... and then this happened

[restoman]

The maple in our side yard decided it wasn't going to take the high winds anymore.
Yup, that's our house underneath there.
There are unconfirmed reports of a tornado in the area, and judging by the branches, limbs and trees in and around our place, the reports might be accurate.
Until the tree folks come and clear it off of the house, we can't see the extent of the damage, but the main roof took a direct hit, the back portion is about a foot lower in the center than it should be, there is at least one large branch poking into the attic, the bathroom ceiling and walls are showing cracks and water damage, and the plaster in the upstairs hallway has several cracks.
The Robin's nest in the maple disappeared, but two of the four babies survived and are once again being looked after by mama robin. We put them in an old nest beside the garage, and she took it from there.
Now, we play the waiting game with the insurance company and the contractors.
No rain in the forecast till Tuesday. Fingers crossed the tree will be gone and a membrane covers the hole by then.
The Jetta has it's share of scratches and dents, too.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Damn! I hope the tree people get there sooner than later. The longer that sits there the worse things are going to be. When did this happen? I'd love to tell you it's not as bad as it looks, but it looks pretty bad. Yikes.

Thanking my lucky stars again that when the one tree that could've really clobbered my house fell, it went in the other direction and blocked the street instead.

The dog does not look impressed by the new blockage to the ramp.

 

[74DartSport]

Ouch. Hurricane Sandy dropped a tree on our house. Next day a large group of friends stopped by armed with chainsaws and got enough off the roof so we could tarp the trunk and roof to keep more rain out. Good luck.

 

[restoman]

Damn! I hope the tree people get there sooner than later. The longer that sits there the worse things are going to be. When did this happen? I'd love to tell you it's not as bad as it looks, but it looks pretty bad. Yikes.

Thanking my lucky stars again that when the one tree that could've really clobbered my house fell, it went in the other direction and blocked the street instead.

The dog does not look impressed by the new blockage to the ramp.

Happened Thursday.
The initial Restoration coordinator was out within two hours of our call, but he told us there were going to be a lot of claims, and it might be a couple days before anything happened.
A buddy with a chainsaw cleared away my ramp, but he didn't want to touch the big stuff. Can't blame him.
Dottie is thinking "Look at all those chew toys!!!!"

 

[69.5CUDA]

the last trouble some tree here has been klilled and slowly hacked back....but put some holes in the roof too...

you look like you got clobbered

 

[Dr.Jass]

Next day a large group of friends stopped by armed with chainsaws and got enough off the roof so we could tarp the trunk and roof to keep more rain out.

It's great that you've got friends like that... even better that they've got chainsaws!

In 2003 a tree fell on my brother's house during a tornado. It had been only a few feet from the two-story house, so the shallow angle of the tree meant the branches did less damage than they could've. He was very lucky in that regard. Most of the damage was to the eave and adjoining structure, with interior destruction limited to one room. Even so, the damage was much more severe than it appeared at first glance, so I can really appreciate what's happened/happening to you fellas.

Most importantly, it sounds like neither case involved noteworthy injury to anyone. Dave's tree hit their bedroom while they were sleeping, the shock triggering his wife's asthma. He later said her two days in the hospital were for the better, since it shielded her from seeing the initial carnage and "kept her out of my way" while clearing the tree and doing temporary repairs.

 

[restoman]

We had just finished taping and mudding in the upstairs bathroom and rear bedroom the day before.
Not even a coat of primer on the drywall yet.
But, it does make it easier to see the water damage.
The old house took the impact well, considering... and it wasn't the horrific noise that you'd expect when a 50 or 60 foot maple lands on your house.
I was expecting a large branch judging by the sound, not the whole damned tree.
3 years ago, I shelled out the money to have an arborist inspect, trim and strap the bifurcated trunks together, just in case something like this happened.
It didn't stop it from happening, but at least the insurance company won't be able to say "That tree was neglected, claim denied!".

 

[Dr.Jass]

We had just finished taping and mudding in the upstairs bathroom and rear bedroom the day before.
Not even a coat of primer on the drywall yet.

