Hillsborough Woman Bugged By Damage To Home

In April, Renee Karlsen paid Terminex exterminators to spray around her house to get rid of unwanted insects.

Two days later, Karlsen noticed a white chemical residue staining the siding.

"You can tell where it drips all the way around the gutter and down the side of the doorway," she said.

Karlsen called Terminex's Chapel Hill office and a manager asked her to get a repair estimate. Karlsen sent in an estimate that was just under $1,500.

After repeated unreturned calls to the branch office, Karlsen called the company's corporate office. She was told that the estimate was too high and that the company's contractor would contact Karlsen for an appointment.

That exchange took place in June; Karlsen has been trying to get the contractor out to her home ever since.

"I don't want to pay $1,500. No, they should do that," Karlsen said.

Karlsen called Five on Your Side. Within hours of Five On Your Side's call to Terminex, the company's contractor went to Karlsen's house and took a sample of her siding to match.

"I wondered what you did," she said with a laugh. "All this frustration I've been through and all of a sudden one phone call and they're over here trying to work this out, which I hope they do," she said.

A Terminex spokesman blames the delay on a conflict in scheduling. He said Karlsen's replacement siding had to be special ordered.

The spokesman said the siding is supposed to be in next Friday, and workers should start replacing it the following Monday.