February 16, 2025 • 33 mins
Dean and the Damage Law team share on what should a homeowner do or not to do?
The Damage Law lawyers discuss some of the things that many insurance companies aren’t providing for their clients, review policies, to ensure all is well, in a situation of an emergency
Dean goes to the calls and advices on a track vent and where to place them, and the pros and cons between porcelain or quartz, Quartzsite. Lastly, Dean and the Damage Law team give their final thoughts.
The Damage Law lawyers discuss some of the things that many insurance companies aren’t providing for their clients, review policies, to ensure all is well, in a situation of an emergency
Dean goes to the calls and advices on a track vent and where to place them, and the pros and cons between porcelain or quartz, Quartzsite. Lastly, Dean and the Damage Law team give their final thoughts.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
You know that this very program is also what they
know as the House Whisper Podcast that you can listen
to anytime, anywhere on demand. You may be listening right
now live during our live broadcast about an hour after
this one goes off the air. It will be a
part a permanent part of the House Whisper Podcast, hundreds
(00:29):
of episodes, all searchable by topic your Home improvement reference library.
So if you've missed any part of this critical discussion
here today with my special in studio guests, the founding
partners of Damage Law, as we talk about insurance claims
and all of the trickiness of that. If you've missed
any part of this show today and then we've been
given out a lot of solid info, then just turn
(00:53):
to the podcast. You can listen any time at all,
as much as you like on demand. And if you're thinking, hey,
that's all great, but what we really need is you
and Tina standing in our family room telling us what
we're going to do with this beast, well you can
do that too. You can book an in home design
consult with me and the tea. You just go to
(01:14):
house Whisper dot Design. All right, we are back at it.
I want to get back in to conversation, excuse me
with my very special in studio guests from Damage Law,
Aria Shack and a dear b guys. So we talked.
We've kind of identified the players now I set up.
(01:35):
I kind of teased this out before we went to
break about advice of what I call it wasn't your words,
but not corrupting the crime scene. Homeowners want to get
in to the debris and the mess, and they want
to start picking through stuff, and they want to start
cleaning up stuff. And again we're talking about more than
(01:56):
just the fires. I'm just talking about any time this happens, right, So,
there's a there's a balance here. There is leaving things
be and there's a good reason for that that I'll
have you explain. But there's also what we call mitigation,
which means if the damage has opened up potential more damage,
we have to at least address it to the point
(02:18):
where the damage isn't causing more damage which causes more
of a claim or basically stuff that won't get covered
under a claim. Because the homeowner has a certain responsibility there.
So let's start with the crime scene first.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yes, So the biggest and the most crucial aspect of
this all is to making sure that you don't dispose
of any items that may have been contaminated or damaged
through the fires or even if you had a water
damage situation. Because you want to prove your loss to them,
you have to give them the right to inspect, and
if you immediately dispose of these items, they're going to
(02:54):
ask what the condition was and you can't prove it
no longer because you've disposed of it. So it's really
key to keeping all the items in place so you
can show the insurance carrier, this is what's wrong with
this item. It's either miss smoke damage or water damage,
and this is what I need in order to bring
it back to its original condition or to get it replaced,
because we have a duty to prove our loss. And
(03:16):
another aspect of that is you also don't know whether
these items are contaminated or not, so it's really key
that you don't touch it because you can take that
contamination with you to other places and you can get
very sick from these items. So you want to test
before we're even doing anything and cleaning. The biggest key
is if you you know, we have an automatic instinct
(03:38):
where when we see our homes are dirty or there's
there's ash and smoke around, you want to clean it.
But the problem is when you start touching that stuff,
not only are you exposing yourself to contaminants, you're also
making it more difficult for yourself throughout the claim process
to show that how horrific this scene really was. So
(03:59):
you want to keep everything as is so your adjuster
can see what they need to do in order to
bring you back to your home and safe and clearly.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
So hence my metaphor, which is not a bad one, right,
don't tamper with the crime scene until the investigation is complete,
until you get the sign off that it's time to
clean it up.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Does all the contents that are within and all the
damage structure that are within is that crime scene. It's
the evidence that helps prove your case to the insurance carrier.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Hey, you got to pay for this right exactly? All right?
So what about mitigation? What does that word mean? And
you know why? Is that an important factor here as well?
Speaker 4 (04:42):
So mitigation.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Why it's so important is because most policies require their
insured to mitigate their damages to prevent further damages. So,
for instance, if your roof has been affected by these
fires and now there's rain coming this week and you
don't get a professional roofer to EXAs and your roof
and to do some temporary fixes or tarping to prevent
(05:04):
water from coming in, the insurance company's going to say, hey,
you had a duty to mitigate and you failed, and
for that reason, now we're not going to cover for
the water damage portion of this claim, or they're going
to try to open up a second claim. So it's
really important that you mitigate. And this also includes like
if you had a broken window and now there's looters
in the area and they come in and they start
(05:24):
ceiling or damaging your property. They're going to say, if
you had just boarded up your windows and secured your property,
this could have been avoided, and for that reason, we're
not going to cover or they're going to give you
a hard time covering those items.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
So there are certain elements of the scene that we document.
This is damaged, this is messed up, this is part
of the claim. But it also has opened up a
vulnerability and we got we gotta seal it up. So
we board up damaged windows, we cover up, we at
least tarp over you know, exposed roofs so that the
(05:58):
next bout of rain or like you said, you know,
looters in the area or whatever that that it's not
like a multi level uh, you know chain reaction of
damage and more damage and more damage, and the homeowner
in a in an insurance contract is responsible for mitigating
the damage that happens so it doesn't spread further.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Exactly, But you don't want to just use your handyman.
You want to use someone who's license so in the
event something goes wrong, you can show your insurance can
be you use the professionals that are within that industry
to do this work and not just someone who is
a handyman that wasn't licensed.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
So to Aria's point, you don't want to hire a
handyman to come up to the roof and do the
tarping to the roof because that person doesn't know how
to do proper it doesn't know the proper protocol in
terms of.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Tarping or exactly they're not for boarding a roof, so they're.
