That’s the letter I got from my insurance company on Friday. Well, not those exact words, but that’s the gist of it. As of April 21, my house is uninsured, unless I do something about it. They say my roof is damaged. More specifically, they say it is “clawed.” I happened to have come home early, and was able to reach my insurance agent on the phone. She explained that clawed doesn’t mean scratched by some woodland creature, as you might assume, but was roofing industry jargon for some undetermined kind of roof damage. Apparently it isn’t uncommon for policies to be rejected or cancelled. (They also refunded the unused portion of my insurance premiums, so if I don’t get it worked out with them, at least I’ll have some cash to apply to a new policy somewhere else.)
As it turns out, insurance companies send their own inspector to examine the property when a policy is requested. This doesn’t answer the burning question of why, since the insurance inspection was completed well before closing, it took until early April, more than a month after closing and six to eight weeks after the inspection. It also doesn’t answer why my home inspector said the roof has five years left on it, but their inspector says it needs to be replaced. Maybe this will all turn out for the better, but I know for sure that I wouldn’t have gotten this house if I thought it needed a new roof. As it was, the seller owed money at closing, so he definitely couldn’t have paid for it.
There is a slim chance that the insurance company is basing their decision on some photos taken at the inspection (it’s still not clear the extent of this inspection, or who is making the decision to cancel the policy). On those photos, there is no damage visible (to me anyway), but there is quite a bit of debris. So, today I bought a leaf blower (slash vacuum-mulcher), and blew as much of the debris off as possible. I took a bunch of pictures and sent them along to my insurance agent right away.
Then I decided to do some research on what, exactly, a “clawed” roof looks like. Turns out, the Internet is not the best source of information on clawed roofs. The only useful result on all of Google (someone please point me to better sources if they exist) was this manual from the Army Corps of Engineers. From chapter five:
Some asphalt shingles, particularly those manufactured during the approximate period 1950-62, after being on the roof for a number of years exhibit a phenomena which has been termed “clawing” (fig. 26). The clawing phenomena is attributed primarily to a lack of sufficient asphalt coating on the underside of the shingle. Shingle specifications were revised in 1962 to reduce the incidence of the clawing condition. At this time shingle weights were increased; the Type 210 shingle weights were increased; the Type 210 Clawed shingles should not be replaced merely for the sake of appearance. Although the shingles may be severely clawed, in all probability the roof will not leak and replacement is not required until such time as the shingles become deteriorated. However, clawing does shorten the useful life considerably.
It even provided this handy picture of a roof with clawed shingles:
For reference, here’s a picture of my roof shingles:
Now, I’m not expert in clawed shingles, but the two look quite different to me. My roof seems to be completely missing the distinct puckered look of Figure 26, above.
Also, though my house dates to the mid-50s, this is almost certainly not the original roof (according the the home inspector), so it seems unlikely that the shingles were manufactured in the 1950-62 time frame mentioned in the aforementioned quote.
So, now the ball is back in the insurance company’s court, and I have my fingers crossed that it works out. I really can’t afford a new roof right now, and I’ll never recoup that cost. But, if I have to, I’ll find a way to pay for it, because it’s better than ending up out on the street.
Filed under: complications, home-buying, insurance, roof, stress | 1 Comment
This is my first full weekend in the new house. It’s also the first time my daughters have seen the house. I put them to bed a few minutes ago, and they are sleeping soundly in their room. Let’s hope it stays that way—you never know with three year olds. Although the painting I did (with lots of help from my family) helped some, it still just feels like a house, and not like “home.” I’ve been unpacking since last Sunday, and I still seem to have an infinite number of boxes left to unpack. My priority was getting the girls’ room and the kitchen set, with the living room being a close second. I’m still finding my way around the kitchen, but most of the kitchen-related boxes are fully unpacked and I had the girls’ room all set up rather early on in the process. The living room isn’t in such good condition, with boxes and bins stacked everywhere, but it’s nothing compared to my room. I’m drowning in boxes. When it comes to moving, the actually act of physically transporting your belongings is dead simple compared to actually doing something with all your stuff when you get to the new house.
