A project to install impact windows expected to be completed before hurricane season lagged on much longer.
Doris Haber called NBC 6 Responds when her newly installed impact windows started to leak. She showed us pictures of what she says is rainwater leaking through the impact windows and doors just days before Hurricane Dorian was expected to hit Florida.
"If water is coming in during normal rain, can you imagine hurricane water coming in?" Haber asked.
The hurricane didn't hit, but Doris says the scare put her into overdrive to make sure the company that installed the windows and doors came back out to fix the leak.
Haber contracted with Prestige Windows and Doors in February. She paid roughly $7,700 to install impact windows and doors at her Tamarac condo. In June, she made another payment of roughly $6,200. In July, the work started and three weeks later Haber thought the project was complete until it didn't pass inspection.
"The framework was put in backwards," Haber said.
According to the City of Tamarac's Building Department, the inspector found leaks coming from the bottom track of the door and told us it was not installed properly. The inspector wrote on the inspection report "Leaks need to be permanently fixed." Haber says the company agreed to redo the installation, but as each rainy day passed she got antsy.
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"If it rains at a certain angle I have huge puddles of water coming into my home," Haber said.
That's when she called NBC 6 Responds.
"They put me in the bottom of the stack when I should have been on the top of the stack because I signed the contract in February," Haber said.
When we looked online, we found other customers complaining of delays and failed inspections. One person wrote, "The windows were installed improperly… We could not pass our inspections."
Another person wrote, "Our 3-day project took over 3 months." Someone else complained that, "When the building inspector did the final inspection he found that one set of windows was literally not screwed in at the bottom."
We emailed Prestige Windows and Doors about Haber's project and the other complaints. They didn't respond about the other complaints. But days after hearing from us for the first time, they sent a new crew to Haber's condo to re-do the installation.
The company denied they were ever out of communication with Ms. Haber and told us in an email, "we were scheduled to return…before Labor Day, but with the impending storm we were not able, nor would it have been wise decision to begin work on that balcony." They went on to say "we have assigned a new project manager to her project, the owner has visited the home several times and all the repairs have been completed,"
"I'm very disappointed. I am very disappointed," Haber said.
It's not the stress-free window installation she imagined, but she is happy the installation is coming to a close.
"I just want it done and I want it done properly," said Haber.
The company also told us through email, that the initial project delay was caused when Haber "told the installers that the city approved installing her doors backwards to achieve the configuration she wanted." Haber denies making that request.
We asked the City of Tamarac if the originally submitted building plans approved for the windows to be installed backwards and they told us no.
