Our home wrecked by one firework on Saturday.

[zippy656]

Well. Not what I was expecting, good news your all ok.

[makeitfit]

Damn that's bad luck . I am really sorry you've been displaced and sympathise with your situation.

However I will buck the trend expressed here and say that fireworks should not be banned. Banning stuff is always the answer it seems these days. Ban stuff cause it's easy.
A modern society should have tolerance for others faiths, lifestyles and hobbies.
I'm in favour of organised events yes but not at the expense of a bit of back garden fun.
It's like some bobble hats want offroaders banned. Brexiteers want burkas banned and my wife wants all engine parts banned from the lounge

Last year 54 people died hill walking ??? Ban that too.....

The law says fireworks are only legal on guy fawkes night and NYE.

Anyway enough if my rant. Goid luck getting the house back in order soon. Horah for insurance 😊

[Blocky10]

Shocking news. Glad you're safe and hope it's sorted soon

[macabethiel]

Originally Posted by makeitfit

Damn that's bad luck . I am really sorry you've been displaced and sympathise with your situation.

However I will buck the trend expressed here and say that fireworks should not be banned. Banning stuff is always the answer it seems these days. Ban stuff cause it's easy.
A modern society should have tolerance for others faiths, lifestyles and hobbies.
I'm in favour of organised events yes but not at the expense of a bit of back garden fun.


Anyway enough if my rant. Goid luck getting the house back in order soon. Horah for insurance 😊

I too don't want to stop a bit of back garden fun. But when a Firework not suitable for anywhere other than at an organised display is so powerful it punches a hole in a tiled roof and explodes inside your house it does change your outlook somewhat. The Loss Adjusters are now talking nearer 9 months than 6 months before we move back in.

Trouble is a Ban would not have full public support and the Legislation would be so widely abused to make it virtually unenforceable. A bit like the use of hand held mobiles nice idea but no effective consistent enforcement.

Dog owners have to accept that between Diwali and New Year there are few weekends without Fireworks. I thought it was owners of Thatched Cottages that were most at risk but when a device bordering on being a Mortar Bomb becomes the norm more properties and lives will be at risk by the reckless actions of a handful or folk with brain cells in single figures!

Rant over.

[solarman216]

But it beggars the question, "how can a numbskull get hold of such a device?" and if it was a result of an organised display by "professionals" then their insurance should be made to pay, worth investigating, Rick

[solarman216]

Nine months FFS how bad is the damage? it is not like flood damage that takes time to dry out, you could build a house from start to finish including footings/drains etc in that time, unless you live in a castle? Rick

[macabethiel]

Originally Posted by solarman216

Nine months FFS how bad is the damage? it is not like flood damage that takes time to dry out, you could build a house from start to finish including footings/drains etc in that time, unless you live in a castle? Rick

The fire service were brilliant they arrived in just under 10 minutes after the were called. The firework struck our house at round 7.35 pm, within 5 minutes of impact the fire had took hold of the rear corner of the roof due to the power of the firework burning in our roof void. The house design is known as a Dormer Style Chalet Bungalow with upstairs bedrooms and bathroom with storage cupboards built into the eaves. All the inside of the rafters were insulated with 2" type Celotex Insulation boards as were the eave storage compartments.

The seat of the fire was essentially in the roof rafters and the first 5 or 6 trusses have almost burnt right through. There are two large wooden beams that span the length of the property one on each side that act as supports for the trusses inside the roof itself. These long beams are about a 15" x 4" in profile and one section is very badly charred.

The corners of the roof inside provide built in storage spaces in the eaves and these were packed with storage boxes containing family photographs spanning three generations in addition to hundreds of the wife's books etc. To tackle the fire there was a 3 pronged approach. One fireman on a platform was spraying the roof from the outside where the firework had smashed through the roof tiles. The second fireman went straight up the stairs and at the top is the loft hatch. He deployed a second hose inside the roof / loft. A third fireman entered the rear bedroom to tackle the fire from the inside of the bedroom.

The fire brigade arrived at about 7.50 pm they worked continually until around 10.30 pm by that time they had pulled out all the burning material from the one side of the bedroom and damped it down on. There were four tenders in all and they left at around 11.30 pm coming back every hour or so to check that there was no smoldering or danger of the fire re-starting.

We were not allowed to enter the building due to the build up of toxic smoke until the next morning. Although all the windows were intact they were blackened on the inside throughout the building due to smoke. Our ground floor is concrete covered with Porcelain Floor Tiles throughout the house . In the morning there was standing water on the ground floor some 2-4" deep, all the walls were dripping with condensation. As at yesterday there was still ground water varying between 0.5-1.0" in depth in half of the rooms.

The kitchen ceiling has completely collapsed with a substantial collapse in the lounge. The floor joists in the rear bedroom are damage in one quarter. All of the wife's clothing except underwear was in her rear bedroom - it being essentially a dressing room with a King Sized Water Bed that we have for guests.

