HOUSTON – We have an update to a story we first brought you last week about a homeowner’s driveway ruined after a city water pipe burst.
This story came to KPRC 2 through our Help Desk, where Mary Trapp reached out after going three months without hearing from the city about loose gravel left behind by repair crews. Trapp said a pipe burst underneath her driveway last September.
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She said it took the city three weeks to repair the leak but left behind loose gravel after tearing up her driveway. Trapp said she made repeated efforts at reaching the city but got no response—until we called.
The City of Houston’s Public Works Department repaired the homeowner’s driveway after she said she went three months waiting. The repair has since been completed, bringing an end to Trapp’s ordeal.
“I seriously can’t thank you enough for taking my story,” Trapp said in a message to KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun. “I would still be making blind phone calls hoping I can get someone on the line who cared enough to figure out what was happening.”
Background
Homeownership often comes with its share of unexpected challenges, but Mary Trapp didn’t expect a city issue would cause problems for her and her homeowners association. The ordeal surrounding a broken city pipe has stretched over three months, leaving her frustrated.
It all began back in September 2024 when Mary got a text message from her neighbors about a leak coming from her yard. Upon inspection, it became clear that thousands of gallons of water were pouring out from under her driveway onto the street. A quick check of her water meter revealed no massive spike, leading her to believe the leak was related to a city-owned pipe.
“I figured the leak was connected to a city pipe,” Mary explained.
After filing a 311 report, she said it took the city over two weeks to fix the issue. During that time, Mary and her neighbors repeatedly called, frustrated by the amount of potable water being wasted. Despite her persistence, the city seemed to offer little help.
“They simply did not care about the sheer amount of potable water being wasted every day they sat on their hands,” Trapp said.
The leak was eventually repaired on Oct. 12, 2024, but Mary was left with another issue—her driveway, which had been dug up and left in disarray, filled in with loose gravel. While the repair workers had completed the job of fixing the underground pipe, Trapp said the surface damage to her property was extensive.
Her driveway, curb, sidewalk, and mailbox were all apparently destroyed during the process. She then filed another 311 workorder on Oct. 23, 2024, but she claims nothing happened. This week, the order was marked as complete.
“This is not complete,” Trapp said. “Believe it or not, this was not how my driveway was when I bought it a year ago.”
According to the city’s website, the workorder shows the case is ‘completed,’ despite Trapp saying the opposite. A spokesperson for the city’s public works department told KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun that when a work ticket is marked as ‘complete,’ it means the order was routed to the correct department to fix.
As if the driveway wasn’t enough, Trapp also had an issue with her mailbox. After the workers removed her original mailbox during the repairs, they left behind what she said was essentially a broken version of the old mailbox. It lacked the proper support, causing it to fall over during windy conditions. Mary’s mailman even had to hold several days’ worth of mail due to the mailbox’s instability.
“I just wanted the mailbox to be put back properly so I could receive my mail without issues,” she said.
Amidst these unresolved issues, Mary received a letter from her HOA outlining a violation of the community’s deed restrictions, accusing her of making unapproved changes to the exterior of her home, including the modifications to her driveway and mailbox. The HOA’s letter was clear: Mary was required to return her property to its original condition or submit an application for approval for the changes she had made.
The letter included a reminder about the importance of maintaining the community’s aesthetic standards for the benefit of all homeowners.
“We routinely visit the neighborhood and look for items that may need attention,” the letter explained. “When we visited your section of the community, we noticed the following: Violation: Unapproved construction and/or modification.”
In response, Mary felt trapped—she was waiting for city repairs that never came, and now she was facing potential fines or penalties from her HOA.
Trapp told Balogun Friday afternoon she received a call from public works assuring her they would return to complete the job by next week, weather permitting.
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