Saturday, September 29, 2007

Easy Ways to Stop the Mold Invasion

One of the most damaging things to a building, especially a residential one, is mold. While there are many kinds of mold and some are good and even used to make certain foods, when it grows inside your home it tends to lead to not only structural damage, but damage to the health of the people living in it as well. Home buyers are becoming more and more aware of the mold problem and wondering what they can do about it not only because of the health consequences of mold, but also of the damage it can do to the value of their home. Here are a few things you can do to help prevent mold from growing in your home.

Ventilating your household properly and in the right places is essential. Mold grows in warm, humid areas of your home that are not properly ventilated. It doesn’t need standing water to grow, only a humidity of over around 65% and if the humidity in the house is kept low enough, mold cannot grow. If you see condensation start to build up on a windowpane inside your house, this can be a sign that the humidity in your home is too high. Keep these areas wiped dry as much as possible until you can determine the best way to keep this from happening. Try a de-humidifier to help solve this problem.

Something else that helps with mold growth prevention is paperless sheetrock. This might be only feasible if you’re planning on building a completely new home, but if you’re doing any heavy remodeling or adding on any new space, paperless sheetrock is best because mold loves to feed on paper.

If you store papers and other items in your basement like cardboard boxes, don’t store them directly in contact with the floor, especially if there’s a chance that they could come into contact with moisture such as leaks around the indoor foundation or a leaky water heater. As stated before, mold eats paper and needs moisture to survive.

Clean up spills and any leaks you find in your home as quickly as possible and if you have a fan in your bathroom that can be used to let heat and steam outside the house, use it while showering. If you can vent the heat from items like clothes dryers and stoves to the outside of the house, do this while they are in use, as well.

Cold surfaces in the home such as pipes, especially in basements, should be insulated so condensation does not form. This not only prevents mold, but also helps to prevent the pipes from rusting.

With some smart actions, preventing mold from growing in your home isn’t just beneficial, it’s easy. The benefits of a mold free home definitely outweigh the cost of going to the small bit of trouble to keep it that way.

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New Jersey mold damage restoration and other states and cities such as
Connecticut mold remediation companies across the united states.

Bleach and Mold: What You Think You Know

Chlorine bleach isn’t the holy “purify all” that we once thought it was. Mothers and housekeepers all across the country the past century have tended to think that if it needs to be cleaned or disinfected, bleach will do the trick. Most people would think that chlorine bleach will kill mold, but new studies prove that this is not the case. It is not effective in killing mold on porous surfaces like walls of a household, ceiling tiles, and etcetera.

Unless the mold is on top of a counter or a sink, the bleach will do next to nothing to eliminate the mold. A recent study paid for by Clorox, the largest manufacturer in the world of chlorine bleach, says that attempting to kill mold with bleach is best done on hard surfaces only. This means that if you find mold growing on your wall, trying to clean it with chlorine bleach is not going to help because the mold is growing not only on the outside of the wall, but also deeper in the wall than the chemical can reach. Chlorine bleach is too diluted and not strong enough to get rid of mold unless it is on a non-porous surface like tile.

Chlorine bleach is also not a registered disinfectant with the EPA that works with killing mold. The EPA puts a registration number indicating that a product kills mold on any product that does, but you will not be able to find this on any chlorine bleach label.

Another thing that some people are unaware of is the dangerous properties that chlorine bleach can have if it is mixed with other cleaning products such as anything containing ammonia or anything that contains acid. The mixing of these products causes toxic gases to be released into the air in your home and this occurs most often when someone is trying to disinfect something in their home or get rid of disease-causing microorganisms like mold. Mold is serious business, but don’t risk your life by mixing household chemicals trying to find a cheap way to kill the mold that exists in your home.

In addition to being ineffective in killing mold, it also tends to damage and discolor some surfaces it is used on such as metal.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
flood water damage restoration chicago and other states such as
South Carolina mold remediation companies across the united states.

Aspergillus Mold

Aspergillus is a genus of mold that can be found indoors. Some species of this genus can be detrimental to human beings and pets and have the ability to cause Aspergillosis.

Aspergillosis is the name of a variety of different diseases that are caused by Aspergillus molds. Those who have weak immune systems, such as infants and the elderly, and those who have compromised immune systems, such as people with HIV, AIDs, or other diseases that weaken the body are particularly at risk to develop one of many forms of Aspergillosis.

The symptoms of Aspergillosis can include cough, chest pain or trouble breathing, and fever. Typically only people with immune systems that are already weak or who already suffer from other kinds of lung diseases are in danger of developing the disease. Major forms of the disease that occur in human beings are allergic aspergillosis, which affects cystic fibrosis, asthma, and sinusitis patients, acute invasive aspergillosis, and disseminated invasive aspergillosis. The most common species of Aspergillus molds that cause diseases in humans and animals are Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus flavus.

