‘It was a very traumatic experience:’ Ky. family warns others after home repair nightmare

WINCHESTER, Ky. (WKYT) - A Winchester woman has a warning for other homeowners. More than a year after storms damaged her house, the repairs still aren’t finished.

“Our contractor has left with money that we had given him,” said Patricia Overbee, whose home was damaged.

Overbee is upset that she owns a home she can’t live in. She and her family had just moved in when a tree fell on the roof during a storm, and all of them inside.

“It was a very traumatic experience,” Overbee said.

Luckily, the family suffered minor injuries. They wanted to rebuild, so they reached out to the contractor who sold them the house. He had remolded it before putting it on the market.

“It was gorgeous, so we had confidence in him that he could build it just like it was,” Overbee said.

Overbee said the contractor started the repairs, but then they ran into issues.

“I gave him $5,000 to do some extra work that hasn’t been done, and I haven’t seen him since that check was written,” Overbee said.

She says the contractor left about $30,000 of work undone. The family has contacted police. They’re upset their insurance company can’t do more and said the city hasn’t been much help.

The city owned the tree that fell.

“And now the city wants me to clean this mess up because I think they think we’ve abandoned the property,” Overbee said.

Overbee is warning homeowners to watch out for shady contractors.

“He won’t return our calls or messages, and he did not purchase the items that we had paid him for,” Overbee said.

Overbee and her family hope to find their contractor and take him to court. In the meantime, they’ve been staying at a friend’s house as they try to rebuild.

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