--Foreward-- What is/should be the main concern I should have in protecting the place I live? (renting or owning) Differences of course vary by region/population. But in a national average, BY FAR MARGINS.... not fire (even for smokers,) not hurricane, or tornado not vandalism or theft not bug infestation not lightning, earth quake, or falling trees. Water. Nothing else accounts for a bigger bulk of work that I do. Water is the enemy. Controlling, directing, and preventing unwanted water flow should be the foremost thought of someone looking to protect their building or their stuff. Not only does it cause damage surprisingly rapidly, it causes irreparable damage, and (excepting fire) is the only damage that can carry contamination with it everywhere it goes. And it doesn't matter the source. Plumbing failures, appliance failures, personal negligence, flood (classified as swelling groundwater), rain in from leaks, or municipal drains.
Thanks. IIRC, my agent at Statefarm informed that there was little I could do to lower my insurance premium on my property.
Be Prepared, Home Edition Most people have a shakey grip on what to do when something happens to their house, or have no plan at all. Most people do not know what their insurance coverage amounts to, or worse, what is exempt from given coverage. As first time home owners, the first things you should always prepare for in case of problems is the things that are NOT covered by your insurance. Identify what coverage you DON'T have and direct your preventative resources there first. Lets go over the things not covered by standard policies: Things your typical homeowners insurances do not cover: -1-...any plumbing or water delivery lines. It doesn't matter how big or small the pipe, or if its drain or supply lines. Or even if its laid in a concrete slab. Plumbing is NOT covered by your standard policy. In SOME states it is possible to buy a rider to attach to your policy that will cover SOME instances of plumbing, but be aware its is my experience for whatever reason that 9 out of 10 people DO NOT HAVE THIS COVERAGE BY DEFAULT. So if your toilet tank cracks and leaks, insurance will not replace the toilet. If your faucet handle comes off, insurance will not cover a new sink faucet. If you have a sprinkler system in your house leaking, insurance will not replace the corroded pipe. Therefore, make sure you, or pay someone to, maintain your household plumbing lines and appliances. The only exception to this is if the plumbing is damaged as a secondary factor to another covered loss. (example, wind blew down a shed you had a laundry sink in, and an outdoor spigot built into. If the wind is covered, the plumbing broken because of the wind will be covered in most cases.) side note: in many cases, the water damage from a plumbing issue can be covered under your regular policy, but the math comes out to ALWAYS being more costly than having just maintained your plumbing. ----- -2-...anything classified as a flood by 'rising groundwater,' including storm surge from an ocean, is not covered, nor associated damage like contents. Some of us may have learned this the hard way after those 100 year floods of Cherokee County. You may think there's nothing you can do to prevent this, but actually there are some things depending on your terrain to help resist certain flood conditions. A civil or environmental engineer, or a very good general contractor can help you evaluate things like grading (using dirt to shape your lawn), installing sump pumps, or landscaping features like railroad ties. There is something called National Flood Insurance you may purchase in addition to your homeowners insurance. Inquire your agent. ----- -3-...appliance failure, or wear and tear such as roofing. If it just wore out, its not generally covered on insurance. Expect most appliances to require regular annual inspections after their 5th year in service, twice a year if they've ever had to be repaired. If you don't want that expense, expect to simply replace them after 5 years. A correctly installed roof, liner, shingle/tile SHOULDN'T fail for well beyond the warranty life of the shingles. If it wears out due to improper installation down the road, your claim for its replacement will fall against the previous installer. Expect a fight, or instead have the roof inspected once every 2 years, or after any hailstorm or windstorm over 50mph sustained winds in the area. Wear loss may be covered by something different, a homeowner's warranty. Most of those are termed in multiples of 5 years, so make sure you check if you closed on the house with one.
it depends on the terms of your warranty. If your home is older, most home warranties start excluding various things after 15 years. Or to get your warranty cheaper, you can opt out in some cases for certain coverages.
