Building fire damage assessment Q&A:

Frequently-asked questions about building fire damage assessment, fire damage repair priorities, fire damage minimization.

Fire Damaged Building Assessment, Inspection, Reporting FAQs

These questions and answers about assessing fire damage or other building damage such as mold contamination related to a building fire were posted originally at FIRE DAMAGED BUILDINGS, ASSESSMENT, REPAIR - home; be sure to review that article.

Photo of fire damage in a boiler room provided courtesy of home inspector Doveber Kahn, discussed in detail at the topic home page cited just above.

[Click top enlarge any image]

Question: how do I get numerous post-fire-rebuild problems diagnosed & fixed on my home

I am so glad to have found your site. After reading through your site I've learned alot. I had a house fire (total loss) due to arson and I had to rebuild from the ground up.

I have a new house with ongoing problems, mostly of leaks and water stains on the interior wood beams of my post and beam house. I desperately need your suggestions.

I moved in on April 1, 2011 and the problems have been ongoing - water stains and drips from the downstairs wood ceiling and running down the wall (outside wall), and two other water stains I noticed on beams on two other outside walls.

Also, in my bathroom I have another problem with my 8" beam getting soaking wet for approximately 1 foot in length last spring when the warm weather came which the builder said he fixed. The first cold day this winter I had a 6" long wet stain on the beam once I got out of the shower.

I used the exhaust fan like I always do. The cold weather had something to do with it.

Also, my downstairs shower base had several cracks when it was less than 2 years old. Since day one it was leaking at the seams which the builder re-siliconed but now that the base has cracked he told me that he warrantees for only one year. The base flexed from day one and I have read that the base has to be installed on a firm surface. I am thinking the crack was due to the base flexing.

Finally, my daughters window sill is black including in the corners. I am not sure if it is due to normal condensation or not.

The builder did come out and caulk around one window to prevent the water from leaking into the house and down the wall. I am awaiting his reply on my request to caulk all the windows.

I am thinking I should get a qualified inspector to assess any damages, and to give me suggestions. This new house should not have these problems. I am so tired of dealing with house issues, it's almost 4 years since my fire and I am tire! I think I want to live in a tent!

Thank you for any suggestions you can give me. - R.F., New Hampshire, 12/18/2013

Reply: professional inspector to set repair priorities, fire history case evaluation, warning about adversarial approaches

1. An inspection by a thorough, experienced professional should help identify the significant problem areas and also describe the type of remedy required, setting priorities of attention.

at EXPERTS DIRECTORY is a list that may help you - be sure to discuss your needs, the inspector's familiarity with water damage following a fire (tracing where water went in the building, what got wet, where and how to decide that test cut openings to inspect building cavities are justified) and the inspector's willingness to give repair approach advice (which is beyond the scope and skill of many), and to be available for follow-up questions.

2. You need to discuss with your insurance company the case history, course of repairs, and the possibility that original inspections and repairs were inadequate in scope or extent.

Keep in mind and make clear to the insurer that you understand that there could be post-fire maintenance problems at fault - don't assume everything is due to the fire, but indeed you do want to know if the original work was adequate or not - if for no other reason than to understand where more work is needed and what homeowner-responsibility and repairs are needed.

3. Watch out: you said you rebuilt from the ground up following a fire. If this is precisely the case, that is, if none of the original structure except perhaps the foundation was retained, then the common post-fire-damage issue of building cavities that were wet during fire extinguishment but not opened and properly dried and renovated post fire does not pertain.

What remains in a total rebuild case would be a question of the quality of new construction just as with any new home.

In that case and particularly as you have probably long ago signed-off a settlement with your insurance company, I'm doubtful that there is any basis whatsoever for going back to the insurance company for further help.

Only if you could show that somehow you were pressured or did not have adequate representation, or that the insurance company insisted on specific re-build compromises that later led to building problems might there be any case whatsoever - in my OPINION (I am not an attorney, nor engineer, nor architect).

Only if that were the case might you need to consult again with an attorney or with an independent insurance adjuster to see if further steps are appropriate. I do not advise this as an early step, but if you have good reason to feel that an insurance company is taking shortcuts that will result in future trouble in a home you might need help from an independent insurance adjuster.

My reluctance is that as soon as you get an attorney or independent adjuster in the loop, though you might have a paid advocate, you also are giving up any chance of help from a friendly, cooperative insurance company representative and are converting the relationship into an adversarial one - which is often protracted, costly, and exhausting.

Reader follow-up: building leaks after re-build after a fire

My house was torn down after the fire and a new house was built from scratch by a builder who basically did everything himself with very few subcontractors.

My present concern is why I am getting water stains on my interior beams. I wonder if the builder wrapped the windows correctly and whether the ventilation for the bathroom exhaust fan was done correctly.

Two people told me to sue the builder.

I don't want to but I want this resolved. I am totally exhausted in dealing with house issues and I have little stamina left. Would a home inspector be able to tell how water is getting inside when it rains and/or from melting snow, and why I am getting water on the beam in my bathroom ceiling when using the shower and exhaust vent only in the cold weather?

I took some photos of both the interior and exterior of my house. I will send them in the following email. The first several photos are of the bathroom, and the exterior bathroom window and vent. The shower is to the left of the water stain... on the other side of the wall to the left of the toilet.

The exhaust vent on the exterior is a white box which the builder made so the vent door extended out from the house so that the heat from exhaust fan isn't drawn up in to the soffits which caused a problem 1-2 years ago.

The water stain in the photo occurred for the first time this year during the first very cold day of the year and occurs with every shower since the cold weather even while the fan is on.

The second problem I am having is a water stain on the inside beam above my entrance door. (In the photos it is the door on the side with a lot of windows.) This is a recent problem. Last year I had the same problem in a room on the opposite side of the house which got so bad that water was running down the drywall during a rain storm.

The builder caulked around the window above it and it seemed to have stopped the leaking. I asked him to caulk around all windows hoping that it will stop the water stain from increasing above my entrance door. He has not replied.

Of note, on the second floor above the entrance door is a large window (seen in photo) which now has much water staining on the window sill. It is odd because all my windows are closed now that it is winter.

Reply: agree that the water stains need to be investigated

I agree that the water stains need to be investigated - to understand the cause and to understand if there is more than a cosmetic problem. But from just your note I can't guess at what's going on: a venting problem, an air leak problem, a roof leak, or what. I think you need an onsite expert inspection to diagnose the topic.

Try going to the builder with that information to see what he proposes to do about it.

And let me know. I may be able to suggest questions to ask or to comment on the reasonableness of what you're being told.

If you can provide photos of the entire house from outside and inside photos of the stains as well as more distant shots giving some context we might be able to make further useful comment.

Certainly you don't want to sue to force the builder to do anything - that's likely to be a disaster of subtrefuge.

In my OPINION a lawsuit to collect damages makes no sense unless the damage cost is so large as to make the cost and prolonged tension and aggravation of such a suit reasonable - and still you need to have some assurance that you would actually collect.

So first let's focus on an accurate problem diagnosis.

...

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