Something named after the Aspergillus genus is an aspergilloma, which is also called a mycetoma or a fungus ball. This is a collection of fungus which exists in a cavity in a person or animal’s body such as the lungs and Aspergillus is the culptrit of most of these infections. Most people who have aspergillomas don’t have any symptoms that are related to the fungus growing inside them and so people often live for decades without knowing about their infection. The most common symptom of having aspergillomas is the coughing up of blood or hemoptysis; this blood loss is usually not consequential, merely a sign that aspergillomas could exist in the body.

These diseases not only occur in humans, but also in plants and animals. Wasted grain with aspergillus mold colonies growing on it and feed lots in the area around Burley, Idaho is suspected to have caused the death of over 2,000 mallard ducks. Moldy grain was also the cause of death in about 500 mallards in 2005 in Iowa.

While some Aspergillus molds can be harmful to human beings, other molds from this genus are used commercially, particularly in Japan where beverages such as sake are fermented using Aspergillus oryzae. Aspergillus niger is also used as a major source of citric acid and it accounts for over 99% of the globe’s citric acid production and this is total to more than 4.5 million metric tons a year.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
North Carolina Sewage Damage Cleanup and other states such as
South Carolina mold remediation companies across the united states.

A Few Quick Facts About Mold

Something that a lot of people don’t know about mold is that it is everywhere we are. It’s hard to escape mold entirely, because it’s in the air we breathe. It is a form of fungi that grows all around the world and there are countless species of it that can be almost any color you can think of. A lot of them are harmless, but the ones that aren’t, such as toxic black mold, are the ones that most people are concerned about growing in their homes. Along with being unsightly, it can cause many health complications, especially if someone living or working in the affected area is allergic to it.

How does it get into your building? It usually comes from outdoors, either due to water leaking into the house from outside or because the humidity in a home is too high. Areas with water damage such as roofs, flooded areas, crawl spaces, and plumbing leaks are often sites for mold infections.

Why should you worry about it? Aside from the health complications that some molds can cause, it has been known to grow on furniture, clothing stuffed into the backs of closets, and even children’s toys. All these items need to be cleaned thoroughly and sterilized before being used again, if they’re used again at all. Some items like clothing are easier to throw away than they are to clean. The structural damage that mold can cause to your home overtime can be substantial and as soon as you discover a mold infestation, it’s best to either call in a professional to get rid of it or, if it’s a smaller infection, remove the mold and clean the area yourself using the different testing and cleaning kits that are available on the market today.

Who should worry about mold the most? The people who are most affected by mold in their homes or places of business are infants and small children, the elderly, people with respiratory conditions such as asthma or emphysema, anyone with a weakened immune system, such as people with HIV or AIDS, chemotherapy patients, anyone who has just had surgery, and pregnant women.

How do you prevent mold? The easiest way to prevent mold is to make sure your home is a cool and dry environment. Bathrooms and kitchens should be paid special attention to. Clean up spills and leaking water quickly and do not allow standing water in any part of your home, even the basement, because the infestation can and will spread to other areas of your home. Do your best to direct heat and moisture from clothes dryers, dish washers, stoves, and bathrooms outside your home with the appropriate fans and vents.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
flood water damage restoration chicago and other states such as
New Jersey mold remediation contractor companies across the united states.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Smoke Damage Cleanup

Cleaning up smoke damage after a fire can be a pretty involved task, but if you know what you are doing and follow a few simple rules, it might not be as difficult as you might think. Even though you might want to get the job done as quickly as possible, you might end up doing more harm than good if you do not take your time to do it correctly. Do the job right, not rushed.

If you have pets, the best thing for them is to remove them from the area as soon as possible. You need to keep your pets out of the home until you are done cleaning up the smoke and water damage done to the home after the fire trucks have gone. Birds are especially sensitive to smoke and chemicals in the air, so if you had a pet bird in the home at the time of the fire, you should have it examined by a vet.

Use a vacuum cleaner to clean up any soot and other particles from your furniture and floors, after you are certain that the electrical circuitry in the home was not damaged by the water poured into the home by the fire truck.

Plants should be rinsed with water as soon as possible, but be sure not to drown the plant’s soil in an excess amount of water. If the soil has been saturated by the water from the fire truck and you want to save the plant, the best thing to do is to put it in a new pot with new soil.

Open the windows and doors in your home so air can circulate and help remove all the particles from the air inside. This will help remove the smell of smoke from the home, as well.

Do not sit down on upholstered furniture that has not been cleaned yet. This will only rub the soot down into the fabric and make it more difficult to remove.

Sending your clothes to an ordinary dry cleaner can irreparably damage your clothes.

Do not eat any foods that were in the home at the time of the fire. This includes everything that was in the home, no matter what it is. Replace everything in the home that was edible.

Ceilings and walls that have been smoke damaged can sometimes be cleaned and restored to their former selves, but heavier deposits of smoke must be specially treated so that the surface will accept being painted over again. Sometimes the stains cannot be removed and the surface must be painted.



Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
South Carolina flood water damage restoration and other states such as
Connecticut water damage restoration companies across the united states. (1)

Hurricane Preparations and Water Safety

There are quite a few things that you need to do if you are preparing for a hurricane to hit your area and you do not want to leave your home, but perhaps the most important thing is making sure that you have a sizeable supply of bottled water in your home. This should be proportional to the number of people living in your home at the time of the storm.

