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Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 21 2009, 10:52 PM

And now, for our next contestant on the Question of Pain, with your host Swampyyyyy Bottoms!

Vacca Rabite, what sits about 735 feet above the sea, but is currently full of water?

Gee Swampy, lemme think about that one. Oh, I know. Is it "My House?"

Thats RIGHT! Jimbob, tell the poor sap what he's won!

Well Swampy, Mr Rabite has won a burst radiator. On the top floor of his house. Its been pumping out hot water at 20PSI for many hours now. He will get to enjoy water cascading beautifully out of all of his recessed light fixtures on the floor directly below his new burst radiator. He gets a new in house pool in his basement. He will also get to enjoy looking at new cracks in his ceiling and walls. All this sounds great, but there is more. Mr Rabite will get to spend the rest of the night pulling up sopping wet carpet and foam, while trying to stave off mold. And if you thought that was enough, just wait to hear what else he's won. Mr Rabite will get to replace his computer, DSLR, several lenses, his brand new HD video camera, and his cell phone. And last, but not least, he'll get to deal with insurance adjusters!

Jimbob, those are some great prizes. Vacca, what do you think of all the loot you get here tonight.

....... Um. This game show blows.

Whe-he-hell... Everybody come on back next week for another exciting edition of The Question of PAIN!

Brought to you by the Awesome Squad! Paid for by USAA.

Posted by: ericread Jan 21 2009, 10:56 PM

Shouldn't that be:

"The Continuing Story Of Vacca Rabite's Pain..."

Episode Four:

The Hot Water Menace.....

Posted by: Dr Evil Jan 21 2009, 10:59 PM

Oh man, that sucks out loud! Do you need some help? Let me know

Posted by: Phoenix 914-6GT Jan 21 2009, 11:08 PM

So this is the family emergency you told me about. Wow, that's rough. Well at least you are all safe. I hope you're able to get all the water out with minimal damage. Water problems always suck. Wish I could help

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 21 2009, 11:11 PM

Mike, I'll be home tomorrow waiting for the insurace folks to show. Carpet and foam underlayment are all outside (along with some cushiony furniture that is too soaked to be worth saving).

Kids going to be at day care, and I can't do much more with the affected rooms until the adjuster comes over to check it out (probably should not have touched them, but no way am I leaving carpet to mold up with an infant in the house).

If you want to come over, you would be more then welcome, but I'd probably just try to get out out in the garage for some building time on the car.

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 21 2009, 11:13 PM

Yes, family is fine. This is just one of those things that can be fixed with money. The only thing that will upset me in the long run is if the hard drive and back up drive with all my music and photos on them both go tits up. Everything else is replaceable in time.

Zach

Posted by: 6freak Jan 22 2009, 08:39 AM

major bummer if i was closer i would come and help

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 22 2009, 11:44 AM

And so it begins. Insurance people are here and they are tearing out the ceilings and floors. We got a lot of work done last night, but now they are really taking the house apart.

Zach

Posted by: Phoenix 914-6GT Jan 22 2009, 12:35 PM

Hope all goes well. Sounds like they are making a bit of a mess.

Posted by: jsayre914 Jan 22 2009, 01:53 PM

Sorry to here that zach

How can I help?

Posted by: SirAndy Jan 22 2009, 02:36 PM

Outsch!

Posted by: type47 Jan 22 2009, 02:42 PM

this situation should remind people that a hot water heater also has a finite life span and will also rust out (flooding the apartment below, ask me how my mother- in-law knows). i think i'll go home now and check my hot water radiators!

Posted by: SLKWrx Jan 22 2009, 02:58 PM

So sorry to hear about that! That truly is painful. If there is anything I can do to help out, let me know

Posted by: jsayre914 Jan 22 2009, 03:38 PM

Found a useful website...

link :

http://www.inspect-ny.com/sickhouse/floodresponse.htm

lots of good info and a checklist. stuff you already know, plus stuff you wouldnt think of.

