[StBernard] Action Report: Foundation problems unsettle St. Bernard family

[Westley Annis]

Action Report: Foundation problems unsettle St. Bernard family

09:46 PM CDT on Friday, August 7, 2009

 Bill Capo / Eyewitness News

bcapo at wwltv.com 


ST. BERNARD, La. - Frank and Lynnell Mumphrey were thrilled when they moved
into their new $120,000 modular home in Chalmette. 


"I was so excited. I was thinking, I was picking out colors, I was going to
pick out all these curtains," Lynnell Mumphrey said.   

But two months later Lynnell says Frank's blood pressure is sky high as they
worry about a series of problems, from unpainted walls to doors that won't
close properly. 

"They wouldn't close at all. What do you have to do to get the doors closed?
You have to grab it and yank it as hard as you can," said Frank Mumphrey. 

They say the outside stairs were not installed properly, nor was the skirt
placed around the base of the home. Then Frank saw a bulge in the outside
wall. 

"You can see how it bows out, the clapboards are loose. The straps, they
like, they're not tight," said Frank. 

But what keeps them awake at night is that the house sits on stacks of
concrete blocks that have not been cemented together. They live in fear of
strong winds. 

"The least little shake. It's just blocks stacked on top of each other,
there's nothing holding them. Have the blocks been shifting? It looks like
it," said Frank. 

There are metal tie-down strips like those for a trailer, but the Mumphreys
say what they bought was a modular home. They could not contact the builder,
SunBrite Homes, which a spokesman for the state attorney general says is
still shut down during an investigation. So they asked the St. Bernard
Project, which has been helping hurricane victims rebuild their homes, to
take a look. 

"You've got this cinder block foundation that with a strong gust of wind,
we're in hurricane season, it could go over, and I know the Mumphreys are
living in fear that at any moment their house might collapse on them," said
David Emond, from the St. Bernard Project, 

When members of the St. Benrard Project saw this, that's when they decided
to send an email to the Action Line, because this was a situation they were
not prepared to handle. 

"We're not able to do foundation work, and so we really need a company to
come in, and help get the Mumphreys what they need to repair their
foundation. We'd also love to have an engineer come out," said Emond. 

An engineer or foundation professionals, both the Mumphreys and the St.
Bernard Project are seeking expert advice on making sure the home is safe,
as both members of this family are disabled, so finances are extremely
tight.