We all hate it when the bathtub or the toilet overflows, but what about the long term consequences of such an occurrence? Not cleaning up spilled water completely can do a lot of damage to the floors and walls of your home, not to mention creating a good environment for mold to grow in.
Clean up as much of the spilled water as you can. If you have carpet, soak up all the water on the surface that you can and after that, pull up the carpet so you can get underneath it. Drying the carpet as thoroughly as possible is the most important thing. Mold and mildew grows in carpet and once it starts to grow, there is not a whole lot that you can do to remove it. Carpet is a bad thing to have inside a bathroom and most people know that. If you do have carpet there, remove it and install tile or laminate that is caulked around thoroughly.
You need to have a vent installed in the bathroom, preferably above the bathtub or the shower stall. This will allow the steam and heat to escape the bathroom, go through the attic, and outside into the atmosphere. Letting the steam stay locked up in the bathroom with the door closed while you are bathing or showering is a bad idea because the ceiling and walls soak up the moisture and then dry that way. This is another cause of mold growth.
Keep a check on the plumbing that goes to your dishwasher and to the washer in your laundry room. Either of these household appliances can malfunction and leave your kitchen or laundry room floor flooded and if it happens while you are not at home, you will have lost quite a lot of time that could have been used cleaning it up before your floor has a chance to absorb it.
Any plumbing underneath the bathroom and kitchen sinks should also be examined for leaks on a regular basis, around once a month just to be safe. A leak can spring up overnight, so it is important to catch these as soon as you can to prevent any damage from occurring.
A leaking roof is also another regular cause of water damage and the signs of it are well known, especially when the water seeps through the sheetrock and stains the ceiling.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Mold and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
While there are some medical conditions that occur in children and babies that you cannot do much of anything to prepare for, what you get told by health professionals might not be all there is to it. It happens to some of the best parents in the world, but they are continually told that there is nothing that they can do to stop it. They are told that the medical community has no answer. They are at the mercy of it.
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) occurs in infants and toddlers and most often what happens is that a child is asleep in its crib and for some strange reason, he or she just dies. Just like that. North American doctors have had no explanation for this occurrence for years and continue to this day to tell parents that there is next to nothing that can be done to prevent it.
However, an answer to the cause of it might lie just on the other side of the world in New Zealand.
A study that has been going on for almost the past 10 years in New Zealand says that the reason SIDS occurs is because of the chemicals being put into our mattresses (including baby mattresses) to make them flame retardant. These chemicals include arsenic, antimony, and phosphorus and all three are poisonous to human beings. However, this by itself is not what causes SIDS. It is when mold, particularly Scopulariopsis brevicaulis, makes its way into one of these flame retardant mattresses (and you never know which mattresses contain which chemicals, there are no labeling laws), it eats the mattress material. When it begins to digest this material, it releases toxic gases back into the air and when you have your baby sleep on this mattress (especially on its stomach), it inhales these gases and dies.
This study advises that you have your baby sleep on its stomach, to wrap the mattress itself in a specially manufactured wrap to keep these gases from escaping the mattress, and to always purchase a new mattress each time you have a new baby. Used mattresses are much more likely to contain the mold that you do not want your baby to come into contact anyway, much less while it is eating these flame retardant materials. Try to keep bed materials cleaned as often as possible to keep mold from growing in the bedding, as well.
North Carolina Sewage Damage Cleanup
North Carolina mold remediation
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) occurs in infants and toddlers and most often what happens is that a child is asleep in its crib and for some strange reason, he or she just dies. Just like that. North American doctors have had no explanation for this occurrence for years and continue to this day to tell parents that there is next to nothing that can be done to prevent it.
However, an answer to the cause of it might lie just on the other side of the world in New Zealand.
A study that has been going on for almost the past 10 years in New Zealand says that the reason SIDS occurs is because of the chemicals being put into our mattresses (including baby mattresses) to make them flame retardant. These chemicals include arsenic, antimony, and phosphorus and all three are poisonous to human beings. However, this by itself is not what causes SIDS. It is when mold, particularly Scopulariopsis brevicaulis, makes its way into one of these flame retardant mattresses (and you never know which mattresses contain which chemicals, there are no labeling laws), it eats the mattress material. When it begins to digest this material, it releases toxic gases back into the air and when you have your baby sleep on this mattress (especially on its stomach), it inhales these gases and dies.
This study advises that you have your baby sleep on its stomach, to wrap the mattress itself in a specially manufactured wrap to keep these gases from escaping the mattress, and to always purchase a new mattress each time you have a new baby. Used mattresses are much more likely to contain the mold that you do not want your baby to come into contact anyway, much less while it is eating these flame retardant materials. Try to keep bed materials cleaned as often as possible to keep mold from growing in the bedding, as well.