Posted by: rick 918-S Jan 22 2009, 04:37 PM

Get a good contractor! After the drying the real work begins. Document everything you do yourself. You have a deductible. Your time can go twords that cost. Call me if you have questions. I have several of these claims now from the cold snap. sux ass!

Posted by: scotty b Jan 22 2009, 06:58 PM

Holy crap Zach ! Really sorry to hear this man I wish I was closer and could come over and help. I guess we should stop ribbing you about having the 914 ready for Hersjey huh Bet the cats were freaked the hell out by all that water though

Posted by: Gint Jan 22 2009, 08:58 PM

Bawlz! That sucks...

Posted by: type11969 Jan 22 2009, 09:13 PM

That sucks man! Let me know if there is anything I can do to help!

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 23 2009, 02:05 PM

Okay, no interwebs at home for the moment, so here is an update from work.

Disaster recovery took out the ceiling, then the ceiling above the ceiling (the stuff you can find in a old house will sometimes blow your mind - but the DAPO of my house framed in a new ceiling 8 inches below the original plaster ceiling). On the floor above, the took up the linoluem that was under the carpet (that I had removed) only to find more older linoleum glued directly to the original floor. With that, they cut sections of it out, but not all of it.

Industrial sized de-humidifiers we set up in my basement, de-ceilinged dining room, and the bedroom where the radiator popped. Also, 10 massive blowers are running. 2 in the top room, 4 in the dining room and 4 in the basement.

After talking to the USAA rep for about an hour today, here is how things should play (pay?) out. We owe our deductible ($1K, ouch) to the disaster recovery team.

I'll be shopping for a new cell phone today after work, and hopefully all I'll need to do to reconnect to the world is pop my SIMM chip in and go. Insurance will pay $300 of the new phone. So, no iPhone upgrade for Zach. Initial cost is out of pocket for this, but life is silly and requires me to have a cell phone.

For 3 of my lenses, USAA just wants a picture of them, and the cost to replace them and they say that they will cut a for replacement.

For the camera body (canon 350D), 70-300IS lens, and HD video camera we have to take them to Ritz to get checked out. if Ritz says they will cost more to fix then replace, then we get new ones. If not, Ritz tries to fix our current stuff. I hope that its totaled. Water damaged electronics can be really funky down the line.

The computer I have to take to a repair shop and see if they can fix it. Again, I hope its totaled. Right now I have the drive out to see if I can recover pictures and such. Both the computer and the backup were in the flood, but I am hopefull that I can get at least 1 of those drives to work.

The wireless router is functional! But, the jack that it plugs into is in the room that has taken the most damage, so it has to stay unplugged for the time being.

And, of course, dust and crap is all over the house.

We are going to hire contractors to put a ceiling back on and check/replace the recessed lights and ceiling fan. I am going to be repainting and replacing the floor. Painting and floors are easy. Ceilings aren't hard, per sey, but they aren't fun either. I've done the whole sheet rock thing. I don't feel that I am missing out letting someone else do that for me.

Okay, thats all I got. Hopefully, I'll have the wireless up again over the weekend, so I can get online via my work laptop.

Zach

Posted by: jsayre914 Jan 23 2009, 02:35 PM

wow, looks like the car will wait

Posted by: r_towle Jan 23 2009, 03:55 PM

Hi,
A bit of experience with this here. PM if you want details.

Remove the bottom 2 feet of the drywall, and possibly all of it off the walls in the area affected. The water got to the bottom plate of the wall, it wicked up and that area is now a hazard.

Make sure the complete job gets done. You should only have to pay the deductable...that is all. All restoration should be paid for by insurance.

Please understand a few words to keep repeating.
Baby and mold.
baby and mold.
Each time you talk to the insurance company say those words.

The proper way to do it.
Remove all drywall and insulation in affected area.
Dry it out.
Soak it with bleach...straight bleach.
Let that dry, then close it back up properly.

If Bleach is not used the mold spores will form in the wood and spread to the back of the drywall...then mold and baby will meet. Drying it out is not enough. There are two deadly mold spores in our part of the country...not the same as Texas, but just as bad...both are pine tree mold spores from Eastern White pine.

