rail road retaining wall replacement (insurance, house, construction) - Dallas - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

nitynity · 12-20-2015, 01:53 PM

Ok My neighbor approached me saying the rail road retaining wall on his property border needs to be replaced as its decaying and the 8 foot fence right next to it is sliding to our side from the heavy storm lately. He wanted to get it fixed, but its adjacent to our front yard garden,trees, sprinkler head etc. He is trying to get contractors to do the job. (5-6 day project). Also needs me to remove portion of my front yard fence so he can access the wall all the way to the back end. I have no idea about house repair stuff and hence no clue about what he was talking about. Should I just let him do what needs to be done? I am concerned the contractors might mess up my front yard, fence as I will be away at work. And if I need to remove my fence and leave it open while I am away with contractors having access to my backyard etc. how should I handle this?

Also, I lost lot of shingles during the storm last month. My neighbor was saying he had to replace his roof. How do I know if mine needs to be fixed as well? What should I be looking for?

Sorry again, I am a newbie when it comes to house maintenance.

Beaching · 12-20-2015, 10:52 PM

Is the retaining wall holding up his yard? If so, then it is their responsibility to maintain.
Let them fix it. If they do not fix it and it washes out with another good rain, any min damage they could do by fixing it now will look like childs play. This is no different than if you had contractors or landscapers working on your own portion or yard. They typically know what to do. Get some of the flag markers at Home Depot or Lowe's and mark where your sprinkler heads are located. If they do any digging they should have the utility companies come out and mark where the lines are for your yard and the neighbors.
Make sure you have the contractors name and number so that if there are any issues during or after the repairs are done you can contact them instead of having to go thru your neighbor.
Leave your number with the neighbor and the contractor so that they can get ahold of you during the day if need be.

SouthernBelleInUtah · 12-20-2015, 10:54 PM

Call a reputable roofing company to inspect your roof. You may have damage you don't know about.

Beaching · 12-20-2015, 10:56 PM

On the roof, do not call your insurance company! Do not call your insurance company!

If you call them and even say, "my neighbor had some damage to their roof in the recent storms and I just want to make sure I do not". They will open a claim. This is not good! There is a database that all insurance companies use and they only see "claim on roof" even though nothing was done and no damage. Been there, done that. Did not matter that we had no damage at all.

If you have a trusted roofing company that can look at it for you, go that route. If you do not have anyone that can come out that you trust, maybe ask the neighbors for their roofing company contact and how they are with them, have they used them before, etc. Ask friends and coworkers if they have had roof work done, by whom and how were they. If they have any they would avoid as well.

nitynity · 12-21-2015, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beaching

On the roof, do not call your insurance company! Do not call your insurance company!

If you call them and even say, "my neighbor had some damage to their roof in the recent storms and I just want to make sure I do not". They will open a claim. This is not good! There is a database that all insurance companies use and they only see "claim on roof" even though nothing was done and no damage. Been there, done that. Did not matter that we had no damage at all.

If you have a trusted roofing company that can look at it for you, go that route. If you do not have anyone that can come out that you trust, maybe ask the neighbors for their roofing company contact and how they are with them, have they used them before, etc. Ask friends and coworkers if they have had roof work done, by whom and how were they. If they have any they would avoid as well.

Thanks a lot Beaching. I was planning to call the insurance company with the same concern you mentioned. They did the same several years back with my auto claim. Didnt get a penny because of my deductible, but still has it in my records. Thanks for the heads up.

nitynity · 12-23-2015, 02:34 PM

Had a roof guy come take a look at it, he said he could repair the lost shingles for $700 or replace the entire roof for 14-18k. Roof is around 13 years old (30 year roof). Not sure if I really needs to replace it if I could just fix it. The guy was recommended by some neighbors. He sad there is no premium rise for making claims in TX. But again do I need to replace if its just a fix issue? He said the shingles are construction grade and not some GFAD standard or something like that. They are all loose and don't have a tight seal at the bottom and could fly away in the next storm.

Any tips?