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Post by candleangie on Aug 2, 2022 3:54:05 GMT
DD is getting married Sept. 3rd. She and her fiancé bought an older home and are flipping it. They have put countless hours into remodeling and planned to live there for a couple of years before building a new home. Today she called me from her bachelorette party a few hours away to tell me that an outlet had overheated (or whatever happens to outlets when nothing is plugged into them) and the house caught fire. Luckily, her fiancé was able to call 911 early enough that the fire damage is contained to the kitchen but there is extensive smoke and water damage. We won’t know the extent until Monday. All of there wedding gifts are ruined. They have ample insurance and all will be fixed in the long run but they are stressed beyond belief. Thank you for any good Pea thoughts you can send their way! Update 8-1 They met with the insurance adjuster today. He basically said they will need to take everything down to the studs and rebuild. All of their belongings are a total loss due to extensive smoke damage. He said it will take approximately 9 months to a year to complete the work due to supply issues. The insurance company is sending a team in to help them inventory everything. One bedroom was completely filled with shower and wedding presents that have never been out of their packaging. But they said smoke is insidious and can cause long term health issues so they are considered a loss. His parents have a second home they can live in for the duration. So while they are heartbroken over losing everything they worked so hard to renovate, we are all feeling blessed that no one was hurt and there is a verrry distant light at the end of a looong tunnel. Thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes! PLEASE if they have replacement value insurance, tell them to clarify with the insurance adjuster how the line items work. W/ that type of insurance, you list everything, they give you the depreciated value in a check now. Then you purchase replacements and submit your receipts, along with the line item from your inventory. If you have 8 photo frames, and you list that as 1 line item….you can only claim against that line item once. So you either replace all eight at the same time, or you forfeit the remainder. They didn’t tell us this when our house burnt down and we lost quite a bit of money. |
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Why
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,168 
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Post by Why on Aug 2, 2022 6:50:26 GMT
I want to agree with the above poster. If they had 42 shirts list every one separately.
I don't agree that all the wedding gifts are a total loss. I had a house fire and most things were professionally cleaned and useable. Cloth and wood items might retain smoke but glass and metal items should clean up fine. Of course there are new theories every day so I may be wrong but it doesn't make sense to me.
I remember that the only furniture the insurance replaced were items with burn damage. Same with cloth items like drapes. They paid to have drapes cleaned but not replaced. After cleaning there was no odor detected. I think they also rented an ozone machine and ran it inside the house for several days. That took care of the remaining smoke odors.
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Post by christine58 on Aug 2, 2022 10:14:22 GMT
The insurance company is sending a team in to help them inventory everything. One bedroom was completely filled with shower and wedding presents that have never been out of their packaging There are fire remediation companies that can absolutely get the smell out of some of their gifts. I would look for one. Thank god no one got hurt and they do have a place to live. It's going to be a long haul to rebuild. |
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Post by mikklynn on Aug 2, 2022 11:22:00 GMT
I'm sorry this happened, but relieved they have a place to live!
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Post by peasapie on Aug 2, 2022 11:32:30 GMT
Oh I’m so sorry to read this. I hadn’t seen your original post. Of course you are grateful they are safe and insured — but how sad for them to have to go through all of this extra work and stress at a time that ideally would be just fun and excitement for their future. I hope things go smoothly from this point onward.
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casii
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,517
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Post by casii on Aug 2, 2022 11:46:19 GMT
Oh I can't even imagine the stress. Tangentially I can because our house burned down when I was a kid, but I haven't gone through it as a homeowner.
I wonder if they're calling the belongings a total loss because an older home may have had residual lead or asbestos that fire/smoke would disperse? When we were working on our home, we had asbestos remediation and it was quite involved. It would've been impossible for us to live in the house or have any belongings inside while work was being done.
If not, there are professionals who can do quite a lot with smoke damage.
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Post by workingclassdog on Aug 2, 2022 12:49:43 GMT
Having a place to stay will be such a blessing. That is one of the biggest worries. Hopefully everything runs smoothly for them.
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Post by sabrinae on Aug 2, 2022 16:51:45 GMT
I’m so sorry. What a stressful mess. I’m glad they have somewhere they can stay. Hopefully, the insurance company is good about working with them both in rebuilding the house and replacing all their belongings. I can’t imagine having to inventory everything you own and trying to replace everything.
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peppermintpatty
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1345
Posts: 3,947
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Post by peppermintpatty on Aug 2, 2022 17:02:54 GMT
We had the same thing happen. We were home and heard this strange popping sound coming from the kitchen. We kept hearing it and so we went in to investigate and the outlet was smoking. My husband took off the faceplate after we cut the power and the wiring was fried around the outlet. We replaced the wiring for that outlet and replaced the outlet itself. I am really thankful that we were home.
We also had an issue with our oven turning itself on in the middle of the night. We woke up to beeping and found that the damn thing had shorted somewhere and was extremely hot to the touch. We cut the power (it was on it's own circuit) and it took hours for it to cool down. We didn't buy the oven (previous owners did) and we called the company. They gave us money to replace the unit. We didn't go with the same brand. It was really scary to think what would have happened if we hadn't been home.
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