[StBernard] jy comment

[Westley Annis]

to JY
 
With regards to your comment about starting now and being in hurricane
season.  Our personal family strategy is to complete the repairs and have
our insurance agent come see and take pictures so there is documentation
from him as well as our own as to the receipts we have and the value of
construction in place. We already increased flood insurance to the maximum
for  house and contents.  Everyone should keep excellent receipt records and
photos of progress regardless of season because fires, tornadoes, hail, and
vandalism don't have seasons, yet can destroy the house. 
 
 I question what you will be left with if you start with repairs a year
after Katrina. Fortunately, we are in a drought. Our normal rainy spring is
sparing more water damage, but a few tropical storms/hurricanes and the wind
and rain that come in hurricane season may be the straws that break a weaken
house's back.
 
If a homeowner has any hope of starting to repair after Sept, and wants to
have something to repair, the house has to be gutted down to studs and slab,
the roof should be repaired, the windows and door openings boarded or
repaired or replaced at the very least. Spray Boracare for fungus and
termite prevention/control and Sporicidin for mold at the very least.
Mix it yourself with a $5 garden sprayer and spray the wood. 
 
Personally, we are not going to furnish the whole house until after October
and every tropical storm we'll store whatever we can move out of the first
floor. We won't do the bells and whistles decorating til after October. We
might keep our second floor storage cubicle in Elmwood til 2010!
 
So bottom line is there is a minimum you must do if you hope to salvage the
house and it seems that your flood insurance will cover your documented
expenses to repair the house in the event of another claim.  However, that
doesn't mean you have to restore everything in 2006 either. 
 
ddk