Mold will create lung problems, breathing issues, and in extreme cases brain damage and death. Sorry, had to say it so you are more paranoid...its for you and your babies own well being.

If your insurance company does not do a complete job they risk a very major lawsuit. There are many cases that will ensure they loose big.
They know this.. They know this very well but they will not admit it to you. They wont give you anything unless you say baby, mold...concern...lungs...etc etc.

The minimal job would be floors, ceilings and 50% up the walls.
New insulation, drywall, plaster, and paint.
New floors.
New plumbing repair.
That is minimal. It sounds like they are trying to get away doing less than that and they legally cannot.


Rich

Posted by: stepuptotheMike Jan 23 2009, 04:23 PM

QUOTE(r_towle @ Jan 23 2009, 04:55 PM)

Posted by: Dr Evil Jan 23 2009, 05:22 PM

Zach, I can come over this weekend if you need some help, company, etc. We may even be able to get you car done Call me/PM me for my # if you dont have it somewhere other than your soaked phone.

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 23 2009, 07:51 PM

There is too much dust and noise at the house right now for us, as we are weekending with the grandparents. Which means I can be online.

So, here are pics I took with Erin's camera of the damage:
Where it started:


The wall behind the burst radiator.


The water in the computer room.


Water Damage


The two worst lights where the water was pouring out.


Water that wicked into the wood. Wet zone is to the right of the blue tape.


We had thre of the big dehumidifiers running and 10 of the red fans in the house.


Ceiling is gone. The wood support held the lowered ceiling. The lower sheet rock ceiling and the upper plaster ceiling had to come down.


Zach

Posted by: scotty b Jan 23 2009, 07:56 PM

You gonna put the ceiling back to it's original height or leave it as is ?

Posted by: r_towle Jan 23 2009, 07:59 PM

The wall with the window is all wet inside.
All the walls are wet inside from wicking...trust me, they are wet.

Its quick to do it now...it will suck to have to do it later on...

I am really sorry this happened..its a drag, especially in the winter.
At least you and your family are safe...worse things happen.

You will always have a great story about your new ceilings...

Rip the walls open.

Baby and mold is bad bad bad.
Do a little research of illness from moldy houses..
Your insurance company will agree with little effort, they have paid out some pretty big claims in the past for mold.
Its so bad for the insurance companies that when the Texas mold spores get into a house, they total the house and rip it down...its that big of a deal.

Rich

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 23 2009, 08:07 PM

QUOTE(scotty b @ Jan 23 2009, 08:56 PM)

Posted by: Mark Henry Jan 23 2009, 08:07 PM

Here to be code on those pot lights they need a safety chain, so that in a fire they wont hang like that and electrocute a fireman. Also marrette joints must be in a box.

I'd take the money they are giving me for the carpet and buy anything but carpet. IMO

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 23 2009, 08:10 PM

QUOTE(Mark Henry @ Jan 23 2009, 09:07 PM)

Posted by: r_towle Jan 23 2009, 08:27 PM

Good news on a strict code enforcement crew.
Talk to your building inspector...he will also MAKE the insurance company do certain things...he is your friend and you pay his salary..he is there to protect you, not the insurance company nor the construction company.

Most building inspectors are also contractors...listen to his advice and have him over monday morning to ask him what to do. Seeing it up close and personal with a professionals eye is the best way to go.

You should already have a permit BTW...even demo requires a permit...especially with the electrical issues you may or may not have.

Rich

Posted by: scotty b Jan 23 2009, 08:50 PM

Zach something no one has mentioned yet. PLEASE make certain ALL walls are thoroughly checked for water and ALL insulation that has even been dampened is removed. Old wet insulation is a haven for mold.

Vaulted ceiling with some thick crown molding around the top edge .....I'm just saying...........

Posted by: championgt1 Jan 23 2009, 09:26 PM

Bummer man! Everything will get fixed. I agree with everyone about the mold. BAD STUFF!! Almost bought a house that was full of it. Had to pay a mold inspector $250 to examine the mold to tell me it was the nasty black stuff. Best $250 I have ever spent.

