Water in Basement

[CaptivaCyGuy]

Recently had a drain back up and flood the basement. The basement is pretty large at about 2,000 sq feet. I had ServePro and a contractor come in and both said carpet needs to go along with all the trim and 2 feet up of dry wall and insulation. I got a quote that included demo (removing carpet, padding, trim, drywall and insulation), insulating, drywall, painting and replacing the floor and some doors. Estimate came in around $38-40K which was under $15/sq foot and I thought that was pretty reasonable. Insurance adjuster is acting like it is absurd and wants to come and give there own estimate. I told them that was fine, but that I needed to get going as it has been 8 days since filing the claim and they haven't even made an attempt to call to schedule anything. I have taken lots of pictures and sent them to them and kept all the carpet and demo material. I am afraid if I wait till they show up to start the repairs that I won't be able to find anyone to do the work in a reasonable timeframe. I guess the question is does this estimate seem excessive and is this pretty typical of insurance claims in dealing with basements and water damage?
Thanks

 

[Big Daddy Kang]

Insurance adjusters have one job - to mitigate payouts. Don't let them low ball you.

 

[Cyforce]

2 feet of water? Don't worry it will hold 8.

 

[CYdTracked]

Recently had a drain back up and flood the basement. The basement is pretty large at about 2,000 sq feet. I had ServePro and a contractor come in and both said carpet needs to go along with all the trim and 2 feet up of dry wall and insulation. I got a quote that included demo (removing carpet, padding, trim, drywall and insulation), insulating, drywall, painting and replacing the floor and some doors. Estimate came in around $38-40K which was under $15/sq foot and I thought that was pretty reasonable. Insurance adjuster is acting like it is absurd and wants to come and give there own estimate. I told them that was fine, but that I needed to get going as it has been 8 days since filing the claim and they haven't even made an attempt to call to schedule anything. I have taken lots of pictures and sent them to them and kept all the carpet and demo material. I am afraid if I wait till they show up to start the repairs that I won't be able to find anyone to do the work in a reasonable timeframe. I guess the question is does this estimate seem excessive and is this pretty typical of insurance claims in dealing with basements and water damage?
Thanks

I would say if the insurance adjustor thinks that is high and wants to do their own estimate that they bring their own contractor with them to inspect and bid it out. If they come in lower then use them as long as you have in writing the work you expect them to complete.

I had something similar to that when I had a lightening strike hit my house years ago that damaged some drywall in a room as well as knock some flashing off the outside of the house. They brought some contracting company with them and got a quote from them to do the work. Funny thing is when I asked them to come do the work a few weeks later the guy had to go back and look at the quote he gave the adjustor and he says "yeah that job is too small for me, there is no way I can make money off that bid." Well I found another contractor I knew that came in and did the work for a third of that estimate and since the insurance company just cut me a check for what the 1st guy bid.

 

[CYdTracked]

Insurance adjusters have one job - to mitigate payouts. Don't let them low ball you.

Oh man I have stories about hail damage about 5 years ago and the various issues us and our neighbors ran into with our different companies. Three of us all wound up using the same contractor to replace our roof, gutters, and for some some damaged siding or window screens. The contractor told us up front to tell them when the adjuster was coming so they could be there when they inspected the damage as they would go to bat for us. They had already shown me all the damage including some dents in my gutters and downspouts I had not seen. Well the adjustor comes and agrees the roof is shot and qualifies for replacement, as we are walking around he says he sees no reason why the gutters and downspouts need to be replaced and I point out a few big dents in some downspouts along the house. He says "oh well that could just be from a rock that flew out of your mower, I doubt that was hail." Well this 1 dent was like 15 or 20 feet up and I said there is no way in hell a rock shoots up that far up in the air from a push lawnmower and I would gladly show him my mower to show there is no side discharge on it. After he left the contractor got a chuckle and said that is why they show us this stuff in advance and come out for the inspection so the adjustor doesn't try to screw you.

One neighbor's insurance company was being a pain as they tried to pay the claim out in installments and the contractor was getting frustrated with that because they weren't getting paid as they completed the work. Don't recall the other neighbor's insurance being too big of a pain other than they would only let them repair portions of the siding and not entire walls and such only areas they agreed were damaged. We were lucky that our contractor and insurance got on the same page quick as the contractor did not budge at all on doing the job for the amount the insurance company estimated it at.

One other neighbor had just got a new roof a year before and their insurance company told them they needed 3 different contractors to agree that it needed replaced before they would even send out an adjustor to look at it.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

Recently had a drain back up and flood the basement. The basement is pretty large at about 2,000 sq feet. I had ServePro and a contractor come in and both said carpet needs to go along with all the trim and 2 feet up of dry wall and insulation. I got a quote that included demo (removing carpet, padding, trim, drywall and insulation), insulating, drywall, painting and replacing the floor and some doors. Estimate came in around $38-40K which was under $15/sq foot and I thought that was pretty reasonable. Insurance adjuster is acting like it is absurd and wants to come and give there own estimate. I told them that was fine, but that I needed to get going as it has been 8 days since filing the claim and they haven't even made an attempt to call to schedule anything. I have taken lots of pictures and sent them to them and kept all the carpet and demo material. I am afraid if I wait till they show up to start the repairs that I won't be able to find anyone to do the work in a reasonable timeframe. I guess the question is does this estimate seem excessive and is this pretty typical of insurance claims in dealing with basements and water damage?
Thanks

Your adjuster is correct. 40k for that is absolutely absurd.

 

[BCClone]

Decent carpet and a pad will run about 5-6/foot installed.

Okay then cut the Sheetrock (which has went through the roof), insulation also…….. not sure about the studs. I would say 15 per foot would be easy to hit.