Due to the nature of the damage to the roof itself and the effect of flash over the whole roof will have to be removed, I suspect the rear half of the floor joists will also need to be replaced. Our lovely Solid Oak Staircase with matching Oak doors throughout was only fitted two years ago to replace the original open plan stairs. Due to water ingress the staircase and all the doors will like wise need to be replaced.

The doors were around £240 each plus fitting and are a beautifully paneled design. Solid wood material - no egg box design with light oak veneer finish. They are so heavy it is a two man lift to mount them on the hinges. All the ground floor walls will need to be replastered after they house has been dried out with de-humidifiers . Due to the standing water getting into the grouting and seeping between the tiles and the concrete floor if they are not taken up and replaced they will start to come loose when the house has dried out and foot traffic returns.

It will need a new kitchen and the fitted mirrored wardrobes in the rear bedroom will need replacing. The only rooms not badly damaged are the front upstairs bedroom, bathroom, the downstairs front room and downstairs toilet. The conservatory replaced three years ago with a "Warm Roof" design is not damaged at all despite spanning the whole of the rear of the house.

The electrics will need re wiring pretty much throughout and some central heating pipes that run under the bedroom floor will need replacing. The boiler is situated in the lounge behind the fireplace with an electric fire set in a granite faced fireplace. The condensing boiler is a Baxi BBU unit that has a double skinned plastic flue liner. If this has sustained heat damage that's a £1000 job alone.

With Christmas / Winter looming I do not see substantial repair work starting until the end of January. The new roof will need to be a bespoke CAD design even if only half of the timber needs replacing- no doubt another wait between order and arrival.
The house was built in 1978 so is pre-metric in dimensions.

The initial estimate of it being done by Easter has had slippage already and nothing has really been done yet except the sheeting over the hole in the roof and a drain down of the heating etc. Much like car repairs it takes longer to repair a badly damaged building than to build a new one!

[Thomas61]

So sorry to hear your news.
I hope you find somewhere to rent quickly in time for Christmas.

Take care

Oh, very very sweet looking dogs by the way, hope the puppies arrival goes well.

[don simon]

That's a terrble upheaval, but fortunately everyone is safe.

[jims-terrano]

Look at it another way, better they take the extra time and rebuild properly.

You’ve been through such a tragedy but you are so lucky at the same time because you both got out with the dogs.

I know the design of house so well as mines not far off very similar.

[Blocky10]

Well that put things in perspective. So sorry you have now a long struggle ahead but again, at least you are not injured or worse

[Thomas61]

Forgot to ask in my post. When are the puppies due?

[macabethiel]

Originally Posted by don simon

That's a terrble upheaval, but fortunately everyone is safe.

Mitzie was very distressed as she is not used to being caged and was sick on our first night at a local Hotel.

We feared the worst but being young (just over 2 years old) and having Percy our neutered male as company has calmed her. We are really hoping that we get the keys to the House we have applied to rent at the weekend.

A real jobsworth at the letting agency's credit reference company asked for specific employment questions about my wifes contract hours. TBH if my wife was unemployed I have sufficient income from my Pensions to easily cover the rental and all our living costs anyway. This is notwithstanding that my Insurance Company will be making monthly payments for the rental. The wife's line manager gave reference details that they requested and now has been sent further supplementary questions. The jobsworth was unhappy at not having had an immediate response to these questions. This is because the line manager was in a special NHS meeting all day with no e-mail access. If we were not so desperate I would have told them to shove it and looked elsewhere.

[macabethiel]

Originally Posted by Thomas61

Forgot to ask in my post. When are the puppies due?

Due date is the 25th November give or take a day!
We have never bred a dog before and this is a one off we are not breeders. If all goes well we will keep one pup and close friends are lined up for any spare ones. The cost of the Sire and vaccinations will be shared between us on a non profit basis.

[don simon]

Originally Posted by macabethiel

Mitzie was very distressed as she is not used to being caged and was sick on our first night at a local Hotel.

We feared the worst but being young (just over 2 years old) and having Percy our neutered male as company has calmed her. We are really hoping that we get the keys to the House we have applied to rent at the weekend.

A real jobsworth at the letting agency's credit reference company asked for specific employment questions about my wifes contract hours. TBH if my wife was unemployed I have sufficient income from my Pensions to easily cover the rental and all our living costs anyway. This is notwithstanding that my Insurance Company will be making monthly payments for the rental. The wife's line manager gave reference details that they requested and now has been sent further supplementary questions. The jobsworth was unhappy at not having had an immediate response to these questions. This is because the line manager was in a special NHS meeting all day with no e-mail access. If we were not so desperate I would have told them to shove it and looked elsewhere.

I trust the jobsworth forwarded all the estate agents' financial details to provide confidence thaty they won't fold withinthe duration of the tenancy.
Probably not... Another way that this country has gone to the dogs. Talking of dogs, good luck with the new family.