Posted by: cwpeden Jan 23 2009, 11:00 PM

Gee man thats got to suck at this time of year. The local sewar main backed up and as my checkvalve was stuck open, I ended up with 6 inches of you know what in my basement.

I called it the 800 sq.ft. shithole.

The bottom 2 feet of wall was stripped and not repaired until I and the adjuster were satisfied the walls were dry and clean. That was two tests a week apart. for moisture and microbes.

Man it just gives me the willies thinkin about it... I can sympathize

Posted by: plas76targa Jan 24 2009, 06:00 AM

Whoa Zach, no pun intended but that stinks! we had a similar but less serious occurance over at the old house with an out door faucet bung - froze and leaked in the basement. Insurance treated us well. Curious question - wonder if USAA helps pay the increased electric bill due to those heavy dehumidifyers. I am a cheep sob

Posted by: Jeffs9146 Jan 24 2009, 01:35 PM

Something like this happened to me 4 years ago. I was in the hospital and a friend went by my house to check on things. When she arrived she found the whole upstairs in 4" of water from a burst (burst is a very important word to use with the insurance company) ice maker water line.

I did exactly what you did and tore everything out finding tile under the carpet in the whole upstairs. The tile and carpet had to be removed.

The insurance company tried to pay me 7K first which didn't even cover the drying out. I decided to do a full remodel and put the insurance $ twards making it the way I wanted it. After fighting with the insurance company for 5 months with my house torn up I received another check for 17K. That didn't cover the replacement floors or the sheetrock, much less the Island Cabnets, which were falling appart from the water. I continued to fight and at the 9 month point they sent me an "independent apraiser" to re-evaluate the estimate. He sent an update that listed the same line items with the same quotes. I thretened to reported them to the Insurance regulators for fraud and they sent me a check for 50K more!

So the moral to the story is, don't give up if you feel you are in the right!! Don't settle for the first check and don't cash any of them until you are satisfied with the work & money you have received!!

Upstairs, downstairs and after


Attached image(s)

Posted by: jimtab Jan 24 2009, 05:16 PM

Zach, sorry to hear about the trouble, here in SF area the codes make anyone with a water heater inside the house have a pan under the heater that is drained either outside or into the main plumbing drain. Expensive, but it might not be a bad "retrofit" when you get done with the cleanup, and before you replace the heater. Another option is a tankless heater. Good luck. Jim

Posted by: r_towle Jan 24 2009, 06:01 PM

QUOTE(jimtab @ Jan 24 2009, 06:16 PM)

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 24 2009, 06:04 PM

QUOTE(jimtab @ Jan 24 2009, 06:16 PM)

Posted by: jimtab Jan 24 2009, 06:59 PM

QUOTE(Vacca Rabite @ Jan 24 2009, 04:04 PM)

QUOTE(jimtab @ Jan 24 2009, 06:16 PM)

Zach, sorry to hear about the trouble, here in SF area the codes make anyone with a water heater inside the house have a pan under the heater that is drained either outside or into the main plumbing drain. Expensive, but it might not be a bad "retrofit" when you get done with the cleanup, and before you replace the heater. Another option is a tankless heater. Good luck. Jim

You Californians...

Radiators are not water heaters. Our water heater is down in the basement, brand new and fully functional, and not attached to the radiators that warm our house. Water goes from the house line to a natural gas boiler for heating and is then piped into the radiators, one of which is in each room of the house.

If the water heater (or boiler for the matter) were to go, the worst that would happen is that we'd have water in our unfinished basement. We get water down there at least once or so a year from storms pushing water down the old coal chute.

Zach

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 25 2009, 11:21 AM

Okay, I just talked to the guys from the disaster recovery team. One wall is coming out for sure. Core samples are going to be taken from all the other walls at baseboard level. If moisture or microbes are found, those walls will come down as well.

The fans will still be on through Monday evening, so we will be at the inlaws through Tuesday morning.

