No matter what you use the basement of your home for, odds are pretty good that a leak would be a sizeable issue for you. You might have old furniture or other belongings down there or you might use it as a guest bedroom or just a playroom for the kids. Getting rid of the leak should be the first thing on your mind, but preventing future leaks should be a close second and there are a few different ways that you can do this.
Leaking plumbing needs to be replaced as soon as possible and the pipes need to be insulated to prevent condensation from building up on them and dripping onto the floor.
Wet basements are usually caused by water leaking in around the corners. This happens mostly after there has been a heavy rain or a heavy snowfall that starts to melt. This water will collect around the foundation of the home and causes pressure on the walls and as the walls give, the water is forced through that joint.
Finding out if the problem comes from the outside or the inside is not difficult to do. To determine which it is, you need to duct tape a piece of aluminum foil to the wall in your basement that is most prone to being wet and you should make sure that this is as airtight as possible. Wait a few days and check which side of the foil is wet. If it is the inside, then the problem is coming from the outside and if it is the outside, then your problem lies with condensation. Check out getting a dehumidifier to help fix this problem and do your best to lower the humidity in your basement. Install a vent so steam from a dryer or a shower that you may have down there will have a place to go. You should also never hang clothes up to dry in your basement.
Something else that you can do is install downspout extensions to help the water flow away from your home instead of settling down around the foundation in a pocket that will cause the aforementioned seepage.
Waterproofing paint or other compounds can be applied to areas of the home where occasional seepage occurs and it will be enough to keep the area dry. Determine the limitations of the waterproofing product that you choose and know just what you can expect from it.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Connecticut Mold Remediation services and
flood and water damage cleanup companies across the united states.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Taking Care of Water Damaged Documents
After you find that it is safe to return to your home after a hurricane or a flood, one of the first things you are going to want to do is find all the legal papers and other important paper items in your home that you need to salvage. This can include all kinds of things that might be valuable to you, such as an only copy of a writer’s manuscript or anything else that may hold monetary or sentimental value.
As soon as you get back to the home, you need to be careful about the electrical hazards that may exist since there is probably still standing water somewhere in the home. The carpet is probably soaked and hardwood floors are likely to be, as well, so you need to make sure that the electricity to your home is completely off before you re-enter. After you do that, find whatever documents you need to find and lift them very carefully out of any water they may be in. The documents that are the highest priority to you should be removed and taken care of first. Put them onto a flat surface of some kind for drying and hope that you got to them before the mold did. As long as you remove your papers from water within 48 hours, they should be safe from mold contamination. Once mold starts to grow on papers like these, they usually cannot be saved.
The standing water in the house needs to be removed as soon as possible and in different seasons, the humidity needs to be adjusted a certain way. In the winter, the heat should be turned off to reduce indoor humidity and in the summer the air conditioning needs to be turned down to around 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Some documents that have been in the water for a long time will need to be freeze dried in order to save them. If you have some money on your hands, this is not usually a big problem. Purchasing some freezer paper and finding a strong cardboard box to put them in is the first step to this. Wrap your documents in the freezer paper to stop them from sticking together and put them in the box. One of the most important things is to try and keep like-sized items packed together. Books on books and single papers on single papers should work just fine. Label the outside of it with your contact information and a list of the contents.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
damage restoration companies and
mold removal companies across the united states.
As soon as you get back to the home, you need to be careful about the electrical hazards that may exist since there is probably still standing water somewhere in the home. The carpet is probably soaked and hardwood floors are likely to be, as well, so you need to make sure that the electricity to your home is completely off before you re-enter. After you do that, find whatever documents you need to find and lift them very carefully out of any water they may be in. The documents that are the highest priority to you should be removed and taken care of first. Put them onto a flat surface of some kind for drying and hope that you got to them before the mold did. As long as you remove your papers from water within 48 hours, they should be safe from mold contamination. Once mold starts to grow on papers like these, they usually cannot be saved.
The standing water in the house needs to be removed as soon as possible and in different seasons, the humidity needs to be adjusted a certain way. In the winter, the heat should be turned off to reduce indoor humidity and in the summer the air conditioning needs to be turned down to around 65 degrees Fahrenheit.
