A furious Brisbane couple has revealed how they have waited seven months for help after a shared boulder wall collapsed into their pool.
Murrumba Downs resident Dave Barnham and his wife Tia said they used to have a manicured backyard and glistening pool.
However, a three-metre wall collapsed into their pool in February after the city was hit with its worst rain event in years.
Now, they are looking at quotes of $350,000 and say their backyard looks like a construction site.
It has been deemed a danger zone, but they can’t fix it until a neighbour who lives above them hears from his insurance company.
Dave Barnham and his wife Tia said the three-metre wall collapsed into their pool in February after the city was hit with its worst rain event in years
‘We actually looked out the window and heard and saw it just go straight into the pool,’ Mr Barnham told A Current Affair.
‘Just saturated that one area until basically, it couldn’t hold anymore and then the boulders just literally flew out.’
The wall is shared between two properties, but the Barnhams are bearing the brunt of the damage.
Mrs Barnham said ‘patience is wearing very thin’ for them.
‘We’re ready to sign a contract to get works going, and unfortunately we can’t move forward until we know how our neighbours are going to proceed, because the works are happening on their property as well,’ she said.
But even if a contract was signed today, the couple said work wouldn’t start until the middle of next year. This would ruin summer for them and their three boys, all under 13, Mrs Barnham said.
They said they immediately contacted their insurance company, Youi, and obtained reports from geotechnical and structural engineers.
‘Essentially that retainer wall has created a dam,’ Mrs Barnham said.
‘The water has dammed behind that wall and has seeped through the drainage from that wall and also down the staircase that’s up there.’
The wall is shared between two properties but the Barnhams are bearing the brunt of the damage
One report found that high runoff, which was the likely overflow of three water tanks on the neighbours’ property – and the channelling of water to the steps helped lead to the wall’s collapse.
Another report found that the collapse was triggered by waterlogged soil, a lack of drainage and compromised stability.
It was also found that the wall has not been constructed to Australian standards.
‘If it gets any worse, then rocks are gonna start sort of coming closer to houses,’ Mr Barnham said.
Chris Price, 72, lives in the house next door where the shared fence has buckled and is concerned about his property.
‘My bedroom is literally two to three metres from the retaining wall,’ he said.
‘It’s now been seven months and nothing basically has happened.’
He put in a claim with his insurer, Suncorp, raising concerns about the structural integrity of the boulder wall.
Suncorp replied that retaining walls aren’t covered, but it has a legal obligation to make it safe..
The neighbour who lives above the Barnhams, Bill Small, said he’s still waiting on a response from his insurers.
‘It’s in the hands of my insurer and that’s where it stays until I get further notice,’ Small said.
A Suncorp spokesperson said: ‘We have undertaken a more detailed review of Mr Price’s claim and will be conducting further assessment of the damage to determine the next steps.
‘We regret any inconvenience and upset Mr Price has experienced in relation to this claim. While the claim is complex, we will do everything we can to expedite matters to have this resolved as quickly as possible.’
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