While the bathroom is usually not considered the soul of a house, it is still an important room that is visited by all members of the household at least twice a day. Anyone wanting to renovate their bathroom should go ahead and take all the advice given here into account as they plan their project so they maximize the value that it will add to the home. There are a few different things you need to be sure of when you go to renovate the bathroom and minimize the amount of possible future water damage.
Water is both the friend and enemy of your bathroom, since water can cause a considerable amount of damage if the area is not prepared to deal with it properly. If you are remodeling a bathroom, make sure that there is an exhaust fan in the ceiling to vent steam out of the room during showers and baths. Humidity buildup in a tight space made of porous materials like drywall is a bad idea, since these will become discolored and molded fairly quickly if it is not kept in check. Mold loves to live in the wettest areas of your home, so it is in your best interests to make sure that the bathroom stays as dry as possible.
You also need to be sure that everything in the bathroom gets sealed properly by the contractor that you hire to do it. If you remodel it yourself, you should do your research and make sure that you know what you are doing. Tile that is not sealed correctly will allow water underneath it and this will cause damage to the floors over time.
Depending on the age of the house and the condition of the plumbing behind the walls, you may want to replace the plumbing with newer material. Check it for possible leaks and do not hesitate to replace the plumbing if you are having doubts.
Try to make sure that your toilet does not overflow very often. Even though the tile underneath it should be sealed completely to keep water from getting to the floor underneath, you should not take chances. If you choose to have carpet in the bathroom instead (bad idea), you will need to be even more careful.
The plumbing underneath the sink also needs to be checked out. Depending on the condition of the vanity and what it is made of, you may want to replace it to add some more value to the room.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
damage restoration companies and
mold removal companies across the united states.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Some Wet Basement Tips
You probably do not consider the basement to be the soul of your house, but even if not, this is still a room that you need to take care of. Since the rest of the home rests on this part of the structure, you need to make sure that the basement is structurally sound and if it is a wet basement, this may be a real problem.
Water leaking into the basement tends to cause problems with the walls and floors, possibly cracking them and creating a humidity problem. Humidity issues in the basement usually lead to mold growth and this is a problem that no homeowner wants to have to deal with. It can lead to the very structural problems that you are trying to avoid on top of causing health issues for the people living in the house, especially the people who are in the basement the most often.
Controlling the humidity in the basement is not usually a big issue if there are no existing leaks allowing water inside. Installing a dehumidifier could really help with the problem of high humidity and so can putting in an exhaust vent down there. Having an exhaust vent in the basement can be a big help, especially if you use the basement for a laundry room or have another bathroom or shower down there. Without a place to go, steam is absorbed by the rafters or the drywall and usually causes it to become discolored or molded.
Cracks in the concrete walls of your basement where water is leaking in need to be fixed with a concrete injection. You can do this now with a regular caulking gun, but do not try to fix it with caulking that you would use in the bathroom. Neither caulking nor cement will work, since these will eventually become loose and simply fall out.
Keep the rain gutters around your house cleaned out and put some more soil around the base of the house, especially if water is forming puddles around it. This will help stop water from leaking down into the basement.
Having carpet in your basement is probably not that bad of an idea if you are using it for an entertainment or family room, but any wet carpet needs to be taken up along with the padding underneath it. Mold starts to grow after about 48 hours after the item has been wet, so if the basement has been wet for a while and so has the carpet, trying to clean it is probably an inefficient idea. Even if you cleaned the carpet, you would have to take up the padding and replace it, because it cannot be cleaned. The best thing to do is just purchase new carpeting.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration companies and
Dallas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors.
Water leaking into the basement tends to cause problems with the walls and floors, possibly cracking them and creating a humidity problem. Humidity issues in the basement usually lead to mold growth and this is a problem that no homeowner wants to have to deal with. It can lead to the very structural problems that you are trying to avoid on top of causing health issues for the people living in the house, especially the people who are in the basement the most often.
Controlling the humidity in the basement is not usually a big issue if there are no existing leaks allowing water inside. Installing a dehumidifier could really help with the problem of high humidity and so can putting in an exhaust vent down there. Having an exhaust vent in the basement can be a big help, especially if you use the basement for a laundry room or have another bathroom or shower down there. Without a place to go, steam is absorbed by the rafters or the drywall and usually causes it to become discolored or molded.
Cracks in the concrete walls of your basement where water is leaking in need to be fixed with a concrete injection. You can do this now with a regular caulking gun, but do not try to fix it with caulking that you would use in the bathroom. Neither caulking nor cement will work, since these will eventually become loose and simply fall out.
Keep the rain gutters around your house cleaned out and put some more soil around the base of the house, especially if water is forming puddles around it. This will help stop water from leaking down into the basement.
