Bad Day for Pole Barn

   / Bad Day for Pole Barn #21  
No doubt aggravating, but the damage could have been worse.
 
   / Bad Day for Pole Barn #22  
In my Insurance World an adjuster comes, offers a cost to repair, we negotiate and come to terms, Insurance writes a check for that amount, I'm on my own.

I've never tried to make the insurance company fix my damage. Maybe I'm missing something? :)
That’s the way I understand it too, but you never want to touch anything until they can assess damages. Sometimes they do have local contractors they use to do work, but most companies allow you to choose your business or pocket the check and do it yourself.
 
   / Bad Day for Pole Barn #24  
When my neighbors dead tree fell on my barn I was told by State Farm that since the tree was dead it was a civil matter that they would not pay on the claim nor would they file suit against the neighbors insurance who was also State Farm. The neighbor refused to pay for damages but the judge said otherwise and I got my barn fixed
 
   / Bad Day for Pole Barn #25  
Next step, I cut a big notch in the top edge of the tree, as high as I could comfortably reach. Then I undercut it until it started to move and ran like hell. As I had feared, it did hit the side of the barn as it fell, so I've got to replace a piece of siding, as well as some roof sections. I did get lucky though in that all the wall damage was confined to a single piece. Now that it's down, I will have to work out the repairs.

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I saw this after I posted...you cut that tree at the gutter and the trunk slid down your wall didnt you? Either way the broken pannel is alot cheaper than your absurd $4000 deductible.
 
   / Bad Day for Pole Barn #26  
I saw this after I posted...you cut that tree at the gutter and the trunk slid down your wall didnt you? Either way the broken pannel is alot cheaper than your absurd $4000 deductible.
Nothing absurd....deductible is a choice. You choose what you want to pay for. And as he has said, in 13 years....he is ahead.

I have rather high deductibles as well. Pretty significant savings on both home and auto. The insurance company knows you aint gonna be one of the petty ones that turn in every little claim and are actually a capable homeowner that can handle alot of the crap they normally have to write a sub-$1000 check for
 
   / Bad Day for Pole Barn #27  
Congrats on getting it down an cleaned up and minimizing the damage to the best of YOUR ability.
With regards to the mole issue...you need to treat your yard for grubs. That will get rid of the moles.
 
   / Bad Day for Pole Barn
  • Thread Starter
#28  
I'm going to do the grub treatment again, but I've done it in the past with little improvement. Grubs like earthworms about as much as grubs.
 
   / Bad Day for Pole Barn #29  
A lot of good advice here. However, when I called my insurance agent, I found I have $4000 deductible on my homeowners. Since this is the first potential claim I've had here in the 13 years I've owned it, I'm probably money ahead, but I'm on my own here (unless I want to go after my neighbor, which I don't want to do.)

I don't have any equipment close to capable of lifting this so I did as I usually do - make do with what I have. The first thing I did was trim what I could with my pole saw from the ground and cleaned up the area.



Then I got on the roof and trimmed everything that wasn't loaded to reduce the weight and limit the potential for things twisting into the barn as it came down. My 20v Dewalt pole saw was a real hero here. It did a great job. Also, a tip for anyone else in this situation - take a broom up on the roof with you. It's gets slippery with the wood chips and sawdust.

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Since it's dead, Once it was trimmed down to this I would have seen if the loader would lift the end off the shop just a little and trim more off until maybe it cleared the barn.
Maybe even cut sections out of it to reduce weight more.
 
   / Bad Day for Pole Barn #30  
I discovered last summer that I have a RAT problem... wanna trade? ;)
No. My Brother ignored a rat problem. So bad they migrated 1/4 mile to the neighbor's farm. My Brother got adjusted by the neighbor and took care of the problem....
 
 
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