COPPERAS COVE, Texas — Donna May Twait wanted a durable, quality fence for her backyard in Copperas Cove. When she spent more than $10,000 on a composite fence at Lowe's, she saw it as an investment.
Instead, it became a nightmare. Twait told Channel 6 she bought the fence all the way back in 2010. When a company subcontracted by Lowe's came to install it, Twait said she knew something was wrong.
"It was chaotic. We thought they never knew what they were doing, but they said they knew how to put in composite," Twait said. "It was horrid. The nail marks didn't match, there were pieces coming down, craters around the nails... there were gaps between the fence and the building."
Twait told Channel 6 that first contractor, named Custom Decks, was only the first in a line of bad experiences. She said she went back to Lowe's multiple times to complain, and eventually was told the company had fired the contractor. Lowe's had another contractor come out and re-install another fence, but it was already leaning less than a year later.
"They said they would take down the fence and haul away the stuff, and they would put in a new fence," Twait said. "It was always rickety. In 2014 the fence started falling down and before that it was bowing."
Twait said she went back to Lowe's again, but no one came back out to look at the fence.
Finally in November of 2018, family friend Charles Durcan contacted the fence manufacturer and got an installation guide. He then called Channel 6. After reviewing the installation instructions with Durcan, Channel 6 was able to determine the contractor did not use the correct amount of concrete the fence needed to hold up individual posts, and the fence rails were not correctly fastened to the posts. In fact, the rails were not fastened at all.
"You set the posts on top of gravel, and then you are supposed to concrete the post 12-inches around the perimeter," Durcan said.
Channel 6 reached out to the Lowe's Corporate Office Monday, and Communications Manager Steve Salazar said the company reached out to Mrs. Twait Monday night about the issue.
Salazar released the following statement:
"We just learned of Mrs. Twait’s concerns this evening and requested a little time to get in touch with her to learn more. We are sorry to hear about her experience and plan to connect with her as soon as possible to see how we can help.”