a car crashed into my stoop. no one hurt, but the stoop is demolished.
this is going to be a major insurance claim and i guess i want to be certain i handle it properly and get what i want. the stoop looks like it needs completely replaced. half the treads are cracked and 3/4 of the risers have buckled. rebar ripped up in the bottom two steps. i have already been in touch with a mason about an estimate for this work.
however, in thinking about the ironwork claim should i reach out to a different contractor for that estimate? definitely need a new fence and probably railing since one side is badly bent and ripped from the brick.
guessing insurance would want this all handled as one claim, so does that mean i need to find a GC type who bundle these together?
any and all tips for making sure i get fair replacements and work up to my expectations would be greatly appreciated
solehappy
in General Discussion 4 years and 10 months ago
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stevecym | 4 years and 10 months ago
to john hancock and op: no, op never mentioned landmark. but one of the organizations in the city had a directory of contractors. that means nothing and i will say why, they are not approved nor vetted; they paid for the privelege to be in the directory. my thought was what cook suggests and that is if a contractor spends the money to put a listing for a specific talent in such a dirdctory, they had better be qualified. maybe they are not, but it is a good place to begin looking.
i did look for the directory and cannot find it. i know it existed as i thought about listing my business there. i wonder if the organization that had it stopped it as it sent the wrong message to homeowners that the contractors were vetted?
solehappy | 4 years and 10 months ago
yeah, definitely not landmark, but i think the thought is the sort of GCs that do licensed landmark work would be better equipped to work within constraints of insurance claim. more official if you will. regardless, i put in a call to landmarks to see if they do maintain a list of GCs since i didnt see one on the website
JohnHancock | 4 years and 10 months ago
OP never mentioned historic or landmarks as far as I can tell. Rebar on the bottom steps are not common in stoops in general.
stevecym | 4 years and 10 months ago
you know, OP, people have spoken of a list of contractors that landmarks maintains. a directory of sorts. maybe you can find someone there?
cate | 4 years and 10 months ago
I think my comments are being misunderstood. If you are restoring a brownstone stoop or historic ironwork, you need specialists in these fields, not just any mason or licensed general contractor and his crew who can put up a generic modern stoop or a prefab fence. Licensed general contractors do sub out for licensed plumbers and electricians — and sometimes even masons — but generally speaking they do all the other work themselves. If you are restoring to historic appearance, this will be unacceptable. You need someone who only does brownstone, is highly experienced, and is highly recommended. Depending on the fence, you may need someone who can create, copy, and cast custom ironwork from historic samples. I hope this makes sense.
solehappy | 4 years and 10 months ago
these steps are a broken leg or ankle waiting to happen whether its the mailman or a kid selling candy and i am trying to impress that upon the insurance company as well as any GCs i speak with
stevecym | 4 years and 10 months ago
so my suggestion that you ask for a temporary steps (i mean like staging that a scaffold company would install) be put up until this can be repaired properly might sound ludicrous to some, but i was down working in my shop and recalled this from 1995:
we had a fire in a 5 story buidling and the fire dept damaged the copper gutter at the edge of a mansard roof (with a ladder). it was $5,000 to replace the gutter. the problem was, the tin smith wanted a scaffold built to get up to the roof (they could not hang from above to do the work). Knowing not to let a good crisis go to waste, my boss delighted at the situation and asked the insurance company to pay for the scaffold. After some negotion they did (tens of thousands; might have been 30k) and at the same time we had other work done to the facade that the company had been delaying due to the cost of the scaffold.
i know . that was a commercial situation and perhaps they can justify the expense. But if i were the OP, i would ask for temporary staging over those steps so this can be done right.
stevecym | 4 years and 10 months ago
i would discuss your fears over liability with your insurance carrier and see if they will pay for something temporary until proper repairs can be made? i would put it to them.
solehappy | 4 years and 10 months ago
i definitely want to go the GC route, but finding it is nearly impossible to find one that seems to want to take on this kind of project on a fast timeline so i can eliminate fears about liability regarding entry to my home
stevecym | 4 years and 10 months ago
and op, let me ad something here: i know nothing about masonry work nor iron work. the reason i am making certain suggestions to you on how to proceed is, this is how we would do it in commercial if our boss or some committee said “get this done” and we knew nothing about it (a good GC at minimum, but often an architect or engineer). i think you want someone to “hold your hand” and there is nothing wrong with admitting you might need or want that, especially if you can get the insurance co to pay for it. that said, some of these folks on here will have some really good “subs” who can work you through this-
stevecym | 4 years and 10 months ago
uh oh. sorry to hear this. this is messy.
do this. if you like my approach of finding a GC that can manage it all, try calling these people in the Bronx; Grenadier. they are the real deal (top shelf commercial since the 1950’s) and they recently told one of my Heights customers that they will not do residential (which is why i will not mention them on here) but when they tell you that, ask them for someone who can manage this start to finish. they will not risk their reputation giving out the names of crap contractors. or maybe they can give you the names of good subs and you can go that route. (other people on here will have the names of subs to handle the individual parts; this work is so niche that the GC’s will be far and between).
if you have really good replacement value insurance, my thought is that you will not need a public adjuster. just multiple quotes. maybe.
i would contact that person green thinker put forth and see if they can give you 20 minutes on the phone – just because there was criminality involved. also, does the state not have some sort of “uninsured motorist” fund? i seem to think we are always paying into that with our auto insurance. this is what this fund is for, is it not?
solehappy | 4 years and 10 months ago
this is such great information, i cant thank everyone enough. i had never even heard of a public adjuster before!
the downside here is that this was a ‘hit and run’ where it seems like the vehicle was last registered 10+ years ago and the driver and passengers all fled.
