After more than a year, Paradise cul-de-sac still looks like a gravel pit. Homeowners feel ripped off
Gregory Tobin said besides being ugly, having a gravel front yard is dangerous and he's worried for his young daughter’s safety. He says items like nails and sharp rocks can be found on the street. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC)
When Thomas O'Brien stands on his Paradise home porch and looks out onto the cul-de-sac, he feels frustration and thinks about broken promises.
All the homes on his duplex-lined street in the Karwood Estates neighbourhood have gravel pits for front yards and driveways. O'Brien said that's despite a contract with the home-building company Karwood Contracting to install green lawns and paved driveways.
"I walk out my door every morning and I just feel like I'm getting ripped off. Like, every time I pull in my driveway in the evening, I'm like, I feel like they're ripping me off," he said in an interview.
"I'm paying for something that's not there and was guaranteed it, and it's not there. So it's just really, really defeating. Frustrating."
A contract signed by company vice-president Randy Oram, and reviewed by CBC News, stated work was supposed to be completed by June 30, 2023.
While O'Brien said he has contacted Karwood Contracting repeatedly by email and voicemail, he hasn't heard back. He said he's even sent a registered letter to the office, so he knows it was received.
"The times I have managed to contact someone, they say, 'We'll get back to you' [or] 'we're having a meeting.' Nothing. And it just continues on and on and on. So I don't know where else to go from here," said O'Brien.
"I feel really stuck."
WATCH | Paradise resident Thomas O'Brien is frustrated and longing for a lawn:
Shortly after speaking with CBC News, O'Brien said he went to the Karwood Contracting office and was able to speak with Oram, who told him work on the sidewalk would begin sometime this week and the contracted work for lawns and a driveway would also be done.
However, over email O'Brien, said he was skeptical if there will be follow-through on that promise.
CBC News has repeatedly asked Karwood Contracting president and owner Greg Hussey and vice president Oram for an interview but has not a received a reply.
After CBC News began making interview requests, Karwood representative Rhonda Potter contacted residents on Wednesday to say landscaping work would begin Aug. 19, starting with the concrete sidewalk.
"Once the sidewalk is completed on your property and has the proper time to cure, we will continue with the driveway paving and then the landscaping," Potter said in the message.
She wrote the work would be done in a phased approach but did not give a timeline when the work would be completed.
Potter, who job is listed as human resourced and payroll on the Karwood website, did not explain why there was a lengthy delay for contracted work but she thanked residence for their patience.
Safety issue
O'Brien said he was initially excited to move into his first home, and got the keys in September 2022. While he's grateful to have gotten onto the home property ladder, he's disappointed with how he's been treated by the company.
"I also am paying on a mortgage for, in part, work that was never completed," he said. "I like my house. I do like it… If I had my time back, I certainly wouldn't have [chosen] this option. At this point, the headache is not worth it."
The Karwood website shows what the finished home is supposed to look like, with manicured lawn as well as paved driveway. (Karwood Contracting)
For O'Brien's neighbour Gregory Tobin, the gravel pit in front of his home is a matter of safety. He and his wife Allison had a baby a year ago and he's concerned about his daughter getting injured if she steps outside.
"I have to worry about my daughter being out on the gravel and getting hurt. Like it's just ridiculous. And like, just some answers from Karwood is really all we're looking for," Tobin told CBC News.
Tobin said when they first moved in, Karwood Contracting was easy to reach whenever they had an issue with the home.
"Now it kind of just seems like all of our emails are being ignored. Our phone calls aren't being answered. And yeah, now it's just a complete mystery onto where and — or if — our landscaping is going to be done."
Worried he might be facing a third winter with a gravel pit for a front yard, Tobin said he works full-time and is worried his wife will have to shovel the gravel driveway during a snowstorm when he isn't there, flinging rocks about.
"When there's a gravel driveway… it's really difficult to get that done, especially for her when I'm not home. So it's a big concern, right?" said Tobin, adding that there are still nails and screws in the area, left over from the construction period.
Beyond the safety concerns, it's also ugly, said Tobin.
"It's terrible to look at. I mean, I have family come over for dinners and whatnot and unfortunately it's commented about every single person that comes over to our house now, for sure," said Tobin.
When the deadline to get the contracted work had passed last summer, Tobin said he wanted to give Karwood Contracting the benefit of the doubt.
But he has also become frustrated by the longstanding silence from the company.
"I haven't been able to reach them at all. I've sent emails to them talking about potential lawyers and they aren't biting at all. I'm not getting any responses, nor is my wife or my neighbours," he said. "We're all kind of fed up now."
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