My house is naked!
So much has been happening over the past four months. As some of you may remember, the area where I live was hit by two tornadoes in about 2 weeks time in May. First, was the small town where I live. The second one was at a neighboring town.
That's my "naked" house in the cover photo. Except, my house doesn't normally lay on its side! LOL. Just could not make the photo rotate.
Here it is in all its "naked" glory in the upright position. This was taken a few days ago.
The contractors had to strip off all the siding and shutters because the tornado and winds had thrown objects into the siding and every side of the house was damaged.
May 12-13, 2022
It seems rather fitting that May 13 was a Friday this year. It was the day after an F1 tornado spun around my neighborhood and took out 8 of the 10 trees in my yard
along with dropping three huge trees onto my house. Only one of them actually broke through the ceiling into an upstairs bedroom.
It was a pretty wide night, though, on May 12.
The photo above was from that night. It's hard to tell from the photo, but those three trees in the back were all laying across the back of the house. That ladder in the yard was at one time used to get onto the trampoline which we found about a block away wrapped around a stop sign.
The next morning it was a little easier to see what the damage was! The uprooted tree on the left is the one that actually went through the roof. These were some pretty big trees and at this point, three of them were on my house!
We were not the only ones to have damage and getting someone to help us was difficult because everyone was busy.
It took us almost three months to get a contractor who was less busy and could do evaluate the house and start the work for us.
As some of you know, we live in Minnesota and fall is well upon us. With a tarp covered hole in our roof, we need the work to get done soon or we will have snow coming into the house!
The above photo is of my granddaughter's room. It had to be totally stripped because all the plaster and lathe and whatever it is that holds up a ceiling was lying on her floor or sagging way down to the floor. They also needed to see how many of the rafters were broken or damaged on this side of the house as two trees had fallen on her room. (This is probably the cleanest her room has ever been!!!)
This photo is of another upstairs bedroom where the tree branch actually came through the roof and ceiling.
It was a scary night, but in the light of day things looked "better." We could actually see what had to be done and at least what the external damage was.
Seeing things more clearly now
Now that they have begun the work, they are able to see how many rafters were damaged. They can better judge the extent of the work needed to fix the house. The estimate was for $42,000. Thank goodness for insurance!
They also have to rip out all the carpet and do extensive work on the bathroom as the wall there was damaged by the trees also and we have mold issues now.
The point of all this is just that things can be messy in our lives and in our businesses. We might be working along and then a "storm" comes. We deal with the damage, but sometimes it takes a while before things are "back to normal." Some things may never return to "normal."
That isn't always a bad thing, though. We can see things more clearly now and fix things that may have been wrong before.
It isn't something that we want to have to do, but once we start fixing it, we can maybe make things better than they were before. We can always try anyway!
Take care my friends and have a productive week!
๏ปฟKarin ๐
Recent Comments
59
Hi Karin,
Thanks for sharing the damage the tornadoes did to your home.ย I hope all the repairs are completed before winter.
The frequent problem we have in LA where we live on a mountain side is wildfires. We have been evacuated from our home about three times since we bought it. Thankfully the only damage we sustained was caused by smoke. The insurance took care of that.
Our worst disaster was the Northridge earthquake of 1994. We were one of the lucky ones because our home was still standing.
It seems that disasters are a way of life in most of the US. I like how you used this analogy for our business.
Cheers.
Edwin
Thanks, Edwin. Sorry to hear of your woes, too. Yes, disasters seem to be a way of life and are becoming more so. But I think how we deal with them and come together because of them is what defines us as humans. If we become bitter or cold from our experiences, we have not learned the lesson that was possible.
Have a great week!
Karin ๐
My pic was sideway on my last blogs...makes it memorable and interesting(LOL)'
I owned a Wallpaper/ Painting and Design Remodeling Business as a Stay at home Mom.
My hubby joined me after the Oil Bust in Texas and he expanded it with me for 12 years we did light remodeling and roofing together...