 

[SCNCY]

Your adjuster is correct. 40k for that is absolutely absurd.

That was my initial thought too. Your talking a couple feet of wall and insulation, which isn’t that much. The carpet may be the most expensive material you may need to buy; but that’s not even that expensive. I can’t imagine the material costing more than 10k and probably no more than a weeks worth of work.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

Decent carpet and a pad will run about 5-6/foot installed.

Okay then cut the Sheetrock (which has went through the roof), insulation also…….. not sure about the studs. I would say 15 per foot would be easy to hit.

Sounds as if they are only going up 2 feet on the wall. No mention of replacing framing. Just drywall and trim.

I have done these types of jobs before and for 40K, even with 2,000 sq. ft. you should get a lot more than a tear out with a couple feet of drywall, insulation, carpet, paint a few doors and trim.

 

[brianhos]

Holy crap, 40K for new drywall, trim, and carpet? That does seem high by about 2x.

 

[Jnecker4cy]

what kind of coverage do you have for back up of sewer and drain, that is where this loss will get paid. Most folks do not carry that type of limit, hope you do.

 

[JP4CY]

Um, if you're saying 2' up, you should check your outlets

 

[mynameisjonas]

Good time to remind people to contact their insurance agent to make sure their policy covers sewer backup.

 

[CYEATHAWK]

Um, if you're saying 2' up, you should check your outlets

Wasn't said, but more than likely the water didn't go up 2' rather you take it off that high as a precaution for mold.

If the water was actually 2' up that is a complete gut job.

 

[BCClone]

Sounds as if they are only going up 2 feet on the wall. No mention of replacing framing. Just drywall and trim.

I have done these types of jobs before and for 40K, even with 2,000 sq. ft. you should get a lot more than a tear out with a couple feet of drywall, insulation, carpet, paint a few doors and trim.

Never have, we have refloored most of our upstairs and the part we carpeted (above average quality) and that was running us about 6 bucks a square foot installed. So that would be about 12K for 2000 square foot of pad, and carpet. Unsure on the rest. Finding someone to do it is probably the challenge.

 

[GoldCy]

Recently had a drain back up and flood the basement. The basement is pretty large at about 2,000 sq feet. I had ServePro and a contractor come in and both said carpet needs to go along with all the trim and 2 feet up of dry wall and insulation. I got a quote that included demo (removing carpet, padding, trim, drywall and insulation), insulating, drywall, painting and replacing the floor and some doors. Estimate came in around $38-40K which was under $15/sq foot and I thought that was pretty reasonable. Insurance adjuster is acting like it is absurd and wants to come and give there own estimate. I told them that was fine, but that I needed to get going as it has been 8 days since filing the claim and they haven't even made an attempt to call to schedule anything. I have taken lots of pictures and sent them to them and kept all the carpet and demo material. I am afraid if I wait till they show up to start the repairs that I won't be able to find anyone to do the work in a reasonable timeframe. I guess the question is does this estimate seem excessive and is this pretty typical of insurance claims in dealing with basements and water damage?
Thanks

ServePro is expensive. Tell them to work with your carrier. They do that.
Tell the adjuster to find a contractor. Easier said than done for a job like that. That's why ServePro can charge what they do.
I have experience with them.

 

[StateThrowdown]

I’ve always been told to have your agent be involved when dealing with the adjuster. Our farm got ripped apart by a tornado some years ago and the adjuster pulled the same kind of stuff you’re talking about. Later, our agent said to always get him involved in that process because they can help you get more covered. Not sure if he was just trying to keep our business but I’ve remembered it since then. Haven’t had to put it in practice luckily.

 

[BCClone]

I’ve always been told to have your agent be involved when dealing with the adjuster. Our farm got ripped apart by a tornado some years ago and the adjuster pulled the same kind of stuff you’re talking about. Later, our agent said to always get him involved in that process because they can help you get more covered. Not sure if he was just trying to keep our business but I’ve remembered it since then. Haven’t had to put it in practice luckily.

In-laws have several adjusters in the family. I used to sit around and here them laugh how they hosed people or got them to take less than something was worth. Made me realize that adjusters are pretty much jackwagons and don't trust them.

 

[CaptivaCyGuy]

ServePro is expensive. Tell them to work with your carrier. They do that.
Tell the adjuster to find a contractor. Easier said than done for a job like that. That's why ServePro can charge what they do.
I have experience with them.

ServPro came and said just to put up their fans and dehumidifiers was between 2500-3000. He then used a piece of equipment to check all the walls for moisture and marked the ones that the sensor indicated water infiltrated and marked how high up he would need to remove. I asked what that would cost and he said with all the cutting of drywall and insulation that needed to be removed it would easily be 3-5x the original quote. He also said they don't remove the carpet and debris for that prica and that is on the home owner. So I was looking at $12-16k in demo and still having to haul everything out of the basement before even getting into the replacement of everything. Never worked with them before and when I have / had such a $&-@ing mess to deal with I just trusted I was doing the right things.

 

[BCClone]

ServPro came and said just to put up their fans and dehumidifiers was between 2500-3000. He then used a piece of equipment to check all the walls for moisture and marked the ones that the sensor indicated water infiltrated and marked how high up he would need to remove. I asked what that would cost and he said with all the cutting of drywall and insulation that needed to be removed it would easily be 3-5x the original quote. He also said they don't remove the carpet and debris for that prica and that is on the home owner. So I was looking at $12-16k in demo and still having to haul everything out of the basement before even getting into the replacement of everything. Never worked with them before and when I have / had such a $&-@ing mess to deal with I just trusted I was doing the right things.

You can go buy a couple dehumidifiers and fans for that much. Spend another 10 bucks and plump a drain house into them so they drain the water into a drain and run non stop.