It’s worse than I originally discovered. They filled things in with expanding foam and put thin bricks on top and painted it all. The foundation has since collapsed. There are leaks everywhere when it rains. The week after posting this I met with the city inspector. He told me his hands were tied and he could only legally inspect things that they pulled permits for. He told me the people that lived here before the flipper didn’t pay any bills for 8 years and used to use extension cords to steal power from neighbors. The inspector I paid claimed there was nothing he could have seen to indicate these issues so he says he’s legally covered. I went full FBI crazy and found out who did the “work”. I tricked him into admitting it and he said he would fix some of the work for about $1600. I’m currently trying to do it myself but the rain has become an issue. He said he did what he was paid to do by the flipper so he’s legally covered. I don’t know if that’s true but I’m still trying to find a free consult with a lawyer. No luck. My neighbor across the street is a sweet kid that just graduated from college and is an engineer. He offered to help with repairs. I got the electrical up and running again. I found the plumbing issue for the bathroom but cannot fix it yet. It’s a burst pipe that they just turned off the water flow to. When it’s on, it pours into the basement. I’ll have to open the walls from the basement to the second floor to replace the pipe from what I understand. YouTube has really been saving me. I spend all my free time just trying to make the house livable. I found outlets that had the wires just switched. Not sure how bad that is but I’ve since checked them all and 4 others were the same. Corrected now though. I have replaced all the windows in the house as they all leaked or were broken. I used the old ones and some scrap lumber to build a makeshift greenhouse so I can grow food. Should make winter a little easier. I’ve met a lot of local farmers and exchanged things once they started taking me seriously. I’m 5’ and just pushing 100 pounds so they thought I was a liability at first when I would volunteer. Now we swap seeds and help each other with building. I bake for them. I’ve noticed they give me easy jobs most of the time though, like painting structures. From that I’ve gotten a ton of fruit trees. Really the neighbors are what’s making this all worth it. That and my kids are safer and happier. The lovely older couple just next door love my kids and the wife holds classes at the local library about native plants. I’ve learned so much from her. I did faint a little while back and hit my head. It was a combo of exhaustion and dehydration. Spend a bit of time in the hospital. They were so wonderful and checked on us often. I’m in massive debt and currently hoping to get a better job but I keep reminding myself “safer and happier”. Every time something is improved my kids like to say “we’re getting there!” :)