Some documents that have been in the water for a long time will need to be freeze dried in order to save them. If you have some money on your hands, this is not usually a big problem. Purchasing some freezer paper and finding a strong cardboard box to put them in is the first step to this. Wrap your documents in the freezer paper to stop them from sticking together and put them in the box. One of the most important things is to try and keep like-sized items packed together. Books on books and single papers on single papers should work just fine. Label the outside of it with your contact information and a list of the contents.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
damage restoration companies and
mold removal companies across the united states.
Refrigerator Cleanliness and Mold
Keeping a healthy and happy home is hard enough without having to deal with mold in your home and around your food. Most of us have enough problems with our kids and spouses eating healthy and having healthy lifestyles without having to worry about the mold that grows in our refrigerators. We are typically too busy to think about cleaning out our refrigerators most of the time, but this really needs to be done at least once every few months to discourage mold and mildew from residing in one of the most important appliances that we own.
Make sure that you know what things in your refrigerator need to be replaced. This includes items that are outdated or are obviously contaminated with mold. Depending on the item, it may or may not be able to be saved after mold starts to grow on it. In fact, most items in the refrigerator cannot be saved after mold begins to grow. This is usually because most items in our refrigerators are very moist and porous, which allows the mold to infect the entire container of food.
Very moist items are things like mayonnaise, sour cream, jellies, jams, and anything else that you can scoop out with a spoon. Unfortunately, not only moist items are affected heavily by mold. Porous items (items that are not very dense) are also heavily affected, such as meats and dairy products, such as individually sliced cheese or shredded cheese.
Any eggs in the refrigerator that are cracked before we intend to use them should be thrown away, since the shell is what protects the inside of the egg from bacteria.
Fruits and vegetables need to be checked for mold regularly and anything that has mold on it should be thrown away immediately before it has a chance to infect everything else around it. Clean out your fruit and vegetable drawers as often as you need to in order to keep the free of decaying matter like stray lettuce scraps.
Actually cleaning out the refrigerator is a time consuming task and can take a few hours. Begin by taking everything out of the refrigerator and setting it aside. Remove everything in the refrigerator that can be removed, such as shelves, drawers, and racks. Wash these in the sink with warm, soapy water if you can fit them there and allow them to dry. Wash every surface that cannot be removed and rinse it thoroughly. Replace all the items from the sink and go through all the food you took out to clear out the outdated items. Wash the bottoms of jars that have become sticky before putting them back.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration companies and
Dallas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors.
Make sure that you know what things in your refrigerator need to be replaced. This includes items that are outdated or are obviously contaminated with mold. Depending on the item, it may or may not be able to be saved after mold starts to grow on it. In fact, most items in the refrigerator cannot be saved after mold begins to grow. This is usually because most items in our refrigerators are very moist and porous, which allows the mold to infect the entire container of food.
Very moist items are things like mayonnaise, sour cream, jellies, jams, and anything else that you can scoop out with a spoon. Unfortunately, not only moist items are affected heavily by mold. Porous items (items that are not very dense) are also heavily affected, such as meats and dairy products, such as individually sliced cheese or shredded cheese.
Any eggs in the refrigerator that are cracked before we intend to use them should be thrown away, since the shell is what protects the inside of the egg from bacteria.
Fruits and vegetables need to be checked for mold regularly and anything that has mold on it should be thrown away immediately before it has a chance to infect everything else around it. Clean out your fruit and vegetable drawers as often as you need to in order to keep the free of decaying matter like stray lettuce scraps.
Actually cleaning out the refrigerator is a time consuming task and can take a few hours. Begin by taking everything out of the refrigerator and setting it aside. Remove everything in the refrigerator that can be removed, such as shelves, drawers, and racks. Wash these in the sink with warm, soapy water if you can fit them there and allow them to dry. Wash every surface that cannot be removed and rinse it thoroughly. Replace all the items from the sink and go through all the food you took out to clear out the outdated items. Wash the bottoms of jars that have become sticky before putting them back.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration companies and
Dallas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors.
