Friday, September 28, 2007

Repairing Water Damaged Drywall

Water damaged ceilings can definitely be a safety hazard in your home, but not everyone has the money to hire a professional to repair or replace the section of drywall affected. It may just be a badly discolored piece of drywall or it could be that the tape between one section of drywall and another is sagging down. Even worse, the drywall could be weak in the middle and eventually collapse onto someone you care about. Something needs to be done about these water damaged areas of ceiling not only for structural purposes, but also for cosmetic ones, as well.

If the ceiling is only discolored badly with water stains, all you really should have to do is paint over it with primer first and then paint over that with the color of the rest of the ceiling. Your ceiling may be a traditional and ordinary white, but other colors will cover up the stains better, so consider this an opportunity to change the color of your ceiling. You will not have as much trouble covering up the stains with a paint that is not white.

No matter where the damaged piece of drywall is in your home, repairing it should be pretty easy. If it is the tape that is sagging down and coming apart from the drywall, all you need to do is remove the tape. Replace the tape and place joint compound over it. Smooth this out until the tape is not noticeable, paint over it with primer, then with the color of your ceiling.

If the drywall is sagging or cracked in the middle, then it needs to be completely replaced. You need to take out the entire damaged part of the drywall all the way to the joists, because the new piece of drywall needs something solid to hang onto or it will fall. It needs to be cut down the center of a joist in the ceiling so the new piece has something to rest on. Cut the new drywall to fit the part that you removed, screw it in with a drill, and tape over it the seam. Use joint compound over the tape and screws and smooth it out until the seams and screws are not noticeable anymore. Paint over it with primer the same way you would if you were only replacing the tape as mentioned earlier and then paint the color you desire back over it.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York Sewage Damage Clean-up and other states and cities such as
North Carolina Water and Sewage Extraction companies across the united states.

Repairing Tile Grout to Prevent Water Damage

Sometimes the tile on the floor and the walls in our bathrooms can become cracked over time and not only is it unattractive, but when we continue to get water on this tile, it seeps underneath it and damages the wooden floor holding it up. Repairing this damage to the wood underneath your tile can be expensive, since all the tile must be taken up in order to get to it. Repairing tile on your own is not a difficult job to do and if you do it correctly, you can even take up the tile later if it is not to your liking and replace the tile in the entire bathroom. Learning how to repair grout, however, is a first step.

Even if the tile itself is not cracked, sometimes grout will be missing, especially if the home is old. Grout comes in a few different types: sanded, unsanded, acrylic or epoxy. Depending on the type of tile you have in your bathroom, you will want to use one over the other. Sanded grout should not be used with marble tiles, since this will scratch the marble. Acrylic latex grout or unsanded grout should be used. The grout should be mixed according to the manufacturer’s instructions and the area you wish to replace needs to be cleaned out with a mixture of vinegar and water. A grout saw can be used to remove the rest of the damaged or loose grout. Do not chip the tile. The joints should be dampened with water and a paper towel used to remove water puddles in between the tiles. Fill in the joints with the grout completely and the joint’s surface should be smoothed out with a rounded stick. A damp sponge can be used to remove the excess.

The grout should be allowed to set firmly. The instructions on the package should tell you how long this should take. Since this is in a bathroom, a grout sealant should be applied after the grout completely dries.

After it dries and the grout sealant is in place, cleaning it with a damp rag is recommended. A cloudy haze should appear on the tile after it dries again and a dry towel can be used to remove this.

Replacing the grout in between the tile in your bathroom will help prevent water damage from occurring to the floor underneath and save you quite a bit of money in the long run. Hiring a professional is not always necessary and you can save money by learning how to do small home improvement projects like this yourself.


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

Removing Standing Water From Your Home

Standing water inside your house can be a big problem if you do not get it taken care of soon, but people are often not exactly certain as to what they can do about the water that may stand in their basement or other room of their home. What most do know is that water damage and mold are two things that are pretty easy to let happen to a home. The fact is that this standing water can come from a few different places and not only are they repairable, but most of the time, they are preventable.

