Salem

I'm sorry if this is posted elsewhere...
I am fairly new to Salem and just build my Ore Smelter about 2 weeks ago, I have only smelted in it maybe 5 times and today while playing I loaded it up and began doing other things. Suddenly I head a crumbling sound as I swing my camera around I notice my ore smelter has disappeared. This is not the first time I have had things disappear but certainly the most expensive. Is this normal? should I prepare for my ore smelter to collapse randomly in the game?
Thank you

Things that are not on a claim, will decay over time, houses slowly, other things not so slowly.

If you want to call anything truly your own, you need a claim, gathering feathers and making charms should get you enough for a decent claim in no time.

I am assuming you built your smelter in a mine? The crumbling sound you heard was probably a cave-in. I had a cave in the other day that fell on one of my smelters and destroyed it.

No, it was on the surface but the sound was similar to a collapse. I did not have a claim up at that time and have since changed that and rebuilt. Thank you for the help