Speaker 5 (06:45):
Not qualified to do so, and you can show the
insurance carrier. Hey, I use the licensed roofer, who's insured,
who did the work, and even that even after they
did the work, it's still caused damage and therefore.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
And then it's then then you're safe. You're safe if
you're using license proper expert pieple correct. All right, there
are a bunch of things that homeowners are entitled to
in their claims that I'm guessing most of us don't
know or aren't aware of, or at least not aware
of the scope. Can we talk about that next? Yeah,
all right.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I've gotten used to ignoring the sound of my regular voice,
but I've got this little scratch in my voice, and
now i feel like I'm back like on my first
day ever on the radio, where I'm overly conscientious about
the sound of my voice, and so I'm just kind
of taking it in these weird directions, like, you know,
maybe I should just do the gangster thing. I don't know. Anyway. Hey,
(07:45):
now that I've wasted a minute of your time, thanks
for joining us on the program today. I'm so glad
that you are here. We're having a really really important
conversation with my very special in studio guests, who happen
to be the founding partners of damage Law right here
in LA, a very very specialized form of law all
(08:05):
about property damage claims, working with insurance companies, helping homeowners
get everything that they deserve from their claims, which is
a tricky thing at times. So I've got Aria and
a deer here, and what are we up to now? Oh?
I wanted to ask you guys specifically about because in
the course of our conversation, there have been several times
(08:28):
that you've mentioned, you know, there are things that are
homeowners entitled to, and you'll mention things that I'm like, wow,
I had no idea, you know, and I know this
stuff fairly well. And so just off the top of
your head, let's talk about things that you encounter all
the time that homeowners are usually entitled to in their
(08:49):
contracts with their insurance company that they don't really realize.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
So one of the biggest things that we're noticing right
now that is happening is that insurance company are not
relocating or providing housing. It's called additional living expenses for
those who have been affected.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
So doesn't that mean that, you know, they pay for
my hotel room.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
And that's the problem. You know, they're placing individuals into
hotel rooms when they're entitled to more than just a
hotel room. Especially for family, to all squeeze into one room,
it's quite difficult. So they're entitled to comparable housing to
their own home. So if they had a four bedroom house,
they're entitled to a four bedroom house within the area,
same similar square footage and to be placed comfortably during
(09:34):
that time.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
But again, you want to be careful.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
With exactly where you go and you spend your money
for those funds that you have available, because they can
deplete quite quickly, and you want to choose your own
location because if you go through the carrier themselves, they'll
they have these services which they get the housing company
to find you a location and they add on as
a management fee. So before you know it, your funds
(10:00):
are depleted and your home hasn't even started the process
of rebuild, and now you're going out of pocket because
they put you in some kind of housing that's at
an inflated amount and it depletes your funds.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
So you want to be careful for that.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
So is there like a fixed in most contracts? Is
there like a fixed allotment for housing?
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yes, so there's certain amounts.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Some people have coverage up to eighty thousands, some people
have two hundred thousand, So it depends on what you
paid for. But there's an available fund which will cover
for your living expenses while you're out of the home.
So if you had any out of pocket expenses. Let's
say you're in a hotel and now you have to
go purchase food outside because you don't have a kitchen
to cook, so they should cover those costs for you.
(10:42):
It's really important that they insured is the one that's
making these purchases, not anyone else, because the policy holder
can only get reimbursed. So if your wife is not
on that policy or your kids and they're the ones
making those purchases, they're going to have a difficult time
getting reimbursement.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Gotcha. So whoever is on the policy needs to be
the one who's at the tip of the spear for
those expenses. So now it does I if I want
to exercise more control and stretch my coverage further, is
that me decide in other words. What you said is
(11:17):
I'm entitled to like one to one, like a three bedroom,
two bath house. They should put me in a three
bedroom to bath house. But if I've only got a
certain amount of expense and that rolls off and clicks off,
like what if I decide no, no, I'll just put
me in a studio apartment right now because I need
this to go twelve months instead of sex. We can
do that, Okay, but those are my decisions. That's not
(11:39):
the decision that the insurance company should be making on
my behalf.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
So the biggest key is making sure that you don't
deplete your funds too quickly, right, And what I like
to do the most conservative route is you provide the
location that you're interested in to your insurance company and
have them approve it before you go and bind yourself
to that contract or to that at booking because you
want to be guaranteed that you're getting reimbursed.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Okay, great? What else is out there that most homeowners
aren't aware of?
Speaker 5 (12:11):
When you're conducting your remediation portion to fix the damages
to your home, you're also allotted what's called pack out
and pack back expenses in order to move the items
that are in your home out and they have to
pay for that along with the storage for those items.
It really just depends on the situation. If you have
tenants who are at the property and they were displaced
(12:33):
because of the fires or whatever the loss was, you
can get that loss of income as long as you
have a landlord policy in place and there's a policy
limit provision for the loss of income.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Okay, now this is something really important that you just
touched on. Yeah, because as we all know here in
southern California, in California in general, in the last five
to ten years, eighty us have become a massive thing,
right acessory dwelling in its guesthouses, granny flat whatever you
want to call them, the idea that be in order
(13:05):
to curb the housing crisis. Right the state has said, hey,
we're going to make it really easy and basically have
strong armed every county into building in safety like you
will allow ADUs to be made. That means a lot
of homeowners are now landlords. Yes, okay, what if I've
got an ADU and I've got people renting it from
(13:27):
me legally, I've got a lease agreement, but I never
thought to turn to my insurance company and say I
need a specialized policy for that.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
That's and that's the problem. If you never informed the
insurance carrier that you now have tenants in an ADU
and it's not covered under the policy, meaning they didn't
update the policy to provide a specific endorsement for that,
it's unlikely that you're going to get coverage for them.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
You're gonna have a hard time.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
All right. So everybody who has put an ADU in
needs to turn around. I mean, if it's if it's
for a family member, that's one thing. But if you
are actually if it's a source of income for you,
which it is for so many people, you got to
make sure that your insurance company is accounting for that
as well.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
And I just want to take the time now to
just let everybody know, you know, I think it's incredibly
important to review your insurance policies now, to go through
your coverages, your limitations, your endorsements, and everything that's excluded
or included in your policy, just to make sure that
you have adequate coverage in case of an event like
(14:29):
the wildfires that have happened. Without doing so, you don't
know what coverage you may or may not have at
a time of loss, and you may want to bolster
your coverages at this point.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
All right, excellent, excellent stuff. All right, I still get
some calls on the board. I want to try and
come back and hit a couple of these calls and
then we'll come back with you guys and wrap it
all up. So go know where we are in the
thick of it with your insurance company right now. They
are quaking in their boots because you are learning all
(15:01):
the things you need to know about what to do
once a claim is filed. So stay with us.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
KFI AM six forty live streaming and HD everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app. You are Home with Dean Sharp, the
house Whisper. We are talking insurance claims and damage to
your home and what do you do. And I'm doing
it with my very special in studio guests, the founding
partners of Damage Law here in Southern California, here in
(15:39):
LA And we're going to get back to that conversation.
