Bad Day for Pole Barn

[ovrszd]

I think you left out the step "I get private contractor's bids". The insurance company is never on your side.

Never have gotten a private contractor's bid for anything. After thinking about this for a couple seconds, I've never gotten a private contractor's bid for ANYTHING. In my catastrophic claim the insurance company and I agreed on a settlement and it was over. I never felt like we were "taking sides".

 

[ovrszd]

Yep. I also took this into consideration from what the OP, posted.

“How do you know if a tree is a hazard? If the tree is dead, dying, rotten, or diseased, or alive but obviously hazardous because it is leaning precariously toward another property, the owner of the property where the tree grows will most likely be liable for any damage caused by the tree if it falls on another's property.“

“ On the other hand, if a tree is alive, appears to be healthy, and is not leaning toward another's property, and the tree falls because of a hurricane (normally considered an "Act of God"), then the owner of the lot from which the tree fell will probably not be liable for any damage the fallen tree causes. While there are circumstances that could shift the liability, they are rare.”

I just mean, this thread is 13 days old. The tree is gone. Actually blocked up for fire wood. The costs for repair have been determined. The OP is well on his way to fixing his building. There's no litigation or even discussion going on as to how it's being settled. I think he handled it maturely and admirably. He's a good neighbor to have. No liability discussion required.

 

[alaarp]

Clarification: It is YOUR NEIGHBOR'S tree which fell on YOUR BUILDING. Seems the wrong fellow is calling his insurance agent.

 

[MossRoad]

A quick update. All the wood is cleaned up and I've ordered the replacement metal. Should be here next week. I haven't taken the damaged roofing off yet, so I don't know if the eave purlin is damaged, but if it is I think I should be able to scab in a replacement. Fortunately I have trusses on 4 foot centers, which takes away a lot of the structural concerns with the purlins.

More to come. Silver lining in all this is that, combined with another tree I took down last month, I'm about set to restock the firewood storage.

View attachment 785731

When life gives you lemons, make firewood!

 

[MossRoad]

Clarification: It is YOUR NEIGHBOR'S tree which fell on YOUR BUILDING. Seems the wrong fellow is calling his insurance agent.

It's an act of nature. Unless the neighbor was notified or aware that the tree was previously defective, it's not the neighbor's fault or responsibility. The OP said he noticed the tree was dead, and thought about saying something to the neighbor, but never said if he did or didn't. If he did, he or his insurance company could force the neighbor to pay for it. If he didn't, and the neighbor never knew it was an issue, then it's an act of nature.

That's generally how it works.

Sounds like the OP has taken care of it already, so the info above is only handy for future.

 

[coast40]

Did you read more than the first post of this thread?

 

[coast40]

I just mean, this thread is 13 days old. The tree is gone. Actually blocked up for fire wood. The costs for repair have been determined. The OP is well on his way to fixing his building. There's no litigation or even discussion going on as to how it's being settled. I think he handled it maturely and admirably. He's a good neighbor to have. No liability discussion required.

 

[BenjiMac]

Little tree made a bump on your roof! You can probably straighten it with a jack and a proper length board from inside the building.

Some years ago I was taking a nap in my living room of my townhouse during a hurricane. We had a small front yard, a larger back yard, and woods behind that with a public paved walking trail through the woods. I don't live near the ocean so it didn't seem that bad, but I woke up when a tree landed on my house. I went upstairs and could see the trunk a foot or so inside the bedroom wall & ceiling. I went outside to walk around back and see what happened, and met my neighbor from 2 houses down who said the tree landed on Her house!! So we both contacted the neighbor between us, who was mostly OK but reported that the main part of the tree crushed her bedroom, knocking her out of the bed and filling the upstairs with leafy branches - we only got a couple of the large branches, and this was Not a dead tree! My wife got home later and we waited a while, but went to a hotel when we saw that our tree branch had moved down some so we did not trust it to be stable until morning. By the time we got back, a large crane was sitting in front of the houses, reaching over them to support the tree while it was being sawn apart. The tree had fallen from the other side of the trail, quite some distance from the houses! So Ellen, how do you like your new rain forest decor? (The insurance companies fixed everything like new...)

 

[tradosaurus]

A quick update. All the wood is cleaned up and I've ordered the replacement metal. Should be here next week. I haven't taken the damaged roofing off yet, so I don't know if the eave purlin is damaged, but if it is I think I should be able to scab in a replacement. Fortunately I have trusses on 4 foot centers, which takes away a lot of the structural concerns with the purlins.

More to come. Silver lining in all this is that, combined with another tree I took down last month, I'm about set to restock the firewood storage.

View attachment 785731

given a cord of good firewood goes from $150-$200 you came out ahead.

 

[tradosaurus]

Having read all the posts my only issue is that the neighbor didn't offer to pay for materials to repair your barn nor help with the repairs.