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FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

I'm looking for some advice for how to go about this. As posted in the Seattle thread a big drat tree fell on my house:

More Photos Here

The insurance says to get estimates from general contractors since it is going to take a variety of specialists to fix everything (carpenters, drywall, roofing, etc). Their adjustor said he would approve a certain percentage over the expected repair cost because of the additional cost from having someone coordinate everything. I have fixed some of my own plumbing problems and a variety of small house projects, but my actual knowledge of construction is zero and I've never had a big insurance claim or had to hire anywhere near a contractor for this much money so everything is pretty intimidating.

So far I've contracted a couple dozen general contractors and have gotten zero estimates. Either they don't respond, say they are too busy, or just fail to show up for their appointment. Around here is a construction boom and supposedly a ton of people have been remodeling since covid started so that is probably complicating things. I also presume remodeling work is far more profitable. Should I keep contacting general contractors until I can actually get estimates? Is there a different search term I should be using for who I need? Maybe I should start trying to get the work done by individual contractors? Any advice appreciated.

edit: also, I wanted to bring someone out to confirm the house structure isn't hosed in some obscure way. I contacted some "structural engineers" on Yelp and the 1 response so far said it would be $1800 (!!) for an inspection and report. I'm hoping the price is lower for some of the other companies but am I contacting the right kind of companies? I dunno if my insurance would just shrug and pay that

FuzzySlippers fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Jul 27, 2021

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FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Sorry if it wasn't clear we already got the tree off and taped by a roofer. The pictures with white backing behind the broken bits in the album is the tarp. That picture is just the more dramatic that shows this isn't just a roofing job. It's now to the rebuild phase. It seems to be completely safe to live in and luckily (?) we are in a very dry season here.

Our adjuster had no recommendations and the insurance agent is somewhere back East. Insurance (homesite) has been free with money so far but they have no local presence and our assigned case guy barely ever answers emails or the phone. The tree fell on the 14th and the only visit was 1 time by a contracted adjuster 5 days later who was around for like half an hour. So far we get any money we request but we're on our own otherwise.

I'll try some searches for reconstruction/restoration (searching "repair" definitely just gets handymen). Local Belfor on Yelp has pretty terrible reviews and Paul Davis isn't much better. I might still reach out just to get *some* estimates.

I should say I have gotten one estimate. The guy who removed the tree from the house had a buddy who came and gave me a hand written proposal. It was on a generic "proposal" sheet with some pretty hard to read scribbles that said he would do it all for $17,000. He looked about a hundred years old and seemed to have been drinking for most of it and he said he'd give me back $1000 in cash from the insurance payout.

Thanks Painter and I'll PM you.

Just curious, why the no public adjuster? I hadn't been planning on it (I could only find 1 in the whole Seattle area with positive reviews on Yelp) but I actually got in a big argument with my father in-law who said we were absolutely gullible fools unless we got a public adjuster. Since we haven't had a disagreement with insurance on payout so far it seemed a bit early to go get someone to fight for a bigger payout anyway.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Tezer posted:

Also - nearly all the trees in your photos should be evaluated by an arborist. You have some very old trees located very close to your home, and one of them has already given up the ghost. I'm more risk adverse than a lot of people, and I would remove every tree I can see in the first picture located behind your home just based on height and proximity, even before we start talking about health.

We have an accredited sciencey arborist coming to check all the trees on the property next week. The one that fell was actually alive and green (and all the trees were given a visual okay years ago) and it fell on a cloudless calm day. The guy who did the removal said it had root rot so the fear is something subtle that could be in other trees. The removal guy wandered around and said the trees looked alright but admitted he probably wouldn't have seen the fallen tree as a danger and despite being an old crusty tree guy he's no arborist. The science tree guy is bringing instruments that can check the roots and be very thorough.

Though the removal guy also found the tree had a pipe embedded in it 60-80 ft up. I don't know anything about trees but looking through the rings of sections below you could see it had left a mark on the tree's growth after it for a while. I have no clue why you'd stick a pipe like it in the tree (you aren't getting syrup from it or whatever) but since it was so high up the removal guy thought it must've been decades ago possibly before our house was built in 81. He doubted he could've seen the pipe from the ground. So if the arborist think it did eventually help the tree fall we'll see if he thinks we need people climbing the other trees or whatever to look for more.

Removal of all the trees would definitely not be in the cards. We have over a dozen 100+ ft trees near the house. We are actually in a neighborhood of hundreds of giant trees so this isn't an otherwise flat suburban expanse. Even if I removed all my giant trees (which I'm told is several thousand a pop at this size and insurance won't cover it) I'd still be in range of dozens more off my property as its not that big.

