Kate Pole
01-16-2012, 02:20 PM
Good afternoon, all,
I recently had a fire in my basement, and the contractor and insurance adjustor decided the entire house needed to be gutted because the smoke damage was so severe. That includes eight floor joists on the main level, both the first- and second-level ceilings, and the downstairs and basement walls. Even the new attic insulation came out. And yet, the upstairs walls have remained. When I asked the contractor if the walls were still in because the insurance company was pressuring him to save some money, he gave me a very quick response (electronically). He said, "It should not be an issue to save the walls upstairs. We will be cleaning them as soon as the demo process is over. If there is still a lingering smoke odor after that, we would revisit that issue and would not leave you with any smoke odor after we are finished with the job." This response really concerns me. The house is in almost skeletal form since the smell was so bad. Moreover, it looks as though someone has thrown liquid smoke all over them, and initially, the contractor said they'd probably need to come out. Now he's changed his tune, claiming that cleaning them will be no issue. It's an older house (built in 1925), and he discovered plaster and lath under the dry wall. The insurance company has been wonderful so far, but I get the feeling they're trying to cut costs since that extra plaster and lath coverage is so expensive. I'm just not convinced that they can get the smell out; I think they can cover it up with all sorts of new smells, but I'm nervous that when they're all done, it will be too late to fix or that I'll be too tired of living somewhere else and will simply accept it as 'good enough.' Is it time for me to say 'halt' to the contractors until the insurance agent can give me a good explanation, or am I overreacting? My biggest fear is that I know so little about all of this that someone's going to take advantage. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Kate
I recently had a fire in my basement, and the contractor and insurance adjustor decided the entire house needed to be gutted because the smoke damage was so severe. That includes eight floor joists on the main level, both the first- and second-level ceilings, and the downstairs and basement walls. Even the new attic insulation came out. And yet, the upstairs walls have remained. When I asked the contractor if the walls were still in because the insurance company was pressuring him to save some money, he gave me a very quick response (electronically). He said, "It should not be an issue to save the walls upstairs. We will be cleaning them as soon as the demo process is over. If there is still a lingering smoke odor after that, we would revisit that issue and would not leave you with any smoke odor after we are finished with the job." This response really concerns me. The house is in almost skeletal form since the smell was so bad. Moreover, it looks as though someone has thrown liquid smoke all over them, and initially, the contractor said they'd probably need to come out. Now he's changed his tune, claiming that cleaning them will be no issue. It's an older house (built in 1925), and he discovered plaster and lath under the dry wall. The insurance company has been wonderful so far, but I get the feeling they're trying to cut costs since that extra plaster and lath coverage is so expensive. I'm just not convinced that they can get the smell out; I think they can cover it up with all sorts of new smells, but I'm nervous that when they're all done, it will be too late to fix or that I'll be too tired of living somewhere else and will simply accept it as 'good enough.' Is it time for me to say 'halt' to the contractors until the insurance agent can give me a good explanation, or am I overreacting? My biggest fear is that I know so little about all of this that someone's going to take advantage. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Kate