Prevention of Mold on Your Belongings
All kinds of things in your home can be affected by mold, but you can do quite a few things to protect them and restore them if you do a little research. A lot of molded items can be cleaned and saved, but there are a few that just have to be thrown away.
If mold gets on anything made of real leather it cannot be restored. Leather is a piece of porous organic material and mold decomposes items like this pretty quickly. It will discolor the leather and this discoloration cannot be repaired in 99 percent of cases.
Baby bottles come in strange shapes these days and are very often difficult to get completely dry. Water bottles and other beverage containers that we may have in our cabinets come in shapes just as strange and if you do not have a dishwasher with a dry cycle, it can be pretty hard to get these dry without a good amount of effort. The solution to this problem is to place these bottles in the freezer until you are ready to use them again. This prevents mold from growing on it, since mold does not grow in freezing temperatures.
Something else that causes mold to grow on your belongings, especially clothes, is the simple act of throwing wet clothing on the floor or into the back of the closet and forgetting about them. Most people do not wash wet clothes immediately; we tend to just throw them on the floor and then throw dry clothes on top of them. This usually causes the dry clothes to become moldy if we leave them there more than a day or two. Not only does it cause the clothes on top of them to become moldy, but if the wet items were thrown directly onto carpet, the carpet can become just as moldy. Once carpet is molded, it usually needs to be taken up and replaced, but the padding underneath always needs to be removed because it cannot be cleaned.
If you have a lot of clothes in your closet, maybe you need to make sure that you do not pack them into the closet so tight that the air cannot circulate. The clothes insulate each other and create warmth in the closet where mold can start growing after just a few days. Some closets come with vents installed to prevent this problem, but if yours does not, you should probably find another way to store your clothes or get rid of the ones that you do not use.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Florida water damage restoration companies and
Miami Water Damage Restoration. contractors
If mold gets on anything made of real leather it cannot be restored. Leather is a piece of porous organic material and mold decomposes items like this pretty quickly. It will discolor the leather and this discoloration cannot be repaired in 99 percent of cases.
Baby bottles come in strange shapes these days and are very often difficult to get completely dry. Water bottles and other beverage containers that we may have in our cabinets come in shapes just as strange and if you do not have a dishwasher with a dry cycle, it can be pretty hard to get these dry without a good amount of effort. The solution to this problem is to place these bottles in the freezer until you are ready to use them again. This prevents mold from growing on it, since mold does not grow in freezing temperatures.
Something else that causes mold to grow on your belongings, especially clothes, is the simple act of throwing wet clothing on the floor or into the back of the closet and forgetting about them. Most people do not wash wet clothes immediately; we tend to just throw them on the floor and then throw dry clothes on top of them. This usually causes the dry clothes to become moldy if we leave them there more than a day or two. Not only does it cause the clothes on top of them to become moldy, but if the wet items were thrown directly onto carpet, the carpet can become just as moldy. Once carpet is molded, it usually needs to be taken up and replaced, but the padding underneath always needs to be removed because it cannot be cleaned.
If you have a lot of clothes in your closet, maybe you need to make sure that you do not pack them into the closet so tight that the air cannot circulate. The clothes insulate each other and create warmth in the closet where mold can start growing after just a few days. Some closets come with vents installed to prevent this problem, but if yours does not, you should probably find another way to store your clothes or get rid of the ones that you do not use.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Florida water damage restoration companies and
Miami Water Damage Restoration. contractors
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Mold: A Few Words to Know
When talking about mold, there are a few words and phrases everyone needs to know the meaning of and here are the most important ones.
“Mold”. Mold is a kind of fungus (belonging to the kingdom fungi) that grows both indoors and outdoors all around the world and there are many different species and colors. To some people the words fungi and mold are used interchangeably, but not all fungi are molds. Other fungi besides molds include something that most of us eat all the time: mushrooms. Certain kinds of mold are also used in the creation of specific kinds of cheese, so it is incorrect to think that all molds are bad for us.