But I also want to get back to the phone
see what we can do with a couple of these
calls if at all possible, Henderson, you have been on
the line for a long time. I want to talk
to Henderson. Is Richie there? Can we activate? Can I Henderson?
(16:01):
Welcome home? Nope, I'm not here in Henderson.
Speaker 6 (16:09):
Can you hear me?
Speaker 1 (16:10):
There you are, sir?
Speaker 2 (16:11):
How are you?
Speaker 6 (16:13):
I'm doing well. I have two questions. One is in
remondling or building a home, and you have your doing.
You're reminding with the h fact. Should return vents be
in the upper portions of the wall or the lower
portions of the wall?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Oh? The returns, the return vents? You know what either,
I'm not so concerned about. Here's the thing about return
vents and everybody you know, and an HVAC. HVAC system
is based on the flow of air through the house,
(16:53):
and flow is created and a lot of some people
haven't really conceptualized this. The flow of a house is
a current. It's a circuit. Okay. All of the smaller ducks.
The vents that are going into every room, in every space,
whether they're on the floor or on the ceiling, or
up above a door or wherever, those are output vents.
That's what's blowing in hot air when you're heating your home.
(17:17):
It's blowing in cool air when you're trying to cool
your home. If that's all that an air conditioning and
heating system did, then what would happen to a house
that has all of its doors and windows closed up
is that we would just build up what we call
static air pressure in a room. In other words, we
keep pumping air into a room and it's not going anywhere,
(17:38):
and it builds up, and at some point the whole
efficiency of the system shuts down because the fan isn't
strong enough to pump any more air into the room
and it's just sitting there. Okay, So that's not how
an HVAC system is designed. It's designed to have also
a return air vent. And if you don't know what
(17:58):
that vent is, it's the biggest one. It's that big one,
and it's either in the ceiling in the hallway, or
it's down by the bottom of the of a wall,
or maybe if your unit, if your air handler and
your furnace is inside your house, inside that closet, the
retair and air vent is often right down at the
bottom underneath it. It's where the filter goes to protect
(18:20):
your system that you have easy access to and while
the system is running. I'm shocked that a lot of people.
I'm not saying you, Henderson, I know you know all
of this, but a lot of people are like, really,
that thing sucks, it doesn't blow. And so yeah, take
a piece of paper when your system is running and
just put it over that vent and it'll right up
to the retair and air vent. It is taking the
(18:40):
air out of the house running it back through the system.
So the reason why I went into that whole explanation
is because I want everybody to understand the fundamental principle
and that is in new construction, like what you're doing, Henderson.
What we want is we want the relationship. It's not
a magic answer. The return airvent should be low or high,
(19:03):
doesn't matter as much as the relationship of where the
return is to the ducts that it is dealing with. Okay,
So for instance, let's say you've got a let's say
we have this a typical scenario and I hate when
I see it. The return air vent is on a
(19:23):
ceiling in a hallway, okay, right outside a bedroom door. Okay,
So there's a door out of the hallway into a
bedroom and the return air vent is right up there
in the hallway on the ceiling. Okay. Now the question
is where is the duct that the supply duct in
that bedroom. If the supply duct in the bedroom is
(19:47):
coming out on the door wall right above the door,
like so many do and so many tracked homes, then
if I was to like if I could magically make
fog run through your system and colorize it so we
could see what was happening. Here's what's going to happen.
The duct is blowing air out into the bedroom, okay,
(20:08):
and the return air vent is sucking it back out
into the hallway, which means that the venting of the room,
the air is not getting all the way over to
the other side of the bedroom. Okay. The cold air
isn't making it over there, the hot air isn't making
it over there because the vacuum is right behind it, okay,
literally like four feet away, sucking the air back. So
(20:30):
that's a very very inefficient system. It's not about the
fact that it's not about the fact that the return
air is in the hallway in that situation, I want
to put the supply duct in the bedroom on the
far wall as far away as possible so that as
the return air is sucking the air through the room,
all of that cool or warm air travels all the
(20:53):
way across the whole room and heats or cools the
room the way it needs to before it goes back
into the system. Again, does that make it vs?
Speaker 6 (21:01):
Yeah? So is it okay to have the output and
the return both on the top. What does one need
to be up high and one need to be down low?
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Higher low really isn't the critical thing. It really isn't.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
You know.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
I'm here and the problem is. The reason I say
that is because you know, we've got most people have
a forced air and heating system, heat and air, and
it's going to be inefficient for one in order to
make the other one work best. That's the point. So
for you, the question is what's most important for you?
If you live here in southern California, higher vents usually
(21:36):
are the better answer. Why, Because we're more dependent on
our We really need the air conditioner to work more
than we need the heater to be super efficient. Okay,
but remember hot air rises, so the best place for
a hot air vent is on the floor, so it
rises up through the room and does its job. If
you pump hot air out at the top of the ceiling.
(21:58):
Most of the heat remains up at the top of
the ceiling. It's inefficient, but cold air descends right. So
if we really want our air conditioner to be doing
its best job, we put air conditioning vents high so
that the cool air comes in and drops down on
us and is most efficient. But since we have a
heating and air conditioning system that doesn't differentiate, we have
(22:19):
to choose which do we want to be the most
efficient system. Usually in southern California, it's going to be
prioritizing the effectedness of air conditioning. If you lived in
South Dakota, I would say put the vents on the
floor because we need to prioritize the effect of the
heat in the room. And again, the return I'm not
(22:40):
so concerned about high or low. What I am concerned
about with the return air is how close it is
to the other supply ducts because if it is literally
sucking them right back into the system without allowing them
to blow all the way across the room, that's when
that's when air conditioning and heating star systems go really inefficient.
Speaker 6 (23:02):
Okay, then I had another question.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Real quick atte I'm literally out of time, but I'll
hear it.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
Quarts, cos I am porcelain countertops. Look, I know you
covered it at one point and I couldn't find it.
But what's your opinions on that in the kitchen on
a porcelain countertop porcelain quasi or quart?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Okay, all right, i'll tell you what. I've got to
go to a break, uh and when we come back,
I'm going to comment on that when I'm when I'm
not breaking the rules here, Okay, Henderson, So I just
keep listening, I'll hit it. And thanks for your call, buddy,
and I appreciate a really really good question. All right, y'all,
you're home with Dean Sharp the house Whisper. Kay if
(23:48):
I Dean Sharp the house Whisper, Welcome home, Welcome to
the program. Here we are, man. Did we burn through
three hours of time this morning talking about insurance and
claims when there's been damage to your home with my
very special in studio guests, who we will hear from
yet again in just a couple of minutes. Some closing
(24:10):
thoughts from the guys that damage law who have just
been stellar this morning helping us weed through the difficulty
of that Henderson, who was just an awesome caller, and
I ran out of time to answer his second question.
