Re: Helmswatch's house burned - total loss

[Canuck]

Thanks the info Cathy. So sorry to hear about Duke and Irene's loss!

Glad that they are ok, though!

Wayne

 

[ashley_phil]

i'm in for some weekends. got a baby coming in august so after that i'd be out for awhile, but do really want to help out.

 

[jglord]

Count me in.

 

[LeftyTom]

Count me in. But be warned, I got a PC left-handed circ saw.8-O

 

[helmswatch]

To all our friend here at NCWW,

Irene and I wish to thank each and everyone of you for your concern and gracious offers to help. For the moment, we are in good hands, staying with our dear friend Donald here in Aurora. We are still in somewhat of a shock. Our home was everything to us. Like the sea, it was our refuge and our sanctuary, where the love of my life and I planned on living out our years and growing old together. We were two days away from completing over a $22,000 remodelling job! We lost everything we owned, with the exception of our woodworking tools, Thank God, and got out with the clothes on our backs, mine being a bit singed around the edges. :lol:

After I made sure that Irene and all of our critters were safely out of harms way, and after I made sure the young family who we sort of "adopted" after they got stuck here in NC, were safe, I went back into the nearly fully engulfed house with my trusty 3/4" garden hose, to do battle with the "beast." Talk about a real bone-head idea! Needless to say, I didn't win that battle and it was not one of my few shining hours!

The community of Aurora has wrapped their arms around us and insured that we all, including our young cpl's children had clothes and toys. We are thankful for people like them and all of you.

Duke & Irene are coming back! They tried to kill me in Nam 3 times and failed. Hurricane Bertha tried to kill Irene and I and failed, although we lost our two boats that we were living on and all of our possessions. And even a couple of my ex-wives have conived, cast spells, and been a general pain in the arse, they failed. As long as Irene and I have each other and friends like all of you and in the town of Aurora, Duke and Irene will be truly blessed. Besides, I never liked the bathrooms in that house anyway.

We will try to post some pix of the ole homestead just to show you not to have Duke plan your next BBQ!

Thank you again, & God Bless You All

Ps. If anyone has experience and/or knowledge about Fire Insurance or how insurance companies operate, pls contact us. They're killing us here. lol

 

[jeff...]

To all our friend here at North Carolina Woodworker,

Irene and I wish to thank each and everyone of you for your concern and gracious offers to help. For the moment, we are in good hands, staying with our dear friend Donald here in Aurora. We are still in somewhat of a shock. Our home was everything to us. Like the sea, it was our refuge and our sanctuary, where the love of my life and I planned on living out our years and growing old together. We were two days away from completing over a $22,000 remodelling job! We lost everything we owned, with the exception of our woodworking tools, Thank God, and got out with the clothes on our backs, mine being a bit singed around the edges. :lol:

After I made sure that Irene and all of our critters were safely out of harms way, and after I made sure the young family who we sort of "adopted" after they got stuck here in NC, were safe, I went back into the nearly fully engulfed house with my trusty 3/4" garden hose, to do battle with the "beast." Talk about a real bone-head idea! Needless to say, I didn't win that battle and it was not one of my few shining hours!

The community of Aurora has wrapped their arms around us and insured that we all, including our young cpl's children had clothes and toys. We are thankful for people like them and all of you.

Duke & Irene are coming back! They tried to kill me in Nam 3 times and failed. Hurricane Bertha tried to kill Irene and I and failed, although we lost our two boats that we were living on and all of our possessions. And even a couple of my ex-wives have conived, cast spells, and been a general pain in the arse, they failed. As long as Irene and I have each other and friends like all of you and in the town of Aurora, Duke and Irene will be truly blessed. Besides, I never liked the bathrooms in that house anyway.

We will try to post some pix of the ole homestead just to show you not to have Duke plan your next BBQ!

Thank you again, & God Bless You All

Ps. If anyone has experience and/or knowledge about Fire Insurance or how insurance companies operate, pls contact us. They're killing us here. lol

Duke keep us posted, I would be more than happy to help in any way I can.

 

[b4man]

Duke & Irene,
Thanks for giving us the update. Sounds like the lemonade stand that is your life is still up and running:eusa_danc Know we care and although I don't know much about insurance, thank goodness, someone here will surely be able to advise you.
Please keep us posted and we'll keep you in our prayers.

 

[cskipper]

Duke,
Thanks for the update. There are a lot of willing folks to help with a house-raising if it would help. Please keep us posted and let us know if we can help with that or other things to get you guys back up and running.

 

[woodydiver]

Hello Duke and Irene,
i am sorry to here about your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you. I admire your smile despite the pain, Keep smiling! Ill chime in on the house raising and help Any way i can,
curt

 

[helmswatch]

Finally, after many failed attempts, we posted pix of our burnt home in our gallery! Irene cried as we did it. Wished I had accomplished the upload last night while she slept.

We took those pix with our new Canon 10.1 MegaPix Rebel XTI. What a camera! And we took out special insurance for it! Anyway, those pix in our gallery can be enlarged quite a bit and it is amazing what it shows. If one looks at the shot where the gun rack is, and enlarges it, you can see the burnt shoulder holster hanging there. Well, it amazed us anyway.

The insurance adjuster is supposed to have some numbers ready for us tomorrow, so here we go....Round 2!

Again, thank you for all of your support, and remember, if you have a 3/4" garden hose available, you may find that something like a 2" garden hose available is a lot better.

Be Well,
Duke & Irene :-D

 

[jeff...]

So sorry man, let me know what I can do to help. Please keep us posted, I'm looking forward to pounding some nails.

 

[ptt49er]

You and your family have my familys deepest and heart felt sympathy! If I can make it I'll help pound some nails!! I'm always up to helping out and learning in the same day! Best of luck with the insurance company!

