EDWARDSVILLE - A Bethalto homeowner alleges a landscaping company failed to complete the contracted deck work, resulting in water damage due to a hole left exposed on the side of his house.
Andrew R. Wood filed the complaint in the Madison County Circuit Court against Matt’s Lawn Care and Landscape LLC and Matthew J. Gallup, alleging breach of contract and common law fraud.
According to the complaint, Wood claims he entered into a contract on July 8, 2022, with Matt’s Lawn Care to complete landscaping and deck work at his Bethalto home for $49,740. The price allegedly included materials and labor. Wood claims the defendant agreed to tear out the existing deck, rebuild a new one, install a fence along a retaining wall and install rip rap along a hillside.
Wood claims he paid the defendants a down payment of $18,414. However, he alleges the defendants failed to complete all the work under the contract, including rebuilding the deck, installing a fence along a retaining wall, and installing rip rap along a hillside. He alleges he made several attempts to contact the defendants to complete the work, but they never returned.
“That because defendants failed to perform under the contract and rebuild the deck plaintiff sustained water damage to his property, specifically because of a hole in the side of his house resulting from the tear out of the deck with no replacement of a deck a pipe froze in the winter causing water damage,” the suit states.
Wood claims it cost him $756.98 to repair the pipe.
The suit states that the defendants falsely represented that “he was a licensed, skilled, and experienced contractor to rebuild the deck and retaining wall taking into consideration the topography of the property and assure structural integrity of the house, deck and retaining wall.”
Wood seeks compensation in excess of $50,000, plus court costs and all other relief the court deems just. He is represented by Deborah Hawkins of Hawkins Law Office PC in Edwardsville.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 23-LA-1516