Cleaning up a suicide

This was the other low point to my day. After failing to clean the Ultimate Challenge house, I drove over to meet the owner dealing with the roommate's suicide. I will not post any pictures until I get permission from the family of the deceased out of respect, but if you want to see it, I can do so maybe tomorrow after I sit down with them.

Anyway, here are the details. Young military kid in his early 20's committed suicide using a .308 caliber rifle under the chin Friday night. The roommate came home and thought he had gotten drunk and passed out. At first, he thought the guy was lying in vomit until he got closer and saw the reality.

The bullet passed through the skull and into the hallway before lodging into the wall. The contamination was mainly to the floor where the skull was resting with some splatter to the wall behind him and part of the ceiling. It didn't look like a very difficult job to re-mediate to me from what I have done in the past.

Basically, the carpet, pad, and affected drywall would all be removed and placed into sealed bio containers. The wood flooring might be saved depending on how much liquid was involved. I have seen some that could be sanded out and refinished and some that had to replace completely. The entire job would have to done following proper haz-mat ppe and containment protocols, but that isn't a big deal. A good cleaning / deodorizing when done and you are golden.

I told the owner that if I still had a disposal resource, I could probably do the job for around $10,000. Maybe even less if the flooring could be saved.

He showed me the estimate given to him by a National Company that works this area....I about choked. Here it is....you tell me, is this rational to you? Mind you, the house is worth $152,000 and the damage was done to a 12x12 bedroom and about 3 feet into the hallway.



To be fair, these guys do this for a living and will be coming from a neighboring state, but the numbers and remediation plan concerns me. They told the owner that every single porous item in that room and hallway would have to be ripped out and sealed into containers for disposal. That includes the carpet, pad, flooring, all the drywall, the furniture, and even the clothing in the closets. Basically, they plan to rebuild that part of the house. I can't grasp this decision unless the victim had a serious underlying condition like HIV or something which made the exposure a greater risk...which he did not.

When I mentioned that insurance companies will only cover 60-70% of this kind of job (my experience anyway) the company said that they would still do the job for that new amount. To me, that is a major red flag and one of the problems I have with disaster companies.

How good is your estimate really if you would still take the job for 60%? Are you going to skip parts of the job or take a pay cut? To me, that means that the estimate has been padded by a huge mark up.

This kid was a Marine as is the roommate who is now worried about losing the house if the insurance company doesn't cover the expense. I can't let that go, so I will be speaking with the insurance companies, the health department, and the remediation company Monday to see if a solution can be found.

IF the insurance company covers the whole cost, fine get it done and enjoy the markup. If the owner has to come up with tens of thousands out of pocket, I'm doing the job instead. There is no way that someone should have to face losing their home for the actions of the roommate.....something is really wrong with that.

Thats crazy its going to cost them 1/3 of the value of the entire home to clean that up. Sound slike that company is taking advantage of the situation. Scum bags

I feel the same way Mo, it pisses me off. Maybe I am wrong, but it sure feels like vampires to me.

Wow.....

I believe in Canada there are 3rd party advising companies that protect the insured from rip offs. They know the cost for remediation; water, fire,.... These companies know the pricing guidelines and insurance Co. like them too.
Times like this, wish we had them down south.

I agree Matt, the problem with disaster companies is that they know they already have the customer at a huge advantage and they prey on it.

I have estimated a murder-suicide job once at a rural farm house that included 4 rooms. In that case, it was not cost effective and they just burnt the place down and rebuilt. Things can get very expensive.

In this case, it is a simple bedroom with floor and one wall affected.....$55,000 plus sales tax??? I think I would just wall off that bedroom and build a new addition with a below ground pool instead.

(Warning:  Graphic Pictures of Suicide Scene)

For those interested in getting into the death / crime scene business, this may be helpful.  For those that just are curious about this thread and why the estimate was over 55k plus taxes...here you go.

I took some photos today to get a better understanding of the job's details.  We are still waiting to hear from the insurance company as well, but I really don't see more than about $10,000 in damage.

WARNING, the pictures are graphic, especially the floor.  Some people are not affected by these kind of things, but if you are a little uncomfortable with such things, don't scroll down.











Despite the appearance, I don't see anything approaching 55k dollars.  Replacement of all drywall, replace carpet and pad, cut out affected flooring and replace, deodorize, and paint to preference.  The disposal fees are unknown right now and there is also the need to tent off the room under negative pressure.....basic haz-mat procedures.

Very interesting Bob.Makes you wonder what other contamination there might be that isn't visible to eye like splatter in the closets.

What will the negative pressure in the room accomplish? Is it like tenting for bugs?

There will always be some surprises once you start getting into the clean up, but at this point, I think replacing all the drywall is in order. It ensures that nothing is missed and not all that costly. The rest of the materials would be replaced as well.

The negative pressure is established with special air scrubbers that I use which consist of multiple filters including a true HEPA drum and 6 inch thick charcoal to absorb odors and chemicals.

It just makes certain that anything you send airborne will be collected and trapped in the HEPA drum and reduce the smell at the same time. Neighbors would thank me greatly on the smell part.

Well, we got it settled. The insurance has agreed to cover the expenses at a reduced amount and we located a local company that has agreed to do the job for that reduced amount.

The family wants me to check in on the job, but otherwise, I am off the hook. So, it looks like all will be happy except the family of the person who died. I can't help with that part.

How come you didn't do it?

My insurance company would not endorse me. I offered to work as a "consultant", but in the end, it was probably better if I sat this one out.