Most of us don’t know what “mycotoxin” means, but it is what makes some kinds of molds dangerous. Mycotoxins are a compound that are produced by fungus that are dangerous to living things. The mold itself is not toxic, but the mycotoxins produced by the mold are and these are what cause health complications for some people.
When mold inspectors talk to you about “remediation”, you might not understand exactly what that means. The word “remediation” means to solve a problem and when it comes to mold, this means fixing the moisture and heating problem in the building where there is a mold infestation.
Stachybotrys is a genus of mold that has about 10 members and this grows mainly on dead plant materials. When it’s found indoors, it often grows on things like paper and canvas (this includes sheetrock that has a paper covering). This kind of mold is toxic and it is the mold that most people are thinking of when they say “black mold”, even though a few different kinds of mold are black. Not all black mold is stachybotrys.
Hidden mold is found in areas that you cannot see readily. They are colonies that can be found inside walls or in ventilation systems like inside air conditioners or inside the ducts themselves. Hidden mold in your ventilation system is important to get rid of because it’s distributing the mold throughout your home or business and spreading the infection to other areas where it will likely take root and grow.
The word “biocide” is a term that is meant to denote chemicals that kill organisms such as fungi or at the very least, slow their growth. The word “fungicide” is often used interchangeably with “biocide”.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Chicago Water and Sewage Extraction and other states and cities such as
North Carolina Water and Sewage Extraction companies across the united states.
“Mold”. Mold is a kind of fungus (belonging to the kingdom fungi) that grows both indoors and outdoors all around the world and there are many different species and colors. To some people the words fungi and mold are used interchangeably, but not all fungi are molds. Other fungi besides molds include something that most of us eat all the time: mushrooms. Certain kinds of mold are also used in the creation of specific kinds of cheese, so it is incorrect to think that all molds are bad for us.
Most of us don’t know what “mycotoxin” means, but it is what makes some kinds of molds dangerous. Mycotoxins are a compound that are produced by fungus that are dangerous to living things. The mold itself is not toxic, but the mycotoxins produced by the mold are and these are what cause health complications for some people.
When mold inspectors talk to you about “remediation”, you might not understand exactly what that means. The word “remediation” means to solve a problem and when it comes to mold, this means fixing the moisture and heating problem in the building where there is a mold infestation.
Stachybotrys is a genus of mold that has about 10 members and this grows mainly on dead plant materials. When it’s found indoors, it often grows on things like paper and canvas (this includes sheetrock that has a paper covering). This kind of mold is toxic and it is the mold that most people are thinking of when they say “black mold”, even though a few different kinds of mold are black. Not all black mold is stachybotrys.
Hidden mold is found in areas that you cannot see readily. They are colonies that can be found inside walls or in ventilation systems like inside air conditioners or inside the ducts themselves. Hidden mold in your ventilation system is important to get rid of because it’s distributing the mold throughout your home or business and spreading the infection to other areas where it will likely take root and grow.
The word “biocide” is a term that is meant to denote chemicals that kill organisms such as fungi or at the very least, slow their growth. The word “fungicide” is often used interchangeably with “biocide”.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Chicago Water and Sewage Extraction and other states and cities such as
North Carolina Water and Sewage Extraction companies across the united states.
How to Prevent Water Damage Outside Your Home
Any excess amount of water coming into contact with the foundation or the inside of your home can be structurally damaging and if you own the home you’re currently living in, one of the best things that you can do to prevent this damage is to learn how to direct runoff water away from your home.
If you live in a rainy climate or even a snowy one (even snow melts eventually in most places), you should take special care to protect the structural integrity of your home. This is best done by making sure that you have good surface drainage outside of your home and this involves your roof, gutters, and downspouts. Downspout extensions also need to be paid attention to and you need to make sure that they direct water as far as possible from your home’s foundation.
Making sure your roof is properly angled according to where you live. Roofs with higher pitches are the most common in areas where snow tends to be heavy because snow can easily slide off the roof instead of being allowed to sit there and not only stress your roof because of the weight, but when it starts to melt, it will cause the water damage you’re trying to avoid. Water shouldn’t be allowed to accumulate on your roof for any period of time and this is why your roof should be angled so the water will run into the gutters.
