One of the last things that any homeowner wants to have to do is completely renovate their bathroom or kitchen due to water damage and mold growth, but it happens all the time. It does not have to happen to you, though, as long as you know how to maintain these two rooms properly. They require a lot of daily maintenance to keep in top shape, but it is not the kind of difficult maintenance that you might think. Most of it is just a light cleaning up or casual inspection.
Inspect the floor of the room first. This is what supports everything else, so the integrity of this structure is paramount to the integrity of the entire room. If this goes, so will the rest of it. Try bouncing up and down a little on your toes and see if the room shakes. If it does or if the floor feels weak at all, you may have a water damage problem on your hands. You can also inspect for water damaged floors by looking at the tile and seeing if it is cracked at all. If you have a vinyl floor, looking for cracks in this can also help. Grout or caulking around the room should not be missing or loose at all.
The ceiling in both the kitchen and the bathroom is also at risk, although most kitchens come with a range hood with an exhaust fan built into it that will remove the steam from the room. The bathroom should come with one, as well, but if you live in an older home that has a bathroom in the center of the house, you may not have an exhaust vent already installed. These are installed by standard procedure now, especially in bathrooms that do not have windows, as a part of most building codes.
Make sure that the cabinets underneath the sinks in both of these rooms are covered in a laminate material to keep any dripping pipes from rotting the wood and causing you to have to replace that, too.
Spills of water in the kitchen and bathroom can be somewhat controlled by using rugs to help absorb some of the water. Most homes like to have rugs in these rooms, anyway, but many do not realize that they have a practical application other than just feeling good under bare feet and looking pretty.
Showing posts with label water. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
How To Prevent Water Damage In Your Home
Preventing water damage to the kitchen and bathrooms of your home is fairly easy, although a lot of people tend to think that it is not. It comes from a number of different sources in your home, but the two rooms that usually suffer the most are the bathroom and the kitchen. If they are built properly in the first place and well maintained, you may never have to deal with this problem in either of these rooms, but if you have moved into an older home that already has damage to it, you may want to try and invest the money to have the support structures re-done.
Weak floors are a sign of rotting or termites, so if you can bounce up and down on your toes and the whole room shakes or if objects lean toward the center of the room, you may have weak floor joists. These need to be replaced as soon as you can. Look for missing areas of grout, caulking, or cracked areas of flooring. If you do end up having to replace the floor in the bathroom, you might as well try to renovate the whole thing, if you can.
As long as you are replacing the floor, you may want to consider installing a waterproofing membrane such as a product from Schluter called Ditra. This creates an extra seal between your bathroom’s subfloor and the tile or whatever flooring that you choose to install.
Water damage also occurs to the ceiling just as much as it does to the floor, but most people do not usually think about it. When you renovate your bathroom or are having a new one constructed, you should always have an exhaust vent installed. If you do not have one, you may recognize them either from other homes you have been in or hotel rooms. These are definitely a worth while investment, since steam absorbed by the drywall can cause it to crack and collapse over time. The first sign that you are having a problem is the mesh tape used to hide the drywall seams coming loose from the wall. It will start to become visible, since it is losing its adhesive properties.
Most people have rugs in their bathroom to help soak up some of the water that gets inevitably dripped on the floor and this is a good thing. Try not to let water stand on your bathroom or kitchen floor for long.
Weak floors are a sign of rotting or termites, so if you can bounce up and down on your toes and the whole room shakes or if objects lean toward the center of the room, you may have weak floor joists. These need to be replaced as soon as you can. Look for missing areas of grout, caulking, or cracked areas of flooring. If you do end up having to replace the floor in the bathroom, you might as well try to renovate the whole thing, if you can.
As long as you are replacing the floor, you may want to consider installing a waterproofing membrane such as a product from Schluter called Ditra. This creates an extra seal between your bathroom’s subfloor and the tile or whatever flooring that you choose to install.
Water damage also occurs to the ceiling just as much as it does to the floor, but most people do not usually think about it. When you renovate your bathroom or are having a new one constructed, you should always have an exhaust vent installed. If you do not have one, you may recognize them either from other homes you have been in or hotel rooms. These are definitely a worth while investment, since steam absorbed by the drywall can cause it to crack and collapse over time. The first sign that you are having a problem is the mesh tape used to hide the drywall seams coming loose from the wall. It will start to become visible, since it is losing its adhesive properties.
Most people have rugs in their bathroom to help soak up some of the water that gets inevitably dripped on the floor and this is a good thing. Try not to let water stand on your bathroom or kitchen floor for long.
