My father needs to have work done to one of his offices which was damaged by a roofer who left a long seam open before a rainstorm. The office was damaged enough an adjuster suggested he turn it in to his insurance company.

If anyone has dealt with this, or does mold re-mediation for a living, I would be grateful to learn what the right way is to have this done before my father signs the contracts.

Thank you for your help.


Details below:

The office is made of steel framed studs with drywall and a dropped ceiling. The office sits inside a one story block building with a roof made of steel decking with a rubberoid coating.

The drywall was soaked and the ceiling came down. His insurance company is insisting the water and resulting mold damage be re-mediated. They suggested a local company (Service Pro). This company came in and tested the drywall and said they will remove the drywall four feet off of the ground. They tested with a meter and said they will replace anything which got wet.

It seems to me it would be a lot simpler to rip out all of the drywall, rather than taking out part and having to deal with piecing it back together later. Re-mediation would seem easier if they were dealing with bare studs. The office is free standing, so nothing stands in the way of ripping out everything to the bare floor and walls.

One concern I have is the re-mediation company has said they will issue a letter saying they have done the re-mediation, but the insurance company will not pay for lab tests to identify what was there prior to the work, and that it has been removed after the work. Maybe that is normal, but how would one know the work has been done if one does not know what was there that required the work?

I would get an independent opinion from someone who is not affiliated with the insurance company. I do not like dealing with companies suggested by the insurance company because of an inherent conflict of interest. Dealing with these issues is complicated.

Our area suffered major flood damage from storm surge and there were many "remediation companies" on scene. Sadly, some homeowners found themselves with another problem, that being Chinese drywall that was installed. All the work had to be redone.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
I would get an independent opinion from someone who is not affiliated with the insurance company.

I suggested my father get an estimate from an independent adjuster not affiliated with the insurance company, whom we've known for about 25 years. My father did this to get guidance before turning the claim in. The independent adjuster has used the re-mediation company suggested by my father's commercial carrier before, with good results.

That being said, I want to know more about how things should be before my father proceeds.

Water mitigation/mold remediation for a living here.

What you’ve described is perfectly normal in the industry. How long ago did the leak occur? What makes you think there is mold? Your fathers insurance company should subrogate against the roofing company if there’s negligence.

About ten years ago I was working in NY. I came home after being out there for about two months for an interview locally. Got in about midnight, and after a very long day of airline debacles, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and crash. When I opened the door I realized that that wasn't going to happen.

At some point while I was away, my water heater sprung a leak. Soggy everything and mold growing 2-3 feet up all of the walls. It wasn't pretty...nor was the smell. A hotel got my money that night.

I called a local outfit called Stat Restoration. They came in and stripped everything out from 4 feet down, down to bare studs and subfloor. Then they put in some industrial strength dehumidiers for a couple weeks to dry everything out.

Not sure what they used to kill any remaining mold (if there was any after removing everything moldy), but when I came home for good about a month later, everything was mold free and bone dry.

USAA was very good to me. They sent a guy out to inspect and paid for everything and then some.

I did all of the rebuilding (except for tape/texturing), and while it turned out great, I realized that I am VERY happy that I do what I do for a living and not that.

As far as piecing the drywall back together at 4 ft, it's not a big deal. If they take it out right, putting up the sheets horizontally is a piece of cake and a good taper can cover it up so you can't even tell that there was an issue.

4 feet is the standard for drywall removal unless the water line went higher. The labor is cheaper to do it this way as the new drywall sheets can be laid in horizontal with no need to cut the sheets. ServerPro is a big outfit and know what they are doing. They will also back their work. If the insurance is footing the bill let them do what they have proposed.

quote:

Originally posted by MattW:
Water mitigation/mold remediation for a living here.

What you’ve described is perfectly normal in the industry. How long ago did the leak occur? What makes you think there is mold? Your fathers insurance company should subrogate against the roofing company if there’s negligence.

It happened two weeks ago this weekend. My concern is the walls were open above the dropped ceiling. Water falling from the roof would have hit the unfinished edges of the drywall above the dropped ceiling. The water ran down the walls, on the finished and unfinished sides of the drywall.

The mitigation company is not handling the drywall replacement. My father has to get bids for that once the mitigation is done.

What part of the country is the building in? I wouldn’t be too worried about mold honestly, depending upon where you’re located. Chances are if there is mold in there, it was already there before this leak and insurance doesn’t owe for that. Unless he has mold coverage, which is another scenario all together.

Some Servpro’s will do repairs/putback, some don’t. They may not be able to depending on the carrier’s program if they’re on it. Some insurance companies prefer to keep mitigation and repairs separate to keep companies honest.

The main thing is to not stress out over it. There’s no need to hire anybody to second guess what the adjuster is paying for. A friendly call to a friend that is an adjuster is fine, but putting on your big boy pants and telling the adjuster how the claim is going to be handled won’t end well. Trust me, the adjuster doesn’t want to drag this out. They want to pay for what is owed and move onto the next one. The nicer you guys are to the adjuster, the nicer they’ll be to you. I can’t stress that enough.

Your dad will be able to return his building to normal faster if he finds a contractor that writes his or her estimates in a program known as Xactimate. It’s the industry standard and will really help to make sure the insurance company’s estimate and the contractor’s are on the same page.

One last bit of assurance for you guys, commercial adjusters are rarely new to the game. They generally have years of experience and are used to working complex claims. From what you’ve described so far, this claim is a quick one to settle up.

It's normal to cut up a few feet and just repair the damaged/wet parts. I've seen companies that do this use moister meters to test sections of drywall.

I would reccomend calling Serve Pro (1-800-Servpro).
They are used to dealing with insurance companies and have the knowledge and expertise to do the job properly.

I just had a client flood his house and he was very happy with the results using them. They do both commercial and residential work.

Serve Pro completed the water and mold remediation.

I have a question about the drywall replacement. I've not seen the photos, but apparently when they removed the old drywall, a number of the places were left with irregular cuts at angle. I found this out today when one of the contractors suggested the end result would be a better job in those areas if all of the drywall were replaced.

I do not that making the job easier will lower the price, but the contractors are saying we would get a better job. That makes sense, but it makes me wonder a bit about the skill of their tapers. Most of the contractors I've used in the past were good enough you could not see where they taped once the primer coat was on.

How would you handle this?