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Got a call on Tuesday from the Police Dept. on Cape Cod, where we have a summer cottage.  Neighbors reported seeing water gushing out of the windows.  Police sent out the DPW to shut off my water at the street.

 

Drove down on Wednesday - what a mess.  For some unknown reason, heat must have gone off during the 5 degree days we had; pipes froze and burst; when it thawed, leaks everywhere.  Water draining out of the walls around the full perimeter of the cottage.  Insurance company sent out utterly useless "remediation team", consisting of two guys from Stanley Steemer with moisture meters and cell phones; what a couple of dweebs.  Mrs. LL and I did the real work, removing saturated rugs, bedding, etc., rescuing what we could.  Spent hours in my shop - draining water and ice out of my tool chests, wiping down the tools and spraying everything with WD40.  Thankfully, no guns stored at the cottage.  Finally got an adjuster from the insurer on the phone; he wanted to send Stanley Steemer back again.  Told him to forget it; hired my own contractor and plumber; hired a public adjuster.  Looks like the interior will be a full gut job.  Every wall that is opened shows more leaks.

 

I have a lot of insurance companies for clients.  I've handled a lot of multi-million dollar freeze up losses.  But I have never seen a response so badly bungled as this one (and of course, it is mine).  Put on my lawyer hat last night, and sent a nasty email to the insurer, itemizing their failure to provide the help guaranteed under the policy, and outlining the steps I have taken to fix the problem, supported with photos and quotes from the contractors.  Received an apology phone call this morning, with a promise that this claim would be moved to a Large Loss adjuster, with an in-person site visit next week, and appropriate steps taken to correct the Stanley Steemer mess (that's their problem, not mine).

 

Demolition is progressing; there's a dumpster in my yard, and a storage container will be there on Tuesday to hold my furniture.  Another adventure in the middle of the winter.

 

LL

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So sorry to hear about this Loophole.

 

What caused the heat to go off? You may want to investigate that. Years ago I moved out of an apartment. The gas was paid for another month. Sometime in that month the gas company had a rupture and shutoff all the gas to the neighborhood. When the gas came back on no one was there to reignite the lame heating system in my apartment. The same thing happened. The pipes burst. The landlord tried to claim it was my fault. I did the research that led him to go after the gas company. I never heard the final outcome but he never bothered me again about it.

 

I hope everything gets repaired for you and then some.

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That really sucks. Hope you get rebuilt soon. 

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You're full grown and ugly. :) But I'l share some advice. When I traveled every week I would shut off my water supply and turn off my water heater. It wasn't much of an inconvenience considering the potential inconvenience you have incurred. We have a place up in the mountains and it's shut down and the heat is off. This part of the country is known for sub zero temps and I'm cheap and lazy, I don't like to do extra work. I have plenty of idjits at work that create that for me.

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10 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

So sorry to hear about this Loophole.

 

What caused the heat to go off? You may want to investigate that. Years ago I moved out of an apartment. The gas was paid for another month. Sometime in that month the gas company had a rupture and shutoff all the gas to the neighborhood. When the gas came back on no one was there to reignite the lame heating system in my apartment. The same thing happened. The pipes burst. The landlord tried to claim it was my fault. I did the research that led him to go after the gas company. I never heard the final outcome but he never bothered me again about it.

 

I hope everything gets repaired for you and then some.

 

Yeah; that's the $100,000 question.  Natural gas boiler.  Serviced in August.  Running great then and now.  Something interrupted it, but we can't determine what.  No power outages.  I'm installing an Internet based alarm system, including low temp alarm and water alarm.  Will be able to track it on my iPhone.  A bit of locking the barn door after the horses got out, but there is always the risk of a repeat.

 

LL

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Well that just sucks. So sorry pard.

 

My niece woke up to 4" of water in her house last winter. She hired me to finish the job abandoned by others. Insurance paid me good money but damn I worked for it. 

Stanley cleans carpets, leave them to that. They want in, out and paid.

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43 minutes ago, Whiskey Business said:

That is terrible LL. Do not know about the cold winter north. Can you turn the water off at street level to prevent this. Curious about the logistics.

 

WB:

 

Our original cottage was seasonal - uninsulated, fine for May-October.  After that, we drained the pipes and shut everything down.  