Having carpet in your basement is probably not that bad of an idea if you are using it for an entertainment or family room, but any wet carpet needs to be taken up along with the padding underneath it. Mold starts to grow after about 48 hours after the item has been wet, so if the basement has been wet for a while and so has the carpet, trying to clean it is probably an inefficient idea. Even if you cleaned the carpet, you would have to take up the padding and replace it, because it cannot be cleaned. The best thing to do is just purchase new carpeting.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration companies and
Dallas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors.
Remodeling Your Bathroom
Remodeling your bathroom after some water damage can be quite a hassle, but knowing that the new renovations will stand the test of time and add a good amount of value to your home can make the whole project worth it.
One thing that you will need to do, especially in bathrooms where carpet was installed, is make sure that the floor boards and support beams are not water damaged to the point that they are rotten. Replacing floor boards can be expensive, but if you are remodeling, you do not want to have a good looking job on top of an unstable foundation. Knowing that the floor is not going to collapse underneath you brings a lot of peace of mind to you and the rest of your family. Spare no expense on the floor to make sure that it is structurally sound.
Installing tile is not the hardest thing to do in the bathroom, but you really need to make sure that it is done correctly. If it is done badly, water will get right back underneath the tiles and will begin damaging the floor underneath immediately. Having a properly sealed floor in the bathroom is essential if you want to make sure that the floor boards do not become water damaged again any time soon.
The most important areas of the bathroom floor that need to be sealed are around the bath tub and the toilet. These items are more likely to overflow from time to time than the bathroom sink and the areas around them need to be very water tight.
Make sure that the plumbing that you have installed is made completely water tight. You really do not want to have leaks inside the walls where they are obviously difficult to get to. You will have to take out drywall or even possibly tile to get to leaks in the wall sometimes, so make sure whoever you hire to do it does the job correctly.
Every bathroom needs to have an exhaust fan in the ceiling or on the upper portion of a wall so the steam produced by showers and baths does not collect on the ceiling. Not only can this collecting discolor the ceiling over time, but it can also allow mold to start growing in a relatively short period of time.
If you are going to have a shower stall that is enclosed around the ceiling, it will need to have its own exhaust vent and light, since steam will not be allowed to escape the shower stall very easily.
Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.waterbasementct.info and
http://www.moldrestorationusa.com
One thing that you will need to do, especially in bathrooms where carpet was installed, is make sure that the floor boards and support beams are not water damaged to the point that they are rotten. Replacing floor boards can be expensive, but if you are remodeling, you do not want to have a good looking job on top of an unstable foundation. Knowing that the floor is not going to collapse underneath you brings a lot of peace of mind to you and the rest of your family. Spare no expense on the floor to make sure that it is structurally sound.
Installing tile is not the hardest thing to do in the bathroom, but you really need to make sure that it is done correctly. If it is done badly, water will get right back underneath the tiles and will begin damaging the floor underneath immediately. Having a properly sealed floor in the bathroom is essential if you want to make sure that the floor boards do not become water damaged again any time soon.
The most important areas of the bathroom floor that need to be sealed are around the bath tub and the toilet. These items are more likely to overflow from time to time than the bathroom sink and the areas around them need to be very water tight.
Make sure that the plumbing that you have installed is made completely water tight. You really do not want to have leaks inside the walls where they are obviously difficult to get to. You will have to take out drywall or even possibly tile to get to leaks in the wall sometimes, so make sure whoever you hire to do it does the job correctly.
Every bathroom needs to have an exhaust fan in the ceiling or on the upper portion of a wall so the steam produced by showers and baths does not collect on the ceiling. Not only can this collecting discolor the ceiling over time, but it can also allow mold to start growing in a relatively short period of time.
If you are going to have a shower stall that is enclosed around the ceiling, it will need to have its own exhaust vent and light, since steam will not be allowed to escape the shower stall very easily.
Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.waterbasementct.info and
http://www.moldrestorationusa.com
Invisible Molds
Looking around for mold growth in your home is a burden that no one wants to have to take on, but sometimes not looking for it can cost you thousands of dollars in renovations later on after the growth has gotten so bad that the affected areas have to be completely gutted. Knowing how to spot mold early on is the key to saving all of this time and money, but it is not always as visible as some pictures on the internet and the news may have you believe. While mold does come in a variety of colorful species, it is not always as colorful as most of the images you come across.
Some molds are nigh invisible and grow on a few different surfaces mostly undetected unless you know how you need to look for them. Wood paneling, for example, can have mold growing on it and you not even realize it without the use of a simple bright flashlight. To be able to see the mold, however, you will need to know how to use the flashlight correctly. Instead of shining the light directly toward the paneling, you need to shine it along the surface of the paneling at an angle, so as to give the possible mold growth some depth. Only in this way will you be able to detect the extremely light colored molds growing on the different surfaces of your home. These molds tend to be a species in the Aspergillus or Penicillium genus.