A Few Ways To Stay Safe Around The Water
People have been going swimming to get away from the heat during the summer for thousands of years, but these days some of us have the luxury of a swimming pool in our backyard that is free from all the wildlife and hazards that swimming in a creek, river, or ocean could give us. Even though the danger of wildlife and disease are mostly done away with when you have this luxury, other dangers still present themselves simply because the water is there.
The most important thing when you have a swimming pool is to teach your entire family how to swim. Your baby can swim even before they can walk, since the water will support them and they are free to exercise their arms and legs as they please. Your baby has an inherited memory that reminds it how to swim, but by the time the baby is a year or a year and a half old, this memory is lost, so the sooner you introduce your baby to the water, the better. Start in the bath tub and work your way to the shallow end of the pool.
Even though your child is born basically knowing how to use their arms and legs to swim and you can teach them to use this skill before they’re even walking, you will still not want to let them outside near the pool without you there. To prevent this, you should invest in a product called Safety Turtle. It acts as a beacon of sorts that attaches to your child’s wrist via a strap and when it comes into contact with water, a base station located in the house emits an alarm to let you know he or she is in the pool.
Another thing that you can do to protect your children and others in the neighborhood is to build a fence around the entire pool and have the gate to it locked. This will help prevent other children in the neighborhood from getting into your pool and possibly drowning.
Teach your kids that running around the pool is not acceptable behavior and make sure that the older children and young adults in the home lead by example, since running around the pool can cause serious injury or even death. It is not very difficult to slip and fall, especially if the surface area around the pool is excessively slippery.
The most important thing when you have a swimming pool is to teach your entire family how to swim. Your baby can swim even before they can walk, since the water will support them and they are free to exercise their arms and legs as they please. Your baby has an inherited memory that reminds it how to swim, but by the time the baby is a year or a year and a half old, this memory is lost, so the sooner you introduce your baby to the water, the better. Start in the bath tub and work your way to the shallow end of the pool.
Even though your child is born basically knowing how to use their arms and legs to swim and you can teach them to use this skill before they’re even walking, you will still not want to let them outside near the pool without you there. To prevent this, you should invest in a product called Safety Turtle. It acts as a beacon of sorts that attaches to your child’s wrist via a strap and when it comes into contact with water, a base station located in the house emits an alarm to let you know he or she is in the pool.
Another thing that you can do to protect your children and others in the neighborhood is to build a fence around the entire pool and have the gate to it locked. This will help prevent other children in the neighborhood from getting into your pool and possibly drowning.
Teach your kids that running around the pool is not acceptable behavior and make sure that the older children and young adults in the home lead by example, since running around the pool can cause serious injury or even death. It is not very difficult to slip and fall, especially if the surface area around the pool is excessively slippery.
A Few Guaranteed Ways To Prevent Water Damage
Water damage occurs to your home in a number of different ways and the truth is, most of them are entirely preventable. The only cases that water damage is unpreventable are when it is caused by a natural disaster such as a flood or a hurricane or when a water leak is hidden inside a wall.
There are two rooms in your home that are particularly at risk for water damage and these are the kitchen and the bathroom, since there is a large amount of water that passes through these rooms every day, especially if you have a number of family members living with you. The bathroom is the most at risk of these two rooms, though, and you should make taking care of it a priority.
The grout and caulking around your bathroom floor should be completely sealed. This means it should not be loose or have any parts missing at all if you are going to have a waterproof bathroom floor. If you can jump in the center of your bathroom and the whole room shakes or the floor feels weak, then you might want to consider taking a look at the joists underneath the house in this area to see if they are weak. If they are, then replacing them is the only real option that you have if you do not want the whole room to fall through the floor.
Another problem with water damage concerns the ceiling. Steam from your bath or shower floats upward and has nowhere to go, so it becomes absorbed by the drywall. Eventually, the tape that hides the seams of the drywall will start to loose its adhesive properties and start to detach itself from the walls. The drywall starts to crack after this happens, sometimes toward the edges and sometimes in the middle. This can happen in the kitchen or bathroom, but especially the bathroom, since kitchens usually have exhaust fans installed to help with this problem. Have an exhaust vent installed in your bathroom, since this is usually required by most building codes, especially if the room does not have a window. It is not very expensive and it might take you half a day to install by yourself.
Try to keep spills of water in the kitchen and bathroom cleaned up as much as possible and keep the plumbing underneath the sinks inspected regularly for drips. The bottom of the cabinet under the sink should be covered in a plastic material to keep any dripping water from rotting the wood.