Sometimes the source can be from a leak in the plumbing in the wall. This is especially true if the leak is located in the bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, or the basement. Shutting off the water is the first thing that you should do in this situation and after that, soaking up the standing water with a towel should be next. Unless you have some experience in plumbing, then you should probably call a plumber to help fix this problem.

The leak could also be coming in from the roof, windows, or doors. If your home is newly built, contacting the contractor who built your home is the best thing that you can do, since your home should still be under its construction warranty. Water leaking in from a chimney that is improperly sealed is also a possibility.

If there is standing water in your basement, there is a possibility that there could be a leak in your home’s foundation. This is especially true if the water is mostly there after a heavy rain. Your sump pump could also be malfunctioning and not draining the water out of the basement as it should be. You may need a new one. Another cause for the water buildup could be that water is settling around your home’s foundation. This could be due to the soil around your home not being piled up high enough so that the water runs away or because your rain gutters are not collecting water as they should be and are dropping it down on the foundation instead of channeling it down through the downspouts.

Clean out your gutters and install some downspout extensions. Pile some new dirt around your home’s foundation so that the water drains away from your home.

Most importantly, if you cannot repair the leak right away, make sure to keep a towel or something absorbent up against the area to keep the water soaked up. Water damage to your floor and walls is even more difficult and expensive to repair.
Removing Standing Water From Your Home

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

Preventing Water Damage By Replacing Tile

When your bathroom tile has become so cracked and the grout so loose and missing that water starts to seep underneath to the floorboards, then you have a problem. The water damage occurring to the floor underneath the tile is a potentially expensive and time consuming problem to take care of, so going ahead and replacing the damaged tile is a good idea.

You will need a tile cutter, chalk line, a grout float, tape measure, rubber mallet, notched trowel, level, and a pull saw.

To measure how much of a square tile you will need, you should draw the room’s layout on a piece of graph paper. Each square should represent a tile. The measurements should be checked more than once so you know just how much tile you need to order. After you figure that number, order at least 5 to 10 percent more tile so you will have a cushion in case you damage some of it.

Selecting the correct color grout is also a consideration. Dark grout can be used in high traffic areas to hide dirt.

Before laying the tile, you need a smooth, tough subfloor to put the tiles on. Ceramic tiles do not flex and an uneven surface can cause them to crack. The baseboards and the trim molding needs to be removed temporarily and the pull saw will be used to trim door casings and jambs so the tile’s thickness will be accepted.

All appliances must be removed from the floor, including toilets.

Start in the center of the room next to the main entrance and lay down a row of tiles without using any adhesive so you have a guide. Each tile should have an equal amount of space between them. The tiles should be perpendicular to the door.

The techniques used to actually install the tile vary depending on the kind of tile being put down and the size of it. Applying it to the tile instead of the floor is recommended for tiles larger than 8 by 8 inches. It should be skimmed with thinset mortar almost like peanut butter and this needs to be applied with the notched trowel; the trowel will help prevent weak spots in the installation. Use the tile cutter and nippers to cut the tile to fit certain areas of the room that will not accept a square tile.

After you are done laying the tile, the grout phase will come next. Apply it with your grout float and use a clean float to remove the excess. After about 15 minutes, wipe the rest of the excess away with a sponge and some water. Let it set for a day before walking on it.

Installing the tile correctly will waterproof your bathroom floor and prevent water damage from occurring to the wooden floor underneath and save you a large amount of money in the long run.

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Texas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Mold In Your Refrigerator And What To Do About It

If there is one thing that most people cannot stand, it is when you open the refrigerator and find that a jar of something you need at that moment such as mayonnaise or jelly has become contaminated with mold. Sometimes it is green or white and it grows either on the food itself or on the inside of the jar’s lid and you do not notice it is there until you are already scooping it out and putting it onto your bread. Yuck! A whole jar has just been wasted because of mold.