 

[cpowell]

This is the first I've read of your loss. Thank goodness people and animals escaped unscathed.

I am not sure it is helpful for me to offer to pound nails. I'm not very good at it and tend to hit my thumb more than I like. :lol: :lol:

Assuming you get an equitable agreement from the insurer it may make more sense to get the core work - foundation, structural/framing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, concrete, etc done by professionals and use NCWWer help for decking, cabs, interior trim/finish work, vanities, shelving/built-ins, etc. We could also help replace all of the primary furniture pieces. This level of work could be broken down into discrete projects with key people responsible for coordination and installation to meet a specific deadline. You'd buy the materials and our labor would be free...kinda like when I build something for LOML!

I may be off base here. I realize there are a more than a few folks here that are capable of building a house but it could be difficult to schedule things so that the work progresses at an acceptable pace leading to dry in. However, given the scope of the rebuild project, I believe you could save you a ton of money handling interior non-structural projects using NCWWer talent.

And I'd be willing to pitch in. BTW, I'm going to be in your neck of the woods in two weeks. My son will be at Camp Bonner for a week (Boy Scout summer camp). I will join him for the last three days. :eusa_danc :eusa_danc

I have camped at Aurora. It is a beautiful place. I can understand you attraction to the area.

Chuck

 

[helmswatch]

Chuck,

Thank you for your concern your gracious offer to help. Thank you all of you.

We talked with the adjuster yesterday and they are willing to settle for less than our insured limits. I still don't understand why if you are insured for this amount, why they pay out less than that! Isn't that why we buy the insurance to begin with? We wonder if they would accept our payments at less than what they bill us for?

As far as help from all you wonderful people, it would gratefully appreciated but we would think that the distance alone, would be working against us. Although, anyone is more than welcome to camp out on our property, it sure is a long way from most of your homes.

Below, is a artist's rendering of the house plan, we picked out.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/House_Plan_592-062D-0054_Cropped.gif?6750​

 

[Bryan S]

We talked with the adjuster yesterday and they are willing to settle for less than our insured limits. I still don't understand why if you are insured for this amount, why they pay out less than that! Isn't that why we buy the insurance to begin with? We wonder if they would accept our payments at less than what they bill us for?

Its smart to be insured for more than needed but they will only pay "Replacement Cost" and then sometimes only after your accused of setting the fire. I could go on but this is not the time.

I'm glad things seam to be moving along for you even if its slow. Glad everyone is safe and made it out ok. You are in our thoughts and prayers, we could only imagine what you are going through now.

 

[cskipper]

I like the Chuck's idea. The distance is a problem and trying to get timing down could be difficult. Maybe we could help with some of the inside stuff? I'm one to talk - I can make what - a trivet?? The proposed house looks wonderful.

 

[helmswatch]

We also think that Chuck's idea is the most feasible, and, if anyone would like to help us on the inside work, it will be appreciated. It may be at least a week or two before anything is started if then so we will keep you posted. Again thank you everyone.


[quote=Bryan S;89186 "but they will only pay "Replacement Cost"

We were told by a couple people that even after the insurance company cuts the check that we can still go back to them if the rebuild costs more up to the insured limit. Although this seems fair, I will believe it when I see it. 8-O

 

[cpowell]

I can only imagine the pain you are feeling following your loss. The insurance company deals with settlements on a frequent basis and they may/may not have the upper hand in this negotiation process.

I'd recommend you consult an attorney before accepting a settlement just to get some guidance. If an attorney is familiar with the laws governing your situation then he/she would be able to let you know whether the insurance company would be required to cover reasonable replacement costs exceeding the settlement offered up to the insured replacement value. I know that I would feel more comfortable hearing advice from an attorney familiar with the insurance laws/rules/practices.

If you don't want to speak with an attorney (and believe me the insurance company does NOT want you to do so) then take the time to detail your thoughts in a letter and send it to your insurance company, certified mail. You can set the tone to be neutral and inquisitive. Sometimes it is hard to think of all the right questions to ask when you are sitting face-to-face discussing a business proposition. As far as the ins company is concerned, this is strictly business. Take the time to review the terms of their settlement and make notes of any topics that are not clear or that you believe are at odds with your contract. Writing a letter is easier for most people to do than discussing directly. The folks at the insurance company are talented at this sort of face-to-face thing. It's their job.

I have dealt with my own insurance company a few times for auto accidents and have found them to be very cooperative. They tried to steer me to one of their preferred repair centers but made it plain that I could select my own. They also made it plain that additional costs for repairs that are unearthed once the vehicle is taken apart will be covered. Sounds similar to the approach your insurance company is taking. Maybe you can end up in a win-win situation when all is done.

You have definitely picked out a beautiful replacement home. :eusa_danc :eusa_danc

Stay positive. You have a settlement offer. The worst you will end up with is that initial offer. It can only get better. If the offer is enough for you to live with then the worst case scenario is not too bad at all. :-D

Best of luck!

Chuck

 

[Mike Wilkins]

Sorry to hear about your loss. The main thing is that everyone got out safely. Stuff can be replaced. People cannot.
Please believe me, your insurance company will be your best friend when it comes to rebuilding. You are covered up to the policy limit if you have replacement cost coverage. And maybe a little more in some instances. All insurers in the state of NC operate under the same policy; just a different name on the cover.
The policy requires that a depreciated amount be paid up front, according to the "Conditions" section of the policy. Then if the policy has replacement coverage, the depreciated amount is paid when the work is completed. Same with the contents of the home.
Good luck, and keep your head up.

 

[DavidF]

That is a lovely looking house you have picked out there Duke. I hope things work out.