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Death of a bicycle shop

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Death of a bicycle shop

Old 12-08-19, 08:06 AM
  #101  
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One month (almost) later update: All the details and payments are pretty much settled with the insurance company. The contents loss reimbursement (check mailed, I should see it in the next day or two) was quite good, they accepted everything I've claimed and the depreciation was less than I was expecting. Contract signed with a construction company for the rebuild. The builders are hoping to have the house damage repaired by Christmas, little things like replacement windows are on order. Construction of the new garage isn't going to happen before January, hopefully I'll be finishing the inside by early March. There will be a slight glitch in what needs to be done due to a previous owner of the house being a die-hard do-it-yourselfer with no concept of building codes whatsoever, so I'm going to have to have a water heater moved in the process.

Been hitting the Christmas sales to start picking up the replacement hand tools, got most of the basics stored away.

The most important news is that I've got a temporary replacement workshop functioning again. I'd lost electric power to the other three sheds on the property because they were tapped in thru the original garage. Thru the joys of a long heavy duty extension cord, and a dreaded dual male adaptor (yes, I can hear the comments already, I know what I'm doing here, honest) I've got a power line temporarily tapped in thru one of the outside receptacles. My small shed is a combination lawn and garden storage and woodworking shop with a small work table. Now that I've got lights and power available when I need to use it (it's unplugged otherwise), I at least have enough of a shop, and a small tool box consisting of castoffs from the former main toolboxes to enable me to at least do maintenance and repairs to the bikes currently on the road.

It's a start.
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Old 12-08-19, 11:10 AM
  #102  
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Look into a contractor type remote electrical junction box
they look like an ultra low table - have various outlets and breakers

locally they show up on CL often.

prevents problems

yes- often when permits are pulled- a code review brings add ons!

locally here- low flush toilets and glass doors for the fireplace along with checking the earthquake strapping of water heaters
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Old 12-08-19, 08:18 PM
  #103  
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Your policy has Ordinance and Law under Additional Coverages. It will provide an additional 10% of the coverage B limits for incurred expenses in order to comply with code changes. So, if there are issues, that may help.
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Old 12-08-19, 08:31 PM
  #104  
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Syke,
Send me a list of your desireables for replenishing your tools, I have multiples of things like socket style mm hex sets etc around here and need to remove some of my inventory. Smiles, MH
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Old 12-09-19, 11:13 AM
  #105  
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Originally Posted by RobbieTunes
Your policy has Ordinance and Law under Additional Coverages. It will provide an additional 10% of the coverage B limits for incurred expenses in order to comply with code changes. So, if there are issues, that may help.
The contractor's guy has made dealing with the adjustor an early priority for this week. He's given me figures based on a worst case scenario (I have to pay for it myself), and is hoping to drag it down from that point. Happily the contents settlement is good enough that even this worst case scenario is still within my budget (barely) for getting the job done. And a lot of electrical improvements to my cluster of sheds.
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Old 12-09-19, 12:45 PM
  #106  
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Originally Posted by Mad Honk
Syke,
Send me a list of your desireables for replenishing your tools, I have multiples of things like socket style mm hex sets etc around here and need to remove some of my inventory. Smiles, MH
PM following shortly.
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Old 12-09-19, 01:25 PM
  #107  
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Finished scrambling my workspace together today, glad I could put something together because I've had to fabricate a few things for putting up the outdoor Christmas lights this week seeing that the backside of the old display no longer exists. And I've got enough of a jury rigged setup that puts me back where I was fifteen years ago when I started wrenching bicycles again. Pitiful, but functional. Hey, it worked when I was putting that first Raleigh Gran Sport back on the road in '04.

In the interim, of course, I've started designing out the new shop, with the advantage that I'm going to be starting from scratch and not putting together an on-again/off-again collection of tools and equipment that I've used over the past three shops. Finally a bead blasting cabinet, 44" large tool box that'll have everything in one organized place, the workbench built into the wall at whatever size I decide I'm going to need, compressor on the other side of the building with air lines built in along the wall with multiple outlets (I'm getting a lot of inspiration from having helped my motorcycle mechanic move his business last year).

Big thing I'm mulling over in my mind right now is the repair stand. Park, of course, and yeah I'd love to end up with a PRS-3.2 but given that I'm not going to be doing anything resembling the level of work I used to do in Montpelier, I'm thinking a PCS-10.2 would probably be a more rational choice. And save me enough money for a new wheel truing stand. That is, if I go freestanding. I am giving serious consideration to using a workbench mount stand (PRS-4.2 or PCS-12) because it should give me the capability of leaving the bike up on the stand and still working on it even if Maggie has her car parked in the garage for the evening. The other big change coming is that, since I'm not stuck with the workbench that came with the garage when I bought it, Maggie will be parking her car straight rather than at an angle. This is a wide car-and-a-half garage.