What about the other food near that jar? You should check to see if any other food in your refrigerator is contaminated with mold and throw it away immediately, especially if it is something that does not come in a jar. Leftovers, fruit, or vegetables that we often end up shoving into the back of the fridge and forgetting about are common mold hotspots in our refrigerators. Maybe you made too much food one night and you just have not had a taste for the leftovers or maybe you just have not gotten around to throwing it away.

Cleaning out your refrigerator of old and outdated items is one of the best ways to prevent mold from starting to grow inside your refrigerator. Wasting food is a bad thing to do no matter where you are and if you have any leftovers that have not been eaten up to around 48 hours after you originally prepared it, it is probably a good idea to get some Ziploc bags or Tupperware dishes and put this excess food in the freezer to eat at a later date.

Do not leave the vegetables or fruit in the plastic bags that you put them in when you pick them up from the produce section at your grocery store. This traps moisture inside the bag and it will cause your food to rot and eventually become moldy.

Any cracked eggs in the carton need to be removed. You should not buy a carton of eggs if any of the eggs appear to be cracked open; bacteria on the outside of the egg can get inside and begin to multiply.

Cheese is also a favorite food of mold in the refrigerator and if you see mold growing on a block of cheese (do not try to save individually wrapped slices), take a knife and cut an inch around the moldy spot and throw it away. Do not touch the mold with the knife and wash it immediately after.

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.

Mold In The Time Of Moses

If your insurance adjuster claims that mold has been around for many years longer than we have and that it does not to the damage that the media and health community say that it does, then perhaps something you should have them read up on is a verse that comes straight out of the Bible and blatantly talks about homes that are diseased.

It is called a “leprous plague” in the scripture Leviticus 14:34; it appears growing on the walls and if a family went to the priest and said “my house is diseased”, it was ordered that the people leave the house so the priest could go in and examine it. If it was determined to be diseased, then the stones of the house were to be removed and taken to a place that was away from town and from where people resided so that others would be safe from the plague. Stones were brought in to replace the ones that were removed and it was watched to see if the mold returned; if it did return, the entire house was torn down and all the debris was taken to where the first stones were dumped.

Mold was serious business in Biblical times just as it is today, but back then there were no formal antibiotics or fungicides to help get rid of the mold either in the body or on a person’s property, so most of the time it simply had to be torn down and replaced. Even the deaths of the firstborns of Egypt are sometimes attributed by scholars to the presence of mold on the food that was stored underground after the locusts came. If the food was contaminated with almost any mold, especially Stachybotrys atra, it is speculated that it would have been what killed all the firstborn children in Egypt at the time because during that period, it was customary for the eldest Egyptian child in a family to receive a second portion of food. Food that has been stored underground, especially if it was stored directly on top of the soil, would have been a perfect food also for mold. The Jews alive at the time would not have suffered from this plague because they ate herbs, lamb, and unleavened bread, which should have been safe from any mold contamination.

So, do not let your insurance adjuster fool you by trying to downplay the seriousness of mold. It was serious over 2,000 years ago and it is just as serious today.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Water Damage Miami and
water damage restoration in atlanta companies.

How To Keep Mold Out Of Your Life And Off Of Your Property

Mold gets onto just about everything that we own at some point or another; it is whether or not the mold starts to actually grow on the item and stay there that tends to be the problem. Whether it is clothes, furniture, walls, floors, clothes, or food, mold can do quite a lot of damage to the things in our home and we cannot always see it coming. Even the items that we need to be clean the most, like our baby’s bottles that they drink their milk and juice out of.

The bottles that we have today are not just the cylinders that they used to be; sometimes they come in strange shapes that are hard to get completely dry and when this happens and they are put back into the refrigerator, they can often become moldy. How can you prevent this? All you have to do after you wash them is dry them inside the best that you can and then simply put them in the freezer until you are ready to use them again. Mold does not like these temperatures and this will inhibit any growth. It is a popular thing to put kitchen staples like flour, sugar, and cornmeal into the freezer to protect them from bugs and mice, so why not use this to your advantage to prevent mold, as well?