The storm of '83 brought so much business to us , and we brought so much joy because when people are hit like you were, to have contractors who not only come early in the morning but I would bring hot gourmet/hot coffee for breakfast , and known for our honesty and fair prices.
We were the only houses on the right side of the street that still had electricity, (before generators were popular) in the whole neighborhood.
and we received no damage, which was a blessing to us and our customers,because we were available, and my hubby had just days out bought the last chain saw at Sears..
Wow! Talk about luck. Or maybe it was just good living and business skills! You sure were blessed.
Thank you for sharing!
Karin ๐
Thank you for sharing this, Karin.
I am happy to know that there was no damage to life or limbs.
Your approach is the right one - fix what needs to be fixed and move on stronger.
Have a productive week!
Cassi
Yes, I am glad that we faired well physically. And we are so thankful that the damage was not worse. It certainly could have been.
We are moving forward with hope!
Karin ๐
Terrifying!! I am so glad that it was just damage to "things" and not people or pets!
I hope everything settles back to normal quickly.
Blessings,
Stephen
It was scary. Having been through another one when I was just a kid, I wasn't as scared as the spouse and the granddaughter's who had never experienced anything like this before. But thankfully we were all safe including the pets!
Karin ๐
Iโm glad no one was hurt, but I feel bad about the damage โ I hope it will all get fixed soon.
-Mike
Karin! You are lucky! I'm also glad that no one was hurt! I've still got storm damage from December 2021. Fortunately, it was nowhere near as bad as yours, but my insurance did not sufficiently cover things. Nevertheless, we persevere, and in these tough economic times that gets harder and harder!
Keep succeeding!
Jeff
Sorry, you are still struggling with damage for so long! I hope it gets remedied soon!
Times are tough, but I just hold onto the hope that they will get better or that I will get better at dealing with things!
Jim Rohn's famous quote came to my mind just then. โDon't wish it was easier wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenge wish for more wisdomโ.
Karin ๐
It's highly doubtful, Karin! Money has dried up and the demand for what I do has shrunk due to this ghastly economy. I will hang on for as long as I can! God will allow me to do what He sees fit!
I'm good with that!
Oh, I'm better alright, but without that greenpaper that seemingly makes the world go around, it is a bit difficult!
Have an excellent start to your new week!
Jeff
Yeah, that green paper has a way of running things, doesn't it? Hoping people start to see that the world cannot keep going the way it has been and that changes have to happen.
Karin
I hope so too for all of our sakes, Karin!
I hope you had an excellent start to the new week!
Jeff
Well, Jeff. I made it through Monday and a 14 hour work day! If I can do that, I should be able to call the rest of the week a breeze!
Hope you had some bright spots in your day, as well!
Have a great week!
Karin ๐
Wow, Karin! Yes, the rest of the week should definitely be a breeze!
Keep succeeding!
Have an excellent week yourself too, my friend!
Jeff๐๐
I'm sorry that this happened to you but I am loving your positive attitude and hope that the roof inside your house gets fixed and situated soon.
Take care.
Myra
Thank you, Myra. The tornado and subsequent damage have been indicative of my life lately!! LOL... I hope I can keep a positive attitude. There are days that I just sit and cry. But most of the time, I keep a smile on my mug!
Karin
See more comments
It is a scary scene to watch at first sight.
I am happy for you to find a contractor to work with.
How nicely have you connected to our business? Thank you.
Finding contractors to fix things in your home can be a nightmare these days. We waited nine months to replace our cooktop.
Your home town is so cold. I am sure the people working know it and will you in a better shape before winter hits. Take care, Karin.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. things have been rough, but lessons have been learned and there is so much more to learn and grow from.
Yes, finding contractors can be so hard these days. It took us a couple of months just to get them to call us back because they have been so busy. But the guys here are doing a great job, although they are trampling my flowers to death! I am pretty sure the flowers will come back! ๐
Have a great week!
Karin ๐
Everything will come back and so also your flowers.
You too, Karen.