Zach

Posted by: charliew Jan 25 2009, 11:54 AM

I'm no heated radiator expert but it seems like a one way valve set at 18 psi would divert the pressure back to the supply if the pressure dropped anywhere.

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 27 2009, 07:38 PM

So, yeah. Still not home. Most of the fans are out, but they are still running them in the computer room. This pisses me off as I think that they are trying to get out of taking out the wall. The damn wall needs to come out.

Today we put the cats in a baording house on our dime. Insurance won't cover it. Sad All 5 had been living in our bedroom. I'm tired of living at the inlaws, and want to get back into my dang house.

Zach

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 29 2009, 08:14 AM

So, the wall is still in place, and the fans are still running. Which means I am still living out of a backpack at my inlaws. I'm tired, cranky, and feel like I am bleeding money. That is all.

Zach

Posted by: So.Cal.914 Jan 29 2009, 08:50 AM

I have been following your woes, I could not (and this is unusual for me) come up with something to say, I could not imagine.

I hope this will be over soon for you and your family.

Posted by: Dr Evil Jan 29 2009, 11:02 AM

Smile through the pain Wallow in the awesomness

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 29 2009, 11:56 AM

Okay, had a talk with USAA.
They confirmed to me that the wall would be out today, as well as the fans. Core samples would be done today on the walls that are considered "dry."

Appraiser will be out Monday or Tuesday of next week to let me know what he thinks the repairs should cost. Independant appraiser will be in over the weekend if not tomorrow to do the same.

I have saved all my pictures from the soaked PC. I've not started on music yet, but the pics are off so I am happy. Computer can be totally dead now and I'll be fine with it. I've had the machine speced out and replacement value will be submitted to insurance hopefully by the end of the day today. maybe tomorrow.

I have a cell phone again, so that is good. That receipt has been submitted.

Cats have moved into a boarding facility. On our dime. $Cha-ching$ But they were starting to go crazy in the bed room.

Little guy still is not sleeping through the night yet at the inlaws. Wakes up around 3am like clockwork. Not figured that one out, he sleeps like a stone at home.

Zach

Posted by: r_towle Jan 29 2009, 04:13 PM

Talk to the building inspector.
Ask for his advice and ask him to inspect what the insurance provider says they will do. He may suggest more be done. Get his requirements in writing.

Rich

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 30 2009, 07:47 PM

Wall is out, though they did not actually do that until yesterday. Core samples confirmed that almost all of the other walls are dry inside and out. One section of a wall upstairs (directly behind the radiator that popped) needs to come out. Tomorrow I'm going over to inspect everyhting and start vacuming up the dust.

Plumber inspected the other radiators today, and they were said to be okay. However, that was blunted with the "you know, they rust from the inside..." statement.

The dude who has to inspect the flooded electronics came today to pic everything up. however, as I did not know that they guy was comming over, I had already had my PC evaluated on my own. But this will cover the zoom lens, camera body, and video camera.

I wanna get back into my house by Monday. Dammit.

Zach

Posted by: zymurgist Jan 31 2009, 10:29 AM

Holy crap Zach! I'm so sorry to hear about your tale of woe. I just found out today... guess I've been hanging out in the Sandbox a bit too much.

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Jan 31 2009, 09:31 PM

So, we got a lot lf cleaning done today, and it looks like we will be able to move in again on Monday. We have a massive air cleaner sucking all the crap out of the air. So, pics as the tale continues...

The last attempt to clear the water out of the wall.

And so long as the wall is out, and I am going to be covering everything up...


And the wall out


The "look" tag with the arrow on it is pointing to a beam with termite damage that has to come out. No insects in there, but the wood is really spongy.

Zach

Posted by: jhadler Feb 2 2009, 12:30 AM

Wow... That truly sucks...

And I can TOTALLY empathise with you. This evening, while at a super bowl party, just at the end of halftime, my wife calls and says "help! the washing machine is flooding the house!!!"...

I was outta there so fast...

