How One House Survives When 1000's around it Burn

[Haertig]

Sounds like they would have been better off if their house didn't burn down.

I'm not sure they could have afforded to bring their house back to a livable situation had it not, with all the smoke damage. Ripping up carpeting, pulling out drywall, throwing away furniture and clothing, cleaning our air ducts - with no insurance money for any of that - could have been a significant burden. Plus, the government would have required building permits for that remediation work and imposed the new codes and requirements on the remediation, just as if it were new construction. Similar to when I "remediated" the existing electrical service to my house to add a hot tub - we had an electrician add an sub-panel next to the main panel - that had to be permitted, inspected, and was required to meet all new codes that had been implemented since I first bought the house.

The point I was making was about government adding new codes and requirements for rebuilding (new construction) and remediation (fixing old construction). Mandating changes and forcing people to pay tons of their own money to meet those new requirements on their already owned properties that were destroyed/damaged by fire (probably caused by government malfeasance in the first place).

 

[Weedygarden]

I'm not sure they could have afforded to bring their house back to a livable situation had it not, with all the smoke damage. Ripping up carpeting, pulling out drywall, throwing away furniture and clothing, cleaning our air ducts - with no insurance money for any of that - could have been a significant burden. Plus, the government would have required building permits for that remediation work and imposed the new codes and requirements on the remediation, just as if it were new construction. Similar to when I "remediated" the existing electrical service to my house to add a hot tub - we had an electrician add an sub-panel next to the main panel - that had to be permitted, inspected, and was required to meet all new codes that had been implemented since I first bought the house.

The point I was making was about government adding new codes and requirements for rebuilding (new construction) and remediation (fixing old construction). Mandating changes and forcing people to pay tons of their own money to meet those new requirements on their already owned properties that were destroyed/damaged by fire (probably caused by government malfeasance in the first place).

I am aware that where I live, that codes keep adding to the expense of even expected maintenance. The man who owned the twin house to mine replaced his water heater a few years ago. He told me it cost him $11,000 with all the things that had to be brought up to the new codes.

 

[Supervisor42]

not really blank...property boundaries still in effect...underground utilities didnt burn...like water and sewer....soooo...rebuild it is....or condemn some places and take property to reroute stuff....they aint doing that..its cram as many as possible in a spot to live.

What about the thousands of owners that had no insurance that abandon their properties?
Who will rebuild those?
No sane person is gonna buy one of them...

 

[Haertig]

When we moved into this new house, back in the early 80's, we wanted a fence. I hate digging holes so we hired a company to set all the posts and the wife and I planned to finish the job by putting up all the cross pieces and pickets ourselves. While we were going about that, our water meter in the basement experienced some kind of malfunction and needed to be replaced. The city had to come out and inspect that. The inspector noticed that we had an incomplete fence - we had completed everything except hanging one gate. Why he would notice this while inspecting a meter in the basement, is a mystery. He said there is no permit for the fence work - although the fence post setters had told us that they would get all the needed fencing permits when apparently they did not - and the inspector slapped a "stop work" notice on the fence.

So we hung the remaining gate, and then stopped work. We never heard from the city again. But I think they may have cursed the gate. I've already replaced it twice over the last 43 years, and it's sagging again. Another unpermitted replacement may be in the works...

 

[Hardcalibres]

.........
No sane person is gonna buy one of them...

Actually.....people with normalcy bias will.......and most psychologists would say they are saner than those with abnormlacy bias.

Every day, people buy houses that are on flood plains......that have been flooded several times over the house's life.

For a start.....they are usually cheaper......because at least a minority of people realize that another flood is a matter of when rather than if.

 

[elkhound]

What about the thousands of owners that had no insurance that abandon their properties?
Who will rebuild those?
No sane person is gonna buy one of them...

Thats when standard rules apply...each state has them different and probably each town or county...if you abandon property and dont pay taxes the county takes it after certain amount of time and ever so often here they sale such properties on court house steps to highest bidder.

and if no one buys property then it becomes property of town...they can try selling it again next time,put in hands of realtor or keep for their own use.

those properties will sale again for sure if folks want to sell....just a matter of time.

 

[Steve_In_29]

I would think, that the thing to do with all of this land being freed up from homes, would be to create a code for new builds replacing these burned homes. The code would include rain water catchment for each home. Gutters run from the roof to a catchment tank. Tank would be preferred to be buried, either in the yard or in the basement. No water from yards where there is contamination from herbicides and other toxins. There are homes in various parts of the world that use water catchment for home use.

Of all the homes that I have been in in Southern California, not one has a basement. They are all built on slabs. I wonder how many homes percentage wise in the L.A. area have basements?

This would be a great time for southern California to improve some of their infrastructure, especially relative to water collection.

Between earthquakes, now fires, and the other political goings on, I would want to get the heck out of California if I lived there.

