A sad day on the farm

[brrent]

On osb. Worked construction for 20 years, when it was cold out, on fridays at quitin time we would often build a fire and have a few beers to close the work week. We quickly learned that OSB scraps would ignite very quickly and burn hotter than any other lumber scraps on the job, believe it was the glue that holds the strands of wood together to make this type lumber. Set a couple pieces together sometime and start it,(starts easy) you'll quickly see what we found out. Irony here is it's heavily used on the majority of new construction homes exterior walls and roofs, then its popular to cover this flammable material with vinyl siding..........Just sayn!

 

[ForestGrump]

It sounds like you had a fire.

 

[C79]

I really feel for you. Despite the losses, which are sad it is something to consider what could have happened if family, friends, or you had been in the building. Stuff is just stuff but a life is truly irreplaceable. Good luck going forward with the clean up and sorry that happened.

 

[tad84pole]

I'm so sorry to hear of your shop burning. Thank you for sharing your story about it. This thread is stimulating a lot of good information about dealing with the loss and the insurance companies. Like you, I have inherited tools from my father and grandfather that I cherish. You have my sympathy, and I hope you can recover from this disaster in time.

 

[TomOfTarsus]

I haven't been on here in forever, but on seeing this I had to at least jump in and offer my condolences and prayers. Thankfully, you or nobody else was hurt, but what a huge loss! God bless you as you recover. While the irreplaceable stuff is, well, irreplaceable, I hope you are able to rebuild and enjoy your new shop in a short time. Wow, that's hard.

 

[two_bit_score]

On osb. Worked construction for 20 years, when it was cold out, on fridays at quitin time we would often build a fire and have a few beers to close the work week. We quickly learned that OSB scraps would ignite very quickly and burn hotter than any other lumber scraps on the job, believe it was the glue that holds the strands of wood together to make this type lumber. Set a couple pieces together sometime and start it,(starts easy) you'll quickly see what we found out. Irony here is it's heavily used on the majority of new construction homes exterior walls and roofs, then its popular to cover this flammable material with vinyl siding..........Just sayn!

This post needed to be repeated as more need to be aware of the flammability factor in OSB.

 

[Andy Felix]

Sorry for your loss. I experienced a similar one back in 08. Were you able to utilize a "public adjuster" on your claim? That was the best move i made to help cover the loss rather than the insurance company itself.

 

[two_bit_score]

Sorry for your loss. I experienced a similar one back in 08. Were you able to utilize a "public adjuster" on your claim? That was the best move i made to help cover the loss rather than the insurance company itself.

How much did the PA charge you?

 

[can do]

Some of you may remember what I went through building my pole barn that turned into my giant man cave. It was my place away from home that I spent many hours in playing with all my toys. I had all my most sacred things that I had gathered over my life time. All my machines, two lathes, my mill, all of the tooling, my Bickford 21" Super Service, 2 more drill presses. Three welders, Dynasty 300, millermatic 252 and an older miller AC/DC buzz box and all the stuff that went along with my welding shop. I never realized how much stuff I had in that building until I started going through the rubble. I never thought about how much in dollars I had laying around. In just different clamps and vices I have found over $7,000.00 in the rubble. It hasn't been too hard to find things because I had everything in there own spaces, plumbing, electrical, AC, hydraulic stuff, test equipment, welding equipment and consumables all had their own little spot in the shop.

One of the hardest things I have had to deal with was all my civil war relics, my native american artifact, bottle collection and my fossil collection. it's hard to lose stuff I have spent a lifetime collecting but all my books for the different habbits, my research papers and recording books that took more time to do than the actural collecting itself.

Everything was gone in less than 2 hours from the time it started to when there was nothing else to burn. In the end all that is left is the siding and roof metal and what's few 6x6 post that are still standing. One of the firemen that was here told me that in 20 years of fire fighting this was the hottest fire he had ever been to. That huge trolly beam system I built and was so proud of now looks like a big pertzel still hanging from it's upright support beams. Anything aluminum or copper was turned to liquid, every where you look there are piles of melted lead, aluminum and cooper parts that were once motors, tools or anything else that was made of these metals.

After a little over a month I have finally gotten the go ahead from the insurance co to start clean up and that will be a giant under taking in itself. I have enough insurance to cover most of the contence except my historical items but The way insurance work it you only get a certain percent of the amount of what it would cost to bebuild the the house itself. I already know there is not enough in that part to cover the cost of what I had so I'll have to do all the clean up just like I built it to begin with by myself. It probably will take the better part of a couple months to get it all cleaned up so I can start over.

Do You need any help with the clean up , & recovery ? Have You considered a go fund me page to help with what the insurance wont cover ? I would be glad to help if You need it ! I put a message out to fellow Virginians on the mid Atlantic roll call to see if fellow Virginians can help You in any way if You need it ? Please let me know !

 

[Kenduro]

Some of you may remember what I went through building my pole barn that turned into my giant man cave. It was my place away from home that I spent many hours in playing with all my toys. I had all my most sacred things that I had gathered over my life time. All my machines, two lathes, my mill, all of the tooling, my Bickford 21" Super Service, 2 more drill presses. Three welders, Dynasty 300, millermatic 252 and an older miller AC/DC buzz box and all the stuff that went along with my welding shop. I never realized how much stuff I had in that building until I started going through the rubble. I never thought about how much in dollars I had laying around. In just different clamps and vices I have found over $7,000.00 in the rubble. It hasn't been too hard to find things because I had everything in there own spaces, plumbing, electrical, AC, hydraulic stuff, test equipment, welding equipment and consumables all had their own little spot in the shop.

One of the hardest things I have had to deal with was all my civil war relics, my native american artifact, bottle collection and my fossil collection. it's hard to lose stuff I have spent a lifetime collecting but all my books for the different habbits, my research papers and recording books that took more time to do than the actural collecting itself.

Everything was gone in less than 2 hours from the time it started to when there was nothing else to burn. In the end all that is left is the siding and roof metal and what's few 6x6 post that are still standing. One of the firemen that was here told me that in 20 years of fire fighting this was the hottest fire he had ever been to. That huge trolly beam system I built and was so proud of now looks like a big pertzel still hanging from it's upright support beams. Anything aluminum or copper was turned to liquid, every where you look there are piles of melted lead, aluminum and cooper parts that were once motors, tools or anything else that was made of these metals.

After a little over a month I have finally gotten the go ahead from the insurance co to start clean up and that will be a giant under taking in itself. I have enough insurance to cover most of the contence except my historical items but The way insurance work it you only get a certain percent of the amount of what it would cost to bebuild the the house itself. I already know there is not enough in that part to cover the cost of what I had so I'll have to do all the clean up just like I built it to begin with by myself. It probably will take the better part of a couple months to get it all cleaned up so I can start over.

If you'd like help dealing with insurance, contact United Policyholders at UPhelp.org Home - United Policyholders They are a non'profit group that has helped tens of thousands after the many fires in California and elsewhere. They are a great group and they have free seminars and tools for inventory, replacement cost, etc.