I know, I know, one question for caller, I get it.
But Henderson was a nice guy and he had a
(24:32):
real quick question about whether I how I felt about
quartz versus quartzite versus any other material on a countertop
in a kitchen. And here's what I'm going to say.
And I have spent whole shows talking about that. But
you know what, everything has its strength, everything has its weakness.
(24:55):
Sometimes its visual and esthetic strength and weakness. Sometimes it's
actually a performance strength and weakness. Quartz is the general
term we use in the industry to talk about synthetic
man made composite countertops. Doesn't sound like it should be,
(25:15):
but it is. Quartzite. Quartzite is a specific, very very
hard natural stone. I love quartzite. I love it. I
love natural stone. I'm a guy who puts hardwood counters
into I mean, my own sink countertop in my own
home is made out of two inch thick oiled black walnut. Okay, yeah,
(25:42):
around the sink. Yeah. So the point is, I get
asked to use a lot of materials, and it's all
about the vibe and the look and how they perform. Okay,
quartz products are very very high performing products. They're very dense.
They they don't have a lot of porosity, which is great.
(26:03):
Heat can affect them, but other than that, not much
else affects them. My issue with quartz is that it
never really fully looks and has the life and the
glow of a natural stone. And the reason for that
is that light isn't penetrating as deeply into it. Even
though there's real quartz granulars in there, there's also resins
(26:25):
that are opaque, the glue essentially that holds it all together,
and that shuts the light down. So you're only getting
surface light reflected back off of a quartz countertop, whereas
a quartzite countertop. We know that light can go all
the way down in and through and come back out,
and so it's not an illusion or an exaggeration when
(26:46):
somebody says, ooh, doesn't that natural stone just glow? Actually yes,
it does. Literally, yes it does. It's refracted light coming
back out, which is why natural stone is so beautiful.
So it really is a toolbox that you really have options.
There's no oh yeah, always use this, never use that. Okay,
it's just something where again I'm just going to say,
(27:06):
as I always say, open your eyes, educate yourself. We
were talking about this yesterday. There are no such thing
as bad ideas, only bad decisions. Right, You're not being
asked to make a decision when you just go out
and educate yourself and open your eyes and window shop.
Window shopping is free. Learn everything you can about what
(27:28):
it is you're about to do to your home, so
you make an informed choice and you know it's the
right one for you. That's the idea. And of course
check the podcast and you can find shows where I'm
talking about stones and all of that, and we get
into all sorts of crazy detail. But right now I
want to get back to my in studio guests. Get
(27:48):
some closing thoughts from these young guys here, Aria and
a Deer. You guys have been awesome. I'm so grateful
that you're on the show today. Any last thoughts that
you want to leave with the listeners in regards to
where they stand with this whole process of making acclaim.
(28:09):
We've covered mitigation, We've covered I mean, we've covered a
bunch of stuff. Is there anything else just floating? Around
that you want to make sure gets said.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I think the most important thing right now is making
sure that your insurance company is allowing you to come
back to a safe and habitable home, and that everything
has been tested and cleaned and abated through protocol, and
making sure that they don't skip any steps because certain
things need to go into play before other remediations go
into place. For instance, let them asfess, this need to
(28:40):
get remediated before smoke remediation is conducted.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
So don't let them skip that step.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Okay, So now I'm again I'm gonna I'm gonna apply
this to the to the recent fire situation here, because
I know somebody right now is saying, well, I already
know I abated that stuff from my house fifteen years ago.
We're not even talking about stuff coming from your home.
If an entire neighborhood is burnt down, the lead and
asbestos and even arsenic that you may find on your
(29:08):
property and your stuff didn't come from your property exactly.
So these are steps that have to be taken no
matter what. If we're going to do our due diligence.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
And even if your insurance company is not covering for
the testing, it's worth getting that testing done for yourself
so you know that you're safe and clear to move
back into your home.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
Anything else, my friend, Just if you have any issues
with your carrier, give us a call and we'll provide
you with free consultation, free policy review, and just you know,
we're here to help you. We want to make sure
that you get to the finish line. It's unfortunate the
situations occurred and transpired to date, but there is the
light at the end of the tunnel, and we're here
to help you get.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
There, get you all the free guidance you guys need
to get back home safe.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
All right. These guys are the founding partners of Damage Law.
They are a specialized law firm right here in southern
California dealing with exactly the kind of stuff that we've
been talking about this morning. They are full disclosure, not
sponsors of this show. I hope they become sponsors of
this show. But I can tell you right now there's
(30:16):
one reason and one reason only they are sitting with
me here today because I wanted to bring you the
very best voices and minds to help you through this situation.
And these are the guys. So if You're going to
call me or email me and say, Dean, who is
going to help me sort all of this out? Because
(30:37):
I'm still confused and I'm not sure that I'm being
treated the right way by my insurance company. Should I
call another adjuster? Should I call a public Who should
I call? And I'm telling you right now that you
need to call these guys. They will work with you.
They'll evaluate your claim for free. They'll tell you what
you need. They'll tell you whether you need them or
(30:59):
somebody else. But they are going to the same reason
people love to call in to this show so I
can help you kind of get your head on straight
and point it in the right direction. This is exactly
of what Aria and and Deer are going to do
for you in regards to your claim. So, guys, here's
your shot one more time. Tell everybody where they're going
to find you.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
You can find us at damage law dot com or
you can give us a call at eight sixty six
Damage Law and we're here to provide you, guys, all
the free services and consultation that we can provide at
this time.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Guys, thanks for being on the show Damage Law dot
Com or eight sixty six Damage Law.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
Thank you so much for having us. Dean really had
a great time.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
You guys are awesome. We'll do it again.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
Oh, we appreciate you. And Michelle, thank you guys, Thank
you both.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
All Right, y'all, I just wanted to make sure we
covered all that infro, So I do not have a
lengthy closing thought for you today. I'm just going to
tell you this. You know, due diligence in life in general,
it's all about the little things. Life is about the
little things. You cannot build a home without obsessing on
the little things, and rightly so, you can't build a
(32:06):
great life obs without obsessing on the little things that
I mean, stuff that just is easy to overlook. Kind words,
kind glances, gentle acts of kindness and appreciation. This is
what a life is built from. And today it's a
(32:26):
perfect day to get started doing exactly that. Get out
there in this gorgeous Southern California, cool sunny day and
get busy building yourself a beautiful life, and we will
see you right back here next weekend.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
This has been Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper.
