As you can tell from some of the responses, emotions do come into play and just add a layer of complexity to everything.  

Hi All,After inspecting the attic and talking to the tenants, who were generally very calm about it, I discovered a thin layer of soot from the original sheathing material on most everything in the attic.The main thing that is claimed as ruined is a baby mattress for the crib, which I offered to replace.

Excessive risk layering, like (in my industry) when someone has a low credit score AND spotty employment history AND minimal down payment AND minimal savings.

Same for a carpenter, carpet layer, etc.What a bunch of malarkey.  

And now you have to find carpenters or painters or carpet layers to do work in two days?  

For instance, a new shingle roof layer can go up for $200/sq (100sqft).

It gets into the walls and ceilings and adds a layer of tar on the walls that have to be manually cleaned to get rid of. 

Putting on a new layer of shingles could be considered a repair rather than an improvement.The basic idea of improvements is that it adds to the life of the building.

It does a good job demonstrating the challenges of answering peoples' questions about how a syndication will affect their income tax.I must add, that I like the tax benefits from layering syndications. 

Low fuel prices have masked some other increases.