7 Things We Learned When Our House Was Turned Upside Down: Our Experience With a Major Insurance Claim
There are some things you only learn through experience.
This was one of them.
We hope you never find yourself in a situation like ours. But if you ever do, we hope what we learned along the way makes it just a little easier to navigate.
A Thursday We Didn't Expect
A couple of weeks before Christmas in 2024, we came home after work expecting an ordinary Thursday.
Instead, we noticed the bottoms of our feet were completely black.
At first, we assumed someone had tracked something inside.
Then we looked closer.
As we walked through the house, we realized there was a fine layer of black soot on nearly every surface. Furniture. Walls. Countertops. Light fixtures. Even our bedrooms.
Our cat, Tucker, had black soot on his paws and belly too.
We had no idea where it came from or what came next.
What Actually Happened?
Earlier that day, a heating contractor had been performing routine maintenance on our natural gas boiler.
During the cleaning, his vacuum hose became disconnected, allowing fine soot particles to escape.
By the time we got home, the soot had traveled from our basement to nearly every level of our home.
Until that day, we'd never even heard the term boiler puffback.
What Is a Boiler Puffback?
A boiler puffback occurs when soot escapes from a heating system and spreads throughout a home.
Because soot particles are microscopic, they don't stay in one room. They travel through the air and settle almost everywhere.
In our case, soot was found on furniture, walls, ceilings, inside cabinets, closets, drawers, light fixtures, and even upstairs in our bedrooms.
What surprised us most was learning that soot isn't just black dust.
It can contain harmful compounds produced during combustion, it's combustible, and it's much more difficult to clean than most people realize. The particles are incredibly fine, and trying to wipe them away with household cleaners can actually spread the residue or make staining worse.
That's why significant soot contamination is typically handled by professional restoration companies rather than traditional cleaning services.
The Restoration Process
The very next morning, a restoration crew arrived.
Within hours, nearly everything we owned was being carefully packed into boxes.
Over the next several months:
Our carpets were removed.
Every wall and ceiling was professionally scrubbed and cleaned.
Every inch of our home was repainted.
Thousands of personal belongings were individually restored through ultrasonic cleaning at Servpro’s contents restoration facility, while others could not be salvaged.
We moved out while our home was restored.
What started as routine boiler maintenance became nearly three months of restoration.
The Part That Was Hardest
The restoration itself was extensive.
The harder part was everything happening around it.
Eight days after the puffback, we found out we were expecting Henry.
We were suddenly navigating early pregnancy while coordinating restoration crews, managing an major insurance claim, and trying to keep life as normal as possible for Sophia.
We were incredibly fortunate that Sam's parents welcomed our little family into their home for nearly three months.
Meanwhile, my parents took Tucker in while our house was being restored, giving him a safe place to stay until we could all be back together again.
Having our families step in the way they did is something we'll always be grateful for.
There were also so many belongings to sort through.
Some things were replaceable, even if replacing them felt overwhelming.
Sophia's toys.
Her baby items.
Her crib mattress.
Clothes.
Pantry staples.
Toiletries.
Cleaning supplies.
Pens.
Paper clips.
All of the little things you don't think about until they're suddenly gone.
Other things couldn't simply be replaced.
Our public insurance adjuster's team ultimately inventoried nearly 2,000 items throughout the process.
It wasn't just restoring our house.
It was rebuilding everyday life.
A Lesson in Perspective
Around the same time, the California wildfires were dominating the news.
Watching families lose everything reminded us to keep our own experience in perspective.
Our home could be restored.
Our family was safe.
We had somewhere to go.
We had parents who opened their homes without hesitation.
We had friends who checked in.
We had people willing to help.
That didn't make our situation easy, but it gave us a tremendous sense of gratitude throughout the entire process.
The People We'll Never Forget
One of the biggest lessons had nothing to do with soot.
It was people.
Family welcomed us in.
Friends checked in…dropping off meals and clothing for us.
Neighbors offered help and shared comfort food.
The restoration professionals cared for our home as if it were their own. They even let me “cry it out” without judgement when I was feeling overwhelmed!
Our public insurance adjuster guided us through every step of the insurance claim, answered countless questions, advocated on our behalf, and helped inventory nearly everything we owned.
Until this happened, we didn't even know public insurance adjusters existed.
Now they're one of the first recommendations we'd give to anyone facing a major home insurance claim.
What We Learned
1. Hire ONLY licensed and insured professionals.
Even routine maintenance can come with unexpected risks. Knowing the people working in your home are properly licensed and insured matters.
2. Have a local insurance agent you trust.
When something unexpected happens, being able to call someone who knows your policy—and knows you—can make an overwhelming situation much easier to navigate.
3. Know what a public insurance adjuster does.
Before this happened, we had never even heard of a public insurance adjuster.
Looking back, we can't imagine going through a major insurance claim without one (huge shoutout to Brian Horowitz with Young Adjustment Company!!). Brian and his team helped advocate on our behalf, guided us through the process, and made an overwhelming situation feel much more manageable.
4. Document your home before you ever need to.
Walk through your home once or twice a year with your phone.
Open cabinets.
Open drawers.
Open closets.
Capture furniture, artwork, décor, and all of the everyday things that make your house feel like home.
You'll hope you never need those videos but you'll be incredibly thankful to have them if you ever do.
5. Build your team before you need them.
Whether it's a trusted contractor, restoration company, insurance professional, or REALTOR®, having people you trust before something unexpected happens makes all the difference.
6. Community matters more than you realize.
This experience reminded us that homes are about so much more than walls and furniture.
They're about the people inside them.
And the people who show up when life doesn't go according to plan.
Our families, friends, neighbors, and the professionals who helped us carried us through one of the most challenging seasons of our lives, and we'll always be grateful for their kindness.
7. Keep your important documents in one secure place.
When your home is suddenly packed into boxes or you have to leave in a hurry, the last thing you want to do is search for passports, birth certificates, Social Security cards, checkbooks, insurance policies, medical records, or other important paperwork.
Having one dedicated, easy-to-grab place for those essentials can save an incredible amount of stress during an already overwhelming time.
Whether it's a fireproof safe, a locking file box, or another secure location, it's one of those small things you'll hopefully never need but you'll be incredibly glad you have if you ever do.
If We Can Help, Please Reach Out
We sincerely hope you never experience anything like this.
But if you ever find yourself dealing with a boiler puffback, soot damage, or another unexpected home emergency, please know you don't have to navigate it alone.
One of the biggest blessings to come from this experience was finding incredible professionals who cared deeply about helping our family through it.
If you're ever looking for a trusted public insurance adjuster, restoration company, or local insurance agent, we'd be more than happy to share the people we trust.
Sometimes the hardest part is simply knowing who to call first.
If we can help point you in the right direction, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Sam Pitkow
The Pitkow Team | Compass Real Estate
📞 (215) 370-3093
Whether you have a question, need a recommendation, or just aren't sure where to start, we're always happy to help.