Tune into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty
every Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time, and
every Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
You know that this very program is also what they
know as the House Whisper Podcast that you can listen
to anytime, anywhere on demand. You may be listening right
now live during our live broadcast about an hour after
this one goes off the air. It will be a
part a permanent part of the House Whisper Podcast, hundreds
(00:29):
of episodes, all searchable by topic your Home improvement reference library.
So if you've missed any part of this critical discussion
here today with my special in studio guests, the founding
partners of Damage Law, as we talk about insurance claims
and all of the trickiness of that. If you've missed
any part of this show today and then we've been
given out a lot of solid info, then just turn
(00:53):
to the podcast. You can listen any time at all,
as much as you like on demand. And if you're thinking, hey,
that's all great, but what we really need is you
and Tina standing in our family room telling us what
we're going to do with this beast, well you can
do that too. You can book an in home design
consult with me and the tea. You just go to
(01:14):
house Whisper dot Design. All right, we are back at it.
I want to get back in to conversation, excuse me
with my very special in studio guests from Damage Law,
Aria Shack and a dear b guys. So we talked.
We've kind of identified the players now I set up.
(01:35):
I kind of teased this out before we went to
break about advice of what I call it wasn't your words,
but not corrupting the crime scene. Homeowners want to get
in to the debris and the mess, and they want
to start picking through stuff, and they want to start
cleaning up stuff. And again we're talking about more than
(01:56):
just the fires. I'm just talking about any time this happens, right, So,
there's a there's a balance here. There is leaving things
be and there's a good reason for that that I'll
have you explain. But there's also what we call mitigation,
which means if the damage has opened up potential more damage,
we have to at least address it to the point
(02:18):
where the damage isn't causing more damage which causes more
of a claim or basically stuff that won't get covered
under a claim. Because the homeowner has a certain responsibility there.
So let's start with the crime scene first.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yes, So the biggest and the most crucial aspect of
this all is to making sure that you don't dispose
of any items that may have been contaminated or damaged
through the fires or even if you had a water
damage situation. Because you want to prove your loss to them,
you have to give them the right to inspect, and
if you immediately dispose of these items, they're going to
(02:54):
ask what the condition was and you can't prove it
no longer because you've disposed of it. So it's really
key to keeping all the items in place so you
can show the insurance carrier, this is what's wrong with
this item. It's either miss smoke damage or water damage,
and this is what I need in order to bring
it back to its original condition or to get it replaced,
because we have a duty to prove our loss. And
(03:16):
another aspect of that is you also don't know whether
these items are contaminated or not, so it's really key
that you don't touch it because you can take that
contamination with you to other places and you can get
very sick from these items. So you want to test
before we're even doing anything and cleaning. The biggest key
is if you you know, we have an automatic instinct
(03:38):
where when we see our homes are dirty or there's
there's ash and smoke around, you want to clean it.
But the problem is when you start touching that stuff,
not only are you exposing yourself to contaminants, you're also
making it more difficult for yourself throughout the claim process
to show that how horrific this scene really was. So
(03:59):
you want to keep everything as is so your adjuster
can see what they need to do in order to
bring you back to your home and safe and clearly.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
So hence my metaphor, which is not a bad one, right,
don't tamper with the crime scene until the investigation is complete,
until you get the sign off that it's time to
clean it up.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Does all the contents that are within and all the
damage structure that are within is that crime scene. It's
the evidence that helps prove your case to the insurance carrier.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Hey, you got to pay for this right exactly? All right?
So what about mitigation? What does that word mean? And
you know why? Is that an important factor here as well?
Speaker 4 (04:42):
So mitigation.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Why it's so important is because most policies require their
insured to mitigate their damages to prevent further damages. So,
for instance, if your roof has been affected by these
fires and now there's rain coming this week and you
don't get a professional roofer to EXAs and your roof
and to do some temporary fixes or tarping to prevent
(05:04):
water from coming in, the insurance company's going to say, hey,
you had a duty to mitigate and you failed, and
for that reason, now we're not going to cover for
the water damage portion of this claim, or they're going
to try to open up a second claim. So it's
really important that you mitigate. And this also includes like
if you had a broken window and now there's looters
in the area and they come in and they start
(05:24):
ceiling or damaging your property. They're going to say, if
you had just boarded up your windows and secured your property,
this could have been avoided, and for that reason, we're
not going to cover or they're going to give you
a hard time covering those items.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
So there are certain elements of the scene that we document.
This is damaged, this is messed up, this is part
of the claim. But it also has opened up a
vulnerability and we got we gotta seal it up. So
we board up damaged windows, we cover up, we at
least tarp over you know, exposed roofs so that the
(05:58):
next bout of rain or like you said, you know,
looters in the area or whatever that that it's not
like a multi level uh, you know chain reaction of
damage and more damage and more damage, and the homeowner
in a in an insurance contract is responsible for mitigating
the damage that happens so it doesn't spread further.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Exactly, But you don't want to just use your handyman.
You want to use someone who's license so in the
event something goes wrong, you can show your insurance can
be you use the professionals that are within that industry
to do this work and not just someone who is
a handyman that wasn't licensed.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
So to Aria's point, you don't want to hire a
handyman to come up to the roof and do the
tarping to the roof because that person doesn't know how
to do proper it doesn't know the proper protocol in
terms of.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Tarping or exactly they're not for boarding a roof, so they're.
Speaker 5 (06:45):
Not qualified to do so, and you can show the
insurance carrier. Hey, I use the licensed roofer, who's insured,
who did the work, and even that even after they
did the work, it's still caused damage and therefore.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
And then it's then then you're safe. You're safe if
you're using license proper expert pieple correct. All right, there
are a bunch of things that homeowners are entitled to
in their claims that I'm guessing most of us don't
know or aren't aware of, or at least not aware
of the scope. Can we talk about that next? Yeah,
all right.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I've gotten used to ignoring the sound of my regular voice,
but I've got this little scratch in my voice, and
now i feel like I'm back like on my first
day ever on the radio, where I'm overly conscientious about
the sound of my voice, and so I'm just kind
of taking it in these weird directions, like, you know,
maybe I should just do the gangster thing. I don't know. Anyway. Hey,
(07:45):
now that I've wasted a minute of your time, thanks
for joining us on the program today. I'm so glad
that you are here. We're having a really really important
conversation with my very special in studio guests, who happen
to be the founding partners of damage Law right here
in LA, a very very specialized form of law all
(08:05):
about property damage claims, working with insurance companies, helping homeowners
get everything that they deserve from their claims, which is
a tricky thing at times. So I've got Aria and
a deer here, and what are we up to now? Oh?