Anybody in the gang using a bench mounted stand (or, wall mount, for that matter)? I can see a potential negative in that I'm going to be limited to working on a bike from one side, but then I'm usually spending my time on one side of the bike 98% of the time as is, so I'm wondering just how big a negative that is.. Opinions here are very welcome.
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Old 12-09-19, 01:38 PM
  #108  
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I've lurked this thread, off and on. When I built my most recent shop, from scratch, I put receptacles every four feet, and a meter high, along all four walls. The workbench comes in just below socket height. I have only high praise for my decision
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Old 12-09-19, 02:37 PM
  #109  
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Originally Posted by seedsbelize
I've lurked this thread, off and on. When I built my most recent shop, from scratch, I put receptacles every four feet, and a meter high, along all four walls. The workbench comes in just below socket height. I have only high praise for my decision
Definitely going to do it that way on the workbench side. And double plugs on either side of the windows. Probably go for standard height on the opposite side, as I'm planning on having next to nothing over here (other than the compressor in the corner) so Maggie can park her car fairly tight against the wall.
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Old 12-09-19, 03:25 PM
  #110  
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So sorry to hear about the fire, but happy to see the progress on the new shop! This new shop is sounding pretty good!
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Old 12-09-19, 07:45 PM
  #111  
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syke,
As I got older I move from one set to another and finally got to where I wanted, with a full box of Mac tools, and then my dealer went away. Now getting weekly visits from Snap-on and getting bits and pieces from pawn shops. The Blackhawk tools are New Britain made and were Mac's second line. Gear Wrench is China made like the new Craftsman. Found the tire irons, and the old skool Parks have served me well for thirty years (may the do the same for you). Bits are Kobalt, the same ones I bought for our co-op. Again same quality as the new Craftsman. I'll see the Snap-on truck tomorrow, and look for a a better ratchet. Do yourself a favor though* and go look in the local pawn shop for some of the tools you will be replacing, I think I paid about $3 for those gear wrench items and they are $15 on the GW truck. Smiles, MH
*couldn't resist after 8+ hours of hearing old phone calls today in the shop
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Old 12-09-19, 07:54 PM
  #112  
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Syke, Consider placing the floor mount at the end of the bench, gives you the full bench for other project and the bike stand next to your tools and work space. And the top of the floor mount can be detached if needed for extra room. Smiles, MH
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Old 12-10-19, 05:13 AM
  #113  
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Skye, we have an LBS locally here that is in an old house with open beam ceilings. They mounted their Parks work stand to one of the open beams. It hangs down to the right height and they work on bikes but keep the floor area open. I'd consider such a thing. Maybe spec one double or triple rafter to bolt the stand to.

A side benefit is, if you need to hoist something heavy like to pull an engine, you have a triple beam to wrap the chain fall or block n tackle around. I have a triple floor joist in my shop's ceiling. I can pull and engine. I've even used it to jack a bent tail gate back straight-ish, jacked it down against the floor.
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Old 12-10-19, 10:36 PM
  #114  
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Originally Posted by RobbieTunes
Definitely.

Inventory lists go to places like National Vendor or Enservio for research on pricing, so if you're specific, they'll look it up. If not, they'll generalize it. Be specific. If you have to spend 40 hours compiling an inventory, you'll probably see a week's pay in additional indemnity, just by being accurate and specific.

Start in one corner of the garage/shop. Move from the ceiling to the floor, or vice versa, foot by foot, container by container, items on the floor, hanging on the wall, etc. Don't skip bar wrap, small parts, or the containers they may be in. Move foot by foot clockwise. Once you go over the walls, move into the floor space and do 4'x4' squares and try to remember what was on the floor in that space. Think about the loft or overhead storage if you had it. The garage is the easy part, structurally. Try to come up with an accurate age, and remember that some things appreciate and some depreciate. You won't get appreciated value higher than a new replacement item, but some things won't be depreciated. There may be special limits, and if there are, and they're quoted, ask for the written limit. If you've run a bike shop or fixed any bikes for pay, or flipped them, understand that "used at any time, in any way, for business purposes" may put a limit on some things. It's not malicious, it's just the way it is.

Most of these policies pay actual cash value up front with a 180-day provision to replace the items and get the remainder, called recoverable depreciation. Take the cash value for what you want, replace what you want, and keep records, but don't push that 180-day limit. Be talking to them in 120 days to keep it fresh.