you know, its funny you post this. being in the home industry in some form or another essentially since the day i was born i've been exposed to all the dangers and changes in the housing market and the ins and outs of building/codes/etc. and i couldn't agree more. i've worked for lowes for around 5yrs, at 4 different stores, in drastically different markets. I'm in Hinesville, GA now (home to Ft. Stewart for those of you who dont know), and i dont remember ever getting as many complaints as i am now about customers fixing water damage in their homes. since Hinesville is inland, one can only assume the damage has come from plumbing issues. my thoughts are the older homes with the gray pipe which has been outlawed in the last ~5yrs and replaced with PEX pipe. Being that there are a lot of manufactured and mobile homes around the area (low income, and temporary soldier housing), it doesn't surprise me really. but i can't ever remember getting told by a customer at any other lowes that they were replacing their floors due to water damage, whereas at this store its literally AT LEAST one a day. i guess what im getting at here is, know your home (especially if you're buying one) and especially check for gray pipe. if you know or think it might have been used, dont even bother TRUST ME. you WILL be repairing water damage at some point in the very NEAR future.
NO plumbing is %100 worry free. Thermal expansion, corrosion, defect, physical movement in lines, wear from friction, joints, contaminants in the water itself, changes in street pressure to the house, whole house regulator wear.... Any or all of these things effect iron, copper, lead, or plastic; drain or supply. Its a good idea to inspect your plumbing yourself once every 2 seasons down here, things are revealed usually as temps change. Professionally at least once every 2 years for any house without a warranty or older than 5 years.
okay... in the last week i've just had such a string of people... -_- I guess I may have to get more basic. Do you know who your homeowners insurance or renters insurance company is? If one doesn't know who their carrier is, makes it kinda hard to navigate troubled waters.
I'll assume you meant "who" and not "how". And yes, Statefarm here. Can you explain what specifically happens if my neighbors pine tree smacks the roof on my house?
oops. (fixes) okay 2 things generally are what can happen. If a storm blows it over, its an act of God type damage. They aren't liable, no matter if it is their tree. Same thing if a tree on your ground hits your neighbor. UNLESS. The tree was dead. That does make you liable. Dead trees represent liability as far as most insurance is concerned, and its the homeowner's responsibility to remove it. This is not as common a claim situation. Water from your neighbor is about the same, where one of you is higher than the other, and the high-grounder has a water leak that affects you.
What about Kudzu or Ivy covered trees? I'm not sure if those fall into some odd scenario where they're not dead but they might as well be.
Well I'd like to know if that's something that is could be considered "negligent". My neighbors property has a few pines that are covered damn near to the top :| However, I have no pines on my property, only oaks and maples. A handful of them have ivy going up about 10-20 feet.
so there was a dead tree that was on someone else's property behind my house. It fell down, half is on my side of the fence, half on theirs. who is responsible for cleanup/possible light repairs to the fence (home owners association fence)
Why don't you just come out and ask who's going to buy you that new shiny chainsaw you've always wanted
Figured I'd dust this off, since I'd forgotten it. First you have to determine liability, and HOAs can modify terms of liability for its members. Unfortunately, there is no hard-fast answer to this scenario as it will depend entirely upon that before moving to the next decision level. I'm still unable to get a consistent answer to this, but more answers are coming back with "the tree was compromised in such a way that reasonable maintenance could have prevented the issue." This will depend on local statutes.
I know this is old but since it was bumped funny you mentioned cast iron pipe. Reciprocating saw and sawzall with a diamond blade made specifically for cast iron. That blade has no teeth and I was skeptical of it but man it cut that cast iron like it was butter. My home was built in 1969 and the septic was severely neglected. Not mention it was in the way for the addition I want to add to the house. So I took the money I made off the M3 and moved the septic. Did all the plumbing myself....which meant I had to remove ALL the cast iron piping under the house. Boy was that a messy job but now I have an updated plumbing system that works better than ever. Quite proud of that if you ask me.