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Rough Night.

A

Animal

Well-known Member
I lost my shop tonight to fire, I had a restored M and F20, also had a JD gp in there pluss my gator countless tools and so on. If anyone has any advice or has been through this any help would be appreciated. I did have it insured so I am going to take pictures in the morning after I call my agent. I heated with a pellet stove and a space heater, I always unplug the space heater when I leave, and the wall where the pellet stove was is not burned like the opposite wall. thanks for your input....Animal
 
Hey there Animal;
So sorry to hear of your loss, but at least, I hope no one was hurt.? And you said you were smart enough to have insurance. That alone is a big plus.
Bob
God Bless
 
Sorry to hear that, Just happen to my neighbor, Lost 2 cars, tools, I helped him cleaned it up took two loads of tools to the scrap yard. Never know he had that many tools in there.
 
That is tuff.

1. Take you pictures but leave everything else alone unless instructed by your insurance company.

2. DO NOT start cleanup. Insurance should pay for that. SO don't let some shyster outit try to talk you into to starting now by hiring them.

3. Make as accurate as possible list of tools and equipment. With brand names.

4. Then wait till the insurance company gets to it sorted out.

Hope you have a good insurance company and they are fair and fast.

Rick
 
Sorry to hear the animal.

My brother went through this about 5 years ago. NO FUN.

Most can be replaced but there are a few items that will never be the same. Such as family hand me downs.

Gary
 
What oldtanker said, do not be in a hurry. Take plenty of pictures and sit down and make a list then compare the pictures to the list.
 
Take your time with the inventory. My insurance agent told me people often forget many items that were in a building lost to fire, etc. until you have already settled with the insurance company. Too late after the settlement is made to ask for anything else.
 
So sorry to hear of your loss; I actually shed a tear for you, because your post reminded me of when I lost my shop to fire. Dig out any & all photos that you may have that show your shop and / or any of it's contents (ie: vehicles, equipment, etc.), it will help your insurance adjuster and it will help to jog your memory of everything that you had. Do NOT under any circumstance, sign off on your insurance claim - even if you are FULLY insured - until you get everything back the way it was before the fire.

When my shop burned, I had custom made tools that were lost, HUGE antique tools - 2" drive sockets, wrenches with 8 foot handles, etc. for installing big Mine hoists - that had the temper taken out of them & had to be re-tempered and re-plated because they were over 100 years old & were no longer made. So DON'T sign off on your claim until EVERYTHING is replaced to YOUR satisfaction.

Doc
 
Sorry to hear for your loss, but the rest of us should use this as a reminder. Take your phone or get camera and video tape the interior of your out buildings once a year or so. It doesn't hurt to add commentary, as I just switch my phone to video.
Best of luck rebuilding..
 
I had a fire. Got the go ahead to clean up the mess. 3 weeks later the insurance adjustor call and tried to blame the fire on me. They will try to get out of paying.

Know what you are going trought. Let us know if they determine what caused the fire.
 
lost mine in 2003, the best you can do you'll never remember it all,..you'll remember stuff that was there for years to come,..just document the best you can and move on..i got all the insurance would cover, and if you have replacement coverage you'll want to replace it to get the best return...
 
Thanks for the reminder on taking photos or videos of your shop (and home).

I need to redo that... finally just did it this fall. But when my old computer crashed - I lost all those pictures. Wil put it on my TO DO LIST!
 
Listen to what others said below especially about not starting to remove or clean things up. Insurance company could blame you for trying to remove evidence. Your time would be better spent on the inventory list of valuables.
 
We had our farrowing house burn down. Probabably was the best thing that could have happened. Amazingly the insurance company treated us well and we got a new farrowing house out of the deal.
 
God I'm sorry to hear that Jim, wish I was closer to help you out!
Best of luck to yo my friend.
Larry NEIL
 
So sorry about your loss!!! I couldn't even begin to think how it would feel to go through this. I know this sound harsh, but hang in there things happen for a reason.
 
After reading this am getting nervous. A good friend (farmer)had third degree burns on his lower legs (burning road dithes) and is in KU Med center right now. He has a wood stove in his shop he keeps going in the winter. Some of us neighbors are going to cut firewood this weekend for him. This quy has every tool and machine you would need to run a machine shop. If you need a special part and he can make it, he will jump right on it. I don't think I like that would stove in there now.
 
Thats a tough lose.There are some things I have learned over the years 1)Build a 100% metal building for a shop 2) have a separate building for storage,parking tractors etc.3)Build the shop a good ways away from any other structure.
 
I have a rigid rule I never break. I NEVER lock up the shop and leave within an hour after welding on something. Then check to make sure everything is cold before I leave.
 
Thank you so much for the offer, I have had half the neighborhood stop or call this morning and they all offered help. I am going to take all the good advise that was offered. I do have a video of my hand tools and the bigger things like my lathe and welders I will take photos of. I will be in no hurry to do anything till I rest up and get my wits about me.
 
Sorry to hear this. I hope this is one time you are over insured. This will test how good insurance is. Wishing you the best!
 
Very sorry to hear about your shop.
Neighbor went through it year and a half ago.
Insurance company pressured him with a quick check to sign off. He felt it was too low so spent several weekends with video camera going through rubble documenting the remains of everthing he couldn't remember initially. Almost doubled the amount of the initial offer for content value when he was through. Insurance paid without a wimper. So needless to say take your time and good luck.
 