If you have questions, PM me. I do this for a living. My info is first hand.

To the OP, I'm sorry to read this.

To Robbie - please consider a seperate post detailing what could be typically covered under a policy. Building values, general contents, riders for special items, etc. I bet many here are underinsured. Adding riders for our toys is not expensive, but you do need to be specific. I'm not an agent, but my wife is, thus my second hand info. Some detailed information would be most helpful to many here. Thanks.
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Old 12-11-19, 07:41 AM
  #115  
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Originally Posted by Prowler
Skye, we have an LBS locally here that is in an old house with open beam ceilings. They mounted their Parks work stand to one of the open beams. It hangs down to the right height and they work on bikes but keep the floor area open. I'd consider such a thing. Maybe spec one double or triple rafter to bolt the stand to.

A side benefit is, if you need to hoist something heavy like to pull an engine, you have a triple beam to wrap the chain fall or block n tackle around. I have a triple floor joist in my shop's ceiling. I can pull and engine. I've even used it to jack a bent tail gate back straight-ish, jacked it down against the floor.
Damn, that is an idea! Thanks, I'd have never thought of it. Amazing how wedded one can get to a certain concept, like the bike stand is mounted on the floor.
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Old 12-11-19, 07:49 AM
  #116  
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Originally Posted by OldDog1
To the OP, I'm sorry to read this.

To Robbie - please consider a seperate post detailing what could be typically covered under a policy. Building values, general contents, riders for special items, etc. I bet many here are underinsured. Adding riders for our toys is not expensive, but you do need to be specific. I'm not an agent, but my wife is, thus my second hand info. Some detailed information would be most helpful to many here. Thanks.
First thing I'll add to something like that is the the old saw that "the insurance company is out to rip you off to preserve their own profitability" ain't necessarily true. The settlements I've received so far have been beyond my (admittedly modest and cynical) expectations. And I'm not a long term customer with these guys either, having only switched over to them about 26 months ago. Other than my initial worries about a few (turned out to be boilerplate) comments on the part of the adjuster mentioned very early in this thread, the guy has been very good to deal with, and is working with the recovery firm on an almost frictionless basis.

Right now the biggest out of pocket I'm looking at is a serious electrical upgrade in the building from what was there previously, which I've expected to cost me a few bucks (1991 built garages didn't exactly come wired for charging electric cars). Turns out the adjuster is justifying the physical labor to one of my upgrades (separate lines to the other three outbuildings on the property) on the basis that the original conduit running power into the garage is unusable, so they're going to have to retrench. Which will just happen to carry my upgraded wiring in it, as well as the replacement for the original. I definitely cannot complain.
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Old 12-11-19, 07:55 AM
  #117  
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Originally Posted by mad honk
syke,
as i got older i move from one set to another and finally got to where i wanted, with a full box of mac tools, and then my dealer went away. Now getting weekly visits from snap-on and getting bits and pieces from pawn shops. The blackhawk tools are new britain made and were mac's second line. Gear wrench is china made like the new craftsman. Found the tire irons, and the old skool parks have served me well for thirty years (may the do the same for you). Bits are kobalt, the same ones i bought for our co-op. Again same quality as the new craftsman. I'll see the snap-on truck tomorrow, and look for a a better ratchet. Do yourself a favor though* and go look in the local pawn shop for some of the tools you will be replacing, i think i paid about $3 for those gear wrench items and they are $15 on the gw truck. Smiles, mh
*couldn't resist after 8+ hours of hearing old phone calls today in the shop
wow!!!
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Old 12-11-19, 10:42 AM
  #118  
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It ain't much, but I am finally wrenching again.


The small 10x20 shed, normally used to store lawn and garden, reenactment camping gear, and an often used wood shop.
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Old 12-11-19, 11:46 AM
  #119  
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Originally Posted by sykerocker
The small 10x20 shed...
Some of us would kill for an extra space that size. Just sayin' that things are relative.

Glad to see you back in the groove.
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Old 12-11-19, 12:23 PM
  #120  
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Originally Posted by thumpism
Some of us would kill for an extra space that size. Just sayin' that things are relative.

Glad to see you back in the groove.
The one next to it is 12 x 20 with a foot higher sidewalls. That right half is the attic that the house doesn't have, and the left half is my bicycle collection.