Wood paneling is common in older homes and in homes that have been flood damaged, since replacing the affected drywall is a lot more expensive than simply installing paneling in its place. This is one reason mold likes to grow on this paneling: it is typically old and should be replaced.
You can miss these molds easily when you do a casual inspection of your home, but just taking a flashlight with you and knowing how to use it can save you a lot of money in the end. Molds that are not visible to you readily are not necessarily harmless; they can be just as detrimental to the building structure and your health as the molds that you do have the ability to see with the naked eye. Mold is not always an invisible threat, but it certainly can be, even if you think you know how to look for it.
Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.waterbasementct.info and
http://www.moldrestorationusa.com
Some molds are nigh invisible and grow on a few different surfaces mostly undetected unless you know how you need to look for them. Wood paneling, for example, can have mold growing on it and you not even realize it without the use of a simple bright flashlight. To be able to see the mold, however, you will need to know how to use the flashlight correctly. Instead of shining the light directly toward the paneling, you need to shine it along the surface of the paneling at an angle, so as to give the possible mold growth some depth. Only in this way will you be able to detect the extremely light colored molds growing on the different surfaces of your home. These molds tend to be a species in the Aspergillus or Penicillium genus.
Wood paneling is common in older homes and in homes that have been flood damaged, since replacing the affected drywall is a lot more expensive than simply installing paneling in its place. This is one reason mold likes to grow on this paneling: it is typically old and should be replaced.
You can miss these molds easily when you do a casual inspection of your home, but just taking a flashlight with you and knowing how to use it can save you a lot of money in the end. Molds that are not visible to you readily are not necessarily harmless; they can be just as detrimental to the building structure and your health as the molds that you do have the ability to see with the naked eye. Mold is not always an invisible threat, but it certainly can be, even if you think you know how to look for it.
Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.waterbasementct.info and
http://www.moldrestorationusa.com
Smoke and Water Damage After a Fire
Most homeowners think that when they are dealing with a house fire, the only type of damage to the property that they will have to contend with is fire damage. This is not always true, since something that is almost always used to put out a house fire is water. Any excess amount of water in your home can cause water damage to the structure, any appliances, and furniture inside and since a fire truck can hold countless gallons, you will likely see this after the fire has been put out and you re-enter your home.
Talk to your fire marshal and make sure that your home is safe to return to after the fire is over. If you see standing water in any portion of the house, cut the electricity off before you go into it, since you could be electrocuted by venturing inside before it is cut off. Do what you can to remove as much of the water from the house as possible before mold starts to grow on anything. If you have food in the freezer that is still sealed, take these and put them into another freezer at a friend’s home.
Whatever you do, do not allow any children or pets back into the house until the rehabilitation inside the house is finished. Pay attention to the health of your pets, as well, after the fire is over and make sure that they get any care that they may require. Birds will need special attention, since they do not respond well to environmental changes.
Do not use an upright vacuum cleaner to clean the soot and ash from your carpet. The brushes on the bottom of these will only drive this debris further into the fabric. You should also not use one on upholstered furniture for the same reason. After you vacuum floors and furniture, you should not walk on them and if you have to, tarp should be laid down over them.
Smoke damage on the ceilings and upper walls will need to be painted over. Trying to wash this off the walls usually does not work and only smears the stain around. Painting over this is the only efficient option.
Food that was opened inside the house when the fire started needs to be thrown out. Do not eat anything that had the seal on it broken, whether in the refrigerator or on the counter, such as chips.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Florida water damage restoration companies and
Miami Water Damage Restoration. contractors
Talk to your fire marshal and make sure that your home is safe to return to after the fire is over. If you see standing water in any portion of the house, cut the electricity off before you go into it, since you could be electrocuted by venturing inside before it is cut off. Do what you can to remove as much of the water from the house as possible before mold starts to grow on anything. If you have food in the freezer that is still sealed, take these and put them into another freezer at a friend’s home.
Whatever you do, do not allow any children or pets back into the house until the rehabilitation inside the house is finished. Pay attention to the health of your pets, as well, after the fire is over and make sure that they get any care that they may require. Birds will need special attention, since they do not respond well to environmental changes.
Do not use an upright vacuum cleaner to clean the soot and ash from your carpet. The brushes on the bottom of these will only drive this debris further into the fabric. You should also not use one on upholstered furniture for the same reason. After you vacuum floors and furniture, you should not walk on them and if you have to, tarp should be laid down over them.
Smoke damage on the ceilings and upper walls will need to be painted over. Trying to wash this off the walls usually does not work and only smears the stain around. Painting over this is the only efficient option.
Food that was opened inside the house when the fire started needs to be thrown out. Do not eat anything that had the seal on it broken, whether in the refrigerator or on the counter, such as chips.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Florida water damage restoration companies and
Miami Water Damage Restoration. contractors
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