Welp, I'm out of business...

Damn John... what a PIA. I have Hurricane season just around the corner and since I live 100 yards from the beach, believe me I can feel with you. While I was lucky when Fay pounded last fall, many friends had quite some water in their houses and vehicles. 2004 and 2005 were a completely different story for myself
Hang in there!!

I need to clear out a lot of old supplies... carboys, bottles, 60 qt pot, an old grain mill... I don't have time to ship it anywhere but if anyone is in the area (around Valdosta) and wants any of it, holla...

Sorry to hear. Let us know if you need anything. We can fedex you anything you need. Just let us know.

B

Sorry to hear about this....I wish you well.
Did the beer make it out alive??

JB,
Sorry about your misfortune.
Can I send you a couple of home brews?
P.M. me if interested.

We are 95% done with the demolition. Here are a few photos taken yesterday...

Gabe, let us know if there is something that we can do.

I have to say john, you do not F around! I have no idea how I would handle a situation like this.

Gabe? well heck I thought your name was John

Gabe, John, hey you... whatever you want to call me

Nope- no f'in around going on here. I've come into work for the day but I can't get my mind off of it. There is still so much to get done before we start rebuilding.

Thanks for the offers of help guys. Right now I'm pretty much covered... We are high and dry living in my new camper- that I only bought like four weeks ago. Seriously, how crazy is the timing on that? It instantly felt like home...

yeah congrats on the camper timing. Will you be completey Demo'ing or just gutting?

Good thing you were able to get the camper to high ground when you did! Guess all that damage to the yard is kinda incidental at this point.

So, once things dry out, can you rebuild on the old studs? Does like wiring and all that have to be completely re-done?

Its my choice but this everyone agrees that this was such a fluke that we'll never see it happen again. We went between 24" and 30" above the 500 year flood level... they don't even have statistics for that!

My plan is to just rebuild at the same elevation etc. I have already had a good friend who is a very modern architect come over and give me his ideas on redesigning everything...

Now, if it happens again- that b!tch is coming down and I'll either move or rebuild again about six feet higher.

John Beere said:

Its my choice but this everyone agrees that this was such a fluke that we'll never see it happen again. We went between 24" and 30" above the 500 year flood level... they don't even have statistics for that!

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Wow, You sure Jesus didn't wonder over?

Good luck on rebuilding. Will the Cold Room be an integrated room now?

Also, we found a lot of rot in the subfloor and joists that I had no idea about... in that sense, this has turned into a "blessing". The wiring in the house needed to be redone anyway, so it is all coming out as well.

We will start tomorrow ripping out the subfloor, rotten joists, and the old AC ducts that were run under the house. There won't be much of anything left of the old house except the brick, window placement, and the roof line when we are done...

Here you go, John. Maybe this will give you ideas for the rebuild.

Here are some photos of the walk-in cooler coming out. I just can't describe how strong that grain smelled after a week of getting wet...

We lost everything in MS during hurricane Katrina. No words can describe it or help how you feel.

My only advice, where a mask. Black mold will kick your butt.

John Beere said:

Its my choice but this everyone agrees that this was such a fluke that we'll never see it happen again. We went between 24" and 30" above the 500 year flood level... they don't even have statistics for that!

My plan is to just rebuild at the same elevation etc. I have already had a good friend who is a very modern architect come over and give me his ideas on redesigning everything...

Now, if it happens again- that b!tch is coming down and I'll either move or rebuild again about six feet higher.

Click to expand...

I'm on a 500 year plain and we flooded 3 times in the last 2 years.

One thing to keep in mind is that with the weather getting as weird as it has been, that 500 year level maybe become more common.

Denny's Evil Concoctions said:

One thing to keep in mind is that with the weather getting as weird as it has been, that 500 year level maybe become more common.

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And what makes an even bigger difference in flood levels, development. Pavement, roofs and even lawns drain much faster than forest and meadows causing flood waters to rise faster and higher. This is most noticed on small rivers in suburban areas.

Good luck with your rebuild. Looks like you have a much better handle on the situation than most would have. Great job getting started right away. Because of how quick you were able to get back in mold should not be an issue.

Craig

Dude, I saw the pictures of your walk-in and wanted to cry. Good luck on the rebuild. Keep us up to date on how it's going.

I am really glad that you have insurance, it will be quite some time and cost to suck all the mud and moisture out of your house. Best of luck and I hope you were able to save everything.

Bummer! But glad to hear you have flood insurance.