Things are definitely relative. My garage shed in Montpelier was 12x32, garage door on the end, and was totally devoted to the bicycle shop. I was running up to three work stands at a time there. I still miss it. When I had the garage dropped onto the yard at the current house, motorcycle storage took precedence.
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“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”

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Old 12-12-19, 01:54 PM
  #121  
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I'm so sorry I can't even imagine how hard that must be
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Old 12-13-19, 08:57 AM
  #122  
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Originally Posted by WDE_aubs
I'm so sorry I can't even imagine how hard that must be
Once the initial shock wore off, it's all a matter of things coming back together, step by step. Step one was the clearing of the area. It was a big load off my wife's mind to not have to look at all that charred wood anymore. Step two should be finished today. While I'm writing this the contractor is in the kitchen replacing #3 of the four windows on the house that didn't survive the fire. #4 should be done by the end of the afternoon if the (previously unexpected) all-day rain doesn't mess up his working schedule. That'll take care of the light in the house, probably take care of the air leaks, and get us to the point that, from the inside of the house, all the damage is fixed.

Hopefully, the crew will get started on the outside of the house next week and have the house done by Christmas. Which will be a BIG load off our minds.

Garage construction is definitely not starting before the first of the year. I'm hoping to have the garage done, inside and out, by 1 April at which time I start restocking the workshop.
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Old 12-15-19, 07:22 PM
  #123  
Mad Honk 
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Syke,
When they put the electrical in the new "grude" * make sure it is the highest amp box they can fit. I'm not sure how high the panel is that they will be feeding off from, but the current models here are to put in a 400 amp panel in the main and then split off a 200 amp panel to the garage and a 100 to out buildings. Most newer homes will use up a 200 amp panel just to feed all of the home electronics, and they typically use 20 amp breakers for each room even though the usage is far less. In our fair city they ask us to use 20 amp breakers to feed all circuts. Basically overkill but far less chance for over load and damage. The electric codes are changing about as fast as I do underwear, so get accurate info on those as you rebuild.
On some of those parts that were in the burn, I have found that I can use Strypeze paint stripper to remove most of the burn damage on the parts. It seems to work well on the parts that had plastic on them like handle bars and even the screws on shift bosses. A light Dremel tooling at low speeds will also speed the cleaning process to renew the chrome, and clean the rust out of the threads. Tedious and time consuming but these days I have way more time than $. HTH, MH

* Kentucky speak for: garage
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Old 12-16-19, 10:33 PM
  #124  
slow_runner
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Originally Posted by sykerocker
Took a bunch today while I was doing the first pass on the contents claim (up to $7000.00 replacement already), and I haven't gotten into the bicycle parts yet. In fact, I'm still digging (via memory) thru the tool boxes. They're locked shut from the heat and warpage.

This one is shot straight down the seat tube. Notice the curve to the left of the frame, with about a 15 degree lean to the left on the steerer tube?

Seat tube from the front. The rear triangle is angled a good 30 degrees to the left from the seat post bolt.

Rear hub. I'm definitely going to pull the SA hub and sometime later try to save it. It freaked me out how the spokes gave from the heat. That was a perfectly trued wheel at one time.

No sidewall cracking?

A better view of the rear triangle showing how the heat warped it.

The fork, amazingly, doesn't look all that bad. Here again, you can see the twist in the frame.

The bike is not getting tossed. I fully intend to tear it down and hopefully can save the components. I figure the crank and brake parts can eventually be rechromed. Bars seem to be pretty decent. There's a bag of parts sitting in my office that was a later shipment from the seller, supposedly the remaining missing brake bits and some other things. I was going to finally open the bag Tuesday and start installing them.
My eyes aren't what they used to be Sykes but it occurs to me that perhaps a lot of the disfigurement (??) is that the brazed lugs have let go in the heat and the frame has reset according to inherent stresses and how the bike lay.
Maybe the frame is closer to redemption than what first appears?
Or maybe I am talking through a hole in my head?

Best wishes to you and yours.

Last edited by slow_runner; 12-16-19 at 11:25 PM.
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Old 12-17-19, 08:52 AM
  #125  
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Originally Posted by slow_runner
My eyes aren't what they used to be Sykes but it occurs to me that perhaps a lot of the disfigurement (??) is that the brazed lugs have let go in the heat and the frame has reset according to inherent stresses and how the bike lay.
Maybe the frame is closer to redemption than what first appears?
Or maybe I am talking through a hole in my head?

Best wishes to you and yours.
We'll find out in the next six months or so. The bike definitely was not thrown out, and once the garage is built and what salvaged tools are cleaned up and put back to use, I'm going to tear the frame down at least for the components, and see if I can do anything with it.
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“No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”

H.L. Mencken, (1926)

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