Builder Error Caused Fire

9 years ago

My wife and I moved into our brand new home this past Friday. The builder seemingly did a great job, however due to extremely cold temperatures in OH (-22 air temp. today) and initial construction error, one of our pipes froze but did not burst. The foreman came out this afternoon and cut away a section of the interior garage wall to thaw the pipes and re-insulate properly. During the thawing process he accidentally ignited insulation, which spread through one wall of the garage and into the kitchen ceiling. The fire damage is bad enough, however the worst part is that the smoke got into our furnace and spread throughout our entire house (3600 sq. ft.) Granted I am about 6 hours into this process, but so far the builder has said he will do whatever is necessary to make our home better than new, and I believe him. That being said, what should I expect him to do to properly rectify the situation? Neither my wife or I are litigious people, however if he does not follow through, what recourse could I potentially take? The cleanup company he hired estimated we'll be displaced for 3-4 weeks. Should I expect, or am I entitled to, anything above and beyond full restitution? Any insights or opinions into our situation would be greatly appreciated.

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User

9 years ago

Your homeowners insurance should be involved NOW. Not just the builder's. You want more people on your side for oversight than ones that are responsible to him and not you.

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Comments (12)

kirkhall
9 years ago
What insulation do you have that burns?

And, what about fire stops? Did your builder put them in?

(Good luck. This must be a huge disappointment/shock for you and your family).
drewou
Original Author
9 years ago
The foreman said that the paper backing on the insulation ignited.

That is a good question, and one that I will ask tomorrow.

Shock is a good way to put it. It would be bad enough if it were just my wife and I, but we also have a 4 year old son and a 9 month old daughter. We were all so excited to get out of the apartment we rented for the last 7 months during the build, and now it looks like we're headed to an Extended Stay for the next 3-4 weeks.
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Sorry but every single one of us creating a kitchen redo tends to participate in the design process. We don't say to the designer, "surprise me". That has absolutely nothing to do with what I wrote. Mostly everyone is responsible for their own negligence, that is day one of torts. This idea that you pay a contractor, so he is the person ultimately responsible is bogus. What theory of law would make a contractor ultimately responsible for a subcontractor's negligence? There isn't one. However, what typically happens in these situations is that the general contractor contracts directly with the subs. Mistakes then go through the G.C. as you have standing with the G.C. and he has standing with the subs (although realistically you could argue around standing). Essentially the subs don't work for you, they work for the G.C., thus you go through the G.C. to get to the sub. Having said that, there are times when the G.C. has sufficiently passed his duty on to someone else. One of those times would be when you met with a design professional directly. The law isn't stupid, there is not going to be an expectation that a General Contractor be better at kitchen design than a kitchen designer. So knowing that the OP met with the designer, and that a reasonable person would believe that kitchen designers know more about kitchen design than G.C.'s do, what is the GC's duty? Because without a duty, he has no liability. Is it his duty to faithfully execute the design? Is it duty to catch and correct measurement errors? Is it his duty to redesign the kitchen to be more functional? The answer to those questions are yes, maybe, and no. ----- Let me clue all the legal hobbyists here into the real world. There are no answers before a case is adjudicated. There is simply the plaintiff argues... and the defense argues... Sometimes there are strong arguments, and sometimes there are weak arguments, but they don't pick the winners and losers at the start. Here are the elements of negligence... the existence of a legal duty that the defendant owed to the plaintiff defendant's breach of that duty plaintiff's sufferance of an injury proof that defendant's breach caused the injury Were I the builder I would argue that my duty was simply to execute the design arrived at by the client and the designer, checking only reasonableness of the cabinet design. I might win, I might lose, but it is a much better case than the designer has. The designer's only defense is that knowing an oven will interfere with a drawer is not something most designers would be able to foresee. Which wouldn't fly if you bought it a first class airline seat. Since the homeowner participated with the designer, you can go directly to the designer for recompense. ETA: I agree with cpartist that for a homeowner to "participate" in the design process does NOT make them responsible for errors in construction such as posted by OP. I agree with that too, but that is not what I said, or even close to it. I am just arguing against the idea that the G.C. is always responsible for all errors just because he paid. That in no way means that the homeowner is responsible.
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If they are "suddenly responsive" - I'd get some sort of structural inspector and talk to your neighbors. I'd hate to have this go bad later and the builder comes back with "hey - we even went back WELL AFTER the 1 year warranty period to dowry and this was not mentioned". It seems fishy that they suddenly give a darn about customer satisfaction. Invest in a report by a professional. If your neighbors are seeing the same - go in together on a group buy. Focus on homes started the same time as yours - as my experience has been that cheater and quality issues seem to degrade over time - i.e. superintendent starts out doing everything right and little by little...... with less and less supervision...... And you might want to find your permit and see if you and see all the inspection notes your county's website - see if your house failed anything like footings, etc.
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rwiegand
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Find a public insurance adjuster who will work for you and help manage the interactions with the insurance companies involved. The companies have many highly paid professionals whose job it is to give you as little as possible, having an expert on your side of the table is invaluable.
DLM2000-GW
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
What was he using to thaw the pipe? Heat gun? Propane torch? Sounds like whatever he was using, he set it up and walked away because if he was there, eyes on it, he would have seen the insulation 'catch', backed off the flame, and pulled out the glowing insulation. According to my husband who is in construction, even the paper won't burn because it's been treated - insulation products will smolder but don't readily ignite. Have YOU looked at this? Did the framing burn?

