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TTHENAAGO/NAHANNI BUTTE
A Nahanni Butte resident says living with the aftermath of repairs done to her house is as bad as the trauma of seeing her community flooded.

Jayne Konisenta has lived in her two-storey house, which she owns, in Nahanni Butte since 1983. The house is located in a low-lying area in the community so it suffered some of the worst effects from the flooding that occurred in June.

The flood water rose to just underneath the first floor of the house, which is raised approximately two feet off of the ground, and soaked the insulation under the building. Konisenta said that following the flood the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation said it would repair 11 houses in the community that were affected.

A contractor used hydraulic jacks to raise the house approximately an additional foot to 1.5 feet. Treated wood was used to keep the house elevated after the jacks were removed, said John Lafferty, Konisenta's husband.

The contractor said they would use spray foam insulation to coat the bottom of house but instead they used the one layer of insulation from a roll and then screwed on treated plywood to cover it. They didn't even put a plastic barrier up, said Lafferty.

"It was just a quick job, a Band-Aid of a solution," he said.

The quick repairs are behind the plumbing problems that have plagued the house since then, said Konisenta. The couple never had problems with their plumbing before but beginning in October the water started freezing in the pipes for the bathroom. Plugging a space heater in the room only provided a temporary solution.

The freezing extended to the kitchen as well as to the laundry room where the washing machine stopped working approximately three weeks ago. The couple now has no water.

"We can't even brush our teeth," said Konisenta.

The couple had been going next door to Konisenta's mother's house to use the washroom but the plumbing there has now also frozen. Konisenta said her mother's house was raised up by the same contractors following the flood.

"It's too high and there's drafts coming in," said Lafferty about their house.

Although the contractor put skirting around the house there is still a space between it and the ground. Lafferty tried to bank the house with snow to fill the gap.

"I'm frustrated," he said. "I don't know why they would do that."

Konisenta said she contacted the housing corporation's office in Fort Simpson after her plumbing froze in the washroom in October. She was told additional paperwork would be needed along with a completed 2011 income tax return before anything could be done. Getting her incomplete tax forms finished would involved going to Fort Nelson to see a tax specialist, said Konisenta.

"I'm not getting the help I need," she said.

Konisenta and Lafferty are now moving forward with their own repairs. They are removing everything from their washroom and laundry room and plan to rip out the floors and work on the pipes. They will then wrap the pipes in heating tape and install more insulation. The cost of the repairs will come out of their own pockets.

"We don't have that kind of money," said Konisenta. "I'm upset and mad. It's like reliving the whole flood again."

The housing corporation confirmed it hired a contractor to do repairs on 11 privately-owned houses in Nahanni Butte after the flooding earlier this year, stated Shelly Martin, senior advisor to the office of the housing corp. president, in an e-mail. The only complaints the corporation has received concern minor shifting of the new steps and landings, and the shifting is not deemed to be linked to the flood repairs, she said.

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