There are two rooms in your home that are particularly at risk for water damage and these are the kitchen and the bathroom, since there is a large amount of water that passes through these rooms every day, especially if you have a number of family members living with you. The bathroom is the most at risk of these two rooms, though, and you should make taking care of it a priority.
The grout and caulking around your bathroom floor should be completely sealed. This means it should not be loose or have any parts missing at all if you are going to have a waterproof bathroom floor. If you can jump in the center of your bathroom and the whole room shakes or the floor feels weak, then you might want to consider taking a look at the joists underneath the house in this area to see if they are weak. If they are, then replacing them is the only real option that you have if you do not want the whole room to fall through the floor.
Another problem with water damage concerns the ceiling. Steam from your bath or shower floats upward and has nowhere to go, so it becomes absorbed by the drywall. Eventually, the tape that hides the seams of the drywall will start to loose its adhesive properties and start to detach itself from the walls. The drywall starts to crack after this happens, sometimes toward the edges and sometimes in the middle. This can happen in the kitchen or bathroom, but especially the bathroom, since kitchens usually have exhaust fans installed to help with this problem. Have an exhaust vent installed in your bathroom, since this is usually required by most building codes, especially if the room does not have a window. It is not very expensive and it might take you half a day to install by yourself.
Try to keep spills of water in the kitchen and bathroom cleaned up as much as possible and keep the plumbing underneath the sinks inspected regularly for drips. The bottom of the cabinet under the sink should be covered in a plastic material to keep any dripping water from rotting the wood.
Ditra and Exhaust Fans Prevent Water Damage
Even though mold can grow anywhere in your house, there are some rooms that are at risk for developing it more than others and these are generally the places in the home that have a sizeable quantity of water passing through them every day, like the kitchen and the bathroom. These are the two rooms in your home that require the most maintenance and attention in order to keep them in good shape while you are living in your home. However, it really only takes a casual inspection every once in a while to make sure that no problems with mold or water damage are developing.
In the bathroom, the most important surface is the floor. This holds up everything else in the room and if this goes, so does everything else, so preventing water and mold damage to this surface is extremely important. You can do this by making sure that the floor is completely water tight and there is no way for spilled water to get underneath the flooring installed in the room. If it does, it can cause mold to grow and the subfloor to begin rotting. Installing Schluter-Ditra, a waterproofing membrane, will give you an extra bit of protection against this, so if you are remodeling your bathroom, you really want to consider adding this to the room. Any other room that could have a major spill of water like a laundry room or kitchen could also benefit from this.
The ceiling can be just as important, since allowing it to become soaked with water can lead to sagging, cracking, and eventual collapse of the drywall. This happens when the steam and heat in the room goes up to the ceiling and has nowhere else to go. Most building codes have regulations requiring that a bathroom have at least a window or an exhaust vent, but it is best to have both of these, since leaving the window open might not be practical in all cases. Spending a couple hundred dollars and a few hours installing exhaust vents in the humid rooms of the house can help with the maintenance of them and save you money over time.
Something else that you need to do is make sure that water on the floor stays cleaned up as much as possible and that wet items of clothing get washed and dried as soon as possible instead of being left out or thrown in with dry dirty items.
In the bathroom, the most important surface is the floor. This holds up everything else in the room and if this goes, so does everything else, so preventing water and mold damage to this surface is extremely important. You can do this by making sure that the floor is completely water tight and there is no way for spilled water to get underneath the flooring installed in the room. If it does, it can cause mold to grow and the subfloor to begin rotting. Installing Schluter-Ditra, a waterproofing membrane, will give you an extra bit of protection against this, so if you are remodeling your bathroom, you really want to consider adding this to the room. Any other room that could have a major spill of water like a laundry room or kitchen could also benefit from this.
The ceiling can be just as important, since allowing it to become soaked with water can lead to sagging, cracking, and eventual collapse of the drywall. This happens when the steam and heat in the room goes up to the ceiling and has nowhere else to go. Most building codes have regulations requiring that a bathroom have at least a window or an exhaust vent, but it is best to have both of these, since leaving the window open might not be practical in all cases. Spending a couple hundred dollars and a few hours installing exhaust vents in the humid rooms of the house can help with the maintenance of them and save you money over time.
Something else that you need to do is make sure that water on the floor stays cleaned up as much as possible and that wet items of clothing get washed and dried as soon as possible instead of being left out or thrown in with dry dirty items.