Mold also likes to grow on clothes that have been forgotten about in the backs of closets. Try not to pack your closets so full of clothes that air cannot circulate. The clothes being packed so close together creates the warmth that the mold needs to survive and if your house is humid enough, the moisture it needs is also there. The last thing mold needs to live is food and your clothing is more than enough to supply that need. It might also be a good idea to install a vent into the closet to help air circulate a little better, too.

Something else that causes mold to grow is when you throw damp and dirty clothing into a bathroom closet and leave it there. This is particularly a bad idea if you have carpet in it. Carpet in the bathroom is a bad idea all by itself, but when you couple it with dirty, wet clothes or towels, you are asking for a mold infestation to start in the back of your closet. The solution for this is to use a plastic laundry hamper and to empty it regularly, which should be around every day and a half. Mold usually starts to grow after about 48 hours.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Los Angeles water damage and restoration services and Denver water damage restoration companies.

Important Steps On How To Avoid Water Damage To Your Home

Water damage is one of the worst things that can happen to your home that you can almost completely prevent, unless it is caused by mother nature. Floods and hurricanes are something that we can’t really prevent; all we can do is just try to prepare for it and often our preparations aren’t good enough. We should not feel bad about this, however, because nature will almost always win over any preparations that we make to try and keep her out of our homes. There are a few things that you can do to prevent water damage to your home on a smaller scale, but you will have to be diligent in your efforts if you are truly going to make it work.

Pay attention to your water heater. This and anything else in your house that uses a large amount of water is at risk of leaking out onto the floor and doing some serious damage. It should always be installed on the lowest level of your home, preferably in the basement raised up off the floor and sitting on a drain pan that is connected to a water drain in the floor. This will make sure that even if your water heater does start to leak, the water goes back into the sewer or your septic tank instead of onto your floor.

If you are worried about your dishwasher leaking, check the pipes and hoses that are leading to it first and make sure they are connected tightly and are not cracked anywhere. If you are buying a home that comes with a dishwasher already installed, you will want to check around the base of it to check for water damage. If the floor around it is discolored or if the base of the cabinet near it is warped, you might have a leaky dishwasher.

One thing that most homeowners have to do at least once a year is cleaning out the gutters that run around the roof and drain the water from the roof, through the downspout, and away from the house. These always end up collecting leaves, sticks, and other debris and if the gutters become clogged with this material, it will cause water to simply drop off the roof to the base of your house. If water saturates the ground at your home’s foundation, it will eventually cause it to sink into the ground.




Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Miami water Damage companies.

Employer Concerns About Mold And The Options

One of the places that we don’t usually think of when we think of mold is our working environment. We usually think that we’ll find it in our homes, but other buildings are just as susceptible. If you are responsible for a number of employees and you suspect that there might be a mold infestation in your building, the first thing that you need to do is mold testing yourself and finding out if there truly is an infection of mold on the premises. Send off the mold samples to a laboratory that specializes in the identification of mold and you should receive your results back in a couple of weeks.

If you find that there is truly a mold infestation on your property, then the best thing that you can do for all concerned is to notify your employees that there is a problem. Call in an inspector so that they can determine just how extensive the contamination is and after they have given some professional advice, you should tell your employees that they are laid off until the contamination is taken care of. They should be informed of when the mold remediation will begin and the approximate date that it will end.

Inform your employees also that if they have been experiencing any health complications since they started working for you such as respiratory problems, skin rashes, or anything else that might be attributed to the presence of mold in the building.

Take care of the mold problem in your building as soon as possible; you do not want to be held responsible for the medical bills of your employees if they are diagnosed as having a condition caused by the mold they were exposed to while they were working for you. Not only will you be liable for the medical bills, but you will also probably be liable for their loss of income until they can return to work.

The contamination of your building should never be ignored, whether it is your home or your workplace, because even if you can afford to pay for the medical bills of others, you do not want this affecting your own health. It is truly not worth it to risk the health of others along with your own in order to try and save some money. Have the mold removed as soon as possible.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Texas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.