Leeanne Fenwick was in tears, her husband, Dave, was gutted and their family home left in a shambles when a builder walked out on renovation work, which was supposed to see the Glendale couple into retirement.
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The Fenwicks say they are more than $40,000 out of pocket after self-proclaimed builder Jason Tilse refused to finish work despite the house not having a roof, walls and frames unfinished and decking in a state that it had to be pulled back up and replaced.
But the extraordinarily kind nature of dozens of strangers, some who have travelled from as far as Sydney to lend a hand after seeing the Fenwicks’ plight on social media, now sees the couple with a roof back over their heads and hope that their Glendale property may one day be restored.
An emotional Facebook post by Mrs Fenwick as she sat in her partially destroyed home went viral last week and within days, she had roofers turning up unannounced to offer their services for free, young groups of handymen travelling from the Central Coast to lend a hand and others even jumping on trains from Sydney to do a day’s work at the Main Road property.
The builder let us down, took our money then demanded $20,000 to come back and finish the job. We're broke, I gave him much of my superannuation after being medically retired from work. We live in Glendale, it is with much shame and heartache that we will accept any volunteers, labourers, tradies etc to lend a hand. It rained last night and the inside of our house is soaking wet because our beautiful friend, brother in law (both with heart conditions) and husband were unable to put shelter up because of exhaustion after working hard for the last couple of days from early morning until dark. — feeling sad.
- -Leeanne Fenwick's Facebook post
On Thursday, as the storms rolled towards Lake Macquarie, a team of State Emergency Service volunteers even turned up and put tarps over the house to keep them dry.
‘‘We are just absolutely overwhelmed by all of this,’’ Mrs Fenwick said. ‘‘We have always been blessed, we have had healthy kids and everything. But we are absolutely blessed.
‘‘And it has restored a lot of our faith back in humanity.’’
Mr Fenwick said: ‘‘Although there are a few rogues out there, you do find out that there are also a lot of people with a heart of gold who will help strangers.’’
Mrs Fenwick was forced into premature retirement after 25 years working for the Department of Community Services because of a debilitating muscle disease and a bone disease to the spine.
The couple decided to spend what they could to renovate a Queenslander room as well as adapting the property to be more wheelchair friendly for when Mrs Fenwick becomes less mobile.
‘‘It was our life’s money. We paid the house off, paid some bills and were left with this so we could do what was needed,’’ Mrs Fenwick said.
They chose Mr Tilse and his company, who spent several weeks demolishing parts of the house before picking up tools and leaving about two weeks ago.
The Fenwicks said they had given Mr Tilse about $47,000 despite a quote of $43,000. The only work completed were decks outside the front and back doors, which will have to be ripped up and redone.
The Queensland room remained a work in progress yesterday. Friends have helped put up trusses and roof frames before a specialist roofer, Ricky Balcombe, turned up out of the blue with a crew and helped out.
Handyman Tom Allen also got in contact with the Fenwicks and turned up with a crew.
‘‘They said we have one crew out doing a job but they didn’t have much on,’’ Mr Fenwick said.
‘‘And then he turned to me the other day and said ‘we are here until it is completed’. They are coming all the way from Budgewoi.’’
Women with no building knowledge have walked past and decided to lend a hand, including one who spent more than a day taking out hundreds of screws from the back deck.
‘‘It has just blown me away, the help we have received,’’ Mrs Fenwick said.
The Newcastle Herald could not contact Mr Tilse yesterday, with one phone number he gave the Fenwicks disconnected and another turned off all day.
But a Department of Fair Trading spokeswoman said the department was assessing a complaint from the Fenwicks and considering an investigation for incomplete and defective building work by Jason Tilse, trading as Affordable Building Pty Ltd.
The spokeswoman said the company was not a licensed builder and ‘‘as the company is unlicensed, Fair Trading is unable to carry out a technical inspection or attempt mediation and Mrs Fenwick has been provided the option of pursuing the matter in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal’’.
