Hello and thank you to anyone who reads this.
For a while now our house has been in a state of decline, and it has reached the point where it is starting to become unlivable.
A series of leaks started in our bathroom (upstairs), and over time the water damage got into the floor, the kitchen ceiling below, and the kitchen floor. Most of our bathroom floor is now gone, and we are having to use wooden planks to prevent anyone falling through the floor. These regularly have to be replaced as the leaks are still happening, and continue to soak through and rot the wood. The collapse of the flooring has also caused our toilet to sink through the floor, and is now broken away from the plumbing and is hanging halfway between the bathroom floor and kitchen ceiling underneath. This has made it unusable and we’re now forced to use a spare room as a “bathroom” with a portable toilet (essentially a bucket). There is also a drainage problem with the bath, causing old dirt and gunge to accumulate in the bath.
There are a total of 3 main leak points in the bathroom which go into the kitchen below. One is from the pipe leading up into the shower unit, one is from the pipe behind the toilet, and one is from the bath drain. The areas of kitchen ceiling underneath these have fallen down, leaving exposed wooden scaffolding, and the kitchen floor underneath these areas has also collapsed, exposing the ground underneath the house. More parts of the ceiling regularly collapse, and it probably won’t be long before the entire ceiling is gone. The broken light fixture on the ceiling (a long fluorescent bulb) is starting to detach and I imagine once this inevitably collapses that there will be exposed wires.
Because of the water damage, all electrical appliances in the kitchen are gone: Washing machine, oven, dishwasher, fridge. Every ceiling light in the house is also broken, since they are connected in circuits and damage to one causes them all to fail. Our gas and heating is also gone, meaning our radiators do not work. This is not really an issue in the summer, but with bad insulation the house regularly falls below subzero in the winter, causing other problems such as condensation on everything.
With all these issues compounding and getting worse, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to live in the house. Our income is just enough to pay the mortgage and bills, and basic living essentials such as food and water (though our mains water is off 90% of the time to minimize leaking), but there is never any money left over to put towards getting repairs done. Even if we could put some money towards it, the cost of fixing all the issues is probably rising faster than the average person could save.
There will be an image at the bottom showing our kitchen ceiling looking up to the bathroom underneath, and below is an album showing the main parts of damage. In order: 1 – the kitchen floor, showing debris from the ceiling and a large plank with a rug covering the exposed ground below. 2 – a hole in the kitchen ceiling, and the light fixture that’s starting to detach. 3 – the main area of ceiling damage, showing the hole with the toilet (left) and the bath drain (right). Also the image shown at the bottom of this. 4 – the gap showing where the toilet is sinking through, and the rotting wood. 5 – the toilet, showing how it has sunk and detached from the wall with the drain. Also visible is one of the wooden planks we have put down. 6 – the dirt and gunge that has accumulated in the bath. The album is here: https://imgur.com/a/7uekzas
I expect these problems to snowball and get worse the longer they are left, so that is why I am asking here. I cannot reasonably estimate exactly how much everything would cost, but I hope that £5000 – £10000 ($6000 – $12000) would cover the repairs for all the problems with the leaks, rotting and damage, and to replace everything including the toilet, sink, bath, drainage, electricals, appliances and heating. I do not know if that amount is reasonable to ask, but to be able to get everything fixed would be a godsend, and I would be massively grateful to anyone who helps towards it. Thank you for taking the time to read this.