SUPERIOR, Colo — A man who lost his home in the Marshall Fire wonders if he'll be able to afford the cost to rebuild after Boulder County's contractor removed his foundation against his request.
If no one will cover the cost of a new foundation, Adam Ciesielski said, the mistake would likely force him to sell his lot and move.
Ciesielski lived in Original Town, Superior. He said insurance will only cover one-third of the cost to rebuild his home, so he became hopeful when an engineering company told him some of his foundation could be saved. That option would have trimmed a big chunk off the price to rebuild his home.
New Rome Enterprises LLC estimated a brand new foundation would cost Ciesielski more than $100,000.
"They said I could save about 80% of it," he said. "They just had to take off the top 16 inches and drill into it and they could reuse the original foundation."
New Rome found Ciesielski's foundation had localized areas of damage in need of replacement or repair, according to salesman TJ Rapoport, but the bulk of his foundation was mostly undamaged and could be reused.
Rapoport said the company has looked at 50 foundations damaged after the Marshall Fire. About one in four were a total loss, he said.
"For three out of four, there were some good reasons from an engineering perspective, timeline and money to at least consider saving the foundation when the damage was localized and could be repaired," he said.
Based on the findings from New Rome, when Ciesielski filled out his right-of-entry form, he asked the county to tell crews not to remove his foundation.
"I got my hopes up and I had the structural engineer write a letter. I sent the letter to the debris removal email and they got confirmation. I called [the county] about 10 times," he said.
But in late May, Boulder County’s vendor DRC removed the foundation.
"I probably will have to sell the lot and I might end up having to move back to the East Coast with my family," he said.
It's been more than a month since the mistake, and Ciesielski still doesn't know if anyone will help him pay for a new foundation. Emails show Boulder County's recovery manager said on May 25 that they were working with the state to find a solution.
Ciesielski said the last email he received from the county was on June 21. That email said, "a letter is currently being drafted and will be sent shortly to you that communicates the position of the State, County and Town."
He said he still had not been contacted eight days after that email.
The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is working with Boulder County to determine the financial loss of the foundation being removed.
Division spokesperson Micki Trost said it is very unlikely the foundation could have been rebuilt upon.
The state and county are determining the financial loss by working with the insurance company to determine the impact to the insurance coverage as well as builders to determine if the foundation would have been determined safe enough to rebuild on, according to Trost.
Trost said Ciesielski did everything right, and the state contractor provided all of the paperwork to DRC showing the foundation should not be removed. DRC then removed the foundation.
"I really just want my foundation back and be able to rebuild on it," Ciesielski said.
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