Oof. "Hey, thanks for all your hard work!" *smack*

In Dave's case, it was the nudge that he needed to finally start getting rid of the plaster and lathe in his house.

3 years ago, I shelled out the money to have an arborist inspect, trim and strap the bifurcated trunks together, just in case something like this happened.
It didn't stop it from happening, but at least the insurance company won't be able to say "That tree was neglected, claim denied!".

That's a great ace to have in your hand. I didn't even notice the strap until you mentioned it and I went back to look.
I know squat about trees, but I wonder if that didn't do more harm than good--if the two trunks were moving out of sync it almost seems like it would induce greater stress at the strap point. But an expert did it so neither I nor the insurance man are qualified to say your man was misguided in his efforts.

 

[69.5CUDA]

oh man to have just finished the work is just a boot to the face

 

[restoman]

An expert did it so neither I nor the insurance man are qualified to say your man was misguided in his efforts.

That's my thinking.
Both trunks had a lean towards the house, and most of the canopy cover was over our yard, so we relied on the experts.
A different tree service will be removing the carcass - our guy has his hands full out in the county.
The new company said the strap did what it was supposed to but the wind was just too strong. The strap controlled the fall and it's direction and if the tree was going to fall on the house, it landed in the best possible place.
I would have preferred that it landed on my rickity old garage and squashed the Bug in there, but that's just me.
No rain yet, and apparently we're a priority, so we got that for us, which is nice.

 

[Dr.Jass]

The new company said the strap did what it was supposed to but the wind was just too strong. The strap controlled the fall and it's direction and if the tree was going to fall on the house, it landed in the best possible place.

It's nice to know you're belated second opinion jives with the original course of action.

I would have preferred that it landed on my rickity old garage and squashed the Bug in there, but that's just me.

Squash a Beetle? That seems so unlike you. I was starting to think your benevolence towards bugs wouldn't allow you to swat a fly.

No rain yet, and apparently we're a priority, so we got that going for us, which is nice.

Gunga galunga, my friend. Gunga, gun... gunga galunga.

 

[restoman]

It's nice to know you're belated second opinion jives with the original course of action.


Squash a Beetle? That seems so unlike you. I was starting to think your benevolence towards bugs wouldn't allow you to swat a fly.


Gunga galunga, my friend. Gunga, gun... gunga galunga.

I:d just as soon take the $15k agreed value payout.
And the garage itself is covered for well over $40k!
Plus contents.

 

[restoman]

Guardian Tree was on-site just before 8AM, and by 10AM they were moving the bucket truck and crane onto the next job.
The clean-up crew was gone by 10:35.
Only trace amounts of sawdust, the odd branch and a stump left behind.
The crew of 10 kicked some *ss.
No visible holes in the roof, but some broken roof structure for sure.
The roofer is supposed to be back this afternoon to cover whatever needs to be covered.

 

[74DartSport]

How old is the roof? Ours was around 10 years old IIRC and the adjuster said, “No piecemeal gets a whole new roof.”

 

[restoman]

How old is the roof? Ours was around 10 years old IIRC and the adjuster said, “No piecemeal gets a whole new roof.”

10 years old.
Roofer came back, found three holes in the valley flashing on the dormer, and at least three broken boards under the shingles.
And a trashed chimney, which hasn't acted as an actual chimney since 2010. It's getting leveled to below the roofline and sheeted over.
The vent stack has a good crack in it, too, so some scoping is in order if the interior wall doesn't need to be gutted.
Surprisingly enough, other than where the corner of the roof is crushed, the shingles look perfect.
The stump left behind measures 37" across. That was a big-ass tree!

 

[restoman]

The roofers were here last week to repair the damage.
Surprisingly, it wasn't near as bad as thought, and the structure was repaired, sheeted, chimney leveled to roof level and sheeted over, and the barrier, ice shield and shingles done, fascia cladding and eavestrough replaced in just under 2.5 days.
The work was kind of sloppy in areas, so they're back Thursday or Friday to straighten up what should have been taken care of before they left. The company is owned by a former customer, and it's pretty easy to tell that 85 year old Mike isn't on site much any more. He'd be knocking heads together if he was...
Now, on to the interior damage, and the broken deck post and rails.
it's only taken near 7 months to get this far.

