Minneapolis Tornado

[BigguyZ]

Never been in the middle of a real tornado. Could have missed that experience.

Does anyone know- if a roof is torn from a house, can they usually repair it, or do they demo the whole thing? For the next few weeks/ months/ who knows, my brother is my new roommate, as his house no longer has a roof.

[dbhost]

I don't know what the insurance adjuster will do. Chances are good that the whole house will get totalled out and pushed over with a bulldozer.

Hope everyone is okay... I have friends in Joplin that yesterdays news scared the snot out of me about. I heard from them late last night. They are working themselves to death on the search and rescue efforts already...

If I could afford to I would take leave from work and head up there to lend a hand...

[pelligrini]

Glad you guys came out safe.

Like DB said, it'll depend on the adjuster. Anything can be repaired for a price though. There's a lot more to repair and consider than just roof joists. There's all the HVAC, wiring, maybe plumbing, etc.

[BobSch]

We lucked out. Saturday's tornadoes went west of us and Sunday's east. We're maybe three miles from North Minneapolis where the worst hit on Sunday.

Hope your brother gets things sorted quickly.

[tommyt654]

Glad to hear everyone got out safely, This is gonna be a rough yr for everyone since ya'll know as well as I do we will all pay through the nose for these storms thanks to the way insurance companies manipulate the market. Heres a few pics off I-75 2 miles up from where we live in Cartersville, Ga, both sides of the road for about 1/3 of a mile. We got lucky but others farther north and east of us didn't

[Pappy]

As was said, anything can be repaired. The decision will have to be based on how much other structural damage there is. If the walls are all sound, the joists and rafters can be rebuilt on them but you still have to deal with the interior.

[Bruce Cohen]

Sorry I first getting around to this.
Hope all is OK, this stuff is really frightening, all we seem to get are these really nasty rain storms here in NY.
I couldn't even imagine what the real stuff is like.
Everyone, please stay safe.
Bruce

[Kristofor]

I'm not sure if the story is different with the older houses in Minneapolis (are there significant extra expenses having to retrofit up to current code due to the scale of work required or less work based on older construction techniques?) but in areas with newer construction I've seen them put new roofs (and some second stories/walls) all throughout a neighborhood rather than doing tear-downs...

[BigguyZ]

Hopefuly the adjuster will be out there today. We're kind of in limbo until we know what the adjuster says. From talking to contractors, it seems like a lot of it depends on how experienced the adjuster is with plaster and older homes. For right now, I think the house looks structurally fine as far as the walls. I think the real damage will be from the water that came in. The plaster and lath is water logged, as well as the blown-in insulation. The floors are totally damaged, as is a lot of the original oak trim. The roof is obvious. Water seemed to be fine, and it's radiant heat, so as long as none of the radiators cracked that should be fine as well. The electrical is all messed up, for sure.

Frankly, to me, it seems the best thing would be to get a roof on the house, then gut the sucker to the studs. That's the best way to get the water logged materials out. I don't know if floors can be saved once their that warped, and it may be best to open things up to see what other damage their could be.

But again, we'll see soon, hopefully.

[sailor55330]

I'm west of the TC's and we were forutunate nothing came this way other than rain. I have seen tornado damage and it's devastating. There's just no warning. From what I remember as a kid growing up, it was about 50/50 on rebuild vs. destroyed. I think given the amount of water and the open roof, repairing might not be cost beneficial. I wish you the best of luck.

I've been through hurricanes, TS, and Tornados. Give me hurricanes anyday. At least that way you have some advance notice.

[Richard in Smithville]

I'll take our winters over your tornado's any time. I really feel for anyone who has to experience such a destructive force. Keep the faith my friends.

[billwmeyer]

BigguyZ,
I hope the adjuster goes your way.

My daughter lives on 15th street in Joplin. They were with us when the twister hit, but we didn't know about their house. Luckily, it barely missed them, but their yard is full of debris. There are trees down 1 block away, and houses with siding and window damage 2 blocks away. The smashed high school you see on the news is on 20th street 5 blocks away. My Grandson was a Junior there until the twister, he is now a Senior as the school year has been declared over. There is no high school there now for his senior year that starts in 3 months.

My niece was near the smashed hospital in a building. She was one of the ones trying to keep the doors shut from the twister's force. She had to get some stitches in her leg and has an open puncture wound because they wanted it to drain on it's own. She is fine.

My daughter has been staying with us until this evening. They were waiting for power to be restored, and it was today, but when they got home late tonight it was out. They stayed here rather late, waiting for our current round of severe weather to pass.

All in all, we were very lucky. I have been praying for those who weren't. I want to help out, but my old body would just get in the way.

Bill

[BigguyZ]

It definitely could have been worse, for sure. Met with the adjuster today, and it looks like it's not going to be a total demo.

They'll put up the roof, and then take the second floor down to the studs. Then, some of the first floor has moisture in the walls, and that will need to be taken down to the studs as well.

It's kinda insane how much money is involved in these issues. Not only are you talking money for the contractor and the individual crews/ trades, but cleanup as well. 5% of the house insured value is OK'd for debris cleanup, so that's $9000 alone for that. Plus, there's a LOT for personal property, and the company they brought in for the water damaged said that it'll be about $20-30,000 for packaging, cleanup, and storage of my brother's personal items (covered, but holy cow that's nuts).

[BobSch]

Sound like your brother will come out okay. A lot of people in that area rent and don't have renter's insurance. They've lost everything. On top of that, some landlords don't have enough insurance to cover rebuilding.