Major home repairs

How you can help:

I am asking for donations of any denominator. By donating, you will help me repair many overdue repairs on my home.

Why I’m asking for help:

Ok. I’ll start off by saying that I never would have thought I would end up asking anyone for help with this. I’ve tried doing some of the repairs myself but I’m finding that I do not have the skill set to do the repairs properly and also do not have the funds to do them myself never mind hire someone.

Update 6/29/2015

I have some updated news about my personal life. I want to put this out there so that others with this disability can see that there is help and people who care out there. I was recently diagnosed with Major Depression Severe with PTSD. As I stated before I do not like to ask for help. Well. Not asking for help led me to a major breakdown. I ended up in the hospital for a week and in an outpatient program for 6 weeks. Upon my diagnosis, I was told that I should have been going for counselling since childhood. I don't want to get into too much personal information but I have now graduated from the outpatient program and am going to individual counselling. I have learned that this is a disability and there is treatment. My advise to others with this disability is do not let it get to the point where it gets the best of you. It not only affects you but it also affects others and could lead to more serious issues. I indirectly lost my job because of this by being laid off again so I am now once again unemployed.

What repairs are needed?:

I’ll list these in order as to importance:

1. Roof (I know someone who is a roofer and they will give me a discount if I feed them and provide drinks.)

2. Porch (The storm this winter broke some of the supports for my porch. I was already in the process of repairing this but ran out of money. It is costing me around $1000.00 per 20 Feet)

3. Main Door (Long story short, we had an ice dam and it leaked in between the door and jamb freezing it shut. We had to break the jamb and did unrepairable damage to the door in the process)

4. Repair the water damage inside my house. (I’ll need to replace sheetrock in at least 1/4 of one room and hopefully just resurface the ceiling in a couple of the other rooms. Of course this will need to be done after the roof is fixed)

5. (05-02-2015) Well. Another problem needing repair that I came home to is a leaking water pipe. Luckily I was able to get the parts and fix this myself. My cost $20. If I would have had the plumber come out it would have been a minimum $100 just for them to show up.

6. (06-29-2015) Outside stairs to second floor. I can't seem to get a break. Now my stairs need to be at the least, repaired. They should be replaced but that would cost too much at the moment. I have to replace at least 6 2 x 10 x 3' tread boards and 3 2 x 4 x 3' boards on my landing as they are rotting out.

A little bit about me and my home:

This story starts a long time ago. About 15 years ago. At the time I had a good job and had saved up a bit of money so I was able to make a very good down payment on the house and finance the rest. Needless to say, right after I purchased the house things started to go downhill. First I was laid off from my job and then I went through a tough divorce. At the time, the house looked ok and as my funds were dwindling I let some of what I thought were minor repairs go. For the next 8 years I went through 2 more layoffs and then the last job, before my current one, the owners shorted me on my paychecks and also did not pay my taxes. I ended up having to go to court to fight this and won my case but I was told that the owners of the company cannot be found and I would most likely never see the money they had taken from me. This brings us to the current time. I am now married again and have a good job but now I am finding the minor repairs that I had years back have turned into major repairs and I haven’t had a chance to save any money. This past winter also took a toll on my home. The heavy snow has damaged parts of my porch roof. It had also created ice dams that started melting and froze my outside door shut. Not only was this a fire hazard, I had to pry the door open and now I need a new door. My ceiling is leaking because the snow melted and somehow it is leaking in my attic and I cannot find the cause. Actually writing this is making me feel sick to my stomach knowing how many repairs need to be done.

What I can do for you?:

I honestly can’t do much. I can tell you that this is the first time I have ever reached out for help on pretty much anything and I can honestly say that I can only thank you for any donation you can give to help me with these repairs.