The gutters to your home should be large enough to handle heavy amounts of rainfall, especially if you live in an area where heavy rain is common. They should also be cleaned out on a regular basis and be free of clogs of any kind. It might not be a fun home improvement activity for you or anyone you hire to do it for you, but doing this as opposed to having to repair water damage to your home will save you money in the long run.
The downspouts that are connected to your gutters are what direct the water from the gutters and down to the ground where a downspout extension should be located to make sure the water from your roof doesn’t collect around your foundation. These are normally located around the corners of the home, but can be found in other areas. The easier it is for water to get away from your home, the more money you’ll end up saving in the future.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York Sewage Damage Clean-up and other states and cities such as
North Carolina Water and Sewage Extraction companies across the united states.
If you live in a rainy climate or even a snowy one (even snow melts eventually in most places), you should take special care to protect the structural integrity of your home. This is best done by making sure that you have good surface drainage outside of your home and this involves your roof, gutters, and downspouts. Downspout extensions also need to be paid attention to and you need to make sure that they direct water as far as possible from your home’s foundation.
Making sure your roof is properly angled according to where you live. Roofs with higher pitches are the most common in areas where snow tends to be heavy because snow can easily slide off the roof instead of being allowed to sit there and not only stress your roof because of the weight, but when it starts to melt, it will cause the water damage you’re trying to avoid. Water shouldn’t be allowed to accumulate on your roof for any period of time and this is why your roof should be angled so the water will run into the gutters.
The gutters to your home should be large enough to handle heavy amounts of rainfall, especially if you live in an area where heavy rain is common. They should also be cleaned out on a regular basis and be free of clogs of any kind. It might not be a fun home improvement activity for you or anyone you hire to do it for you, but doing this as opposed to having to repair water damage to your home will save you money in the long run.
The downspouts that are connected to your gutters are what direct the water from the gutters and down to the ground where a downspout extension should be located to make sure the water from your roof doesn’t collect around your foundation. These are normally located around the corners of the home, but can be found in other areas. The easier it is for water to get away from your home, the more money you’ll end up saving in the future.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York Sewage Damage Clean-up and other states and cities such as
North Carolina Water and Sewage Extraction companies across the united states.
How to Care For Water Damaged Electronics
Most of the time when electronic items become water damaged, they’re on and running and this is what causes the majority of the damage. The electricity and water flowing through the object at the same time is what fries the electronic components inside, not just the water itself.
What almost became a horror story for me was when I left my $40 CD player in the floorboard of the car along with a bag of ice that my brother was supposed to have retrieved after I got home. He didn’t and when I got in the car the next morning, it was completely submersed in water. The worst mistake I could have made at that point was to try and turn it on. Whatever you do, if you have a piece of water damaged equipment like this and it isn’t dry yet, do NOT try to turn it on! I let my CD player dry for about two weeks (after taking the batteries out) before I even considered trying to power it up. An article in the Washington Post claims that a Blackberry that had fallen into the toilet survived because it was put in a bowl of uncooked rice for a few days because rice absorbed all the moisture. If you’re going to go this route, make sure the rice is of a larger grain so it doesn’t work its way inside the device.
If you’re faced with a problem where a liquid spills into a device that is powered on and connected to the current in your wall or the current in your car, disconnect the device from its power source immediately. If it has batteries, too, remove them to make sure it has no power source at all, in case you accidentally press the “on” button. You don’t want to get shocked by touching it while it’s still plugged in, if it plugs into the wall in your house.
Other devices larger than cell phones and CD players get water damaged and those are computers, televisions, stereo equipment, video cameras, and etcetera. These items are best cared for by a professional and in fact, if you have any doubts as to your own ability to work on your smaller water damaged items, it’s really best to do this, anyway. If you’re going to call a professional, though, you should do it quickly: the liquid gradually corrodes some of the internal metal components.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York water damage restoration and other states and cities such as
Connecticut mold remediation companies across the united states.