 

About 15 years ago, we demolished that cottage, and built a fully insulated year-round cottage, complete with in-floor radiant heat and 6 inch insulated walls. Being able to leave the heat on in the Winter extends our use; we often come down for a weekend, or grab a get-away week mid-season.  Never had a problem until this year.  I'm re-evaluating leaving the water on when we're gone; I'd need to install an inside shut-off for the water main.

 

LL

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1 hour ago, Michigan Slim said:

Well that just sucks. So sorry pard.

 

My niece woke up to 4" of water in her house last winter. She hired me to finish the job abandoned by others. Insurance paid me good money but damn I worked for it. 

Stanley cleans carpets, leave them to that. They want in, out and paid.

 

I wouldn't let those guys clean my shoes.  Stanley is trying to expand its services without investing in the necessary training and equipment.  Man, I was hot and nasty after talking to those maroons. Left a permanent bad taste in my mouth.

 

LL

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In defense of Stanley - I have no financial or other interest in the business.  My daughter and her hubby own two Goddard Schools. Christmas Eve 2009 she got a call from police that they had responded to a call at her school, pipes burst many thing destroyed .... when Stanley arrived, they set up channels to divert the water out the front door, dehydrators everywhere, asked if she had fish tanks, their equipment would run a fish tank dry in 12 hours. Insurance guy said “ we will need receipts for everything — the next day there was a reasonable in’s. Guy in charge.  By Jan 2 the school was good to go, still some work to be done but she was ready for the hundred or so kids.

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23 hours ago, Assassin said:

You're full grown and ugly. :) But I'l share some advice. When I traveled every week I would shut off my water supply and turn off my water heater. It wasn't much of an inconvenience considering the potential inconvenience you have incurred. We have a place up in the mountains and it's shut down and the heat is off. This part of the country is known for sub zero temps and I'm cheap and lazy, I don't like to do extra work. I have plenty of idjits at work that create that for me.

We shut the water off any time we are going to be gone overnight or longer. A leak can happen any time. Doesn't take much of a leak to cause significant damage.  Just a quarter turn on a ball valve in the basement. My feeling is an ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure every time.

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If I'm leaving for even one night, I shut water off......Winter and Summer. I also installed a simple "Home Minder" device that will call my cell phone if water is detected on the basement floor using a number of remote sensors or temp goes below 45 degrees or power is out for more than 30 minutes. It has totally saved my A** twice when leaks sprung...once in a water filter that split and the second time in the water supply line to our furnace boiler. 

 

As soon as I get time to install it, I will install an electric valve on my main waterline that will shut water off every time I set the alarm. My gun room and other valuables are in the basement. A flood would be devastating!

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Out at the kids camp where I volunteer when we winterize we have a drain system that empties everything. Then put in anti-freeze in every sink,toilet, shower stall. Then we have the main line which we drain. We leave one dorm open for winter and keep the heat on 60. Those other dorms that are emptied out we keep the heat at around 50. Some areas where from experience we keep a heat light on. All the washing machines are drained, line drained, and anti-freeze put into the machines. We have a camp manager that lives on the grounds to keep up with the winter stuff + I am out there every week to also keep eye on everything. Takes us a few days to do everything. 

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On 1/26/2019 at 7:42 PM, Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 said:

 

I wouldn't let those guys clean my shoes.  Stanley is trying to expand its services without investing in the necessary training and equipment.  Man, I was hot and nasty after talking to those maroons. Left a permanent bad taste in my mouth.

 

LL

 

Call corporate. They want feedback on the franchise. 

They like good feedback, yet need bad feedback. 

 

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4 minutes ago, Whiskey Business said:

 

Call corporate. They want feedback on the franchise. 

They like good feedback, yet need bad feedback. 

 

 

I voiced my displeasure to the insurance company; they're the ones who hired Stanley Steemer and put them in my house.  After I laid out the details to the insurance company, they told me that they would meet with Stanley and demand some corrections.  From the adjuster's tone, I think they will get the message.

 

LL

 

 

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Had one experience with busted pipes. Wasn't my place, but a friend's who had passed away. a niece was executor, but lived in Fla. We warned her about keeping the heat on. She didn't, we went to retrieve something and couldn't get the front door open at first. When we did..........what a mess! a split-level home flooded on the first floor, mold everywhere ,contents ruined completely. Not to mention I tore up the back of one of my hands trying to get in. House ended up being razed.:blush:

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