Hello to everyone kind enough to take the time to listen to my story. I am a former Marine, honorably discharged after serving over a dozen years. I started a small business about thirty years ago and have always believed in hard work and self-reliance. I have been knocked down financially many times, but have always managed to pick myself up and keep moving forward. They say timing is everything; unfortunately, our situation does not allow me the luxury of time.
In October of 2021, everything changed. We refinanced our home for some much-needed repairs, including the roof and a small porch cover, which my wife had always wanted. Four days into the project, as they were ending the day, I requested that they tarp the area they were working on since the weather was beginning to change. However, the crew, including the project manager, reassured me that everything was fine. At six-thirty on Saturday morning, my daughter came rushing into the bedroom, telling me her room was flooding. Both windows resembled water fountains, and paint was bubbling from the ceiling and walls. I then went up on the roof and got it tarped. I also had a rather stern phone call with the project manager; he made assurances, and the extra repairs began.
Approximately six weeks later, and with a second crew, they were way behind schedule. After repeated reminders about tarping the roof before leaving each day, which they had failed to do multiple times already, they left the same area as before, uncovered again. The repairs to my daughter’s room were subpar to begin with, but we couldn’t go through that again. I made the effort to go back up on the roof and tarp it again, only this time, I fell two stories onto the concrete slab below. I broke my left femur, dislocated my right shoulder, and had staples put into my head. They sent a third crew to finish the job. Weeks later, our neighbor had discovered snow drifts in our attic due to an improper ridge cap installation.
I lost a year of work, and my wife had to quit her job after twenty-eight years to access her retirement, which kept us afloat for the time being, but they filled her position. I cannot work as fast as I used to, and my wife has had to take on any job that has appeared in front of her. We accumulated over thirty thousand dollars in medical bills, even after insurance.
The company was found negligent, and we were awarded enough money to fix the house properly. However, we had to use over a third of our repair money to pay the legal fees in full, and we had only made the necessary repairs that we had the remaining money for. We cannot sell the house because several projects are still incomplete, and we cannot secure a loan. At the prime age of sixty-three, I am running out of time to start over and rebuild, and my wife is also looking for a second job. We have run out of money and ideas.
It’s a little difficult for me to ask, but I am humbly asking for help. Thank you for taking the time to read my story! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Venmo – https://venmo.com/u/ConcreteDad20