What almost became a horror story for me was when I left my $40 CD player in the floorboard of the car along with a bag of ice that my brother was supposed to have retrieved after I got home. He didn’t and when I got in the car the next morning, it was completely submersed in water. The worst mistake I could have made at that point was to try and turn it on. Whatever you do, if you have a piece of water damaged equipment like this and it isn’t dry yet, do NOT try to turn it on! I let my CD player dry for about two weeks (after taking the batteries out) before I even considered trying to power it up. An article in the Washington Post claims that a Blackberry that had fallen into the toilet survived because it was put in a bowl of uncooked rice for a few days because rice absorbed all the moisture. If you’re going to go this route, make sure the rice is of a larger grain so it doesn’t work its way inside the device.
If you’re faced with a problem where a liquid spills into a device that is powered on and connected to the current in your wall or the current in your car, disconnect the device from its power source immediately. If it has batteries, too, remove them to make sure it has no power source at all, in case you accidentally press the “on” button. You don’t want to get shocked by touching it while it’s still plugged in, if it plugs into the wall in your house.
Other devices larger than cell phones and CD players get water damaged and those are computers, televisions, stereo equipment, video cameras, and etcetera. These items are best cared for by a professional and in fact, if you have any doubts as to your own ability to work on your smaller water damaged items, it’s really best to do this, anyway. If you’re going to call a professional, though, you should do it quickly: the liquid gradually corrodes some of the internal metal components.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York water damage restoration and other states and cities such as
Connecticut mold remediation companies across the united states.
Filing Your Flood Damage Insurance Claim
A flood can be a homeowner’s worst nightmare, especially if it engulfs almost the entire house like many of the homes that were made uninhabitable by Hurricane Katrina a few years ago. In case you ever have to face this catastrophe, here are a few tips on how to deal with it and file the insurance claim. Depending on the amount of water damage to your home, it may be salvageable and it may not, but the first step is getting your claim filed.
The first thing you should do after the water has been cleared from your home, call your insurance agent or company as soon as you can. If you can, have your name, policy number, and a phone number or e-mail address that you can be reached at handy when you call. This will speed up the process more than you think.
When you’re filing your claim, request a time frame for when your adjuster will be sent to your home. Try to be patient, especially if you live in an area that has withstood extensive damage due to a river flowing over its banks or a dam that has burst. The water damage to your home depends upon just how high the water rose in and around it.
Once the adjuster has become available and is able to reach you and your home, he or she will help you determine just how much they are willing and able to compensate you for the loss of your property and help determine just how extensive the water damage is.
If your contact information changes in any way, let your insurance adjuster know as soon as possible. If you’re in a shelter of some kind or staying with a relative or friend, give your adjuster the name of someone who has the ability to reach you. If you can’t get home, it’s best to make a list of as many items as you can think of that may need to be replaced or repaired in your home. Computers, television sets, clothing, expensive electronic equipment, books, and etcetera should be listed here. List anything of value that could have been water damaged or lost.
If you can return home, you should separate the damaged items from the undamaged items and take pictures of your property to give the adjuster a good idea of the kind of loss you have endured.
Even if this event has never happened to you or if you’re not expecting any water damage like this to your home any time soon (and who really is), one of the best things that you can do for your home is to take a video every year of your home and its contents. Put this video in a waterproof (and fireproof) safe in case the unthinkable ever happens.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
flood water damage restoration chicago and
mold remediation companies across the united states.
The first thing you should do after the water has been cleared from your home, call your insurance agent or company as soon as you can. If you can, have your name, policy number, and a phone number or e-mail address that you can be reached at handy when you call. This will speed up the process more than you think.
When you’re filing your claim, request a time frame for when your adjuster will be sent to your home. Try to be patient, especially if you live in an area that has withstood extensive damage due to a river flowing over its banks or a dam that has burst. The water damage to your home depends upon just how high the water rose in and around it.
Once the adjuster has become available and is able to reach you and your home, he or she will help you determine just how much they are willing and able to compensate you for the loss of your property and help determine just how extensive the water damage is.
