NORFOLK, Va. — A 96-year-old bedridden woman's ceiling is now repaired after it collapsed on her at her home in Stuart Circle. Her family says it was due to a poor HVAC job, and they're now pushing for justice.
"I thank God for saving me," said Ms. Griffin.
Previous coverage: 96-year-old Norfolk woman's ceiling caves in after getting new AC unit
Griffin says she still remembers bits and pieces of June 30. She hired Norfolk Air Heating and Cooling to install a new AC unit inside her home — a job she paid over $10,000 for. On Saturday, a leak formed, and by Sunday morning, plaster started falling from the ceiling onto her.
Manesha Downer-Banks, her granddaughter, says she made multiple service calls to Norfolk Air Heating and Cooling to report the damage. Contractors did come out to fix the ceiling and re-paint, but she says they never fixed the floors from the water leakage.
"All of this was saturated, full of water for about three to four days. They didn't come in and make sure there was no mold, they didn't do any of this," said Downer-Banks.
News 3's Kelsey Jones called the general manager of Norfolk Air Heating and Cooling to get answers. She asked if the company was taking action to understand the root cause of why the ceiling collapsed after the AC unit was installed, and if they're still working with the homeowner to resolve the issue.
In response, the company shared the following statement:
"We had a contractor on site Monday to clean up everything and he was scheduled to go back on Tuesday to repair the sheet rock damage. I spoke with Miss Banks on Tuesday morning and she insisted this go through our insurance company which we did. I provided a claim number to her on that date and advised that she have her insurance company work directly with ours."
"It's just been a lot of things going on because you have someone that's bedridden. We have her one place. Now, she's got to be somewhere else," said Downer-Banks.
Downer-Banks says because of the collapse, her grandmother's hospital bed is no longer usable. She says she is currently looking at lawyers and they hope to be compensated.
