Sorry about my minimal attention. It's been busy around here. The latest disaster?

You may recall that I helped my son buy a house in Iowa. If you've been listening to the news, you might have heard about the weather they have been having. It's not THAT bad. He has not been hit by a tornado, and he is not in a flood zone. But, it rained so much that the earth around his house became super saturated with water and caused a 110 year old red clay brick basement wall to collapse.

I talked him through some things like screw jacks and lumber for a header to shore up the house, but his basement will have to be completely rebuilt. That means jacking up the house as if to move it, tearing out the underground rubble, and building a new basement. I don't need to tell you guys, but he can't afford it. Dad is stepping up again. Oh, and to add insult to injury, he called me to say that the company he is working for just went bankrupt. He's out looking for work.

He's not going to need that '73 highboy. He can't afford it. I think that it is time to start thinking about selling it.

 

Hey DAD, my house also needs a new foundation.

Seriously, hope everything works out for your son, in finding a new job, and
getting that basement rebuilt.

 

Thats terrable. I know a gal from High School who lives out there in a flood zone, and her house is under water. And another one that creeps complaining about the tornado's. I hope you guys can get it fixed.

 

It can be fixed. All it takes is the money I was planning on using to buy my boat.

 

Oh, the joys of home ownership. It's rough out here in the trenches sometimes and it's good to have family when it happens! It makes me appreciate the time I got to have with my dad before he passed.

 

His insurance won't cover it?
In one of my rentals a waterline broke and flooded out the kitchen a small hallway and the Master bedroom...two months and 15 grand later, all I had to pay was my deductable.

 

No insurance for this. It is considered "flood damage" as the water came from outside the dwelling. It's just a thing.

 

That's a bummer...things when you buy a house they tell you if you're in a "floodplain" or not in the inspection report...so when you're not you think "hy spend the extra money for flood insurance"...then something like this happens and you look back and say "why didn't I spend the extra 250 a year anyways?"

 

Makes me think about whether I should get the earthquake insurance.

I am glad your family is ok though. I hope you don't have sell your highboy.

 

It's not so bad.

If I have the cellar rebuilt into a real basement that can be classified as "living space", it will damn near double the square footage of the house and the new appraised value will just about cover the cost. The ceiling height needs to be changed to something over 6', and there needs to be some kind of direct egress thing, like a window. He'd end up with a 2400s/f house, with a new foundation, and be worth considerably more than when we purchased it. Then, in a few years, when he refinances the house into his own name, the appraised value will cover all these costs.

I'm just bummed that I have to postpone buying my boat.

 

I thought about the same thing.

The deal is that you have to pay the first 10 to 15% of the damage.

For me that means probably the first $130 to $195,000. Ouch!

Most damages are far less.

Still, something to think about.

 

Great news! My son will remain employed by the aquiring company and will be paid for his recent work on Monday. It seems that there were lawyers involved in the background lots of courtroom stuff was going on.

Bad news! It looks like I'm going to have to rewire the whole house to get an occupancy permit after the basement reconstruction. These are old digs and some of the wiring is the old post stuff. Some of the rest is that tar and fabric coated stuff. It is still, after all, only a 60 amp fusebox. This thing keeps costing me more and more. My son is going to have to take great care of me when I get old and senile! This is going to cost him a lot more than money.

Well, it'll be safer for my grandson. My grandson is so smart. I would do just about anything for him.

 

Shoot, he best be getting prepped up soon

 

Oh...and glad to hear he's still got a job!

 

Hey now! That cheap shot was uncalled for!

It was pretty funny though.