Got home, found the downstairs room dripping wet, false tile ceiling had already collapsed from the soaking. Carpet soaked, garage soaked (car is at a friends shop right now...), the upstairs wasn't much better... The laundry room had an inch of standing water (that which didn't flow downstairs), it hadd soaked through to the adjacent rooms...

Wife called a company she had handle her clients water flood. Mistake... They're just carpet cleaners... Didn't know that 'till they got here at 9:30pm... Good gravy. I said, start what you gotta do now, and I'll be calling a contractor or someone else who handles this kind of thing for everything else.

Yeah, the carpet's up, the pads are gone, and they're about to spray biocide, so I'm outta here... Off to the mom in-law's. Pregnant wife and 3 year old are there now. Wow, this so sucks.

Any suggestions from those in the professional "know" would be dramatically appreciated.


Crap! And I still haven't seen the second half!!!


-Josh2

Posted by: LarryR Feb 2 2009, 12:54 AM

Wow! Glad to see you are getting it put back together. I guess one bright side is that you will have an additional 8" of ceiling clearance now in one room?

That is an incredible looking kitchen btw.

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Feb 2 2009, 09:24 AM

QUOTE(LarryR @ Feb 2 2009, 01:54 AM)

Posted by: ottox914 Feb 2 2009, 11:43 AM

First off, here is my bias. I am property insurance adjuster. Before you all go and throw your used and broken 914 parts at me, lets talk a little. Not all insurance adjusters are evil and should be destroyed, just as all used car salesman do not wear plaid jackets and warranty their cars for 5 miles or 5 blocks, which ever comes first. I've been doing this for 20 yrs now, so I think I have a handle on the basics, although I do not work for USAA, so I can not comment specifically on how I think the coverage would/could/should apply in this case.

Assuming this is a fairly "standard" HO family of policy, or a usaa form similar to the ISO HO series, I would have a couple observations.

1- 99.9% of homeowners policies, for an owner occupied home, will have an additional living expense line of coverage. This is "triggered" when there is a covered loss which makes your home unfit to live in. Sounds like this is what we have going on here. If a person was to have stayed in a motel, those bills should be part of the covered loss. If your pets need a motel, same would apply. With my company, I have paid for pet boarding many times. I have also paid for time living at a friend or relatives home. But. This has been an agreed to, nominal fee per day, not the going rate for a holiday inn or similar lodging option. Your friend is not in the "business" of renting out rooms, and should not be paid as such, unless he wants to serve up his SS #, so any lodging fees paid to him would be considered taxable income. Usually more hassle than most folks want to go thru. but still, ask your adjuster about your additional living expense coverage.

2- Be careful of what you ask for. Again, I do not know what the coverages are that are provided by your policy, and I say this not to freak you or anyone else out, but damage does not always = coverage. In some of our lower priced, more limited policies, there is no or limited coverage for code upgrades, or mold, to pick 2 examples. There was a claim where an individual got way overheated, called in the health inspector for his county, the housing inspector, a mold testing firm, an independent appraiser, and a couple builders. He was going after his adjuster with all guns loaded. He identified damages such that the county would not let him live in the home until all the work was done. His policy had limits to the amount it could pay for the damages he identified. The individual would not accept this, and was looking to bulldoze his way to a better settlement. In the end, the adjuster correctly assessed the damages and paid the limit, the home owner created a giant project for the re-building, much of which had to come out of his pocket. The bad: he ran out of coverage well before he ran out of repairs. The good: he now had a total scope of repairs and costs for these repairs lined up. The ugly: he went after his agent claiming he was sold the wrong policy. I don't know how that ended. It was not my claim.

I have nothing against folks getting a 2nd or 3rd opinion on my scope of damage, but presentation is everything. Give me this info as something additional to my own observations and experience to consider, document why your thoughts are different from mine, and don't try to ram it down my neck as fact and the only claim resolution you will accept.

