A waiting game
Carroll Township couple hopes to rebuild after home demolished
Shelly and Rick Cameron want to be in their home again – even though it won’t be the one in which they spent the last 15 years.
The couple’s three-story, wood-framed home at 1652 Fourth St. in Carroll Township had to be torn down in August, months after it began to collapse during a home renovation project.
Now, the Camerons find themselves in a holding pattern, waiting to see if their insurance company will help.
With 30 years of construction experience, Rick said he’d been refurbishing their home.
“Over the last four or five years, we did the whole interior of the house,” he said. “Everything from the plaster to the doors.”
In March, he started what he said would be the last project, lowering the basement to allow for more headroom.
“We started doing that project and the house collapsed,” Rick said. “We dug down, we were ready to start putting things back together and something must have shifted or something happened and it collapsed. The front wall dropped a couple of inches.”
Nobody got hurt, all belongings were retrieved, but the cause of what happened remains to be determined.
“There’s different engineers looking at it,” Rick said. “We think it’s maybe because of the balloon framing. I think maybe that, along with the house being old. There was no footer under it. The blocks were laid right on the clay. I think that had a lot to do with it. ”
Balloon framing is a residential construction method popular from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. It involves constructing the framing of the home with long, straight studs that run the full height of the building from foundation to roof.
The family moved to a hotel while Rick tried to fix the house, but another wall collapsed. Township supervisors voted to proceed with an emergency demolition in August, and that task was recently completed.
“When we found out about it, we worked with them and gave them the time they needed to try to resolve the situation,” township Supervisor Ken Hillman said, but the home became a danger because of its condition.
The couples’ insurance company, State Farm, initially denied the claim though they’ve since assigned a new adjuster to reevaluate the case.
“That’s the worst part about the whole thing: the insurance. It’s been close to six months and we’re still waiting to see if we have coverage or not,” Rick said.
The initial insurance adjuster was quick to tell the couple that the collapse wouldn’t be covered by their homeowner’s insurance.
“I never expected him to say that. I always thought that when something happened to your house, your homeowner’s was there to help you out,” Rick said.
Shelly said their policy indicates they’re covered for “collapse under construction.”
“That’s what happened. We just want what’s due to us. I don’t need to get rich. Give us the money for our home,” she said.
Justin Tomczak, a State Farm spokesman, said the company does not comment on specific claims. In all instances, he said, the company carefully reviews the claims to determine if clients are covered.
“In general, claims range in complexity, level of coordination and amount of time required to evaluate, and sometimes this process involves additional time to receive supporting documentation from customers via their public adjuster,” Tomczak said, noting the company provides all benefits due under the terms of any policy.
As they wait for State Farm’s adjuster, the Camerons have hired their own, Stephen Hnat, who maintains the policy covers what happened to the home.
“We got the denial letter that said there’s cracking and ‘We don’t pay for workmanship.’ In other words, they don’t pay if someone screws up on something,” Hnat said. “I read the policy and it says they’ll pay for collapse under certain criteria. One of them is during construction. They’ll pay for faulty workmanship. So they’re supposed to cover it.”
Since his involvement, Hnat said there’ve been discussions with the insurance company.
“They are now at least talking to us and reevaluating,” Hnat said. “We’re getting there, but we have nothing solid on it. We’re hoping to get this thing summed up fast so he can rebuild.”
While those talks continue, the family remains in a rental property that is about ¼-mile from where their home once stood. They’re paying that cost as well as their mortgage to keep a roof over their heads and that of their 26-year-old daughter, 17-year-old son and 15-year-old grandson.
Hnat said State Farm hasn’t committed to paying for their additional living expenses, which he said is also a part of their policy.
“(They’re) living on a shoestring budget,” he said.
Shelly gets emotional when talking about the house, a place where so many memories have been created with the couple, their five kids and 13 grandkids, the last of which was born just a few weeks ago.
“We still have the memories, but it was our home, and for the grandkids, it’s pap and gigi’s home,” she said. “They loved to come here. All of the other kids would come and there were always family gatherings. It was wonderful. There’s a lot of family love here.”
Rick wants to rebuild at that spot and with the contacts he’s made with contractors over his many years in the construction business, he feels it’s something that could be completed in about a year.
“We’ll get through it, one way or another we’re going to get through it,” he said.
Shelly just has one simple request.
“I just want to go home,” she said.