As crazy as it sounds I wouldn't want to remove them anyway. The tree basically fell on me (I was sitting directly in the path and the drywall even cracked above me) but so it goes. I grew up in the flat wastelands of Oklahoma and I love living in a neighborhood still in the city but that feels more like a forest. These big trees around here aren't falling all the time so if it actually happened to us again even after getting the all clear from the arborist then I guess we're just that lucky.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

So I've finally gotten some estimates but one of the companies that turned up didn't give an explicit estimate. Their pitch is that rather than be contracted to build/repair/etc specific things they would want me to sign a contract that made them the "contractor of choice" and empower them to speak directly to insurance. Then they'd perform their own assessment, structural report, etc and negotiate with the insurance to get sufficient payout for the work and potentially additional work. I guess kinda like a public adjustor? This sound dodgy to me, but the guys were nice enough and eager to answer questions. Is this an actual thing? I'm getting flack from my father in law that this is the kind of thing I should be doing rather than all my effort cluelessly talking to contractors

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Thanks for the replies. The in laws aggro I'm getting makes navigating this worse. As it is I'm also trying to sort through the permit process for a problem tree removal that is extensive because it's on a protected slope and the people who don't live here are confused why I can't just go chop down a 100ft+ tree myself in a dense neighborhood with aggressive tree protection. To make matters worse it turns out it isn't even on my property and is on a slim thin property wedged between me and the back neighbors which ends in a mobile home. Apparently the owner is a bit of a hermit and the neighbors go years without seeing him. I've left a couple notes and a letter in his mailbox. This is going to be more fun.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Motronic posted:

The tree IS on your property. At least part/most of it. Which makes it YOUR PROBLEM to deal with (the portion that is on your property anyway). If your insurance company decides the tree was dead/diseased/otherwise a hazard that should have been taken care of previously they will go after the neighbor/their insurance provider.

Why do you think you need a permit for removing a fallen tree that is literally leaning on your house? I've never heard of such a thing.

No this doesn't have anything to do with the tree that fell on the house and was removed weeks ago. We had a risk assessment arborist come in and he identified another tree that needs to be removed because it's a probable hazard. Quite a bit of the canopy is over my property and if it fell it'd be on me but per the city ownership is about the trunk which is definitely his.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Motronic posted:

Forward the report to your insurance company. This is their problem.

Nope I've argued with them but they said until it falls on something it's my problem. Again this is not about whose fault was the tree that fell, I don't care, but removing a new tree.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Motronic posted:

You've notified them. The only other thing you can do is notify the property owner's insurer.

It's officially not your problem, nor is there anything more you can do about it if it's not on your property.

I'm gonna tell you this again: your insurance company is awful.

No argument on the insurance.

edit: lol I literally just had a contractor call me and apologize but they don't want to bid the job. I sent them my insurance adjustor's report and they said it's such a low ball mess they don't want to get involved.

FuzzySlippers fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Aug 13, 2021

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Sirotan posted:

Top-down/bottom-up light filtering shades, imho. You can have them blocking the bottom portion of the window and open at the top giving you privacy but still plenty of light.



Edit:

Gonna also talk up this shade I got for my front door from SelectBlinds, it is called a trishade. Blackout shade on the bottom and sheer on the top, I have the base of the shade attached to the door and the sheer section 'on' during the day, then switch to blackout at night. A little pricier than all my other cellular shades but I love it.



Those look pretty cool. How well would they stand up to cats loving around with them?

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

So how do people feel about various types of not wood but wood looking floor? My wife got very keen on ceramic wood look tiles but they do seem to have a lot of downsides (cold, hard, expensive). I've seen laminates that look pretty good.

(We're replacing carpets with nothing underneath and actual wood isn't an option for a lot of reasons)

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Anyone put down lvp flooring themselves? It doesn't look too bad but the quotes I've gotten are rough for the install though that may be just Seattle prices

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Thanks for the responses on the flooring! This looks like it won't be too bad.

I had another question: anyone installed a bathtub heater or a tankless just for a bathtub? We've got a reasonably sized water heater but it can barely keep up with my wife's current bath and she is wanting a larger one. Since the water heater is electric it seems better to get something to specifically help heat her bath rather than upgrade the entire house's water heater. I did find some bathtubs with heaters built in but couldn't find one that suited her other needs or fit in the space.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Thanks all I'll try to adjust the settings.

falz posted:

I can't imagine how expensive electric water heaters are in general, and then tacking on yet another electric heater for one tub?

I would take this opportunity to replace the whole house heater with an on-demand small gas one. The units themselves aren't that expensive but the install labour and exhaust pipes can be.

