<div>Edit 10/21/2024: Now having been married to my ex and him using our joint bank account for a loan I never agreed to, I have been dragged into legal trouble caused by him. I do not wish to go into details because this may very well go to court if we cannot settle things outside of the courtroom. So to keep it brief, my ex owes someone money, but because he is in prison and obviously cannot pay that money, my name and my house have been pulled in as means to collect his debt. So now I am in need of legal help and funds to get that legal help.
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<div>The choice was to either purchase this house or be homeless. Again. So my ex and I made the reluctant decision to move in here. It was somewhat manageable until two years ago when I became a single Mother, once again, and groundhogs dug under the porch and into the basement. The house has been shifting, but due to the new damage from the groundhogs, my foundation is quickly crumbling and my house is unsafe. And we have nowhere to go.
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<div>I was able to remove the groundhogs myself, but I desperately need help with the cost for Experts to make urgent repairs.
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<div>I have already maxed out my credit cards repairing the gas leak earlier this year and replacing the washing machine over the Holidays. Property taxes will be due in June and they're always over $2,000.
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<div>I have been barely meeting bills on my fixed income and already receive food stamps and some billing assistance for utilities.
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<div>Today I had an Engineer out to look at the damage and point out where to start.
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<div>He could not stress enough how unsafe my chimney's were. He said the chimneys need to be addressed ASAP.
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<div>The chimney venting the hot water heater is not operational, it is blocked and crumbling. The fireplace to the chimney is also crumbling (first and second picture below). So the toxic gases from the hot water heater have been venting into my basement or into the closet upstairs. But, because that wasn't bad enough, the chimneys are also leaking and rain water and old creosote is draining into my house and basement. You can see some of the staining in the pictures below.
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<div>The entire back of my house is built around and ON TOP OF this fireplace and chimney (can be seen in the second picture) and everything is cracking. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth pictures are all of the inside of the closet on my second floor, which shares a "wall" with the chimney. You can see the extent of the cracking and that there is no barrier between the chimney and the closet wall. They start at the floor and travel up the corners of the wall and stretch several feet horizontally and vertically. There is a hole in the ceiling (fifth picture) with more cracking.
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<div>On the first floor, there is a pantry built around this chimney, so I am not able to see the damage there because a previous owner built a box around it! I suspect there is a lot more damage that I cannot see on the first floor.
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<div>This picture below is of the external wall. These blocks were flush 2 years ago.
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<div>I received a verbal estimate starting at $6,500, but this is an old house and once they begin work, other things will begin to break. We didn't even get into the other repairs that this house needs...
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<div>I am desperate. My children and I are living in an unsafe house with no family to help. My parents and brothers are abusive and not safe for my children to be around. I went No Contact with my father when I was a teen and just recently with my mother after tolerating too much mental abuse, hoping she would change for her grandchildren. She has not. The only close support I have is a sister, who is also a Single Mother of 4, lives 3 hours away, is an ER nurse working 12+ hour shifts and is going through an unsafe situation with her ex spouse. So I turn to the internet community for help, once again...
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<div>Update 4/15
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<div>A company just quoted me $80k to PROPERLY fix and stabilize this house. He pointed out and explained many concerns that he saw and explained the process he recommends. He also warned me against if others try to bandaid, which the previous contractor definitely was doing, and advised against certain types of supports. I felt much more seen by this contractor. He also stressed how unsafe this house is and explained exactly why, which I really appreciate.
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<div>His company does offer financing options through a third party, but he recommended I have their structural engineer come look before making any decisions, which I also greatly appreciated.
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<div>I am still working on applying for state funds, which requires estimates before I can even submit the application. So at least I have one now. But this house cannot wait much longer. It will come down if I cannot start getting repairs made.
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<div>Erosion underneath the foundation wall in the basement, resulting in what the contractor today called a "floating wall". Essentially there is no more dirt underneath this portion and there are several spots like this.
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<div>More pictures of erosion
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<div>More cracking and detachment of the hearth in the basement
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Tyler Williams

Kevin King

Help a Disabled Single Mother of 4 Fix Our Home

Still $17,785 to go. Help us build momentum.