything they could to provide a wonderful happy life for us. They taught us to laugh, to see the best in people, and to find happiness in life.
They have always treated others with kindness and respect and have touched many people’s hearts. As a teacher, Bill always saw each student for the individual they were—for their strengths—and treated them with respect when others may not have. He never gave up on students that others may have overlooked. He has helped many students reach their potential and find hidden talents that have guided the lives of those individuals. As a nurse, Melanie works hard until the job is done. She is compassionate, kind, and sees the best in her patients. She is understanding, sympathetic, and takes care of her patients in any way possible. Both our parents love to bring happiness and laughter to the people they meet. They have been an example to us girls on how to be considerate, devoted, loving, and caring to each other and those around us.
Mental Health Nightmare
Our parents have tried so hard to look at the silver linings and tender mercies in this journey and have stayed as positive as possible. However, this nightmare has consumed their whole life and has been endlessly draining on their physical, emotional, and especially mental health. They are always stressed and worried if their home will be finished, what is going to break or not work properly next, and if they can even live in it safely.
Instead of retiring, our mom has had to commute 260 km round trip to Vulcan from Raymond and work her shifts at the hospital so they can afford to keep their dream home going. Every piece of never-ending bad news gnaws at them. With all of the constant stress, our parents have not been able to truly relax and be happy for 3 years. When we get the family update, it is heartbreaking. They have worked so hard their whole lives, and to see all their hard work and hard-earned money be stolen away makes us all feel sick inside.
Our dad used to love to ride his bike, hike, and design and build in his shop, but has struggled to do the things he loves. He retired early due to a diagnosis from his Psychiatrist of Major Anxiety Disorder and depression. He had it under control for the most part until 2018, when this nightmare began triggering countless sleepless nights, panic attacks, migraines, etc. Bill is a proud man, and wants to be seen as a stalwart pillar of strength for us girls, but he has quietly told us that “anxiety and depression have taken over my life again.” This whole experience has changed him. He no longer has the same desire to work in his shop and build the furniture he was once so excited to build because now all he sees is a collapsing ceiling, shoring, broken promises, and debt. At times his depression and anxiety overwhelm him. During quiet family conversations our dad has said: “I have nothing left in me. I feel dead inside.” It tears us girls apart to see how this whole experience has affected our parents, even though they put on a brave face. We are desperate to help this nightmare end.
Please Help
This should be an exciting time in their life. They should finally be getting the home they have worked so hard for and saved so much for. Instead, they have watched their family dream home be built, torn apart, and repaired/rebuilt almost in its entirety. It has been a seemingly never-ending, haunting nightmare, and in Bill’s words: “a nightmare I never wake up from.” This dream home has been a family affair and we have all invested time and energy to help Mom and Dad whenever we can. As a family, we have all done our best to stay positive through this whole insane ordeal, but we also recognize our parent’s limits and how much they can handle. Bill and Melanie deserve to be happy again. Let’s help them feel more happiness than stress and anxiety, and get them into their family dream home that is safe and sound. Please help us raise $160,000 and together we can help wake them from this 3-year nightmare. Thank you so much for your support. Every little bit helps.
Scroll for photos, supporting documents, and videos.
Link to Supporting Documents Provided to Bill and Melanie Regarding Home Safety and Repairs
Videos of Repairs to Garage Floor/Shop Ceiling
Organizer and beneficiary
Alana Kozak
Organizer
Raymond, AB
Bill Brandley
Beneficiary