Iirc, it is against the law to do rain water catchment in CA.

 

[Steve_In_29]

What about the thousands of owners that had no insurance that abandon their properties?
Who will rebuild those?
No sane person is gonna buy one of them...

People were buying the still flooded houses around New Orleans after Katrina. The relative of a guy I was working with sold his place (at a decent price) before the flood waters had even receded he and moved away.

 

[Steve_In_29]

I am aware that where I live, that codes keep adding to the expense of even expected maintenance. The man who owned the twin house to mine replaced his water heater a few years ago. He told me it cost him $11,000 with all the things that had to be brought up to the new codes.

That's why you do it yourself behind a CLOSED garage door.

When the water heater in my old place in CA crapped out, that's what I did. I sure wasn't pulling a permit and paying someone to hook up a couple water lines and a gas line.

 

[mml373]

So ... you have the only house that was not burned ... for the next 5 years, you will be living in a construction zone, with all the noise, dust, and congestion.

Not to mention, toxicity. I don't know how you ever clean up the soil, etc., that would be contaminated from residues, chemicals, etc., from burned plastics and other materials.

 

[mml373]

I would think, that the thing to do with all of this land being freed up from homes, would be to create a code for new builds replacing these burned homes. The code would include rain water catchment for each home. Gutters run from the roof to a catchment tank. Tank would be preferred to be buried, either in the yard or in the basement. No water from yards where there is contamination from herbicides and other toxins. There are homes in various parts of the world that use water catchment for home use.

Of all the homes that I have been in in Southern California, not one has a basement. They are all built on slabs. I wonder how many homes percentage wise in the L.A. area have basements?

This would be a great time for southern California to improve some of their infrastructure, especially relative to water collection.

Between earthquakes, now fires, and the other political goings on, I would want to get the heck out of California if I lived there.

The best "code" would be to start managing the land properly and to forbid building in places that are obviously going to predispose this kind of thing to happen. That's government's job...protecting people and property. It ought to have done that. These places never should have been allowed to be built.

Don't even get started on the insurance aspects.

Rich people are fully capable of doing stupid things with money (theirs and other people's), obviously. Common sense ought to prevail, but obviously it does not.

 

[Magus]

They cry blue murder about not having any water, why isn't there a desalinization plant or ten up and down the coast? they could make a fortune selling sea salt.

 

[Steve_In_29]

They cry blue murder about not having any water, why isn't there a desalinization plant or ten up and down the coast? they could make a fortune selling sea salt.

Those plants don't work like that.

As to your first sentence, CA gets enough precipitation to meet its needs, even in a drought. The "blue murder" is what the libs do to themselves by preventing the construction of enough dams for catchment.

 

[UserNameTaken]

When we moved into this new house, back in the early 80's, we wanted a fence. I hate digging holes so we hired a company to set all the posts and the wife and I planned to finish the job by putting up all the cross pieces and pickets ourselves. While we were going about that, our water meter in the basement experienced some kind of malfunction and needed to be replaced. The city had to come out and inspect that. The inspector noticed that we had an incomplete fence - we had completed everything except hanging one gate. Why he would notice this while inspecting a meter in the basement, is a mystery. He said there is no permit for the fence work - although the fence post setters had told us that they would get all the needed fencing permits when apparently they did not - and the inspector slapped a "stop work" notice on the fence.

So we hung the remaining gate, and then stopped work. We never heard from the city again. But I think they may have cursed the gate. I've already replaced it twice over the last 43 years, and it's sagging again. Another unpermitted replacement may be in the works...

LOL - Yup I can relate. Half our town is a quarter step above ghetto. When I bought my commercial property on the edge of the bad area we had non-stop problems. Vandalism, grafitti, drugs, I lost track how many police calls. Someone threw rocks from our retaining pond through the storefront glass, costing me $1,800 ($2,500 deductible). I had to get out with a laborer and concrete our basin and all the border rocks.

Then I built a wrought iron fence around most of the property, no permit needed if 4' back from the line. Still had problems with dopers going behind my dumpster area in the parking lot. So we built two massive 12 ft long by 6 ft high entrance gates. We hung them on a weekend.

Now, understand, there are at least 1,000 dead cars littering front yards in this craphole, and 20% of the city needs a buldozer. But 10 am Monday morning code enforcement calls - "Ya got a permit for those gates?"

"No, I'm trying to keep your crackheads out, how much is a permit?"

"Twenty bucks."

So I drew up architectural plans, including site plan with pins at all property lines (not that the fence is anywhere near one), went down to city hall, paid my twenty bucks. Got a permit. The building inspector came out a few days later, never got out of his truck. I gave him the permit, he signed off and said, "Nice work on those gates, what would you charge to make some for my house."

12 years later both sets of gates still work great. In fact I'm supposed to be painting them today, not fooling around on here with you guys...

My point, is they go after the deep pockets.