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
Full Version: Question Of Pain (OT)
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.
That is an incredible looking kitchen btw.
QUOTE(LarryR @ Feb 2 2009, 01:54 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.
Ha! Not my kitchen. Ours is very plain looking, not nearly as nice as the one above in this thread.
I think that I am going to keep the ceiling lower. I don't think that I gain anything from the higher ceiling, and it will cost more to heat and cool the added volume.
In other news, I get to sleep in my own bed tonight, for the first time for the first time since the 22nd of January. Wife and baby will come home tomorrow. I'm in class till late, and its just a lot shorter for me to go home rather then 1 last night at the inlaws.
Zach
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.
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.
What else will happen this month?
This morning my DD broke down. Its either a head gasket blow out ($$$$$) or a spark plug blow out ($).
Hopefully its the spark plug.
I could really use USAA paying me some of the money owed at this point....
Zach
This morning my DD broke down. Its either a head gasket blow out ($$$$$) 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
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 . . .
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
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
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 . . .
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
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
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
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.
If it is going to be warmer I can lend you my car while I ride my motorcycle.
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
so, how is the house?
Rich
Rich
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
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
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