Street View: Renovation Woes

Street View is a monthly column taking a close look at development-related issues affecting different neighborhoods throughout the city.

A little more than two years ago, Kelsey and Matt Kirkegaard had big plans. They’d designed a renovation for their East Nashville home, full of custom work and accommodations for their kids, two of whom are disabled. Matt’s a real estate agent and Kelsey manages renovation projects, so they felt well-equipped to take on a project of their own.

But two years later, the Kirkegaards tell the Scene their builders are suing them for defamation, and they’re potentially facing bankruptcy. The Kirkegaards are part of an ongoing case with Stellan Eoin Builders, a renovation company from Clarksville. The couple says Stellan Eoin completed work incorrectly. Stellan Eoin refutes the claims.

The Kirkegaards moved out of their house In July 2022 so Stellan Eoin could begin renovations. They say that at first, the work was delayed and not to their specification. But then, according to Kelsey Kirkegaard, the real problems began to emerge.

Kelsey tells the Scene that Stellan Eoin installed different fixtures than the ones the Kirkegaards chose, damaged paint and furnishings, and laid uneven tiles and floors. The floors were a particular issue, she says, because of her daughter’s mobility challenges.

The Kirkegaards also tell the Scene they found a permanently running shower with a missing volume valve, an uncapped gas line sticking out of the house and a gas leak leading to the stove and the fireplace. The stove was also connected to the wall with a dryer hookup, says Kelsey.

But, she says, perhaps the most alarming installation was the steam shower. She found the shower’s tankless water heater “shoved in a tiny closet up against the wall,” Kelsey says.

“It has all these warning stickers on it saying that it can’t be up against the wall,” she says. Without the correct clearance, Kirkegaard says the steam shower “will shoot boiling water at you, and the pressure will build up and explode the unit, which is right behind my kids’ bunk beds.”

The Kirkegaards also filed a complaint with the Metro Nashville Codes and Building Safety Department stating their foundation wasn’t installed up to code. But Tennessee law states that builders can bring their own engineer to a property to perform another inspection. That’s what Stellan Eoin did — and their engineer’s report contradicted the Kirkegaards’.

Kelsey says James Gilkey, Stellan Eoin’s engineer, “didn’t seem very professional.” She says at the inspection, he scooped up the dirt underneath their poured slab and chewed it before determining it was the correct material. She later searched his name online and found a fine he incurred for previously practicing on an expired license and a Kentucky State Police report about Gilkey’s involvement in a fatal traffic collision. Gilkey did not respond to multiple phone calls from the Scene.

The Kirkegaards sent the Scene a copy of a report by Trace Inspections that reinforces their claims. A representative for Trace Inspections tells the Scene they are unable to comment on the report due to ongoing litigation.

Kelsey also shared Stellan Eoin’s response to the report. In it, the builders address each point, refuting some issues with windows and other fixtures and stating that many of the defects are due to the Kirkegaards’ own work.

In communications with the Scene, Stellan Eoin states that the Kirkegaards have “substantially modified” the property and that “most, if not all, of the defects that the Kirkegaards now claim are the result of modifications that they, themselves, have made.”

When the Kirkegaards fired Stellan Eoin, they told some other members of the Nashville real estate community about their experiences. According to documents shared with the Scene, at least one Stellan Eoin customer canceled work as a result of those conversations. In response, Stellan Eoin sent the Kirkegaards a cease-and-desist letter in November 2023, referencing “patently false and defamatory statements.” In August of this year, the builder filed a lawsuit against the Kirkegaards; this suit includes breach of contract, defamation, mechanics and materialsmen’s lien, and recovery of attorney’s fees and costs. Their case is currently in chancery court.

In a statement to the Scene, a representative for Stellan Eoin writes that “the dispute between the Kirkegaards and Stellan Eoin is currently in litigation and, as such, it would not be appropriate to comment publicly on this matter pending conclusion of the litigation.” They also provided the Scene with five paragraphs of additional detail on the aforementioned litigation and a copy of their claim. Stellan Eoin tells the Scene that they initially stopped work because the Kirkegaards owed them about $60,000.

In their statement, Stellan Eoin writes that they have “promptly responded to each and every allegation raised by the Kirkegaards” and “offered to complete the work upon payment of the amount owed.” The company writes that they’ve “repeatedly advised the Kirkegaards that … any legitimate issues with the work will be addressed” — it’s just that the Kirkegaards haven’t given them the chance to fix their work. They also say that the Kirkegaards’ “allegations of defective work have been made in response to the lawsuit filed by Stellan Eoin.”

The Kirkegaards dispute these claims. (“Why would I destroy my own house and lose a million dollars?” Kelsey says.) They also deny that they were unwilling to pay the contractor: They say instead that they fired Stellan Eoin because the work wasn’t completed correctly. In correspondence with the Scene, Stellan Eoin’s reps say they “suggest that you carefully consider the sources of your information in deciding whether to publish the proposed article.”

The Kirkegaards’ case is still in litigation. In the meantime, the Scene caught up with construction attorney Jean Harrison to check in on the state of construction law in Tennessee.

Last year, Harrison told the Scene that Nashville’s building inspections were far from extensive.“Passing the building code is like getting a D minus,” she said at the time. “It just means that your house won’t fall over in 100-mile-an-hour winds.”

In October, a new state law went into effect allowing builders to hire their own building inspector and bypass Nashville’s codes department. Some, including Gov. Bill Lee, say the law will help mitigate inspection delays and backlogs. But others say it could make inspections less reliable — and structures more dangerous for homeowners.

As it is, Harrison says the codes department is “being asked to do an impossible job in a very busy building environment.” The inspections don’t catch everything, and when they’re faced with conflicting reports like the ones about the Kirkegaards’ foundation, it’s not in a codes inspector’s best interest to look any further.

Harrison recommends hiring a construction lawyer to look over any contracts before buying a home. But for homeowners to have enough protection, more state and local regulation also has to happen. Harrison can’t fight these battles alone.

“One lone cranky construction lawyer against that kind of setup?” she says. “I’m doomed to fail.”

Kelsey Kirkegaard feels similar. “We’re at a devastating loss right now,” she tells the Scene. “Everything we worked for for 10 years is gone.”