Walkout Basement Baptism

[ultrarunner]

Bird, that's nuts! makes you wonder what insurance is for sometimes. Like your being "penalized" for using "their" service.

I don't mind they keep info to help prospective buyers like using carfax or anything else that discloses prior damage, like you'd find during a home inspection or buying an auto, then at least you can determine somewhat if repairs where done and complete, but to ostracize some one who made a legit claim, to me is reason to shop somewhere else anyway.

Maybe they know their insurance coverage really doesn't cover like new replacement.

Not to get too far off topic...

One of my brothers is a Real Estate Broker for 25 years now. He has had great difficulty at times closing Escrows due to past water damage claims... Many companies here will simply choose not to insure...

 

[dcyrilc]

I can relate to what Bird went through. After we had our big wind storm back in '06 which brought the tree down through my mom's house, her insurance company dropped her as soon as the repairs were complete and no one else will touch her. As a result, she still has no home owners insurance today.

 

[Bird]

to ostracize some one who made a legit claim, to me is reason to shop somewhere else anyway

Yep, insurance is a weird business. Naturally, we had insurance on our home and vehicles down in Navarro County. I had no complaints with the insurance company, but their rates were higher in Dallas County, and I guess that's understandable. So I checked around and Allstate offered lower rates in Dallas County on the vehicles than we had been paying the other company in Navarro County, so I insured the vehicles with Allstate. But when Allstate then refused to insure the mobile home because of the prior water damage claim, I also changed our car insurance to AAA at a better rate than we'd had with Allstate. Now I've never had a claim on either the car insurance or the homeowner's insurance with AAA, so I don't know how good they'd be if I did, but I do occasionally check with other companies and I've never found one that would beat AAA premiums.

 

[ultrarunner]

I can relate to what Bird went through. After we had our big wind storm back in '06 which brought the tree down through my mom's house, her insurance company dropped her as soon as the repairs were complete and no one else will touch her. As a result, she still has no home owners insurance today.

Had the same in Olympia... same size tree... lucky it missed the house and only took out a nearly empty out-building.

At first the insurance company was slow... they said they had to inspect before anything could be started... the guy that actually did come out a week later was from another State and was real sharp... he cut a check on the spot and apologized for the delay... he also said the debris removal limits were waived and the claim would not count against me because it was a declared a disaster.

30 days of rain followed by 80 mile an hour gusts... bad combination... glad no one was killed around here.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep, insurance is a weird business. Naturally, we had insurance on our home and vehicles down in Navarro County. I had no complaints with the insurance company, but their rates were higher in Dallas County, and I guess that's understandable. So I checked around and Allstate offered lower rates in Dallas County on the vehicles than we had been paying the other company in Navarro County, so I insured the vehicles with Allstate. But when Allstate then refused to insure the mobile home because of the prior water damage claim, I also changed our car insurance to AAA at a better rate than we'd had with Allstate. Now I've never had a claim on either the car insurance or the homeowner's insurance with AAA, so I don't know how good they'd be if I did, but I do occasionally check with other companies and I've never found one that would beat AAA premiums.

I think AAA is good if you can get it... pretty particular here.

During the Tahoe fire storm a few years back, AAA called to offer any assistance during the fire if we needed to evacuate, private fire service or securing the property... the fire took out hundreds of homes but never go closer than a few miles from the cabin.

Never had a company be pro-active like that.

 

[Alan L.]

You don't want a professional. They have already screwed up by putting plumbing in an outside wall. Do it yourself so it will be done right.

Actually I think its pretty common to have pipes on an outside wall in this area. Especially when you have faucets on the outside wall.

Jim, was this one of those frost free faucets with a long stem where the water is several inches from the faucet itself?

Hope the damage is minimal, maybe this low winter humidity will help with the drying process.

 

[jinman]

Jim, was this one of those frost free faucets with a long stem where the water is several inches from the faucet itself?

No, I don't have those, but you can bet I'll be looking into getting them or doing something to make sure this doesn't ever happen again.

 

[Bird]

Jim, was this one of those frost free faucets with a long stem where the water is several inches from the faucet itself?

I have that kind, one in front and one in back sticking right out through the bricks. So far, no problem, but I don't trust them. I do have the styrofoam covers over them. But there is no way to cut off the water to those except to go to the meter and turn all the water off. I sure liked the system at our old house better, where the faucets were in the flower beds, front and rear, in something like small meter boxes, with a water shutoff valve and a stop and waste valve for each one.

 

[Obed]

Thanks everyone. I quit waiting on Servpro and called a local company. They were here in just over 1 hour and dewatering the carpet. I was really impressed with how well their machine worked. We still have to do some checking of the walls, but the glued down carpet is almost completely dry. They left drying fans running to do the final drying. The carpet seems to be no more wet than after a good cleaning. We will see how it goes on odor. If it doesn't seem to be okay, we'll get the carpet replaced.

All the furniture is up on blocks and the carpet is only slightly damp to the touch. I was truly impressed with how professional this crew of two guys was and how they worked well together. I'm glad to keep my business local. When/if Servpro ever calls me back, I'll tell them to cancel the order.

My capped pipe is holding fine and we have both hot and cold water as normal. From this, I think I learned that I'd like to have some additional cutoffs so I can isolate zones in my house. I have three main zones. Right now I can only turn off hot water and the main supply at the outlet of my pressure tank. I need more cutoffs. That's a project in my future.:thumbsup:

Jinman,
Sorry to hear about the flood. Our first house got flooded by hurricane Hugo 2 months after we bought it so I can sympathize.

Having plenty of cutoffs is a good thing. In the house we just built, we can turn the water off for either bathroom. That way, if a shower starts leaking, it's an inconvenience, not an emergency.

One project on my list is adding cutoffs for each of our outdoor spigots and a way to drain the pipes supplying the spigots. That's when I'll get to learn how to solder copper piping. Having to rely on plumbers during emergencies is just no fun.

 

[k0ua]

No, I don't have those, but you can bet I'll be looking into getting them or doing something to make sure this doesn't ever happen again.

Jim, just be sure to not leave a garden hose hooked, up to a frost free faucet, when it gets really cold, that is what happened to me. I have become a hose fanatic, now when winter comes. ( "honey did you disconnect the hose after you used it" "yes dear")

James