OMG! I’m glad you’re ok. The same thing almost happened to us last night. I was exhausted and fell asleep on the couch at 8:30. I awoke to hear H and all 4 boys exclaiming. It turns out that as H walked into the living room to send me up to bed, he heard a noise, looked and saw the ceiling fan stop, then start rotating backwards while smoke began to pour out. I managed to sleep through all of this, not 5 feet away. H quickly shut the fan off and he and the boys unscrewed it and took it down. It was maybe a minute away from igniting. Although I keep joking about the house burning down so I can finally get rid of all the accumulated STUFF, I don’t really mean it. We had been leaving the fan on during the day for the pets since it’s been so hot; they will have to cope from here on in.
You guys are not making me feel good bout leaving my bedroom ceiling fan on all night!
@thumper1 me too! I have never heard you shouldn’t leave a fan on at night. I don’t run appliances but we do have the fan on (H is always warm)
Can someone explain this to me? Turns out the ceiling fan wiring was 10.
We had an electrician put in a new (but used) ceiling fan today. I asked him about this. He said not to worry, that they don’t catch of fire that easily.
We leave ours on 24/7, all summer long.
So sorry that you’re experiencing this. I want to pass on to you that when this happened to my secretary she said that she was pleasantly surprised that the restoration company could save more things than she would have thought. If you are dealing with pros, they should be able to give you a pretty good idea of what’s salvageable and what’s not. And they really are excellent at getting out the smoke smell. Best of luck to you.
Thank you all for your stories and comments. I was really busy yesterday and didn’t have time to comment. It’s hsrd right now for me to comment on each one, it just know I appreciate it.
The electrician was out yesterday. It wasn’t the fan itself that was bad, or that it was on, (which should alleviate some of your worries) although that’s where the location of the wiring issue was and the fan started it. It was the house wires connecting to the fan, weren’t spliced correctly, plus the fan wiring was not housed in a metal box. Make sure your fan wires are housed in a metal box and just not laying on rafters.
This incorrect spliced wire issue was also located in another area in our room in the attic. Plus, there were 2 like this on DS2’s bedroom, plus no metal box for the ceiling fan wires.
So, I guess if you have an old house like mine, at some point it wouldn’t hurt if you had an electrician out to look at your bedroom wiring in the attic. The wires in Our attic fan was also not housed correctly.
Meeting adjuster today. I do realize they might drop us after this, which really stinks. We’ve been clients for 35 years.
After 35 years of loyalty, they shouldn’t drop you. At least, that’s how I think (I’m loyal too)
We had a claim last summer after a storm came through our area. Our insurance company hired an independent adjuster but others in our neighborhood had adjusters from the insurance company.
We were not dropped by our insurance company and I’ve only heard of one neighbor that was dropped (almost every house in our neighborhood had damage) and she runs a business out of her house. It was her business insurance that was dropped. I know that homeowners insurance can be dropped at any time but we had a claim and they didn’t.
So, when the adjuster writes me a check, do I just take it and not cash it? She is writing up the estimate now.
Holy JP Morgan! So glad the electrician caught the incorrectly spliced wires at the other location.
Our insurance sort of dropped us after 25 years of zero claims. Not in a high risk area and excellent credit… it just happens. Maybe they were concentrating on other markets. Got a new policy for less $$$, and if this co begins to play tricks, I am ready to shop around.
hmmm…maybe ask her? She might have some good information on problem solving for you.
We had a minor water lead that we did not claim but did call and get advice from our insurance company. It was really helpful.
I am so sorry to hear this, but so relieved everyone is safe.
And, you deserve a break. Too much lately!
My brother is a general contractor and he prefers to negotiate with the adjuster himself, rather than the homeowner negotiating. He will not only fight for a better, more complete fix, but he gets a bigger job out of it. I have heard many a story over the years.
Despite that, when we had a loss due to a tree branch pummeling our house, I had no complaints dealing with the adjuster myself. The insurance company and adjuster were terrific.
Any checks we received had to be endorsed by the mortgage company and us. So we couldn’t deposit them right away.
When the storm first happened, we called our agent. The representative from the insurance company called us and told us that we could start to do repairs right away. We had trees on our house, so we were able to contract with them the day after the storm. Some of my neighbors reported other things, including one of my neighbors having to wait 2 weeks before an adjuster could come out. Another claimed that they needed 3 estimates before it getting approved by the insurance company.
Right after the storm and before the adjuster was done with his report, we received an initial check that helped pay the tree people. After the adjusters report was done, we then talked to our representative at the insurance company. It was the final amount that they thought the damage was (there were things that weren’t covered, including only 1/2 of the roof when no roofer would agree to only replace half of a roof and only some of the tree damage) minus 10%. Once the work was done, we received the final 10% that was held back.
Every time the check had to be endorsed by our mortgage company. Which isn’t super easy as they are out of state.
Hope that my explanation helps a little in how our process went.
thanks guys. So they explained this was just the initial amount estimate to get us started. Thankfully we paid our house off last year so we don’t have to deal with the bank.
I think the answer is…it depends.
We had a homeowners claim after a lightening strike. They didn’t even send anyone out. All they wanted was pictures of the tree that got struck, and the damaged items. Our well pump also was toasted. We sent them a list and they sent us a check for the work that needed to be done (well pump) as well as for things that needed to be replaced. We did get an estimate for the well work at their request. No problem.
No mortgage company was involved at all…and yes, we had a mortgage at the time.
So, we are getting a brand new bedroom out of this. Carpet through master suite, hallway and stairs. They are not replacing the other 3 bedrooms, so that’s on our dime. New bed (ours was already new), all new bedding, drapes, paint. Our drapes were expensive and custom made years ago. I’m inclined to get a decorator to help me, don’t you agree? I don’t think there is anything wrong with that as long as it’s reasonable. I have to fill out a claim form listing replacement costs of everything. Our large furniture store in the area has designers for free.
Hope you make yourself a bedroom you LOVE, @conmama! That’s making lemonade out of lemons, for sure!
Many insurance companies will drop you after 3 claims. It doesn’t matter that you’ve been a customer for 20 years. That’s why its advised not to file small claims.
@thumper1
It all depends how much was the damage. Since the fire started in the ceiling it could cause a damage to the whole house ceiling. And it all depends on the city, each city is different.