Roofers cut pipe, flood homes in Baldwin Park; roofing company says pipe wasn't up to code

ORLANDO, Fla. - Four families in Baldwin Park are starting the new year homeless.

Bobby Slaven is a community representative elected to speak on behalf of that section of Baldwin Park. Workers with Advanced Roofing cut through a water line, flooding four townhouses just before Christmas. 

"Still kind of just in disbelief," Slaven said about the families losing their homes unexpectedly. "People are just kind of left wondering, ‘What can we do?’ What their rights are, and how can they best protect their homes?"

It’s been two weeks since the County slapped "condemned" signs on the four homes. The homeowners have been trying to get in contact with the homeowners' association ever since. They say they want a sit-down meeting but haven’t heard back about that. 

FOX 35 asked for the same and hasn’t heard back either.

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We did get hold of the president and founder of Advanced Roofing, Rob Kornahrens. 

"I've been in it roofing 55 years. I've never seen anything like this before," he told FOX 35 about the mishap that led to the flooding.

Kornahrens says Advanced Roofing has done work in Baldwin Park before. However, he says the workers encountered unforeseen conditions on this project. 

"It's very unfortunate to see people displaced before the holidays. You know, we feel for them," said Kornahrens.

Florida’s new building code states pipes installed under the roof need a minimum clearance of one and a half inches.

Advanced Roofing says the pipe its workers cut through didn’t meet that standard. 

"You start thinking, what could we done differently or whatever? And we we've passed that," said Kornahrens. "It's no longer an unforeseen condition because now we know it's there. So we don't want to go and have this happen again. You know, lessons learned."

So far, the company isn’t denying fault, but they haven’t accepted it either. They say they’re still investigating.

But the roofing company is still under contract for work on several other homes, and they don’t plan on this happening again. 

So, how does the company plan to avoid another flood?

"We're talking to people that do scanning underground for pipes, like when you got to dig for utilities. We're talking to people that can scan and possibly detect the water in the fire sprinkler, and then we mark it out. We're looking at different options," answered Kornahrens.

They also want the homeowners to let them inside the houses to check things out, but they have run into some resistance.

"Those homeowners aren't comfortable with advanced roofing doing the jobs," said Slavens. "We're still looking at all of our options. Figuring out what our best to move forward is for the community."

Right now, Advanced Roofing says its work is on pause while they talk with architects, the building department, and fire marshals.