tax question

[Vicki Gleitz]

we own a brake and alignment shop.  paying double on social security, as you all know, is rough.  we have also been renting out our house in Bennett. we had a little plumbing problem that caused some damage last year. during repairs, it was discovered that there was asbestos in the glue for the flooring.  long story short, insurance took care of most of it, but it took about 5 months [ shouldn't have] During this time the bottom floor was totally sealed off and our tenants all stayed upstairs and paid half rent. so, we actually wound up losing some money on renting our home.

my question is, can the money lost in our rental be deducted BEFORE figuring our social security taxes on our shop?  { i realize,probably not, but hoping]