I wanted to ask you guys specifically about because in
the course of our conversation, there have been several times
(08:28):
that you've mentioned, you know, there are things that are
homeowners entitled to, and you'll mention things that I'm like, wow,
I had no idea, you know, and I know this
stuff fairly well. And so just off the top of
your head, let's talk about things that you encounter all
the time that homeowners are usually entitled to in their
(08:49):
contracts with their insurance company that they don't really realize.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
So one of the biggest things that we're noticing right
now that is happening is that insurance company are not
relocating or providing housing. It's called additional living expenses for
those who have been affected.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
So doesn't that mean that, you know, they pay for
my hotel room.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
And that's the problem. You know, they're placing individuals into
hotel rooms when they're entitled to more than just a
hotel room. Especially for family, to all squeeze into one room,
it's quite difficult. So they're entitled to comparable housing to
their own home. So if they had a four bedroom house,
they're entitled to a four bedroom house within the area,
same similar square footage and to be placed comfortably during
(09:34):
that time.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
But again, you want to be careful.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
With exactly where you go and you spend your money
for those funds that you have available, because they can
deplete quite quickly, and you want to choose your own
location because if you go through the carrier themselves, they'll
they have these services which they get the housing company
to find you a location and they add on as
a management fee. So before you know it, your funds
(10:00):
are depleted and your home hasn't even started the process
of rebuild, and now you're going out of pocket because
they put you in some kind of housing that's at
an inflated amount and it depletes your funds.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
So you want to be careful for that.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
So is there like a fixed in most contracts? Is
there like a fixed allotment for housing?
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yes, so there's certain amounts.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Some people have coverage up to eighty thousands, some people
have two hundred thousand, So it depends on what you
paid for. But there's an available fund which will cover
for your living expenses while you're out of the home.
So if you had any out of pocket expenses. Let's
say you're in a hotel and now you have to
go purchase food outside because you don't have a kitchen
to cook, so they should cover those costs for you.
(10:42):
It's really important that they insured is the one that's
making these purchases, not anyone else, because the policy holder
can only get reimbursed. So if your wife is not
on that policy or your kids and they're the ones
making those purchases, they're going to have a difficult time
getting reimbursement.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Gotcha. So whoever is on the policy needs to be
the one who's at the tip of the spear for
those expenses. So now it does I if I want
to exercise more control and stretch my coverage further, is
that me decide in other words. What you said is
(11:17):
I'm entitled to like one to one, like a three bedroom,
two bath house. They should put me in a three
bedroom to bath house. But if I've only got a
certain amount of expense and that rolls off and clicks off,
like what if I decide no, no, I'll just put
me in a studio apartment right now because I need
this to go twelve months instead of sex. We can
do that, Okay, but those are my decisions. That's not
(11:39):
the decision that the insurance company should be making on
my behalf.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
So the biggest key is making sure that you don't
deplete your funds too quickly, right, And what I like
to do the most conservative route is you provide the
location that you're interested in to your insurance company and
have them approve it before you go and bind yourself
to that contract or to that at booking because you
want to be guaranteed that you're getting reimbursed.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Okay, great? What else is out there that most homeowners
aren't aware of?
Speaker 5 (12:11):
When you're conducting your remediation portion to fix the damages
to your home, you're also allotted what's called pack out
and pack back expenses in order to move the items
that are in your home out and they have to
pay for that along with the storage for those items.
It really just depends on the situation. If you have
tenants who are at the property and they were displaced
(12:33):
because of the fires or whatever the loss was, you
can get that loss of income as long as you
have a landlord policy in place and there's a policy
limit provision for the loss of income.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Okay, now this is something really important that you just
touched on. Yeah, because as we all know here in
southern California, in California in general, in the last five
to ten years, eighty us have become a massive thing,
right acessory dwelling in its guesthouses, granny flat whatever you
want to call them, the idea that be in order
(13:05):
to curb the housing crisis. Right the state has said, hey,
we're going to make it really easy and basically have
strong armed every county into building in safety like you
will allow ADUs to be made. That means a lot
of homeowners are now landlords. Yes, okay, what if I've
got an ADU and I've got people renting it from
(13:27):
me legally, I've got a lease agreement, but I never
thought to turn to my insurance company and say I
need a specialized policy for that.
Speaker 5 (13:36):
That's and that's the problem. If you never informed the
insurance carrier that you now have tenants in an ADU
and it's not covered under the policy, meaning they didn't
update the policy to provide a specific endorsement for that,
it's unlikely that you're going to get coverage for them.
Speaker 4 (13:51):
You're gonna have a hard time.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
All right. So everybody who has put an ADU in
needs to turn around. I mean, if it's if it's
for a family member, that's one thing. But if you
are actually if it's a source of income for you,
which it is for so many people, you got to
make sure that your insurance company is accounting for that
as well.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
And I just want to take the time now to
just let everybody know, you know, I think it's incredibly
important to review your insurance policies now, to go through
your coverages, your limitations, your endorsements, and everything that's excluded
or included in your policy, just to make sure that
you have adequate coverage in case of an event like
(14:29):
the wildfires that have happened. Without doing so, you don't
know what coverage you may or may not have at
a time of loss, and you may want to bolster
your coverages at this point.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
All right, excellent, excellent stuff. All right, I still get
some calls on the board. I want to try and
come back and hit a couple of these calls and
then we'll come back with you guys and wrap it
all up. So go know where we are in the
thick of it with your insurance company right now. They
are quaking in their boots because you are learning all
(15:01):
the things you need to know about what to do
once a claim is filed. So stay with us.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
KFI AM six forty live streaming and HD everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app. You are Home with Dean Sharp, the
house Whisper. We are talking insurance claims and damage to
your home and what do you do. And I'm doing
it with my very special in studio guests, the founding
partners of Damage Law here in Southern California, here in
(15:39):
LA And we're going to get back to that conversation.
But I also want to get back to the phone
see what we can do with a couple of these
calls if at all possible, Henderson, you have been on
the line for a long time. I want to talk
to Henderson. Is Richie there? Can we activate? Can I Henderson?
(16:01):
Welcome home? Nope, I'm not here in Henderson.
Speaker 6 (16:09):
Can you hear me?
Speaker 1 (16:10):
There you are, sir?
Speaker 2 (16:11):
How are you?