This brings me to my 3rd thought:

3- Work with your adjuster, not against him/her. You, like everyone else I deal with, has had, to one degree or another, an event in their lives that has turned things upside down. Things are not as they should be. As odd as this sounds, now is not the time to be demanding ME, ME, ME, but rather to be asking what can I do to make the adjusters job easier. Hear me out, here. Your adjuster may have 10-20 or more claims just like yours, all in different stages of done. Some may have just been reported, others needing the last check written, most are somewhere in the middle. Keeping all this organized with paper was a nightmare, and computers mean now there are more people able to look over your shoulder and "score" your work. Ask questions, try to understand the process, and help with it. Oddly enough, the folks who participate and help me round up the info needed to write checks, seem to get the checks sooner. Your computer is a great example. Rather than just tell the adjuster it was a 3 yr old dell whatever, you got the specs and prices for a matching replacement unit. My job just got easier, now I can write you a check rather than spend 1/2 an hour or more tracking down specs for a like kind and quality unit. We're working togather and you're getting paid sooner, getting back to normal sooner. Your adjuster has quality standards his file needs to stand up to for contact, returning calls, documentation of the file, and the sooner the two of you hit those marks, the faster your claim will be concluded.

4- Lastly, on a property claim such as this, its OK to cash the check. To many people lump ALL insurance checks into one category. In a liability claim, say I'm in your car, you are driving, and in showing off you smack us into a tree. I'm making a claim against your policy for my injuries. (thats an important sentence). Your insurance company has no contract (policy) with me, but they do owe me some money. They are going to want me to "sign off" on my claim, take their money, and go my merry way. That is different from your situation. Here you are making a claim against your policy for damages to your property, which your insurance company insures. (compare this to the last important sentence). You have a contract (policy) with your company, that says you pay them $$$ a yr, and when things go wrong, the contract (policy) will define how both parties will be affected. (coverage and payment or denial of coverage, depending on the cause of loss). If there are additional damages that are realized during the construction, or if the adjuster missed something, or did not price it correctly, the terms of the contract have not been met, your company would need to write you an additional check(s) until the terms of the agreement (policy) have been satisfied.

And, if you would like to discuss more, pm me your phone #, I'll be glad to help as I can.

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Feb 13 2009, 08:48 AM

What else will happen this month?
This morning my DD broke down. Its either a head gasket blow out ($$$$$) or a spark plug blow out ($).

Hopefully its the spark plug.

I could really use USAA paying me some of the money owed at this point....

Zach

Posted by: type11969 Feb 13 2009, 08:51 AM

Zach, that licks! Sorry man. How many miles are on that 'baru? Seems way too young for something like this to happen. The 914 is not far off from being a DD . . .

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Feb 13 2009, 08:58 AM

115K miles on the scooby.

And, good news! Its the plug. man, I just dropped the car off an hour ago, they must be looking for work to do. Hopefully its just an insert and done, and not needing to replace the head. But I think luck might be on my side for this one.

Zach

Posted by: type11969 Feb 13 2009, 09:00 AM

Nice. I can only imagine that if we did an engine pull on that 'baru to replace the head gasket it might just find its way in to another car . . .

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Feb 13 2009, 11:22 AM

Yeah, seriously.
Sadly, shop said the plug damaged the head when it came out, and the hole is too big to fix with an insert.

So, lucky me gets a crappy rental for about a week while they dick with my car. man, I could really use the 914 on the road about now. or the truck. The truck might have heat. Maybe.

I wonder if it will be cheaper just to do an engine swap then fix the head. I wonder how much a new head is going to run me.

Zach

Posted by: jsayre914 Feb 13 2009, 12:09 PM

sory to here bout your dd. Mine is still driping fuel now and then I think it is right inside the filler neck rusted out a hole. But mine has 215k and im on my second engine.

I have a guy in balto that can get low milage suby engines pretty cheap. Hopefully yours wont be too much ouuta pocket

btw Your car is really looking good man

Posted by: Dr Evil Feb 13 2009, 04:53 PM

Lets swap it! I'll help. I wish the bus was done, I would let you use it or my lesbian wagon. If it is going to be warmer I can lend you my car while I ride my motorcycle.