Exhaust Fans and Ditra Prevent Mold
Mold can grow all over the house but there are a few rooms that are a bit more at risk for mold growth than all the others and this is usually due to the amount of inherent moisture that passes through them on a day to day basis. You may not realize it if you are just moving into a home of your own after college or getting out of your parents’ house, but the kitchen and the bathroom are the two areas of the home that require the most attention to keep them in tip top shape over the years (or just months) you will be living there.
All surfaces in your bathroom that are porous are in danger of mold growth, which is why you never want to install a porous flooring material in this room. Materials like hardwood or carpet are very bad for this and other wet rooms of the house like the kitchen and laundry room, so installing something like ceramic tile or sealed stone is going to be much better. Even if you install these hard materials, you can still have problems with mold and water damage underneath them if they are not sealed properly. You should check regularly for missing areas of caulking or grout, since this can allow water to get to the wooden subfloor and cause it to rot. You also need to check for this in the kitchen, since the same problem can come up. You can help prevent it, though, by installing Schluter-Ditra before you put the flooring material in. This is a layer of waterproofing material that will give you an added level of protection against water damage and mold growth.
Another problem appears on the ceiling if there is no vent or fan to allow the steam and heat from the room to escape to the exterior of the house. The ceiling will absorb this moisture since it has nowhere to escape to and will become waterlogged. Mold starts to grow on wet surfaces like this in a relatively short period of time, so making sure that the steam created by the bath or shower gets out is very important. This is also a problem in the kitchen when there is no exhaust system over the stove. You can fix this in both of these areas and other areas of the home with high humidity by installing an exhaust fan that will pull it out of the room with the flick of a switch.
All surfaces in your bathroom that are porous are in danger of mold growth, which is why you never want to install a porous flooring material in this room. Materials like hardwood or carpet are very bad for this and other wet rooms of the house like the kitchen and laundry room, so installing something like ceramic tile or sealed stone is going to be much better. Even if you install these hard materials, you can still have problems with mold and water damage underneath them if they are not sealed properly. You should check regularly for missing areas of caulking or grout, since this can allow water to get to the wooden subfloor and cause it to rot. You also need to check for this in the kitchen, since the same problem can come up. You can help prevent it, though, by installing Schluter-Ditra before you put the flooring material in. This is a layer of waterproofing material that will give you an added level of protection against water damage and mold growth.
Another problem appears on the ceiling if there is no vent or fan to allow the steam and heat from the room to escape to the exterior of the house. The ceiling will absorb this moisture since it has nowhere to escape to and will become waterlogged. Mold starts to grow on wet surfaces like this in a relatively short period of time, so making sure that the steam created by the bath or shower gets out is very important. This is also a problem in the kitchen when there is no exhaust system over the stove. You can fix this in both of these areas and other areas of the home with high humidity by installing an exhaust fan that will pull it out of the room with the flick of a switch.
Cell Phones and Water Trouble
Dropping a cell phone or other electronic device into a body of water is the worst nightmare of those people who must constantly be connected, like people who work in changing markets like real estate or finance, but it does happen. There are a number of things that you can do to both prevent this and have the appropriate response once it does eventually happen.
The first thing you should to is purchase a holster for your phone that you can attach to your pants or your purse, so you do not accidentally drop it. This along with purchasing a headset for it will give you a hands-free option when you are doing the dishes or are by the pool. It means that you will no longer have to rely on your hands to hold onto the phone, since the holster is probably going to be much more reliable.
If you do happen to drop your phone into water, the first thing you need to do is unplug it from the wall, if it is connected to its A/C adapter. This will prevent you from being electrocuted. If you can get the phone out of the water in under 20 seconds, this is best, since most phones are waterproofed just enough to keep water from getting inside it for that length of time. As soon as you get it out, dry off the exterior quickly and remove the battery pack and SIM card (if you have one). The SIM card contains all the contacts and other information on the phone and some people would consider this card more valuable than the actual phone itself.
After you have all the components of the phone dried off, place the phone itself into a bowl of uncooked rice. Leave this overnight at least or longer, if you can do without your phone. Just make sure that you have no doubt whether there is moisture still in the phone, since trying to turn it on while it is still wet inside can do the damage that you were trying to prevent all along.
Most cell phones these days are also equipped with stickers that change color when they are exposed to water or even just high humidity. This works for the manufacturer, since there are a number of people making false warranty claims and stating that something is wrong with the phone, when actually, the phone was water damaged. Most warranties do not cover water damage, so this sticker gives a technician a heads up that there might be water involved with the problem.
