Final repairs to tornado-damaged home took two years

Several trees fell on Mary Spivey's house during the tornado outbreak, punching out her roof.

"You could not walk in here. You could not come in this room because the whole ceiling was down," Spivey said recently.

To help her rebuild, Spivey hired Nehemiah Builders and owner Donald Evans, out of Raleigh. The cost of the repairs was $42,000, and she signed the contract in July 2011.

Two years later, she was still waiting for the project to wrap up: Shoe molding needed to be installed in two rooms, a ceiling fan wasn't up in the bedroom, a handle and vent were missing from a utility closet, a garage light didn't work and new gutters had to be installed.

Spivey said she called Evans more than 20 times to finish the project but kept hearing the same thing.

"He don't give you no problems," she said. "He's coming. He makes you think he's on his way, but he's not on his way."

The last time they talked was February, she said.

Not long after 5 on Your Side left Spivey's house, Evans called her, promising workers would be there to finish the projects.

"He said he'll make sure he's here tomorrow, and they're going to finish up tomorrow – everything," she said.

A spokeswoman for Nehemiah Builders told 5 on Your Side that Evans thought the project was finished back in March 2012.

Workers for the company recently wrapped up all punch-list projects, but Spivey said an employee then stopped by her house with a letter the company drafted for her to sign.

The letter says, in part, that she wants "5 on Your Side to cease all investigations regarding the work" and that she realizes "Nehemiah Builders were very generous ... in a time of need."

"He said, 'Oh, I have two papers here, if you don't mind signing them, because I need to get paid, because I got to pay my bills," Spivey said.

Nehemiah Builders also noted that it included several complementary upgrades on the project, including giving Spivey a television.

Spivey now confirms that all of the work is done on her home and that she is happy with the work and happy to have the storm of 2011 finally behind her.