Speaker 6 (16:13):
I'm doing well. I have two questions. One is in
remondling or building a home, and you have your doing.
You're reminding with the h fact. Should return vents be
in the upper portions of the wall or the lower
portions of the wall?
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Oh? The returns, the return vents? You know what either,
I'm not so concerned about. Here's the thing about return
vents and everybody you know, and an HVAC. HVAC system
is based on the flow of air through the house,
(16:53):
and flow is created and a lot of some people
haven't really conceptualized this. The flow of a house is
a current. It's a circuit. Okay. All of the smaller ducks.
The vents that are going into every room, in every space,
whether they're on the floor or on the ceiling, or
up above a door or wherever, those are output vents.
That's what's blowing in hot air when you're heating your home.
(17:17):
It's blowing in cool air when you're trying to cool
your home. If that's all that an air conditioning and
heating system did, then what would happen to a house
that has all of its doors and windows closed up
is that we would just build up what we call
static air pressure in a room. In other words, we
keep pumping air into a room and it's not going anywhere,
(17:38):
and it builds up, and at some point the whole
efficiency of the system shuts down because the fan isn't
strong enough to pump any more air into the room
and it's just sitting there. Okay, So that's not how
an HVAC system is designed. It's designed to have also
a return air vent. And if you don't know what
(17:58):
that vent is, it's the biggest one. It's that big one,
and it's either in the ceiling in the hallway, or
it's down by the bottom of the of a wall,
or maybe if your unit, if your air handler and
your furnace is inside your house, inside that closet, the
retair and air vent is often right down at the
bottom underneath it. It's where the filter goes to protect
(18:20):
your system that you have easy access to and while
the system is running. I'm shocked that a lot of people.
I'm not saying you, Henderson, I know you know all
of this, but a lot of people are like, really,
that thing sucks, it doesn't blow. And so yeah, take
a piece of paper when your system is running and
just put it over that vent and it'll right up
to the retair and air vent. It is taking the
(18:40):
air out of the house running it back through the system.
So the reason why I went into that whole explanation
is because I want everybody to understand the fundamental principle
and that is in new construction, like what you're doing, Henderson.
What we want is we want the relationship. It's not
a magic answer. The return airvent should be low or high,
(19:03):
doesn't matter as much as the relationship of where the
return is to the ducts that it is dealing with. Okay,
So for instance, let's say you've got a let's say
we have this a typical scenario and I hate when
I see it. The return air vent is on a
(19:23):
ceiling in a hallway, okay, right outside a bedroom door. Okay,
So there's a door out of the hallway into a
bedroom and the return air vent is right up there
in the hallway on the ceiling. Okay. Now the question
is where is the duct that the supply duct in
that bedroom. If the supply duct in the bedroom is
(19:47):
coming out on the door wall right above the door,
like so many do and so many tracked homes, then
if I was to like if I could magically make
fog run through your system and colorize it so we
could see what was happening. Here's what's going to happen.
The duct is blowing air out into the bedroom, okay,
(20:08):
and the return air vent is sucking it back out
into the hallway, which means that the venting of the room,
the air is not getting all the way over to
the other side of the bedroom. Okay. The cold air
isn't making it over there, the hot air isn't making
it over there because the vacuum is right behind it, okay,
literally like four feet away, sucking the air back. So
(20:30):
that's a very very inefficient system. It's not about the
fact that it's not about the fact that the return
air is in the hallway in that situation, I want
to put the supply duct in the bedroom on the
far wall as far away as possible so that as
the return air is sucking the air through the room,
all of that cool or warm air travels all the
(20:53):
way across the whole room and heats or cools the
room the way it needs to before it goes back
into the system. Again, does that make it vs?
Speaker 6 (21:01):
Yeah? So is it okay to have the output and
the return both on the top. What does one need
to be up high and one need to be down low?
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Higher low really isn't the critical thing. It really isn't.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
You know.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
I'm here and the problem is. The reason I say
that is because you know, we've got most people have
a forced air and heating system, heat and air, and
it's going to be inefficient for one in order to
make the other one work best. That's the point. So
for you, the question is what's most important for you?
If you live here in southern California, higher vents usually
(21:36):
are the better answer. Why, Because we're more dependent on
our We really need the air conditioner to work more
than we need the heater to be super efficient. Okay,
but remember hot air rises, so the best place for
a hot air vent is on the floor, so it
rises up through the room and does its job. If
you pump hot air out at the top of the ceiling.
(21:58):
Most of the heat remains up at the top of
the ceiling. It's inefficient, but cold air descends right. So
if we really want our air conditioner to be doing
its best job, we put air conditioning vents high so
that the cool air comes in and drops down on
us and is most efficient. But since we have a
heating and air conditioning system that doesn't differentiate, we have
(22:19):
to choose which do we want to be the most
efficient system. Usually in southern California, it's going to be
prioritizing the effectedness of air conditioning. If you lived in
South Dakota, I would say put the vents on the
floor because we need to prioritize the effect of the
heat in the room. And again, the return I'm not
(22:40):
so concerned about high or low. What I am concerned
about with the return air is how close it is
to the other supply ducts because if it is literally
sucking them right back into the system without allowing them
to blow all the way across the room, that's when
that's when air conditioning and heating star systems go really inefficient.
Speaker 6 (23:02):
Okay, then I had another question.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Real quick atte I'm literally out of time, but I'll
hear it.
Speaker 6 (23:10):
Quarts, cos I am porcelain countertops. Look, I know you
covered it at one point and I couldn't find it.
But what's your opinions on that in the kitchen on
a porcelain countertop porcelain quasi or quart?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Okay, all right, i'll tell you what. I've got to
go to a break, uh and when we come back,
I'm going to comment on that when I'm when I'm
not breaking the rules here, Okay, Henderson, So I just
keep listening, I'll hit it. And thanks for your call, buddy,
and I appreciate a really really good question. All right, y'all,
you're home with Dean Sharp the house Whisper. Kay if
(23:48):
I Dean Sharp the house Whisper, Welcome home, Welcome to
the program. Here we are, man. Did we burn through
three hours of time this morning talking about insurance and
claims when there's been damage to your home with my
very special in studio guests, who we will hear from
yet again in just a couple of minutes. Some closing
(24:10):
thoughts from the guys that damage law who have just
been stellar this morning helping us weed through the difficulty
of that Henderson, who was just an awesome caller, and
I ran out of time to answer his second question.
I know, I know, one question for caller, I get it.
But Henderson was a nice guy and he had a
(24:32):
real quick question about whether I how I felt about
quartz versus quartzite versus any other material on a countertop
in a kitchen. And here's what I'm going to say.