 

[Dr.Jass]

One appreciates speedy repairs, but after that amount of waiting I'd think they'd expect their work to be inspected closely. I wouldn't say I went over my own roof with a spyglass after having it done, but it was pretty evident they did a bang-up job over two days (really, 1.5--they were done by noon on Day 2). Part of that was the excellent condition of the structure. It made things pretty easy on 'em other than having to remove five layers of shingles.

I'm glad yours is finally (almost) back to normal.

 

[b-body-bob]

ice shield and shingles done

We've got a flat roof over a patio that always leaked because it isn't pitched enough for shingles. I have it fixed, in a couple years it comes back.

Had an old friend come over for an estimate. He's talking about laying down rubber, I'm assuming he means the ice shield under the shingles. That's what the guys did on our house next door where there's a flat roof too.

No. Maybe I assumed too much, and maybe neither one of us was really listening to what the other one said.

Before I knew what was going on, they had already glued down honest to god industrial roofing rubber. Black, with brown shingles on the pitched part of the roof. The best part is they used some rubber left over from another job, but didn't have enough to do the whole area. The only place in town that had it was Menards, and it's not even close to the same thing. So now I've got brown shingles, black rubber roofing, and two different patterns in the rubber that sticks out like a sore thumb. They were even nice enough to not put the rubber that matched together, so I've got a big square at top left, and another one at bottom right that don't match.

The only thing I can say is I would've been more pissed if I didn't know I'm never going to sell this place, and if I had been much more pissed I would be in jail right now.

I'm glad you got your place fixed. The only thing worse than dealing with contractors is nothing. There is nothing worse than dealing with contractors. I have always said there is a reason they are contractors, instead of getting a real job with a real company.

 

[restoman]

We've got a flat roof over a patio that always leaked because it isn't pitched enough for shingles. I have it fixed, in a couple years it comes back.

Had an old friend come over for an estimate. He's talking about laying down rubber, I'm assuming he means the ice shield under the shingles. That's what the guys did on our house next door where there's a flat roof too.

No. Maybe I assumed too much, and maybe neither one of us was really listening to what the other one said.

Before I knew what was going on, they had already glued down honest to god industrial roofing rubber. Black, with brown shingles on the pitched part of the roof. The best part is they used some rubber left over from another job, but didn't have enough to do the whole area. The only place in town that had it was Menards, and it's not even close to the same thing. So now I've got brown shingles, black rubber roofing, and two different patterns in the rubber that sticks out like a sore thumb. They were even nice enough to not put the rubber that matched together, so I've got a big square at top left, and another one at bottom right that don't match.

The only thing I can say is I would've been more pissed if I didn't know I'm never going to sell this place, and if I had been much more pissed I would be in jail right now.

I'm glad you got your place fixed. The only thing worse than dealing with contractors is nothing. There is nothing worse than dealing with contractors. I have always said there is a reason they are contractors, instead of getting a real job with a real company.

I've been around contractors my whole life, never had the issues that others have had.
Lucky, I guess. I've seen some truly horrific "repairs" done by some folks...

I learned a long time ago to ask questions and take nothing for granted.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Having been a contractor since I was 25, there's a few good ones & the rest are either outright crooks or just lousy craftsman.
Never been sued, can count the unhappy customers on one hand (you just can't please some people) & never screwed anyone.
When I see some of the prices other HVAC guys are charging these days if I did that I could have retired years ago
Was brought up to deliver a good job at a fair price, didn't advertise at all after I bought my partner out in 1999, word of mouth was it.
I was lucky to hook up with 2 pretty good builders, although they both had some problems with a couple of customers.
I had a tree guy that I used for rooftop lifts, had him take down 2 trees in my yard, it was getting late, he cut 2 posts on the corner of my crappy old fence, laid it down dropped the tree, when they kinda cleaned up they just stood it up & left.
My revenge was to find a new crane guy for my lifts, He lost 30years of work for that deed!