A charity set up by Brad Pitt to build new houses for people made homeless when Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans a decade ago is embroiled in legal action – after the new homes started to rot. Pitt, 51, vowed to help ‘make it right’ for the city’s thousands of displaced citizens by building eco-friendly homes to replace the ones destroyed. The star personally backed the building of 104 homes in the Lower Ninth quarter of the city, decimated in the 2005 storm, which killed almost 2,000. Scroll down for video . Brad Pitt pictured leaving one of the Make it Right Foundation's houses in the Lower Ninth quarter of New Orleans in 2012 . Make it Right: Brad Pitt personally backed the building of 104 homes in the Lower Ninth quarter of the city . ‘He took this personally and was even helping to bang in nails,’ a source told The Mail on Sunday. But in a lawsuit filed in New Orleans’ District Court last week, Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation is suing Timber Treatment Technologies for $500,000 – claiming the wood was defective. It says it was forced to replace decking and other wood on the new homes after using the company’s  TimberSIL product. In one case, a house had rotted so badly it had mushrooms growing from it, it is alleged. A spokesman for Pitt could not be reached for comment last night. The source added: 'This has turned the project into a PR nightmare. The homes are literally rotting away because the wood that was used wasn’t as advertised.’ The lawsuit says Pitt’s charity chose to use TimberSIL wood after being told it had undergone a special ‘environmentally friendly glass-wood fusion process’ designed to prevent rot and decay. The timber was advertised as ‘award winning green certified’ and was supposed to be guaranteed against mold, mildew and rotting for 40 years. Brad Pitt gives Ellen DeGeneres a walking tour of the Make it Right Foundation houses in New Orleans . Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and  Brad Pitt before the groundbreaking ceremony for the actor's Make it Right Foundation house construction project . But, the suit adds, a whistleblower informed Make It Right that the company skipped a vital part of the manufacturing process rendering the wood useless and forcing the charity to replace the decks and other wood in all 104 homes - at a cost of more than half a million dollars. ‘Before filing this lawsuit the charity tried to reach an agreement with the wood company but the talks went nowhere,' the source added. Pitt’s charity is suing for the cost of replacing the damaged wood, legals fees and for unspecified costs in relation to the PR damage caused by the debacle. Resident Vanessa Rogers said her front stairs and decking had to be rebuilt: ‘A lot of it got rotten really fast. 'It got so bad I fell down the stairs. The floorboards were rotting and the back porch and deck al has to be replaced. It’s really bad.’ Pitt’s spokesperson did not return calls for comment. Timber Treatment Technologies declined to comment on the row. Pitt vowed to help ‘make it right’ for the city’s thousands of displaced citizens by building eco-friendly homes to replace the ones destroyed. Brad Pitt pictured here speaking to locals . Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation claimed it was lured into buying the special wood only to discover it rotted so badly one home had mushrooms growing out of it .
Brad Pitt set up charity to build new houses after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 . Make It Right Foundation embroiled in legal action after homes began to rot . Claims it was lured into buying the special wood only to discover it rotted . Charity is suing Timber Treatment Technologies for ‘in excess’ of $500k .