I wish I could get gas into the house for less than tens of thousands. As it is we're electric everything

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

falz posted:

What general region is this? Just curious.

Seattle. I don't think it's rare as our old rental house had gas but just not the street we bought a house on. If we didn't have a lot of renters near by I might try to coordinate something.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

B-Nasty posted:

The specific heat of water in its liquid phase is the same, no matter the temperature. In fact, the energy required to raise 1 gram of water 1C (no matter the starting point) is how we define a calorie. In practice, the heat loss of hotter water through the insulated tank would be higher, so there would be theoretical advantages to keeping the temp lower and mixing warmer water. However, you don't want warm water, or rather don't care, for many uses like toilets, so that would be wasted.

What you really want is to reclaim some of the waste heat of water going down the drain. These exist: https://www.buildwithrise.com/stories/are-drain-water-heat-recovery-systems-worth-it

That's neat. With the cost of labor around here I assume the installation would be insane though. I've done a little plumbing (installed a couple sinks, disposal, instant hot taps, etc) but this seems like professional territory.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

I always just used whatever microwave was in any place I rented or none if it didn't come with one since I wasn't a fan of microwaves, but when we were buying other appliances after we bought this house I grabbed somewhat randomly an LG microwave too (I think it was the top wirecutter pick at that time). I think it was like $150ish. It's been fantastic. It has a bunch of auto reheat settings that actually work. Instead of ending up with cold spots or overcooking poo poo so it explodes everywhere, you can just set the auto heat and it actually just heats it up. Definitely worth the money and its never had a problem.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

When we looked into solar it was a pretty terrible idea. Crazy amounts of money and even with the expensive power here it'd be 20 or 30 years to break even on the install much less the maintenance. I believe that was also without any storage. I think there used to be a lot of tax credits that people were chasing but that doesn't seem as much of a thing anymore.

Make sure you get multiple estimates of how suitable your actual house's position is for solar also.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Mine is $1200ish but I'm sure that's about to go up after these tree repairs are done. We are up to $85k and still not done.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

FISHMANPET posted:

I'm building an outdoor cat shelter, and I'm going to shingle the roof
Completely unrelated to your question, but is this a winter shelter for random feral cats passing by? That's seem like a cool thing to do but around here I'd expect it to be just a random critter shelter and not cats specifically unless there's some trick to it

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

May 22 is a hell of a lead time. I'd have trouble dropping that much money so far ahead. That said in my area you definitely have to pay 50% up front to get any contractors to do anything over a couple thousand.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

So it seems like without gas a tankless water heater isn't worth it compared to a heat pump tank heater especially if you use a lot of water?

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Anyone know of a disposal that's shorter than the Badger 500 Standard Series at 11.5"? I underestimated the crazy depth of the new sink (it's like a small bathtub) so my current definitely won't fit and it's gonna be tight getting any kind of disposal in there. So shorter the better.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Any suggestions for low voltage under cabinet LED lighting that can color change? We're having our kitchen redone and the electrician just got back to me on the cost for it and he said $1400 (!) just for materials on the lighting which seems completely insane to me considering it's like a bit less than 20 ft of lighting. I'm finding a lot of random options at HD or online stuff that runs a couple hundred dollars at most.

FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

Motronic posted:

Ask for line items to that cost. Maybe it's a few hundred bucks in parts, but it's going to be a major hassle to run power to a switch box. Maybe it's also a major hassle to properly install them in a professional manner on your cabinets.

In the end, the cost of parts is not a good indication of how much electrical work should cost.

Also, I could barely buy a dimmable color LED ballast I'd trust for permanent installation for "a couple hundred dollars". Certainly nothing I'd install for a customer and stake my reputation on.

Naw that was *just* material costs. The labor was entirely different. That's why the no color change lights were $650 and the color change were $1400. Their labor costs have been reasonable so far but I just can't wrap my head around a small bit of lighting that expensive.

Also worth noting they have already run low voltage to all the spots needed for lighting this is just sorting out exactly what kind of lighting is going there. They had said previously they were going to get back to me on the cost of their lighting options and I was assuming it'd be a bit over big box but not to this degree.

FuzzySlippers fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Jan 19, 2022

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FuzzySlippers
Feb 6, 2009

We got a small home equity loan to finish our renovations and holy crap we've been buried in scam letters about insurance for the loan. Like dozens of often scary looking like government or past due letters with almost the same wording about the dumb insurance that want to sell us. Sometimes the letters make it seem like we have to get the insurance.

What a dumb thing our loan is public information I guess so they can hound us.

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