North Carolina Sewage Damage Cleanup
North Carolina mold remediation
How to Contend With Water Damaged Papers
When our homes are water damaged due to floods and hurricanes, one of the things that we do not tend to think about until after we come upon them while attempting to restore the house is our documents. Any important documents that we might have in our homes at the time of the storm can be damaged almost irreparably, but there are ways to salvage these documents and store them later for better protection against not only floods, but fires, as well. Knowing how to deal with these documents after they have already become damaged is essential if you want to save them, especially if they are the only copies in existence.
There is no real reason to panic unless you have been away from the water damaged building for more than a couple of days. Most of the time it takes at least 48 hours for mold to start to grow on cellulose-based items like paper and cardboard, so getting to these soaked documents as soon as possible before those 48 hours are up is important. The environment in the building should be around 65 degrees Fahrenheit if you can manage it and the humidity needs to remain as low as possible. Mold loves humidity.
If you have any standing water still in the home, it needs to be removed as soon as possible. Documents lying in standing water need to be taken out of it and put on a flat surface quickly. Remove them carefully, since they can fall apart, depending on the weight of the paper and how long it has set in the water.
Figure out what documents are the most important to you. These should include marriage and birth certificates, death certificates, divorce papers, bank papers, warranties on large appliances, and any other legal documents you may have in your home. If you are a writer, a printed manuscript of a book you are working on is one thing that could be considered invaluable, especially if you do not have it stored on electronic media or if the media you did have it stored on was damaged during the storm. Take other printed materials like this into consideration depending on your own unique circumstances. If these items are not completely soaked in water, then you can possibly just dry them out using a fan or simply laying them out to dry. If they have been under the water for a long period of time, then freezing them and drying them at a local facility is best.
Using freezer wrap to separate watery books and documents from each other when you are packing them to take to the freeze drying company is best. Do not pack things tightly and label every box with your contact information.
North Carolina Water Damage Restoration
New Jersey Water Damage Restoration
There is no real reason to panic unless you have been away from the water damaged building for more than a couple of days. Most of the time it takes at least 48 hours for mold to start to grow on cellulose-based items like paper and cardboard, so getting to these soaked documents as soon as possible before those 48 hours are up is important. The environment in the building should be around 65 degrees Fahrenheit if you can manage it and the humidity needs to remain as low as possible. Mold loves humidity.
If you have any standing water still in the home, it needs to be removed as soon as possible. Documents lying in standing water need to be taken out of it and put on a flat surface quickly. Remove them carefully, since they can fall apart, depending on the weight of the paper and how long it has set in the water.
Figure out what documents are the most important to you. These should include marriage and birth certificates, death certificates, divorce papers, bank papers, warranties on large appliances, and any other legal documents you may have in your home. If you are a writer, a printed manuscript of a book you are working on is one thing that could be considered invaluable, especially if you do not have it stored on electronic media or if the media you did have it stored on was damaged during the storm. Take other printed materials like this into consideration depending on your own unique circumstances. If these items are not completely soaked in water, then you can possibly just dry them out using a fan or simply laying them out to dry. If they have been under the water for a long period of time, then freezing them and drying them at a local facility is best.
Using freezer wrap to separate watery books and documents from each other when you are packing them to take to the freeze drying company is best. Do not pack things tightly and label every box with your contact information.
North Carolina Water Damage Restoration
New Jersey Water Damage Restoration
Cleaning Up Smoke Damage
Fire is a veritable nightmare for any property owner, whether it is an apartment complex, a house, a business, or even just a piece of land. It can be devastating, but the most danger and expense usually comes from fires that affect the inside of a home or other building. These can wreak havoc on the lives of those who live in the home or even just the person renting it out, depending on whose fault the fire was, if it was anyone’s fault. There are a few things that you should do and not do if your house is the victim of a fire in order to clean up, especially if you cannot hire a restoration company to help you do so.
First, let us talk about the things that you really should do.
If you have pets in the home, you should remove them and get them to a safe environment as quickly as possible after the fire is out. You should not allow your pets, especially birds, to re-enter the home until the damage is taken care of. Birds are especially sensitive to smoke and other gases, so getting them removed from the home is very important to prevent the loss of life.
Open the windows and allow the air from outside to circulate. This will help get rid of the smell of smoke in the home. If your vacuum cleaner made it out of the fire or preferably if you have access to someone else’s, then using this to collect soot and other particles from your carpets, curtains, and upholstery should be the next thing that you do.
If you have plants, wash them completely in water and make sure that soot and other particles are not allowed to stay on them for long.
The things that you should not do should start with not using any electrical appliances (including your vacuum cleaner) until they have been checked and cleaned.
Do not attempt to clean porous surfaces like your ceilings and walls.
Sitting down on any furniture in your home that is upholstered (i.e. porous) is not recommended until they have been vacuumed and covered with plastic.
Any food items that were in the home at the time of the fire should be thrown away. This includes canned goods.