And I have spent whole shows talking about that. But
you know what, everything has its strength, everything has its weakness.
(24:55):
Sometimes its visual and esthetic strength and weakness. Sometimes it's
actually a performance strength and weakness. Quartz is the general
term we use in the industry to talk about synthetic
man made composite countertops. Doesn't sound like it should be,
(25:15):
but it is. Quartzite. Quartzite is a specific, very very
hard natural stone. I love quartzite. I love it. I
love natural stone. I'm a guy who puts hardwood counters
into I mean, my own sink countertop in my own
home is made out of two inch thick oiled black walnut. Okay, yeah,
(25:42):
around the sink. Yeah. So the point is, I get
asked to use a lot of materials, and it's all
about the vibe and the look and how they perform. Okay,
quartz products are very very high performing products. They're very dense.
They they don't have a lot of porosity, which is great.
(26:03):
Heat can affect them, but other than that, not much
else affects them. My issue with quartz is that it
never really fully looks and has the life and the
glow of a natural stone. And the reason for that
is that light isn't penetrating as deeply into it. Even
though there's real quartz granulars in there, there's also resins
(26:25):
that are opaque, the glue essentially that holds it all together,
and that shuts the light down. So you're only getting
surface light reflected back off of a quartz countertop, whereas
a quartzite countertop. We know that light can go all
the way down in and through and come back out,
and so it's not an illusion or an exaggeration when
(26:46):
somebody says, ooh, doesn't that natural stone just glow? Actually yes,
it does. Literally, yes it does. It's refracted light coming
back out, which is why natural stone is so beautiful.
So it really is a toolbox that you really have options.
There's no oh yeah, always use this, never use that. Okay,
it's just something where again I'm just going to say,
(27:06):
as I always say, open your eyes, educate yourself. We
were talking about this yesterday. There are no such thing
as bad ideas, only bad decisions. Right, You're not being
asked to make a decision when you just go out
and educate yourself and open your eyes and window shop.
Window shopping is free. Learn everything you can about what
(27:28):
it is you're about to do to your home, so
you make an informed choice and you know it's the
right one for you. That's the idea. And of course
check the podcast and you can find shows where I'm
talking about stones and all of that, and we get
into all sorts of crazy detail. But right now I
want to get back to my in studio guests. Get
(27:48):
some closing thoughts from these young guys here, Aria and
a Deer. You guys have been awesome. I'm so grateful
that you're on the show today. Any last thoughts that
you want to leave with the listeners in regards to
where they stand with this whole process of making acclaim.
(28:09):
We've covered mitigation, We've covered I mean, we've covered a
bunch of stuff. Is there anything else just floating? Around
that you want to make sure gets said.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
I think the most important thing right now is making
sure that your insurance company is allowing you to come
back to a safe and habitable home, and that everything
has been tested and cleaned and abated through protocol, and
making sure that they don't skip any steps because certain
things need to go into play before other remediations go
into place. For instance, let them asfess, this need to
(28:40):
get remediated before smoke remediation is conducted.
Speaker 4 (28:43):
So don't let them skip that step.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
Okay, So now I'm again I'm gonna I'm gonna apply
this to the to the recent fire situation here, because
I know somebody right now is saying, well, I already
know I abated that stuff from my house fifteen years ago.
We're not even talking about stuff coming from your home.
If an entire neighborhood is burnt down, the lead and
asbestos and even arsenic that you may find on your
(29:08):
property and your stuff didn't come from your property exactly.
So these are steps that have to be taken no
matter what. If we're going to do our due diligence.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
And even if your insurance company is not covering for
the testing, it's worth getting that testing done for yourself
so you know that you're safe and clear to move
back into your home.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
Anything else, my friend, Just if you have any issues
with your carrier, give us a call and we'll provide
you with free consultation, free policy review, and just you know,
we're here to help you. We want to make sure
that you get to the finish line. It's unfortunate the
situations occurred and transpired to date, but there is the
light at the end of the tunnel, and we're here
to help you get.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
There, get you all the free guidance you guys need
to get back home safe.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
All right. These guys are the founding partners of Damage Law.
They are a specialized law firm right here in southern
California dealing with exactly the kind of stuff that we've
been talking about this morning. They are full disclosure, not
sponsors of this show. I hope they become sponsors of
this show. But I can tell you right now there's
(30:16):
one reason and one reason only they are sitting with
me here today because I wanted to bring you the
very best voices and minds to help you through this situation.
And these are the guys. So if You're going to
call me or email me and say, Dean, who is
going to help me sort all of this out? Because
(30:37):
I'm still confused and I'm not sure that I'm being
treated the right way by my insurance company. Should I
call another adjuster? Should I call a public Who should
I call? And I'm telling you right now that you
need to call these guys. They will work with you.
They'll evaluate your claim for free. They'll tell you what
you need. They'll tell you whether you need them or
(30:59):
somebody else. But they are going to the same reason
people love to call in to this show so I
can help you kind of get your head on straight
and point it in the right direction. This is exactly
of what Aria and and Deer are going to do
for you in regards to your claim. So, guys, here's
your shot one more time. Tell everybody where they're going
to find you.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
You can find us at damage law dot com or
you can give us a call at eight sixty six
Damage Law and we're here to provide you, guys, all
the free services and consultation that we can provide at
this time.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Guys, thanks for being on the show Damage Law dot
Com or eight sixty six Damage Law.
Speaker 5 (31:37):
Thank you so much for having us. Dean really had
a great time.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
You guys are awesome. We'll do it again.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
Oh, we appreciate you. And Michelle, thank you guys, Thank
you both.
Speaker 2 (31:44):
All Right, y'all, I just wanted to make sure we
covered all that infro, So I do not have a
lengthy closing thought for you today. I'm just going to
tell you this. You know, due diligence in life in general,
it's all about the little things. Life is about the
little things. You cannot build a home without obsessing on
the little things, and rightly so, you can't build a
(32:06):
great life obs without obsessing on the little things that
I mean, stuff that just is easy to overlook. Kind words,
kind glances, gentle acts of kindness and appreciation. This is
what a life is built from. And today it's a
(32:26):
perfect day to get started doing exactly that. Get out
there in this gorgeous Southern California, cool sunny day and
get busy building yourself a beautiful life, and we will
see you right back here next weekend.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
This has been Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper.
Tune into the live broadcast on KFI AM six forty
every Saturday morning from six to eight Pacific time, and
every Sunday morning from nine to noon Pacific time, or
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
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