The first month

It has been just over a month since the fire. We are in the third different temporary housing location, but this should be the last one.

Allstate has been so helpful so far. They have had people available to field our questions every time we called, even when the questions were probably considered trivial to them. They have kept us in the loop at every stage of the game.

After the two investigations were completed, things started to move, albeit slowly. That is not the fault of anyone, nor is it any company "dragging their feet." The slow movement is because they wanted everything done right, and they only wanted to have to do it once. Also, because the job is just so complex. We had A LOT of stuff in the basement. We had clothes, computers, summer things, blankets, furniture, pots, pans, tools, books, games and a whole lot more. Every item needed to be inventoried before it could be removed. There were about 40 pages of items. Then, after it was inventoried, we had to review the inventory to make sure that there wasn't something overlooked.

We are expecting to have the necessary permits pulled this week, which will be followed by the demolition process. After that, they need to start the repairs and the restoration. Every room needs to be painted, floor coverings need to be cleaned or replaced and other items need to be assessed to determine if they can be cleaned.