This house has oil heat, and despite some initial difficulties connecting with the heating oil provider, I am now signed up for the “budget plan.” Instead of paying for however much oil is added to the tank each time, they estimate your usage and divide the cost up into monthly payments. Bottom line: about a hundred bucks a month, year round, to heat the house just during cold months. One of the quirks of my HVAC system is that the air intake vent creates a great deal of suction. More than I’ve ever seen out of an air return. This has the strange side effect of slightly collapsing the sides of the air duct, which creates quite a racket. Hopefully I’ll find a solution for that, because it tends to wake me up at night, and I imagine it will do the same for the girls at least some of the time.
Filed under: move-in, oilheat, unpacking | 2 Comments
All Moved In
Well, I’m all moved into the new house. And I lasted a grand total of… drumroll… about thirty minutes with no TV before I ran out and got a set of rabbit ears. Fortunately I am close enough to town that I get all the available channels easily with the old-school antenna. That means no foil or wire coat hangers in my future. Once I’m sure I like where the TV is, and once I’m sure I can foot the bill, I’ll get real TV. Probably Dish Network. For now, there is just me. And my eight channels. And a lot of boxes.
Filed under: move-in, TV, unpacking | 5 Comments
This past weekend I ordered a fridge online from a big-box home improvement store. I was very limited in what models of fridges I could even consider, as the fridge space in my kitchen is rather small. Early on I determined that I needed to look in the 18 cubic foot size range, as that was the sweet spot between being able to fit in the space and maximizing size and affordability. I intended to walk into a store and purchase the fridge in person, but looking online, I saw an online-only sale of the exact model fridge I had picked out. Who can turn down $40 off?
Ordering a fridge online is an interesting process (at least from this particular retailer). You place your order, but your card isn’t charged immediately. First you have to wait two days for a phone call to schedule the delivery. I should mention that it is only then that they calculate the sales tax. At any rate, my call never came, so I called them, and scheduled the delivery for Mar. 1. The day after my closing, and a day I plan to be at the house pretty much all day up to my neck in paint.
Filed under: appliances, move-in | Leave a Comment
Painting Isn’t Cheap
As I mentioned before, the main room of the house is two shades of pink. Not only that, but the walls are pretty dirty (not excessively, but definitely in need of a refresh). The master bedroom (if it can be called that) is light blue. I was going to wait until closing to buy paint, but the neighborhood mega-home-improvement store is having a President’s Day paint sale. So, $240 or so dollars later (four cans of tinted primer, four cans of paint, sand paper, rollers…all the usual stuff), I have everything I need except the keys to the house.
I’ve thought a lot about what color(s) to paint, and on what walls. I would really like to do something interesting, but I feel like I need to live in the house a little while before I do anything too bold. I want to see how my stuff sits in the space and see how things look at different times of day. For now, I just wanted to neutralize the two most offensive rooms. (The other rooms are all an orangish yellow, and there is some wallpaper in the kitchen, but those walls are cleaner and less in need of immediate care.)
Standing at the wall of paint chips at the home store is an intimidating way to shop. The only way to come to a decision is to have already decided what you want ahead of time. What I wanted was a darker and less-yellow version of the taupe color my last living room was painted. I’m hoping it will make the white trim and crown moulding really pop. I’m painting the same color above and below the chair moulding, whereas now the lighter pink is above and the darker below.
Filed under: improvements, painting | Leave a Comment
Closing Looms
My closing is in a week and a half. After eight or so months of searching, it all seems to be moving rather fast. Everything seems to be in order and on track on my end. Utilities have been contacted, a DIY rental truck has been reserved, change of address has been submitted to the USPS, and my mortgage broker is slaving away on whatever it is that those people do. I even bought a refrigerator online this weekend. It seems like this is really happening. Things will be tight financially for the foreseeable future, but at least I’ll be on my own again and I won’t have a 50-mile commute to work. The first to do on my plate, even before moving in, is to paint. The house is predominantly shades of pink inside, and that has got to change. More on the paint at a later date.
Filed under: closing | Leave a Comment
Harry Homeowner 