The first thing you should to is purchase a holster for your phone that you can attach to your pants or your purse, so you do not accidentally drop it. This along with purchasing a headset for it will give you a hands-free option when you are doing the dishes or are by the pool. It means that you will no longer have to rely on your hands to hold onto the phone, since the holster is probably going to be much more reliable.
If you do happen to drop your phone into water, the first thing you need to do is unplug it from the wall, if it is connected to its A/C adapter. This will prevent you from being electrocuted. If you can get the phone out of the water in under 20 seconds, this is best, since most phones are waterproofed just enough to keep water from getting inside it for that length of time. As soon as you get it out, dry off the exterior quickly and remove the battery pack and SIM card (if you have one). The SIM card contains all the contacts and other information on the phone and some people would consider this card more valuable than the actual phone itself.
After you have all the components of the phone dried off, place the phone itself into a bowl of uncooked rice. Leave this overnight at least or longer, if you can do without your phone. Just make sure that you have no doubt whether there is moisture still in the phone, since trying to turn it on while it is still wet inside can do the damage that you were trying to prevent all along.
Most cell phones these days are also equipped with stickers that change color when they are exposed to water or even just high humidity. This works for the manufacturer, since there are a number of people making false warranty claims and stating that something is wrong with the phone, when actually, the phone was water damaged. Most warranties do not cover water damage, so this sticker gives a technician a heads up that there might be water involved with the problem.
Hidden Water Damage Can Creep Into The Most Common Areas Of Your Home
The bathroom and the kitchen are the two rooms of our homes that, when remodeled, can add the most significant amount of value to it. They are the two centers of our houses, whether we realize it or not. A good house is usually inspected by a few different factors and these two are generally the focal points of many home buyers. Home buyers want to know if a property has a good kitchen and if it has a good bathroom. Depending on what they see, it can make or break a sale.
Unsightly water damage can usually be prevented to either area of the home unless it is caused by mother nature, such as flood or hurricane damage. What can you do to prevent water damage to the two most important rooms of your home..? Similar things can be done in each room to help keep the value of your home from going down.
Taking a bath or boiling water on the stove gives off steam, but there is not always a way for the steam to get out of the room if there is no vent installed. There should be a vent with a fan in each bathroom of the house and the kitchen, as well, to keep the steam from being absorbed by the walls. Drywall that has been damaged in this way usually starts to sag after a while because it has absorbed so much water and not only this, but mold will start to grow on walls that catch steam like this, as well. This is the perfect environment for mold to grow in.
Any plumbing in your bathroom or kitchen needs to be checked on a regular basis for cracks or weak spots in its connections. Anything in your house that uses water coming from the water system in your home needs to be checked on regularly to make sure the chance of a leak sneaking up on you is minimal. Some leaks can sneak up on you while you are away from home or asleep at night, but a lot of time it is caused by just not keeping an eye on worn hoses or damaged pipes.
Sometimes a water heater is located in a pantry or in an area near the kitchen, so keeping a check on this is a good idea, too. The water heater should be set inside of a drain pan that is connected to the water system of your home so that if it does leak, any water is directed down into the septic tank or the sewer.
Unsightly water damage can usually be prevented to either area of the home unless it is caused by mother nature, such as flood or hurricane damage. What can you do to prevent water damage to the two most important rooms of your home..? Similar things can be done in each room to help keep the value of your home from going down.
Taking a bath or boiling water on the stove gives off steam, but there is not always a way for the steam to get out of the room if there is no vent installed. There should be a vent with a fan in each bathroom of the house and the kitchen, as well, to keep the steam from being absorbed by the walls. Drywall that has been damaged in this way usually starts to sag after a while because it has absorbed so much water and not only this, but mold will start to grow on walls that catch steam like this, as well. This is the perfect environment for mold to grow in.
Any plumbing in your bathroom or kitchen needs to be checked on a regular basis for cracks or weak spots in its connections. Anything in your house that uses water coming from the water system in your home needs to be checked on regularly to make sure the chance of a leak sneaking up on you is minimal. Some leaks can sneak up on you while you are away from home or asleep at night, but a lot of time it is caused by just not keeping an eye on worn hoses or damaged pipes.
Sometimes a water heater is located in a pantry or in an area near the kitchen, so keeping a check on this is a good idea, too. The water heater should be set inside of a drain pan that is connected to the water system of your home so that if it does leak, any water is directed down into the septic tank or the sewer.
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