If your contact information changes in any way, let your insurance adjuster know as soon as possible. If you’re in a shelter of some kind or staying with a relative or friend, give your adjuster the name of someone who has the ability to reach you. If you can’t get home, it’s best to make a list of as many items as you can think of that may need to be replaced or repaired in your home. Computers, television sets, clothing, expensive electronic equipment, books, and etcetera should be listed here. List anything of value that could have been water damaged or lost.
If you can return home, you should separate the damaged items from the undamaged items and take pictures of your property to give the adjuster a good idea of the kind of loss you have endured.
Even if this event has never happened to you or if you’re not expecting any water damage like this to your home any time soon (and who really is), one of the best things that you can do for your home is to take a video every year of your home and its contents. Put this video in a waterproof (and fireproof) safe in case the unthinkable ever happens.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
flood water damage restoration chicago and
mold remediation companies across the united states.
End Mold’s Romance With Your Bathroom
When home buyers finally decide to purchase a new home, one of the first things they consider remodeling tends to be the bathroom. Bathroom remodeling isn’t always the easiest thing to do, especially if you are so unlucky as to find a colony of mold living in what is supposed to be one of the most comforting and relaxing areas of your home. Most people, however, wouldn’t know what to do if they found a mold colony in any part of their home, much less their beloved bathroom, even though this is one of the more likely places to find it.
The reason that the bathroom is one of the most common places to find infestations of mold is because there is a constant pattern of heat and humidity in this space. While some kinds of mold pose no threat to human beings, other kinds of mold can be hazardous to our health and can even render our homes uninhabitable. Black mold is found in many bathrooms and basements and it is very toxic. It has been known to cause rashes, fevers, flu-like symptoms and other health complications. If you discover what you think is black mold (and it truly does appear to be black), it’s best to call in a professional to get rid of it.
While it’s expensive to have the mold in your home removed, you will definitely want to put this on your to-do list. It can and will move to other parts of your home if it’s left unchecked. After the mold is removed successfully and you continue with your bathroom remodeling project, you’ll want to take steps to prevent the re-growth of mold in the future.
Install a bathroom fan while you’re remodeling if you don’t already have one. This is one of the best things that you can do to prevent mold from sneaking back into your quiet space. Bathroom fans get rid of the majority of the moisture that mold needs to grow and survive. Even if you’re not remodeling right now and your bathroom has no visible signs of mold, don’t bet on mold not invading there in the future, if you don’t have a fan in the bathroom, you should get one.
After showering or bathing, the shower curtain should be shaken off in the tub to direct as much water as possible toward the drain. Water that collects on the walls surrounding the tub should also be wiped either dry or down toward the drain with a squeegee. You want all the surfaces in your bathroom to dry out as quickly as possible.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Texas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
The reason that the bathroom is one of the most common places to find infestations of mold is because there is a constant pattern of heat and humidity in this space. While some kinds of mold pose no threat to human beings, other kinds of mold can be hazardous to our health and can even render our homes uninhabitable. Black mold is found in many bathrooms and basements and it is very toxic. It has been known to cause rashes, fevers, flu-like symptoms and other health complications. If you discover what you think is black mold (and it truly does appear to be black), it’s best to call in a professional to get rid of it.
While it’s expensive to have the mold in your home removed, you will definitely want to put this on your to-do list. It can and will move to other parts of your home if it’s left unchecked. After the mold is removed successfully and you continue with your bathroom remodeling project, you’ll want to take steps to prevent the re-growth of mold in the future.
Install a bathroom fan while you’re remodeling if you don’t already have one. This is one of the best things that you can do to prevent mold from sneaking back into your quiet space. Bathroom fans get rid of the majority of the moisture that mold needs to grow and survive. Even if you’re not remodeling right now and your bathroom has no visible signs of mold, don’t bet on mold not invading there in the future, if you don’t have a fan in the bathroom, you should get one.
After showering or bathing, the shower curtain should be shaken off in the tub to direct as much water as possible toward the drain. Water that collects on the walls surrounding the tub should also be wiped either dry or down toward the drain with a squeegee. You want all the surfaces in your bathroom to dry out as quickly as possible.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Texas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
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