I might add even more than one structure for storage. Do not place tractors, combine all in the same building. There used to be a problem with arson around here years ago and some have theorized it had to do with competing farmers. Thankfully, the arson bug never bit here.
 
sorry to hear of your loss. Makes me feel so lucky my recent wind damage was building only . Could have several refurbished tractors dented
 
Sorry for your devastating loss.I too lost a shop,25 years ago.Take a pencil/paper and start in one corner and visualize what was there.Slowly work around till you get back to 'start'.Figure values,go 'shopping' for current values.Take your time,dont rush.Once settled,you can start to 'rebuild'.It can take years.Just the other day I was looking for a tool,couldnt find it.Then I remembered,"I lost that in the fire"!Keep your 'chin up',things will be OK.Steve
 
Can you stand at the main door and with a sketch pad and close your eyes.Visualize the placement of what hung on the walls to the right, center,and left walls, and what was hung or stored above.You will have to do this a number of times.You may find this helpfull.God Bless Good Luck. Chuck
 
I feel your pain. I got burned out of the farmhouse a few years back. I had Allstate Ins. They were great with getting everything back to normal, though I could not move back in after the rebuild. I think it had something to do with trying to go back in after the pets, and having a hard time escaping he fire the second time in.
 
Dang that's rough. I never had a major fire myself,but there were two big ones that had a huge effect on my childhood. The old garage and chicken coop burned when I was seven. Scared the living daylights out of me. Then the barn burned when I was 9. They had to take me away to my brother's girlfriends parents house when that one happened because I was so hysterical.
Those two fires sure put Dad through h3ll.
The old barns across the road burned in 36,before my time,but Grandpa lost most everything in that one.

I don't even know what to say,but you've got my deepest sympathy. I've got a huge phobia about fires from being through those when I was so young.
 
sorry for your loss, I had a shop fire about 25 years ago, lost everything couple of tractors that I farmed with etc, I sat down and went threw book after book that had tools,bolts, you name it that was for sale, jogged my mind hey I had that in my shop.Marked it all down on paper ,After 25 years later I still go to the shop knowing I have that in there but it was in the fire.One thing I learned was some of the stuff in the shop belonged to the house so it was covered threw the house insurance,rest was covered under shop insurance, I was under insured so that helped a bit.
 
I didn't lose a shop to a fire, but lost a new leanto on the hay shed a few years ago to snow. There was some $7000 damage to equipment and another $10,000 structural damage and cleanup cost. I have a Nationwide farm policy through Farm Bureau, and the adjuster came in, took some pictures and wrote a check. No big hassle at all, and great service. That winter had a lot of snow and a load of collapsed farm stuctures. A couple I know of had some trouble collecting on the policies, but we were well covered.
 
Most parts of the country have independent insurance adjustors that will file your claim with your insurance company for you. Their fee is based on a percentage of your claim. They are very effective around here and sift through the scene for every tool, nut, bolt, oil can,etc. as well as cleanup and building and associated damage. They find the remains of things you would never have thought of.
They work for you, not your insurance company.
 
Sorry for your loss! A lot of good advice below. My atv's and lawn-mowers chainsawa weedeaters, etc. were considered homeowners, so the house insurance covered them. Even some of the tools. Don't be in a hurry! If you don't like the adjuster, you can request a new one. Generally get his boss, good. I got a great contractor to meet with the adjuster and I. The adjuster knew and trusted him and it was all over. Hang in there Vic
 
So sorry for your loss. Can't imagine what your going through, never had a fire. It will all work out.
 
Oh man, sorry to hear about your loss. I think you've gotten some great advice. I'll add one thing. I think you should secure the area if you can. It wouldn't surprise me if scrappers tried to haul off some of your stuff.
I hope you have adequate insurance coverage.

I'm in the process of cataloging my tools. I'm a long way from completing that task but I've already figured out I'm under insured. When I get done cataloging and placing a value on everything I'll adjust my coverage accordingly.

I participate on a hot rod website and it seems that once a year or so someone loses their shop to fire, flooding, or some other disaster.

Keep us posted on your dealing with the insurance company and if the cause of the fire is determined.
Pops
 
You might want to start writing down tools you had. It will take a while and you probably will never remember everything. Also it is very hard to place a value on a restored (anything).

My experience with insurance companies has not been good. It has always seemed like they were trying to scr#w me on the value of anything that was lost or damaged. Hope you have good coverage. Good luck!
 
Sorry to hear of your loss....but remember it could always have been worse....Tools and tractors can be bought again a life cannot!
Our insurance companies pay for cleanup...My father-in -law had a fire in the hotpress of his dwelling house one morning last spring.(heating pump burned out!)Mutter-in-law had just returned home after a 6 week stay in Hospital and usually would have been in bed at the time, but stayed up to help get everyone out to an Ag show.....The house was destroyed by smoke and the firemen pumping water to secure the building would not light up again....Insurance company came and listed everything in the house...got them a mobile home, washed and cleaned all they could salvage from the house, arranged storage of items and totally rewired and plumbed the house, re-plastered the walls and painted and decorated the rooms....real good service!
Just check what all your company will do for you.
Sam
 
Sorry to hear about your shop, as hard as a shop and its contents are to identify and replace at least it wasn't your house. Had a close friend go through that our freshmen year in high school. Things will perk up, maybe the man upstairs thought it was time for a new shop :)
 
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