A Tarrant County jury found a contracting company responsible for several construction defects in a North Texas family’s home that ultimately forced them to evacuate, according to a court filing Tuesday.
The lawsuit, filed by Ronny and Mandy McCoy in June 2025, alleged “knowing and intentional” plumbing and construction errors exposed the family to sewer gas, mold and “severe contamination.”
The family was awarded $21.6 million after more than two hours of deliberation Tuesday, including $10 million in extra damages.
“Families have a right to expect that their builder is going to build them a safe and habitable home,” Sabine Wakin, an attorney for the family, told KERA News. “And that’s the heart of what this case is that the McCoys entrusted the build of their home to a company that didn’t build it safely.”
The suit named multiple defendants, including Prestige Plumbing & Construction, LLC, Dauenhauer & Associates, LLC a liability company, NAE Contracting, and Ricky Dauenhauer, who runs NAE Contracting and Dauenhauer & Associates, LLC.
KERA News reached out to the defendants and will update this story with any response.
Court records show Dauenhauer & Associates, LLC filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in August.
The McCoy’s moved into their Weatherford home in 2018, according to the suit, and issues almost immediately began. The suit alleges during the first year the family had problems with plumbing and an unpleasant smell throughout the property.
Those issues continued for the next five years, and the suit claims it exposed the McCoys to toxic sewer methane gas and mold from plumbing leaks, attracting insects into the home in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
“Instead of fixing the problems, Dauenhauer & Associates and their subcontractors covered them up,” the suit read. “Contractors painted over water damage, ignored the underlying issues, and continued to misrepresent the home as safe and well-constructed.”
The McCoys claimed the companies had improperly directed plumbing vents into the attic, leading the sewer gas to circulate inside. That led them to experience migraines, respiratory and skin problems, and dizziness.
Additional mold testing also found as many as 7 million spores per unit, the suit claimed, considered severe contamination.
The family also said their dog, who also lived inside the home, suffered a health decline and believe that ultimately led to her death.
Maggie Neusal, an attorney for the McCoys, said Mandy McCoy fainted inside the home in 2024. Soon after, the family was forced to evacuate the home after the sewer gas was discovered in the air vents. The McCoys have been living in an recreational vehicle, or an RV, outside the home ever since.
“They are still in the RV,” Neusal said. “They’ve been staring at a house they can’t live in for about two years now.”
The McCoys in a press release Wednesday said they’re grateful for the jury’s decision.
“This has been a terrible experience for our family,” the McCoys said. “We hope this verdict will encourage other families to be heard when they suspect construction defects and toxic conditions that threaten them in their homes. We hope we can begin to heal and recover but also help prevent this from happening to other Texas families.”
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