The builder may have every intention of making this right but you still need representation and oversight from your insurance company and it doesn't sound as if you've notified them - have you?
Vith
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Agree, get your insurance involved, they will have someone inspect it and get in contact with the builders insurance to ensure things get taken care of. The fire damage is one thing, but most damage comes from the smoke, so this will need more than just a repair where it burned.

Also, they apparently need to insulate the area better if your pipes are freezing.
ILoveRed
9 years ago
I am so sorry this has happened. My heart just sank when I read your post. We went through a similar situation. A fire that almost totaled our home. We finally sold it as is and built the home we are in now. Our fire was caused by contractors (tile setters) that used a flammable glue in our basement. The fumes spread throughout the house before the fire ignited and the smoke damage throughout the home was horrendous. The basement was destroyed. My sons were babies and the three of us narrowly escaped. I truly believe I have mild PTSD from the whole experience and the aftermath...which was a three year fight with three different insurance companies. Ours, and the two different companies that represented the two tile setters.

Let me start by saying this...it doesn't matter how "nice" your contractor is or how well-intentioned he is. This is beyond his control. His insurance company is NOT your friend. We let our insurance company deal with things with the aim to surrogate (work things out with the tile layers insurance companies), and our own company tried to screw us. We were naive for about a year then we got good advice from someone who had been through something similar.

We hired a Public Adjuster and a good attorney. Until then we were at the mercy of the insurance company. If they had their way, we would have ended up with a sick house that we couldn't live in and a house that was unsalable.

Do not be naive...your contractor has NO control here. Hire a Public Adjuster immediately. He/She will tell you your rights and save you more than you will ever pay them...and make sure your house is repaired properly.

Be aware, no matter what you are told...that smoke smell is impossible to remove. As soon as humidity hits it, the smell returns. No amount of perfume or "ozone" can cover it up.

Good luck.
User
9 years ago
I'm just going to second/third/whatever the comment that insurance companies are not your friend in this case. They are more like a necessary evil, in my book. They'll generally do the cheapest that they can get away with. I'd hire a public adjuster to represent you and I'd probably talk to an attorney. I'm not a big fan of suing people either and I'm not saying you have to file any suit - but you need people who do this for a living to be on your side.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. What a sad story.
Vith
9 years ago
I learned something today reading ILoveRed's story. The Public Adjuster sounds like the best idea. I would like to know who your insurer is Red? That way I wont use them. I would have thought that your insurer would be happy to pass the buck to a different insurer instead of trying to screw you.
DLM2000-GW
9 years ago
Truly a cautionary tale from ILoveRed and we can all learn from her lesson. I certainly have.

drewou I hope you keep us updated - best of luck to you.
Lori Wagerman_Walker
9 years ago
So sorry to hear this! I can't imagine your disappointment :( Take care and do what you can to protect yourself!
ILoveRed
9 years ago
Vithdude..I would rather not say on a public forum. But, they were a large well known company. To be honest, I don't think it really makes a difference who the insurer is. Our PA told us that insurers are often cooperative with small claims but when it comes to large claims...it's worth it to them to get off as cheap as they can. So, any insurer is going to behave this way. They wanted to clean and reuse ruined carpet, Kilz over everything instead of replacing, reuse smoke damaged cabinetry. I could go on and on. Disgusting treatment. we would have been better off if the house had burned to the ground.

Our PA had actually been an insurance adjuster and "had jumped the fence"., as he put it. The man was my hero. After we hired him, they stopped bullying us. Our co still had to subrogate (not surrogate as I wrote above :-) with the liability carriers. They still treated us shabbily.

My heart goes out to Drew. His new house may never be the same, even though they have an obligation to make you "whole".

Builder Error Caused Fire

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Builder Error Caused Fire

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