Woman turns to Ted for help with leaky roof

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A southwest Houston mother couldn't get help to fix her roof.

When Smith couldn't get her condo's management firm to fix her roof leak, she turned to our investigative reporter Ted Oberg and he got to work.

Smith has pulled up hardwood floors, taken out a fireplace, crawled through her attic looking for leaks to no avail.

Smith's husband, Lt. Jamaal Smith, left for Iraq with the Army National Guard nearly a full year ago.

Bernadette is raising their daughter Reagan on her own while he's away.

A month after Jamaal deployed, Bernadette noticed the water dripping from the ceiling in their daughter's room during a rainstorm.

"I was putting her to sleep and noticed there was water," she said.

The leak wasn't a gusher. But it was persistent. Persistent enough that she needed to replace the drywall on the ceiling and take out a fireplace in her daughter's room due to water damage. Then Harvey came - the complex didn't flood, not even close, but her place did.

"When I looked there was a pool of water over there," she said.

That water was dripping down all the way from the roof. The hardwood floors got squishy. She ripped them up and hasn't replaced them since she's not certain the roof leaks are fixed. She says the management company, Texas Management, was hard to get in touch with.

They visited her home but didn't fix the problem. After she got in touch with the BBB and our Turn To Ted team, some repairs were made, but a pressure test still showed water kept coming in.

Flashing on the chimney was then repaired, the company installed a new chimney cap and promised to help pay for the interior repairs.

"Being that my home was damaged due to them, they would be responsible for the interior portion as well," she said.

We're going to check back and make sure it's fixed. Her husband is due home shortly after the New Year.

Do you have a story tip, idea or question for Ted Oberg Investigates? Let us know, at abc13.com/tedstips