Storms that swept through North Texas two years ago still haunt a Cleburne grandmother.
In May 2013, tornadoes left a swath of debris from Granbury to South Central Oklahoma. Doris Sims' home sits near the storm's path.
"I was not home," she said. "When I got home, the house was leaking. Trees were down."
Sims, now 81, said days later, someone from Delta Improvements knocked on her door.
"'Your roof is in bad shape and we can fix it,'" she recalled the salesman telling her.
Sims hired them, but she had no way of knowing that, while Delta Improvements sells services like roofing, it has no actual roofers. Instead, the company hires contractors.
Less than two years after her insurance paid more than $9,000 for a new roof, it began to leak.
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"It was raining in here," Sims said, pointing to peeling paint on her ceiling.
It rained heavily in May and Sims showed NBC 5’s Consumer Team the area throughout the home that showed clear evidence of water damage.
When emailed pictures of the roof, Tyler Jenkins of Delta Improvements wrote that he was "disgusted" by the quality of the work. He sent more contractors to make repairs.
"So they just patched it right here," Sims said, pointing to a square area that protruded slightly from the ceiling of her family room. The night two workers repaired the roof, it rained heavily.
“I got up that Wednesday and water was coming down the sheetrock and on my carpet in the living room," Sims said.
Sims called the Cleburne city inspector, who took pictures of her rain-soaked attic. The inspector told NBC 5’s consumer specialist Deanna Dewberry that he considered the work substandard. At that point, Sims said she had enough.
"I said, 'Lord, I'll do the best I can. I'll take it out of my pocket, borrow the money and get it fixed right,'" she said.
Sims called a competitor, Stevan Buren, who owns a Cleburne-based roofing and remodeling company. Buren took pictures of exposed nails throughout the roof that he said allowed rain to seep through. In other areas, wood framing in the 70-year-old home had rotted. Buren said the Delta contractors had simply nailed shingles over rotted wood.
"They're just floating over a surface," said Buren.
Christmas in Action, a nonprofit organization that repairs homes for low-income, elderly or disabled homeowners, gave Sims $4,000 toward repairing her home. Sims took out a loan for $2,000. Buren reframed and replaced the roof for $6,000, a fraction, he said, of the actual cost.
Contact numbers for Delta Improvements have been disconnected and their Dallas offices are now empty, but Dewberry found a former partner who left the business. He gave her contact numbers for the current owners, including Roger Johnson, who calls himself the Chief Strategy Officer.
Johnson blamed the poor quality of the roof on the contractor who he said "grossly misrepresented his skills." But he insisted all his contractors are certified and he's never had a problem like this before.
Sims just wants the company to make it right.
“It’s horrible to do an old woman like this,” she said.
Sims said she wants Delta to pay back her loan and Christmas in Action so the funds can be used for others in her community.
Johnson told NBC 5 he believes Sims shouldn’t have to pay “one red dime” to replace her roof. He and a former partner, Daniel Waite, vow to pay back Sims' loan.
Days after NBC 5 contacted leaders of Delta Improvements, the company's website disappeared. While leaders said it's still in business, we've not been able to verify that.
Before you hire a roofer, ask:
- To see their insurance certificate.
- Whether they use a national supplier for materials. Most reputable roofers do.
- If he has a warranty on workmanship in addition to the warranty on materials.
- Whether he belongs to a professional roofing organization like the Texas Association of Roofing Contractors or the North Texas Roofing Contractors Association.
The organizations are so concerned about the state of roofing in Texas they have lobbied the state legislature for licensing. NTRCA has also launched a campaign to inform consumers about hiring a reputable roofer.
