GRAY, Ga. — One Jones county family says they're experiencing troubled waters inside their home.
They say they bought their first home a year and half ago in the Piedmont Lakes Subdivision and it's flooded several times since.
"This past time that came in, it was about three inches of water that covered every inch of my home,” Justin Crecelius said.
Crecelius says this is his first time buying a home, and he used his VA loan to get it.
"I was pretty excited about that. To have a place for my young family to have a place to grow and live,” he said.
Crecelius says they moved in as soon as the building finished, but began to notice issues soon after.
“You know, after the first rain it was pooling pretty bad in the backyard, almost like a little lake,” he said. “It was halfway up the trampoline. I mean, the trampoline is about four to five feet off the ground, so that was pretty concerning.”
He said even a light rain would flood their yard, leaving them trapped inside their home.
Crecelius said he contacted their broker who brought in the builder to fix the drainage problem.
However, the water just kept coming back.
"It flooded my garage, probably, anywhere between maybe 10-15 times,” he said.
The water has flooded the inside of their home twice.
"Damaged all the flooring, any furniture that's touching the water, the cabinets, the trimming, the sheet rock, the insulation, possible electrical– it could be anywhere between $80,000 to $100,000, including mold remediation, to make it livable,” he said.
Crecelius says he's had to move his family out since then.
“We’re staying somewhere else, we’re having to factor that into our budget and continue to pay for our house. I don’t have much cash just laying around,” Crecelius said.
He says he’s reached out to the developer several times over the past year. Crecelius says they did try to fix the problem by installing a rock wall and silt fences around the house to keep the water out.
He says it didn't work.
"Pretty much said it's on me or the insurance company. They can't help me because I don't have flooding insurance because it's not required. It's not supposed to happen every time it rains,” Crecelius said.
13WMAZ reached out to Haim Haviv, the developer of the home and owner of H&A Homes inc. at Piedmont Lakes Subdivision in Jones County.
"I owned this property for 18 years, it never flood before,” he said.
Haviv says he hired an independent building company to build the homes there. He says the builders sold a one year warranty to the homeowners, but has tried to help with the flooding despite that.
"I spent thousands of dollars. It's not my building but I didn’t mind to help the builder to get out of this issue,” Haviv said.
He says it's unfortunate, but they cannot help every time there is severe weather.
"You know, weather issues there and it floods, It's usually the homeowners responsibility.”
Haviv says they're hiring an independent contractor to assess the property and find solutions to the flooding.