A South Florida man says he woke up in the middle of the night to find sewage pouring into his home. When a plumber told him a contractor blocked a pipe causing the damage, he called Help Me Howard with Brandon Beyer.
George Saucedo (playing with his dog): “Sit. Good boy.”
George Saucedo and his family have opened their home to seven rescue dogs.
George Saucedo: “Either showed up on the front door or somebody called and said ‘Hey I found this dog we can’t locate it’s owner.'”
When they meet a dog who needs a home, they take it in.
George Saucedo: “We’re not gonna send them to a shelter to maybe get put down, so they kind of get adopted and never leave. They are all family.”
They’re good family members.
It was one of the dogs who alerted George to his problem late one night just a few months ago.
George Saucedo: “My dog starts barking like crazy. I’m like ‘OK, Somebody must be at the front door.’ So I come downstairs and I’m stepping in two inches of water.”
The downstairs was flooded. And the water was dirty.
George Saucedo:”There’s things in the water that you’re like ‘OK this is sewer, this is sewer coming up, this isn’t coming out of a water pipe.'”
George shut the water off and got to cleaning.
George Saucedo: “The next three hours involved me mopping shop, [vacuuming], just trying to get the water up before it caused any damage.”
Then he hired a plumber to find what happened.
George Saucedo: “They ran a camera through the tube and said ‘You have 100% obstruction in the front yard from the sewer pipe that goes out to the street.'”
George says a company doing work in the neighborhood had damaged his sewer line and since the sewage had nowhere to go, it backed up inside the house.
George Saucedo: “This whole area right here was all dug up.”
George paid for the repairs himself. Almost $3,700.
George Saucedo: “I didn’t have a choice, we literally couldn’t live in the house because we couldn’t use any of the restrooms couldn’t turn the water on, no faucets, nothing.”
When he reported the damage to the company who doing the work …
George Saucedo: “Please provide pictures and a copy of the invoice from the plumber for the repairs.”
But then, George says they went silent.
George Saucedo: “That was the last time I ever had them reach out to me about anything. I’ve never spoken to anybody on the telephone.”
And that’s when he thought of Help Me Howard.
George Saucedo: “That would maybe it would trigger someone over there and say ‘We better respond to this guy.'”
Howard, the damage is clear. Is the company responsible for the repairs?
Howard Finkelstein: “Yes they are. Contractors can sometimes claim a pipe was old or already compromised. That’s why a camera inspection is key. It shows if the break was caused by negligence or natural wear and tear. In this case, the pictures tell the story. The company working on George’s property damaged the sewer line so they are responsible.”
We called the company and left a message.
The very next day, the owner paid George a visit.
George Saucedo: “‘I wanted to come over as soon as I found out and give you a check. I apologize for the delay and the damage it caused to you and I hope that everything is OK now.'”
That’s all George wanted: for the money he’d spent making the repairs to be paid back to him.
Glad we could help!
George Saucedo: “I think that made all the difference in the world. I was running around chasing my tail for months and then all the sudden get the right people involved and the team and everything and it gets solved.”
Companies have the right to be on your property to fix things, that’s called an easement. But you should always make a note as to who’s there in case something happens. Because if something goes wrong, it might not show up right away.
Got a problem? Need a hand? Here’s how to find us below. It’s Help Me Howard. I’m Brandon Beyer, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Brandon Beyer at bbeyer@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
