This old house needs your help please read this for me .
Long story short . Beths sister Carrie and brother in law Matt are care givers for their 82 year old mom with dementia and their 89 year old dad . Their house was built in 1917 and is falling apart . Carrie has a pacemaker and Matt can barely walk up a flight of stairs . They are like many financially hit hard even before inflation took a jump in the last year . Matts dad also has some type of dementia and Matt has to go help care for him and his mom as well . All the other siblings are in their mid to late 60s , in bad health or live several states away like us .
Last year we went up to visit . We knew Matt and Carrie’s house needed a washroom floor . What we didn’t know was the entire ground floor of their old house was rotten . What was to be a 3 week trip lasted a little over 3 months . I managed to get help from Home Depot on pricing , seconds and even a few freebies from other places . We got help from what family they have close to them in demolition and repairs . The house needed a minimum of $50,000 in repairs . They couldn’t possibly borrow any more money and are still paying on the house . I found every donation and every free or discounted thing I could . Casey drove up to put in all new plumbing and helped all he could . We managed to replace 50% of the entire ground floor and restore the front half of the house back to decent livable condition . I did all I could and it hurt , a lot . Things have recently changed drastically with the structural integrity of the rear part of the house where the only functional bathroom is. I am surprised the toilet has not gone through the floor . The only real support it has is the 4 by 4 inch post I put under the toilet that rests on the root cellar floor 6 feet below it . Things with me have changed drastically too . My physical health is worse . That’s all I will say about that .
Since last summer I have accumulated flooring , drywall , lighting , electrical , some structural lumber and most of what’s needed to remodel both ground floor bathrooms . Between what we have accumulated and what family up there has scratched up we are close to being able to have enough stuff to make the house safe again for everyone living in it . I need to secure either cash donations to fund the trip back up and to purchase the items left to finish the repairs or the actual things we need to repair it . We have plenty of free physical labor available to help . Home Depot has offered us contractors pricing again, deep discounts and some seconds for almost free . I need stair stringers , risers , treads and rails to replace the stairs to the top floor . I need structural lumber for joists and subflooring under the utility and bath . We need money to cover the gas round trip . I am asking for donations . They deserve help and while I am still somewhat physically able to do so I want to finish what we started last summer . If you would like to help I’m sure they will appreciate it greatly . In all fairness I have shared they are my extended family but more importantly they are really good people in a really bad situation . I can supply you with photos of what was done last summer and the areas we need to fix now .
I have had to walk away from things in the past year I wanted to help with . I cant walk away from this one last needed thing . I appreciate you taking time to read my posts whether you help or not . GM
From: Mark Stinson <>
Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2022 at 01:52:13 AM EDT
Subject: Family in need .