Geoff and Jane were overwhelmed.
Last year, Geoff’s father passed away, and he stepped back from his job to help his mom, Jane, who was struggling with poor health and a long list of home repairs.
“Some of these were longstanding problems that got put on hold as my father’s health [declined],” Geoff explained.
Once he diagnosed the many repair needs in the home, Geoff began researching local options to see if anyone could help him and his mother.
“I looked into Habitat for Humanity, but they couldn’t help us at that time,” he explained. “I looked into a county program, but they could only do the bare minimum. Then I found Home Repairs Ministries.”
Home Repairs’ Project Manager, Kyle Van Nus, visited the home for inspection to see if Home Repairs could lend a hand and lighten Geoff’s load.
At first, Kyle noticed some rotting wood and animal damage to the exterior of the home, though the damage wasn’t critical. But when he stepped inside, he saw the real critical repair need: the plumbing and bathrooms.
Both the hall bathroom and the bedroom bathroom had toilet and faucet leakage, tile damage and potential subfloor damage.
“Because the toilets had been leaking for so long, the flanges had actually separated from the flooring,” Kyle explained. “One shower was also past the point of repair, and the subfloor needed to be fixed.”
With funds from a Gwinnett County WRAP grant, Home Repairs decided to take the next step on this project. But they needed help with the long list of plumbing and renovation repairs.
Kyle turned to Home Repairs’ partners, Best Option Restoration Gwinnett County and Rapid Response Plumbing, who jumped in to tackle these big plumbing concerns.
While Best Option Restoration focused on removing tile and drywall and preventing further rot and mold, Rapid Response installed new toilets and fixtures, placed the emergency shutoff valve and replumbed the tub drains. Then Kyle finished painting both bathrooms and installed a grab bar, towel racks and shelves to help Jane safely navigate them.
“Kyle was amazing,” Geoff said. “Very personable and very thorough as he managed the project. We appreciated him every step of the way.”
Though Home Repairs wasn’t able to tackle every item on Geoff’s long list, the ones they could resolve have lightened his mental load.
“It’s one less big thing I need to do to get everything back where it needs to be [for my mom],” he said. “Now I can focus on the smaller projects myself.”
For Jane, her experience can be summed up simply: “They were terrific.”