I got this photo today from the newspaper's photographer. He was in a boat floating in my backyard. This wasn't the high water mark, but close- it rose another 6" or so later that day...

Do you get a new roof with the insurance as well?

How's the rebuild coming along?

John Beere said:

I got this photo today from the newspaper's photographer. He was in a boat floating in my backyard. This wasn't the high water mark, but close- it rose another 6" or so later that day...

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Brings new meaing to "Deep Six" brewing!

Denny's Evil Concoctions said:

Brings new meaing to "Deep Six" brewing!

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Ouch. I mean I "thought it", but to say it out loud

I can't say for sure, but this looks like a complete disaster. Was there a ex nearby ?

Nah- I've been talking about it since this happened... Deep Six just became the most appropriate name ever.

Looks like the government is finally coming through...
FEMA: Federal Aid Programs For Georgia Disaster Recovery

This is going to help out a lot as I feel as if I'm really being low-balled by my insurance adjuster... I got the total from them last night- they want to settle for only $85k in damages.

is this a gut and refit or a complete teardown?

John Beere said:

This is going to help out a lot as I feel as if I'm really being low-balled by my insurance adjuster... I got the total from them last night- they want to settle for only $85k in damages.

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That sucks. I guess they call them adjusters for a reason... they try to adjust your rectum. I suggest trying to adjust theirs instead.

In a situation like this I would think it would be worth $$ to hire an attorney to deal with the insurance company. They seem to expect most people to take less than they should just to get it over with. For those guys every $ in claims is a $ in profit they can't report, so they have no financial interest in making you happy.

The house has been gutted to the ceiling and will be rebuilt as is. Now if it ever happens again...

I am waiting on my builder to come back and tell me his price to rebuild it exactly as is. Then I'll take that back to the Insurance company.

Once I get this all settled, I am completely redoing the floorplan- have already started working with an architect on opening up the kitchen and living areas and adding a 4th bedroom while we are at it...

I hadn't been keeping up on this thread. Sorry about the loss of you home. Take care and let us know how things on the rebuild are coming along.

John Beere said:

Once I get this all settled, I am completely redoing the floorplan- have already started working with an architect on opening up the kitchen and living areas and adding a 4th bedroom while we are at it...

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Now you can plumb beer and glycol lines through out the house!

Any chance of adding a TALL basement?

I'm really sorry for your loss. I just moved to Valdosta a few months ago. If you need a hand with anything let me know I would be more than happy to help.

Where abouts in Valdosta are you located? I am currently in Remerton but will be moving to a new apartment shortly.

Once again sorry for your loss and I hope you get what you need from the insurance company. Best of luck in the rebuild and look at it as an opportunity to fix all the things you did not like about the house. A small consolation for all the hassle and loss.

Getting flooded out is a tough way to remodel, but my business partner did her's after a large tree clipped the house.

John Beere said:

Nah- I've been talking about it since this happened... Deep Six just became the most appropriate name ever.

Looks like the government is finally coming through...
FEMA: Federal Aid Programs For Georgia Disaster Recovery

This is going to help out a lot as I feel as if I'm really being low-balled by my insurance adjuster... I got the total from them last night- they want to settle for only $85k in damages.

Click to expand...

John, I unfortunately have some experience in this area. We lost a home to a burst pipe where the water ran for three weeks. The house ended up being a complete knock down and rebuild.

We hired someone from the archetect firm that we used for the rebuild to negotiate with the insurance adjuster on our behalf as he had substantial experience with water damange and rebuild costs as well as insurance negotiation. The insurance adjuster will always try to get out of it as cheaply as possible but there is definitely room for negotiation, especially if you can find an archetect or builder that has experience in this area. They'll have more clout with the adjuster than you will, generally. IMHO, it may be worth it to pay someone to do this work on your behalf (unless you have substantial construction experience and have a very good understanding of costs for the rebuild including very specific details on labor and material costs). We were able to get the insurance adjuster to come up about 25% higher than his initial figure. Unfortunately, the insurance adjuster never did agree that the home was a knock down. We chose to do this as the house really needed a lot of updates anyway prior to the burst pipe.

Best of luck to you in the rebuild. I know how difficult this. I really admire your positive attitude about it.

Welp- 40+ days in and we've still not started rebuilding... I think I finally have my financing straight and should at least get the builder started later this week. Ugh...

I still don't know what I'm going to do for a brewery. I'm thinking about just going ahead and building a brewshed out back...

How about a shed on a pontoon boat?