Family scared to go upstairs after dad falls though ceiling

A dad was left dangling through the ceiling after the floor gave way in his Coventry home.



Andrew Owen, 22, had gone upstairs in his maisonette in Meadow Street, Spon End, to get some decorating tools out of a cupboard when he says he plunged through the floor.

His pregnant girlfriend Hayley Brooks was shocked to see him hanging helplessly through the living room ceiling and grabbed one of legs.

After a struggle she was able to push him back through to the upstairs room.

Now the couple, and their two-year-old son Alfie, are scared to go upstairs because they are worried about the state of the floors.

Hayley, 21, who is seven months’ pregnant, said: “I was in another bedroom when I heard Andrew scream. He said he’d fallen through the floor. I was in shock and I ran down to help him.

“His legs were dangling down and I had to push his legs back through the hole.

“I’m anxious about going upstairs now especially as I’m now much heavier than Andrew being pregnant, but I have no other choice.

“My bedroom and bathroom are up there and I worry every time I take a step. It could have been much worse, though. I don’t know what I’d have done if Alfie fell through and injured himself.”

Andrew said he complained to Whitefriars, which is responsible for the property, on the day the accident happened on April 27 and has asked to be moved to a new house.

He says he was told they cannot be moved although a spokesman for the company said the housing team has offered advice on how to apply to move house.

Andrew said: “It’s beyond a joke. I wouldn’t let a dog live here. Why should we pay rent to live like this?”

The couple say they always suspected something was wrong with the house when they moved in 18 months ago because there was a large water bulge in the living room ceiling – at the spot where Andrew fell.

Although a Whitefriars contractor fixed the leak, they say the weakness in the ceiling should have been spotted earlier.

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Living in a similar property in the same area my experience of Whitefriars has been:

Reports of leaks are seldom responded to until major structural damage has already occurred.

Follow-up work is never performed unless reported separately. If a job requires 6 different trades you need to make 6 separate reports.

Whitefriars managers never check on work to see if it's been done correctly or in some cases whether it's been done at all.

Live in a Whitefriars property long-enough and you learn to treat assurances from managers that certain jobs will be carried out with total disbelief.