if anyone has any particular recommendations for GC adjusters i am all ears and am happy to give contact details off Brownstoner if that’s better.
stevecym | 4 years and 10 months ago
let me add this: we did have damage on a property once and my boss told me the insurance would settle for a higher amount and let the owners keep the difference if we GC’d it ourselves – which we did. as a field person, i did not know the ins and outs of such an arrangement and how the conversation went (my boss might have initiated the conversation or maybe the insurance suggested it). if the op can get some benefit such as this by not using a GC, i would say go for it. but my experience was 30 years ago and i do not think insurance companies work that way any more (if they consider a contractor’s quote, they might only pay the amount on the invoice) and my guess is op should have someone to take responsibility at the expense of the insurance company.
stevecym | 4 years and 10 months ago
i would work with the auto policy first. they may look at estimates as opposed to sending some pencil pusher out who punches numbers into a computer.
@cate: People still do not seem to understand the difference between a “General Contractor” and a “Generalist” (a glorified handyman). when a contractor suggests a General Contractor, they may very well be thinking of someone who does not get his or her hands dirty (the GC i hired for the first insurance claim i mention above wore Khakis and a button down collared shirt to work everyday and showed up on the job every morning, looked at what the subs were doing and left; he was good at putting estimates and quotes together and coordinating trades and had stopped swinging a hammer years before) and a big one may not have a crew (they pull subs together, the “specialists” you mention above). In NYC a GC is licensed and in other jurisdictions it is determined by the insurance a contractor carries. if this were me, and i have been through plenty of projects with trades, mostly interior, i would rely on a GC; L et them write the estimate that the OP will hand to the insurance co (a GC who has been through this might be able to write a better quote to put before an insurance carrier); let them coordinate the trades. also, the insurance co is paying for this so why should the customer assume the responsibility? with the added cost of a GC, the over riding insurance will offer protection if someone – the neighbor’s kid- gets hurt in the course of the project (there will be a lot less finger pointing between insurance companies).
the mis use of the term “general contractor” is part of the “dumbing down” of this industry and what we as a community expect of people and their capabilities and contractors who misuse that term should be treated the same way we treat unlicensed plumbers and electricians; these people all exist to take advantage of the unknowing public by presenting themselves as something they are not and should be shamed and run out of business.
solehappy | 4 years and 10 months ago
thanks for all the tips guys. definitely have decent homewoners, so hoping that works out. if not will definitely look into public adjusters. in the process of getting estimates right now. what a year sheesh.
cate | 4 years and 10 months ago
Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry to hear this. So glad no one was hurt. Re the insurance, unless you have a policy replacing like with like, the insurance company is supposed to give you the funds for minimal replacement — in other words, cement block or a prefab stoop, not brownstone. An off the shelf fence, not historic ironwork. Etc. FWIW, the mason to restore a traditional brownstone stoop and the ironworker to restore historic railings are completely different outfits and you would normally engage each one one-on-one rather than going through a general contractor. If you are restoring to historic appearance, you need specialists.
stevecym | 4 years and 10 months ago
see what no permitz says. i have been involved in numerous fire and flood claims and sometimes there were different insurance companies involved. ALL of the adjusters from the insurance companies (yours, the drivers) will try to settle this for less than you can get it repaired for. they often price this stuff so low that it is impossible for the contractor to do, let alone make money. that is why these things drag on sometimes, they will not settle. you will need that public adjuster as you will need his/her numbers to go back against the insurance companies. and i know you will not like going through your own insurance, but it may go that way (i don’t call any of my insurance companies with any questions that smell like they can grow into a claim). you may get treated better by your carrier. and they will go after the auto insurance.
this is one claim and because of dedcutibles (if you have to go through your insurance), you want it to be one claim. we had a fire in a building in ’95 and the roof, the water damage to the walls below and the carpe ts, and the elevator equipment was all one claim. We self GC’d the repair work because that is what we do (and my boss had renovated the entire building that way). if this were me (and i am a contractor) i would get a GC to manage this as they can quote the entire job. the first time i handled a flood in a building 6 mos after i was out of college, i used a GC (now i would not). there are people on here who would GC this themselves, but they have been through this and some of them know a lot about old iron and masonry.
i can tell you this: anytime we tried to put numbers from a contractor in front of an adjuster they would not even look at them. they might look at them later when you push back, but initially, they will measure everything and go back to the office and punch numbers into some program. MAYBE this will be different as it is kind of unique. they are used to dealing with fire and flood type stuff.
Something else when dealing with the other party’s adjuster. i was in an MVA last year that was not my fault. my insurance co was useless. so i went right to the other parties insurance co and told them i was tired of the irresponsible drivers the organization they represented hired (those blue and white access a rides) and it was time something was done about them. i pointed out what the other party had done that was illegal and contributed to the accident and i told them i was go to sue them all; the insurance co, the driver individually, and the owner of the vehicle (the state). if you do not hear numbers you like (and you won’t), you are going to have to play hardball and you might have to become that person that you don’t want to be. i myself don’t like threatening people with lawsuits (and have never sued anyone), but it had to be done (you want all of the people involved to look at each other and say “we need to make this go away”). here is what you need to find that may help you; something they might have done that made this less an accident and more about stupidity or carelessness. (were they speeding, had they been drinking, did they do anything wrong that could have contributed to this). if you can find something to throw in their faces, they will be much nicer to deal with.
cheack your insurance to see if it has full value replacement.
yudashasom | 4 years and 10 months ago
Get a Public Adjuster
GreenThinker | 4 years and 10 months ago
I know of a guy who went through something very similar. A drunk off-duty police officer crashed into his building. His email is wkawalko @ yahoo.com