These tips are designed with your safety and your home’s restoration in mind. There may be other things that a restoration company could do to help you and in some cases, hiring a professional is the best thing that you can do. Weigh the pros and cons of hiring a professional and then decide what is best for you. Dealing with a home that has been water damaged due to the water from fire trucks is also another matter to contend with. Always consider hiring a professional to deal with extensive damage.
South Carolina flood water damage restoration
Connecticut water damage restoration
First, let us talk about the things that you really should do.
If you have pets in the home, you should remove them and get them to a safe environment as quickly as possible after the fire is out. You should not allow your pets, especially birds, to re-enter the home until the damage is taken care of. Birds are especially sensitive to smoke and other gases, so getting them removed from the home is very important to prevent the loss of life.
Open the windows and allow the air from outside to circulate. This will help get rid of the smell of smoke in the home. If your vacuum cleaner made it out of the fire or preferably if you have access to someone else’s, then using this to collect soot and other particles from your carpets, curtains, and upholstery should be the next thing that you do.
If you have plants, wash them completely in water and make sure that soot and other particles are not allowed to stay on them for long.
The things that you should not do should start with not using any electrical appliances (including your vacuum cleaner) until they have been checked and cleaned.
Do not attempt to clean porous surfaces like your ceilings and walls.
Sitting down on any furniture in your home that is upholstered (i.e. porous) is not recommended until they have been vacuumed and covered with plastic.
Any food items that were in the home at the time of the fire should be thrown away. This includes canned goods.
These tips are designed with your safety and your home’s restoration in mind. There may be other things that a restoration company could do to help you and in some cases, hiring a professional is the best thing that you can do. Weigh the pros and cons of hiring a professional and then decide what is best for you. Dealing with a home that has been water damaged due to the water from fire trucks is also another matter to contend with. Always consider hiring a professional to deal with extensive damage.
South Carolina flood water damage restoration
Connecticut water damage restoration
Flooded Vehicle Facts
When you go to buy a used vehicle, the last thing on your mind is whether or not the car has been submerged in water before. This is not as rare as you might think that it is and a used car dealer or an individual defrauding a buyer is not uncommon, either. In order to protect yourself from flooded vehicles that you may not know how to look for correctly, there are a few things that you can do.
The first thing that you need to realize is that not all vehicle history reports are created equal. These reports do not list all of the damage done to a vehicle or all the work that has been done on it simply because these things are only listed if the person who owns the vehicle makes a claim on it with their insurance company. If a vehicle is flooded and the owner does not file an insurance claim, then the damage is not recorded as ever having happened at all. Vehicle history reports are useful, but you should realize that not all damage may be included.
Look around the trunk and glove box of the car and see if you can find any signs of rusting, sand, or silt. These are signs of being exposed to water. Also look for these signs under the seats and in any nooks and crannies that these things may settle into.
While you are in there, inhale deeply and notice what the car smells like. If there is a musty smell, then this is probably due to the presence of mold growing either in the carpeting or the upholstery. If there is an air freshener smell, then you may be dealing with someone who is trying to cover up another odor of some kind. Be wary of air freshened vehicles.
All electronic components need to be checked. Be sure that they are in working order before purchasing. Some electronic items are expendable to some vehicle owners, but if many of them are not working, consider it a possibility that the vehicle has been submerged. Test the turn signals, windshield wipers, and etcetera.
Look around under the dashboard and see if any of the wires appear to be brittle or cracked. If they are or they crack when you try to flex them, then they have probably been exposed to water.
New Jersey Sewage Damage Cleanup
New York mold remediation
The first thing that you need to realize is that not all vehicle history reports are created equal. These reports do not list all of the damage done to a vehicle or all the work that has been done on it simply because these things are only listed if the person who owns the vehicle makes a claim on it with their insurance company. If a vehicle is flooded and the owner does not file an insurance claim, then the damage is not recorded as ever having happened at all. Vehicle history reports are useful, but you should realize that not all damage may be included.
Look around the trunk and glove box of the car and see if you can find any signs of rusting, sand, or silt. These are signs of being exposed to water. Also look for these signs under the seats and in any nooks and crannies that these things may settle into.
While you are in there, inhale deeply and notice what the car smells like. If there is a musty smell, then this is probably due to the presence of mold growing either in the carpeting or the upholstery. If there is an air freshener smell, then you may be dealing with someone who is trying to cover up another odor of some kind. Be wary of air freshened vehicles.
All electronic components need to be checked. Be sure that they are in working order before purchasing. Some electronic items are expendable to some vehicle owners, but if many of them are not working, consider it a possibility that the vehicle has been submerged. Test the turn signals, windshield wipers, and etcetera.
Look around under the dashboard and see if any of the wires appear to be brittle or cracked. If they are or they crack when you try to flex them, then they have probably been exposed to water.
New Jersey Sewage Damage Cleanup
New York mold remediation
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