NINETY-five-year-old Stephen Fagg was ‘‘devastated’’ to discover his home had been severely damaged by water after a frozen pipe burst on Saturday night, his daughter Linda Hughes said.
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Mr Fagg, a former resident of the John L. Grove rehabilitation centre, has recently moved to the Mount Esk aged care facility.
His daughter has been renovating his home at the Launceston Retirement Village over the past three months in order to put it on the market to cover the costs incurred by his care.
The renovations were completed last Wednesday with the installation of new carpet.
‘‘When I described the scene to him it was just too much for him,’’ Ms Hughes said.
‘‘It’s pretty tragic. I’ve been working on it alone for three months now and it was in absolutely pristine condition on Thursday, I took my dad out there and sat him in his chair, he had a cup of tea out there.
‘‘Absolutely every room except for the two bedrooms and the bathroom are literally gutted.’’
Ms Hughes said a plumber had inspected the home on Monday, and found the pipes on the hot water cylinder had burst in four places due to the cold weather.
She said she had checked the home on Saturday, and returned at lunch time on Sunday to find the flooding.
‘‘As I walked in there was just water gushing from the ceiling. You could see right through to the rafters,’’ Ms Hughes said.
‘‘I was ankle deep in water.
‘‘You just don’t think this can happen but it can, in such a short time.’’
Ms Hughes said she had organised to meet a real estate agent on Monday to put the home on the market.
She said the sale of the house was urgent, in order to ensure the funds were there to cover the costs of her father’s care.
‘‘Financially it’s really very worrying, but we will get there,’’ she said.
‘‘Everybody is helping, and the sooner we get it repaired and on the market the better it will all be for everybody.’’
