A COUPLE are still fighting for justice after shoddy building work left them with a crumbling extension to their now “unsellable home”.
Howard and Tracy Bullock are still paying the price for the sub-standard ground floor extension they had built in 2006.
The work was carried out by Southern Glass Windows and Conservatories, in Southend, which went into administration earlier this year with debts of almost £600,000.
The firm had admitted liability for the work on the home, in Twinstead, Wickford, but after it went bust, the couple were left high and dry.
The company was eventually taken over by rival firm Rayleigh Glass, which now trades under the name Southern Glass Ltd, but is completely separate from the original business.
The extension, which comprised of a kitchen and breakfast area, is now in an even worse state, with gaping cracks in the walls and a floor which “pushes up”.
Tracy, 36, who has two young children with Howard, 40, said: “We don’t even use the extension. We can’t really. We block it off.
“The cracks have got so bad, I’m worried the whole thing is going to crumble. I don’t let the kids play in there.
“We can’t even sell the house. If we did, we’d have to knock at least £100,000 off the asking price.
“It’s been going on for so long. We want to hear from anyone who has been through the same thing.
“We are thinking about starting up a fighting campaign group to get the people responsible to pay up.”
The couple will have to fork out about £108,000 themselves to repair the extension – money they don’t have.
The work on the home caused ground-heave, the opposite of subsidence, causing the floor to push up and the walls to crack.
At least five customers and dozens of businesses were left out of pocket when Southern Glass went into administration in February.
The buyout by Rayleigh Glass did not oblige the firm to take on Southern Glass’s debts.
Tracy, who paid for the £20,000 dream extension after selling her design business six years ago, said: “It’s only going to get worse for us, but we want to at least try to do something.
“We just want some justice and urge anyone in the same position to contact us.”
E-mail the couple at elegant decor@btinternet.com if you’ve been affected.
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