“It’s horrible, we’ll probably never hire a contractor again,” Amber Klum told Ottumwa Radio News after outlining her ordeal with a Southeast Iowa Contractor.

James and Amber Klum of Centerville say they hired Greg Shondel to paint and apply stucco to several sections of the outside of their home.

“We hired him to paint and patch the stucco,” Amber says. “It was supposed to take two weeks. He started [in the middle of July], I just fired him on Wednesday.”

But the Klum’s say the length of time the small project took isn’t the reason they’ve contacted attorneys.

“I went outside and looked at it. The stucco looked like wood chips to me. My husband got home and went up the ladder. At first he thought it was dog food. He pulled some off and we realized it was Cocoa Puffs,” Amber says. “We even tasted it and sure enough it tasted like cereal.”

Stucco is usually a mix of sand,Portland cement, lime and water, but may also consist of a proprietary mix of additives including fibers and synthetic acrylics that add strength and flexibility.

Amber says that she already had concerns with the contractor’s work before discovering the sweet surprise. “He had been acting weird for about a month. I’d been going outside and taking pictures and videos,” Klum says. “We had issues the whole time.”

Klum adds that the cereal seems to be attracting bugs, which even bit her when she climbed up a ladder to take video of the ‘stucco’.

Klum says the family has contacted police, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, Angie’s List, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), multiple attorneys and members of the contractor’s family. “We’ll be filing a complaint in small claims court, soon,” Amber says.

She says they’re not sure how much it will cost to repair the damage and apply real stucco.

Ottumwa Radio has attempted to contact the contractor involved, Greg Shondel, for comment. We’ve been unable to reach him at a phone number provided by the Klums. A video (which we’ve shared below) appears to show Shondel acknowledging putting the cereal on the home. At this time we cannot independently verify that the man in the video is Shondel.

We’ll continue to update this story as it develops.

*** This story was developed and pursued based on tips provided by our fans and readers like you. You can be a part of the Ottumwa Radio News Team too by submitting story ideas to [email protected] ***

— Video posted by Amber Klum to Facebook —

(The video below contains mature language that may not be appropriate for all audiences)