My Pole Barn Fire and Rebuild

[dneiding]

In October of last year I had a fire which destroyed my 24x40x10 pole barn and all of the contents. I have rebuilt and now have a 24x48x12 with a 10x16 office lean to and 10x16 open lean to (future screened porch).

Here is my journey.

First, the fire:

 

[dneiding]

Now the clean up. I did the clean up myself. The insurance company doesn't give you much money for clean up and it's pretty easy, although dirty, work.





Filled a 20 yd dumpster with contents from the barn. All my tools



Had a totaled Chevy Cruze that I was rebuilding. Was almost done. Just had to put in a new transmission module and it was ready to be inspected and re-titled.







Ordered some road grindings to fill in for my new 10x6 office lean to

 

[dneiding]

Clean up continues.



A fire started this journey and a fire finishes the clean up.



Some of the horizontal girts were left on to keep the posts from twisting too much. The new barn will use a portion of the old posts so as not to have cut up and re-pour concrete.

 

[dneiding]

Started buying tools to replace the lost tools. I wouldn't wish a fire on anyone but it is kinda fun re-buying every single tool I have. Ended up with about $90k in tools.

I had a PODS delivered to store the tools while I wait for the new barn to be built.

 

[dneiding]

Had to do some site work to fill in an area where the new office lean to will be as well as remove a stump.



Asked an operator friend how you dig out a stump with a skid steer (I borrowed one for free from a friend) and he said "you don't you rent an excavator". He was right. Had the stump out in 5 mins.





Filled in with about 20 tons of road grindings compacting about every 6 inches.

 

[dneiding]

Signed the contract for the new barn by the end of October and they said they'd be done by the end of the year. Well, they got pretty backed up and didn't get to it until mid-Feb.

 

[dneiding]

More barn build pictures.











10x16 open lean to. Will be a screened porch this summer.





Office on the right, porch on the left

 

[dneiding]

More build pictures.

Here is a time lapse video of the build:

Pictures of the area that will be my office.

 

[dneiding]

The contractor insulated the walls and installed and insulated the ceiling. I will be doing the rest of the interior work. My old barn was not insulated and did not have a finished ceiling so this is a huge upgrade!





Insulation is 8 foot wide rolls. I was considering doing this myself but glade I didn't.

 

[dneiding]

Lights mounted, still waiting for back ordered garage doors.

 

[dneiding]

Time for concrete prep in the additional 8 foot length and the 10x16 office.





Between being driven on for years and being frozen for weeks, this digging was not fun!

 

[dneiding]

Pour the concrete:

 

[dneiding]

Working on insulating my office and mini-splits. 36K BTU heat pump with three indoor air handlers.

 

[dneiding]

Office drywall:

 

[dneiding]

New air compressor. I have a shed to the south of the barn with a root cellar under it. I put the air compressor in there and run the air lines and electric underground to the barn. You cannot hear anything when the air compressor is running.

 

[dneiding]

I debated between drywall, plywood or steel for the walls. I wanted to be able to get into the walls in the future if needed since there would be water, air and electric in the walls so I ruled out drywall. I didn't really like the look of plywood but it was cheaper than steel. Well, as the price of plywood went up, steel actually was cheaper. I am very happy with the decision. I love the look of the steel walls and ceiling.







Had to move from the side wall to the back wall to get the all important 70" TV mounted.







Laser level to align screws.



Air lines coming out of the walls with an escutcheon plate to make it look clean.

 

[dneiding]

 

[dneiding]

Barn is done enough that I can unload the PODS and start brining in my tools.

 

[dneiding]

Bought a 3D printer too.





Designed a mount for my box levels in OnShape and printed it.

 

[dneiding]

Shelves:

 

[dneiding]

Office is done! Looking forward to working out here and not in the basement anymore.

 

[BobbyK]

Glad your back up and running.
It's nice when your fully insured!

 

[dneiding]

Glad your back up and running.
It's nice when your fully insured!

Thanks!

I hired a Public Adjuster to represent me and he got me more than 3X what the insurance company was originally proposing.

 

[el monte slim]

Office is done! Looking forward to working out here and not in the basement anymore.

Looking great! I can relate to the pleasure in getting your office above ground, as mine was also in a basement for far too long.

I hired a Public Adjuster to represent me and he got me more than 3X what the insurance company was originally proposing.

Excellent!

 

[kberjian]

Sorry if I missed it but what caused the fire? I have a similar building and want to avoid a similar outcome.

 

[dneiding]

Sorry if I missed it but what caused the fire? I have a similar building and want to avoid a similar outcome.

It was officially undetermined. My best guess is ember from the grill. I was grilling out that day right at the front door, done grilling around 3:00, went out at 9:00 and swept up, dumped the dust pan in a trash can in the back and we know for sure the fire started in that same trash can around 10:30.

 

[Jeepster04]

Sure is awful seeing someones stuff burn like that, but it looks like you really were taken care of. Thats a nice looking garage!

 

[captain14]

Great rebuild of the garage. We’ve had several members you have had a fire in the garage and have shared their stories here on GJ. I know 3-4 are still active members and will drop in and provide some thoughts.

So what have you done for fire protection for the property? I am a career firefighter and would not want this to happen to anyone. You don’t know what all you post until you start looking for something and can’t find it anymore.

How long did it take for the adjuster to reach your settlement figure?

Did your insurance company send their own investigators in after the local county or state fire Marshall completed their investigation?

 

[dneiding]

So what have you done for fire protection for the property? I am a career firefighter and would not want this to happen to anyone. You don’t know what all you post until you start looking for something and can’t find it anymore.

Well, for starters, I am much more careful with grilling. I have, and previously had, multiple fire extinguishers but you have to be there for those to be any good.

How long did it take for the adjuster to reach your settlement figure?

My Public Adjuster had the building settlement done within a few days. The insurance company paid out to my limits so there was really nothing to negotiate.

As far as contents, my PA encouraged me to take my time in recording my lost tools. Fortunately, I was pretty organized and had lost of pictures of projects so I was able to zoom in and look on shelves and remind myself what I had. It took me about a month to compile my list and the insurance company accepted my list and my replacement values, no questions asked, within a week of submitting it.

This is why I hired a PA, made the process super easy and fast and got a settlement 3X what the insurance adjuster was hinting at the day after the fire.

Did your insurance company send their own investigators in after the local county or state fire Marshall completed their investigation?

There was no local, county or state investigation. The insurance company sent an investigator and he spent all day there looking for a possible cause. Like I said before, they know it started in a trash can and the only thing I can figure is an ember made it in there when I swept up for the night and smoldered for 90 minutes.

 

[brainypencil]

The progress is really fast and the result is very awesome. Nice looking garage tho!

 

[carlosh]

Turned out nice overall!

Sent from my SM-G988U1 using Tapatalk