Posted by: type11969 Feb 13 2009, 04:59 PM

that stinks, sorry man. How about a reverse swap? I have a 1.7 sitting in my basement that would probably fit in that 'baru engine bay . . . I'll sell it to you cheap.

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Feb 13 2009, 06:33 PM

I am *really* tempted to swap the engine.
Especially after I got the price tag for repairs. $4K. Which I don't exactly have after the money I have put out for the house repairs (that I have not been paid back for yet).

However, I can't take the time to swap it. I'm not getting home until 10:30 most nights at this point. And I kinda just need my car to work, ASAP.

Besides, if I went to swap, I'd find a 2.0 turbo motor out of a WRX and put that in. Which would not exactly be enconomical.

What the fuck, its only money. I'll find it somehow. Start making and selling tons of 917 shifter balls, I guess.
Zach

Posted by: stepuptotheMike Feb 13 2009, 09:10 PM

Holy shit... the wife's scooby blew a head gasket at about 98k. Luckily it didn't screw up the heads. The garage was full of 914 stuff, so I couldn't do it.

Head gaskets, head surfaced, water pump, timing belt.... whole job cost me a little over $2k. Swap would have cost me more. You might want to try a different shop.

Mike

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Feb 14 2009, 08:44 AM

Well, I am feeling a bit better about things this morning. We went to Erin's folks last night for dinner, I spent last night playing with my son and considering my options, went to bed early and woke up with a different outlook.

The shop - Brentwood Auto, is expensive. But they have also won the "Best of Baltimore" award for best foriegn auto repair, I can walk from their shop to my office, and I have a 5 year personal history with them so there is the trust thing.

In the end, I'll put it on credit and pay it off. I have 2 payments left on the car and then I should be able to pay off the credit debt pretty quickly. I try to be good with debt, and I am lucky enough to have credit there (even though I had my limits significanlty dropped with every one else when the economy tanked.)

If it gets tight, I can sell the 68 jeep, and if it gets tighter, I can sell the 914. I still have options that I can execute, even though I don't really want to.

In the short run, I'm going to start turning out shifter knobs and try to recoup some of the past month's expenditures.

I will not let this setback keep me down. I don't have enough time to be down for more then a few hours at a time.

Zach

Posted by: charliew Feb 14 2009, 12:12 PM

I think 2k is a reasonable price to do 1 head replacement on a suby. However I would do a two head repair, ie a other head removal and resurface if needed and valve job, that could be the 4k repair as another head is around 2 or 3 hundred probably. They will also probably do a water pump, tensioner, idlers, head gasket, gasket set, thermostat, etc. If it's a manual get a new clutch and throwout bearing while it's out.

Sorry about all the woes. Thats the way with me, when it rains it pours.

The deal at 3am might be something the little person hears thats weird that doesn't wake you.

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Feb 14 2009, 12:26 PM

Yeah, both heads have to come off. One needs to be replaced, and the other machined smooth, rebuild and installed. The engine will get a full top end rebuild. It was time to do the water pump and belts (and assorted seals and pullies, and that is a $900 job). They said the bottom end was in excellent shape and probably had another 100K miles before it would need any work.

I just put all new brakes on the car (and nice stuff too) and now it will have pretty much a new engine. The only driveline component that has not been rebuilt now will be the transmission, and I ave notice zero problems with it yet. I should get another 100K miles out of the car.

Posted by: r_towle Mar 3 2009, 04:33 PM

so, how is the house?

Rich

Posted by: Vacca Rabite Mar 3 2009, 06:46 PM

Same place it was a month ago. Torn apart, waiting for money.

One contractor says it will cost 9K to fix, the other says it will cost 18K. Guess which one Insurance wants to pay... Guess which one took lots of short cuts on the work they already did.

I have internet back at the house again, which is a HUGE plus. Insurance has given money to buy some things back, but not others. We wait, and occationally bitch. Sadly, we just don't have a lot of time to fight the system right now. It would probably take me less time to just do all the work myself.

Zach