It’s a tragedy to lose your home to fire. Fire can damage the structure and electric equipment. The question is, what you should do after your home is damaged by fire?
Depending on the extent of the damage, your first endeavor should be to repair the house. Make the home livable again. In this article, we’ll discuss your options if your house has been damaged by fire.
What to Do When My Home Has been Damaged by Fire?
Whatever happens, do not enter the house unless the property is declared safe by an expert. Your fire-department will be busy cooling down the fire. However, fire damages more than wood. The structure of the house might be in a vulnerable condition. Melted electric wires can cause a short-circuit.
Call Your Insurance Company
Contact your insurance agent to see what they can do to help you. Your home is not livable. You’ll need to arrange a temporary residence. Keep all the receipts with you. Later on, you can present these receipts to your insurance company for payment.
Evaluate the Extent of the Damage
What is the condition of the property?
You can’t tell just by looking at the place. Water is used to control the fire. Slowly this water will crawl into hidden spaces. A moisturized environment is suitable for mold growth. The mold can start growing within 24 hours after it finds an appropriate setting. The air inside a fire-damaged home is not safe for breathing. Your local company can perform ozone spray to improve air quality. Once the necessary work is done, you’ll need to call a property inspector and a structural engineer. You want to know what has been damaged, and how much will it cost to restore the home. Now there are two situations:
- The structure of the house is safe. Surface repairs are required and it will cost a few thousand dollars.
- The fire has damaged the structure of the house as well as the construction. Rehabbing that home will mean re-constructing the entire property.
The latter option requires you to build the house from scratch. It might mean demolishing the entire structure. You can choose to do that, however, re-building the home can cost you more than buying a new house. Furthermore, while the contractors are doing their job, you’ll have to wait for months before you can enter the property. Most people cannot afford the hassle of building their own houses. The insurance company has a say in the game.
What is the insurance value? If you have an extended replacement insurance plan, the firm will pay for the total cost of rebuilding the property. If you don’t have that plan, the company will pay the agreed-upon price, and you’ll have to add the rest.
Should I Sell My Fire-Damaged House?
The rule of the thumb is to restore the property if the repairs cost under a few thousand dollars. Anything more than that becomes too much risk. Once you start tearing the walls, you might recognize hidden problems that will need to be fixed before you can continue.
Furthermore, witnessing this incident is not a pleasant experience for many people. It would be best to sell your home as-is. The cost of the land will be the price of your house. You can use the proceeds from the insurance plan to pay for your new house. It’s often more comfortable for the family to settle into a new home, starting a new life.
Life happens. If your house is damaged by fire, and you need a helping hand, please contact us. We’ll see the condition of your home, and we’ll let you know about your options. We are a local company and we can help you make the right decision.
Contact us now to discuss your options.