The safety of the water that you will be drinking while the storm is raging outside and even after the storm is gone is important to your survival. You should keep around at least one gallon of water per person per day. Never assume that the water that comes out of your faucet is clean, because water from the sea and possibly from sewers can contaminate water treatment plants in your area. This contaminated water will make you extremely sick and could even possibly lead to death. During a hurricane or a flood, never drink anything but bottled water. Water purification tablets should also be kept on hand and chlorinated bleach can also be used to purify water in most situations. 8 drops per gallon of contaminated water should be enough. Let the treated water set for at least 30 minutes before drinking it.

While water damage to your home may be an important issue after the flood waters have receded, water damage to your body due to contaminated water is even more important. Even if you are not drinking the contaminated water, it can still cause damage to your system, especially if you have open cuts or wounds that have been exposed to it. Wash these with soap and bottled (or chlorine bleach treated) water to keep them from becoming infected.

Children should not be allowed to play in flood waters, no matter how hot it might get inside the home you are staying in. If there are toys that have come into contact with contaminated water, these need to be disinfected before allowing a child to play with them, as well. The hands of children should also be washed very thoroughly often and especially before meals.

Boarding up your windows and doors with plywood is a good idea to keep your windows from being blown out and the glass sent flying into your home and possibly into you.

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
north carolina flood water damage restoration and other states such as
New Jersey mold remediation companies across the united states.
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.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Connecticut Mold Remediation services and other states such as
north carolina mold remediation companies across the united states.

Flood Damaged Documents

There are hundreds of different kinds of important documents and books that we could have in our homes that might become damaged during a flood or a hurricane and if the copies that we have are the only ones in existence, then safeguarding these items is very important. Whether it is a marriage certificate or a birth certificate, proof of insurance, or any other type of legal document, if it gets ruined due to being submerged in water, you might be in some trouble.

If you are already the victim of a flood or a hurricane and you have to take care of these documents that have already become damaged, then you might not exactly know how to deal with these items. After you have made sure that the electricity is off in your home after the waters have mostly receded is essential. You should do this before re-entering parts of your home that still have standing water in them. Find the documents you need to restore and if they are only damp, then it is possible to just lay them out to dry on a flat surface on their own. If they have been submerged for a while, then the best thing that you can do is take them to a local freeze-dry facility to have them treated.

When packing items to take to a freeze-dry facility, you should purchase freezer wrap from a local department or grocery store. You will use this to separate your papers and books from each other in the boxes you will pack them into. Find the most important documents that you wish to restore and afterward, find the less important ones such as books or anything that is considered “one-of-a-kind”. Pack these items into boxes and label the outside with your name, address, phone number, and any other pertinent information. Do not pack these tightly in the freezer paper.

After your documents have been taken care of and dried efficiently, the best thing to do is to invest in a waterproof and fireproof safe to pack these things in. Cash, jewelry, these documents, and anything else that you wish to have protected against the elements of nature will be very safe in one of these. Once you invest in one and see it work during a fire or a flood, you will be very happy that you made the investment. It will save you both time, effort, and money to invest in an appropriately sized safe.


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.moldrestorationny.info
http://www.moldrestorationnj.info

Different Types of Dehumidifiers

You might have used a humidifier in your room or your child’s room during sickness at one time, but what exactly does a dehumidifier do and in what circumstances do you need to have one in your home?

Dehumidifiers are often used in damp areas of the home to keep the humidity down; this reduces the chances that mold will begin to grow in that area of the house.

There are a few different kinds of dehumidifiers and if you are intending on purchasing one, them you might want to familiarize yourself with each kind and purchase one depending on your own situation. These types include chemical absorbent dehumidifiers, dehumidifying ventilators, and heat pump dehumidifiers.

A heat pump dehumidifier extracts water from the air utilizing a heat pump. This is somewhat similar to the pump that you find in an air conditioner. The fan inside the dehumidifier brings the air inside the unit and a coil inside it is kept very cold so that the moisture in the air being drawn across it condenses. This water drops into a bucket that fits into the bottom of it. A second coil that is heated brings the cold air back up to room temperature and pushed back out into the home. This is the most efficient type of dehumidifier for use in private residences.

The type that works the best in warm climates is the chemical absorbent type. This kind of dehumidifier uses a desiccant (a drying chemical) to absorb the water from the air that is pulled inside the humidifier by a fan. It is also expensive to operate and so this kind of dehumidifier is much more efficient for large business buildings and industry complexes. Homeowners should not purchase one of these.

A dehumidifying ventilator has what is called a sensor controller and what most other humidifiers have, an exhaust fan. What the sensor controller does is turn the unit on when the humidity in the home or office building reaches a certain level. These are not very efficient in homes that are located in humid environments because they bring air from outside the house to the inside. These are most often used in basements and cellars. Unfortunately, these can also depressurize whatever room they are located in and this can cause the spilling of gas. Any gas furnaces near by should be properly vented.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New Jersey Sewage Damage Cleanup and other states such as
New York mold remediation companies across the united states.