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.
Showing posts with label water damage restoration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water damage restoration. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
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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