Bad Day for Pole Barn

[dzldanz]

You noticed the tree was dead earlier?
I personally wouldn’t expect any help from the insurance company .

 

[bazzer57]

Yesterday I found a tree on my pole barn. It was actually on my neighbors property. I noticed it was dead last year and thought about suggesting we take it down. It would have been tight to get it between our barns, but I wish we had tried now. I have to call the insurance company but I think I will probably take it off myself since it's hard to get tree services on short notice. It doesn't look likely to roll or twist on me. Since I have a ceiling and insulation, I can't tell if there is structural damage but it looks like one or two purlins might be broken.

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In the USA, which I'm guessing this is, the process may well be different.

In the UK, it would be an initial friendly chat (hopefully, but maybe not friendly) with your neighbour, and s/he would say that as it was his tree on his/her property s/he would get his/her insurance company on the case, and give you the necessary details to pass onto your insurance company. Then either with or without your neighbour's details and insurance company's details, you would call your insurance company to get them started on the case. It would then be the insurance company's job to sort it out for you. But if friendly neighbour relations existed, it would also be possible to sort it out between you without involving the insurance company. Personally I would still cover my back by ensuring the insurance company was informed but also notified that there may be no need for a claim.

 

[shadowm77]

if it's your neighbors' tree then it's his insurance that will pay you or your insurance company will go after his insurance company hope you and your neighbor get along good luck

 

[oneal hicks]

You insurance co. may be your best bet. I say this because from the picture the roof is bent below the bottom Purlin which means if you do have structural damage it will be the eve strut ( and possibly the Purlin) The Eve Strut is much more detailed than a purlin the eve strut ties the two bays together supports the roof sheet as well as being the component that the top of the wall sheets are secured too. To change the Eve Struy all the wall and roof sheets must be unscrewed if you have the typical vinyl backed insulation it will need to be detached from the eve strut and replaced but on the other hand from the picture you may not have enough damage to go to the expense to replace all this. Oh well just an obersrvation from an old building erector. After all it is you call I hope all goes well for you.

 

[Robfnk]

Yesterday I found a tree on my pole barn. It was actually on my neighbors property. I noticed it was dead last year and thought about suggesting we take it down. It would have been tight to get it between our barns, but I wish we had tried now. I have to call the insurance company but I think I will probably take it off myself since it's hard to get tree services on short notice. It doesn't look likely to roll or twist on me. Since I have a ceiling and insulation, I can't tell if there is structural damage but it looks like one or two purlins might be broken.

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Yesterday I found a tree on my pole barn. It was actually on my neighbors property. I noticed it was dead last year and thought about suggesting we take it down. It would have been tight to get it between our barns, but I wish we had tried now. I have to call the insurance company but I think I will probably take it off myself since it's hard to get tree services on short notice. It doesn't look likely to roll or twist on me. Since I have a ceiling and insulation, I can't tell if there is structural damage but it looks like one or two purlins might be broken.

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when you get ready to clean it up I highly recommend a boom. If you have a Home Depot rental near by you can rent a tow behind one pretty reasonable and take it down in small sections. Just take your time and think before you cut.

 

[KennyG]

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.

 

[John Joseph McVeigh]

if it's your neighbors' tree then it's his insurance that will pay you or your insurance company will go after his insurance company hope you and your neighbor get along good luck

It depends upon in which State the O.P. and his neighbor live. In Maryland at least, and probably in many other jurisdictions, it also depends upon whether you put your neighbor on notice that the tree was dead or diseased or, for some other reason, a threat to your property.

From the several theories that have been developed on this subject, the three Maryland courts involved in the Melnick decision adopted the “Massachusetts Rule,” which limits the remedy of the landowner who is harmed to self-help in almost all circumstances.

The Massachusetts Rule has not been universally accepted. In contrast, § 840 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1977) imposes a duty on a landowner to abate the condition when the encroaching vegetation is “artificial” — that is, when it is a result of human activity — but not when it is “natural.” The Maryland Court of Appeals noted that only a minority of other courts have applied the Restatement rule because of the difficulty in determining whether a tree or its growth may be as a result of human activity. Under the “Virginia Rule” liability would exist if a tree or plant is “noxious,” but liability would be limited to self-help if the tree or plant is not noxious. The “Hawaiian Rule,” for which Melnick argued, would impose liability for damages caused “other than by casting shade or dropping leaves, flowers or fruit.” In Melnick, the Maryland Court of Appeals rejected these other rules.

The Court of Appeals in Melnick held that the Massachusetts Rule should be followed because any other rule “might spawn innumerable and vexatious lawsuits.” Judge John Eldridge wrote for the Court, “We have gotten along very well in Maryland, for over 350 years, without authorizing legal actions of this type by neighbor against neighbor.” Furthermore, the Court declined to categorize living trees, plants, roots, or vines as a nuisance, which must be abated.

In the final footnote of the Melnick case, the Court of Appeals acknowledged that there may be a limit to the Massachusetts Rule for dangerous dead trees and that under certain circumstances a landowner on whose property a dead tree stands may need to take reasonable steps to prevent injury to others.

Link.

 

[Robert walker]

Yesterday I found a tree on my pole barn. It was actually on my neighbors property. I noticed it was dead last year and thought about suggesting we take it down. It would have been tight to get it between our barns, but I wish we had tried now. I have to call the insurance company but I think I will probably take it off myself since it's hard to get tree services on short notice. It doesn't look likely to roll or twist on me. Since I have a ceiling and insulation, I can't tell if there is structural damage but it looks like one or two purlins might be broken.

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Build a 4x4 a-frame and put under it about 4 or 5 feet from the side. You should then be able to cut limbs off the building side. Then hook a chain to it up to it close to the a-frame and pull it over, cut up, split and enjoy a fire

 

[Sombra]

Yesterday I found a tree on my pole barn. It was actually on my neighbors property. I noticed it was dead last year and thought about suggesting we take it down. It would have been tight to get it between our barns, but I wish we had tried now. I have to call the insurance company but I think I will probably take it off myself since it's hard to get tree services on short notice. It doesn't look likely to roll or twist on me. Since I have a ceiling and insulation, I can't tell if there is structural damage but it looks like one or two purlins might be broken.

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From my experience if the tree came from the neighbors property then their insurance pays for damages.

 

[kbt kubota]

Since it's dead, Once it was trimmed down to this I would have seen if the loader would lift the end off the shop just a little and trim more off until maybe it cleared the barn.
Maybe even cut sections out of it to reduce weight more.

That was my first thought too.. .particularly, to avoid the ding-in-the-wall problem. Was it too heavy for the loader?