How predatory remodeling ruined my house in a matter of days after closing
After letting the foam cure for a few days, I trim off the excess. I also cover the exposed edges of this temporary erosion plug with some water stop patching concrete (still dark and wet in the second photo).
Hopefully, this will be enough of a stopgap to get me through spring without any additional water problems. I’ll have to re-address this erosion issue some time in the future.
With the roof repairs nearly complete, I continue work on the bedroom soffit, sanding the drywall and adding another skim coat of joint compound.
Just hours before a major snowfall hits the Twin Cities, I am able to install new heat tape on the southwest corner of my roof. Hopefully this will help prevent any further ice dam problems this winter.
After learning that Anoka County dropped my case simply because they couldn’t locate the Seller, I did some legwork through a combination of law offices and websites, and located him within an hour.
On paper, it looks as though the Seller has “disappeared” because he is associated with multiple addresses, and he renewed his drivers license in Wisconsin in March 2014. He also is associated with several shady real estate LLCs. However, he was easily located at one of his Minnesota addresses, only 2 miles from my house. I turn all of this information over to the Anoka County Civil Investigator assigned to my case.
I patch, mud, sand, and prime two drywall holes in the second bedroom from an unused phone jack, and the fake coax CATV wall plate.
I paint and finish one of the damaged bedrooms.
I also finish mudding, sanding, and priming the other bedroom affected by roof damage.
Walter Sullivan helps me clean up the last of the roof damage debris and racoon waste in the attic. This is necessary to prepare for additional cellulose insulation to prevent further ice dams and roof damage.
I paint and finish the bedroom walls and ceiling that needed to be replaced due to roof damage.
The Anoka County Civil Investigator lets us know that she contacted the Seller just one time in March 2014, leaving a voicemail for him. Although the flipper is listed as “wanted for questioning”, he never returned her call, so she cannot collect a statement from him or generate any official evidence. So, as far as the County is concerned, no crime has been committed despite the overwhelming amount of evidence that fraud took place and substantial damages have been incurred.
Walter Sullivan and I continue insulating the crawlspace floor with foam panels. Later, we begin covering the walls with reflective insulating wrap.
I continue adding reflective insulating wrap to the floor and walls of the crawlspace, closing each seam with aluminum HVAC tape.
The finished crawlspace instantly improves the heat retention in the dining room.
