Durham family gets home repairs for the holidays

Pettiford, who lives with her daughter and sister in Durham’s Walltown, was dealing with persistent leaks in her 1940s era home.

“I put one of those big storage containers under the main leak and that caught most of the water,” Pettiford said.

Thanks to friends, Kenneth Combs and his company, CQC Home, were able to connect with the Pettifords. The contracting company was looking to provide free home repairs to a family in need just in time for Christmas.

“Our goal was to pull those ceilings down, fix the roof leak, and put the ceilings back up,” said Combs.

When Combs began working on the house Tuesday, he discovered the problems with the home were much worse than anybody initially thought.

“The ceiling was rotting away, the floor was rotting away. [There was] mold and other contaminants,” said Combs.

Combs, who is also a Durham native, said he couldn’t ignore the glaring problems that were found, so his team took on the bigger and more expensive project.

Pettiford felt shock at the fact that her home was going to receive such special treatment.

“You see this type of thing on TV. I never thought it would be my house,” she said. “I’m so happy and I’m so proud and I’m getting ready to cry.”