Quite a few homes have fireplaces, but not all of them are fit to be used as they are because they have not been cleaned in so long that when you do try to use them, it fills the house with smoke. This can do a lot of damage to the inside of the home, including ruin the paint on your walls, your curtains, and discolor your carpet. It is also a health risk, since breathing this in is not good for anyone, but the elderly, people with allergies, pets, and children are especially affected. Fortunately, though, in most situations you can make a fire that will not smoke up your house without much trouble as long as you follow a few rules.
The damper of your chimney needs to be open before you do anything. Burn some paper or other easily combustible materials in the fireplace, because you want to warm the chimney up. Cold air in the chimney is will push the warm air down and cause the smoke to fill up the room.
Open up the windows in the house and make sure that there is enough air circulating to ignite the fire. A home that is insulated well might not have enough of a draft to allow the wood to catch on fire.
You should also have some fireplace bricks underneath the grill to add some more air circulation to the process. More draft in the fireplace will make it easier for the fire to ignite.
The top of the fireplace also needs to be cleaned out regularly, since anything that gets stuck in it like leaves, sticks, bird nests can keep the smoke from being able to escape and so it floods back into the house, which is exactly where you do not want it.
You should also have the fireplace cleaned by a professional cleaning service if possible, since a layer of creosote is likely built up on the inside of the chimney. This is a tar-like substance that results from burning wood in the fireplace and if your chimney has not been professionally cleaned before and you have lived in your house for many years, then it is time for it to be. Creosote can catch on fire and cause the whole house to burn down, so having it cleaned out is essential.
To keep your fireplace functioning the way that it should, you need to know how to use it and take care of it and by the time winter gets to you, you will be able to enjoy your fireplace once again.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
North Carolina Basement water damage restoration and other states and cities such as
New Jersey Basement water damage restoration companies across the united states.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Water Damaged Cars and How to Avoid Them
When you are going to purchase a used vehicle, you have enough problems to worry about most of the time. The problems of what kind of vehicle you want, what kind you need, what color it should be, whether it should be a manual or automatic transmission and even where to purchase the vehicle from can be quite time consuming. Something most people do not think to ask when they purchase a used vehicle, however, is whether or not the vehicle has ever been underwater for any period of time. Most used car dealers and individuals are hesitant to mention this information and sometimes an insurance claim is not filed. This means that the flooding of the vehicle is not recorded in its vehicle report that you can get from companies like CarFax.com, so even if you order a report and it shows all the other damage to the car, the flooding may not show up. Damage to a vehicle only shows up if a claim was filed on it and this tends to be a problem, especially when the damage is as hidden as flood damage can be.
Take a look around the inside of the car first. Look in the glove box and check for signs of rust in there and around the floor near the seats. The vehicle should not have a musty smell inside or a clean, air freshener smell. You should smell next to nothing. The musty smell is due to mold growing in the carpet or the upholstery. If you smell air freshener, this may be an attempt by the dealer or owner to hide the musty smell underneath it. Be wary of cars that have been treated with air freshener. Also note whether the upholstery matches the rest of the car. It may have been taken up and replaced to hide water damage.
The engine is not safe, either. Sand, silt, and mud can seep into an engine along with the water and ruin it.
Make sure that all the electrical components in the vehicle work as they should, such as fuel gauges, the battery gauge, oil light, and etcetera. If these do not work as they should, you might be facing some water damage.
Check the trunk for rust around the tail lights, as well. Mud or silt inside the car in this area or around the seats in the car can be a sign of flooding, as well.
As always, you should get a mechanic that you trust to do a complete inspection of the vehicle so you can be almost certain that the car is in decent shape before finalizing the purchase.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Connecticut flood water damage restoration and other states and cities such as
South Carolina Sewage Damage Clean-up companies across the united states.
Take a look around the inside of the car first. Look in the glove box and check for signs of rust in there and around the floor near the seats. The vehicle should not have a musty smell inside or a clean, air freshener smell. You should smell next to nothing. The musty smell is due to mold growing in the carpet or the upholstery. If you smell air freshener, this may be an attempt by the dealer or owner to hide the musty smell underneath it. Be wary of cars that have been treated with air freshener. Also note whether the upholstery matches the rest of the car. It may have been taken up and replaced to hide water damage.
The engine is not safe, either. Sand, silt, and mud can seep into an engine along with the water and ruin it.
Make sure that all the electrical components in the vehicle work as they should, such as fuel gauges, the battery gauge, oil light, and etcetera. If these do not work as they should, you might be facing some water damage.
Check the trunk for rust around the tail lights, as well. Mud or silt inside the car in this area or around the seats in the car can be a sign of flooding, as well.
As always, you should get a mechanic that you trust to do a complete inspection of the vehicle so you can be almost certain that the car is in decent shape before finalizing the purchase.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Connecticut flood water damage restoration and other states and cities such as
South Carolina Sewage Damage Clean-up companies across the united states.
Waterproofing Your Chimney
In general, most people are not aware of the fact that water tends to do a lot more damage to your chimney than the fires that you burn in them actually do. The rest of your home is protected by the roof and the eaves, but your chimney remains completely vulnerable to all the cycles of nature, whether it is rain, sleet, snow or just a simple change in seasons.
Whether the chimney is made of brick, steel, tile, cast iron, or some other building material, it will eventually begin to deteriorate as it comes into contact with the elements of nature. Water damage usually occurs to chimneys simply because of the fact that some people do not know how to take care of them properly, even though taking care of a chimney is fairly easy.
Replacing the very top of the chimney is one of the best things that you can do to prevent water damage. What you do not want is a chimney crown that is made of a simple mortar mix, which is about the same thing used to lay the bricks of your home. This will deteriorate, chip, and crack much faster over time than a crown that is made of portland cement. This should hang over the edge of the chimney by at least two inches on all sides.
You should also check and see if the flashing around your chimney needs to be replaced. The flashing is located between your chimney and the roofing material and serves to keep rain water from seeping down into the crack underneath it and causing damage to the ceiling or walls.
There are a few different products that you can use to help waterproof your masonry chimney. Some of these products will allow your chimney to breathe water vapor and moisture out, but not allow it under the seal.
You should take good care of your chimney and keep a check on it every so often to make sure that it is not deteriorating at an excessive rate. If your chimney has cracks in it or areas look particularly unstable, you need to do whatever you have to in order to get this repaired as soon as possible. Severely water damaged chimneys can have pieces fall off of them before you know it and seriously injure someone in your family.
In addition to protecting your chimney from water damage, protecting the inside from becoming a fire hazard is also necessary and you can do this by burning logs that are specifically manufactured to cleanse your chimney of any buildup that may exist.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York water damage restoration and other states and cities such as
New York Basement Water Removal companies across the united states.
Whether the chimney is made of brick, steel, tile, cast iron, or some other building material, it will eventually begin to deteriorate as it comes into contact with the elements of nature. Water damage usually occurs to chimneys simply because of the fact that some people do not know how to take care of them properly, even though taking care of a chimney is fairly easy.
Replacing the very top of the chimney is one of the best things that you can do to prevent water damage. What you do not want is a chimney crown that is made of a simple mortar mix, which is about the same thing used to lay the bricks of your home. This will deteriorate, chip, and crack much faster over time than a crown that is made of portland cement. This should hang over the edge of the chimney by at least two inches on all sides.
You should also check and see if the flashing around your chimney needs to be replaced. The flashing is located between your chimney and the roofing material and serves to keep rain water from seeping down into the crack underneath it and causing damage to the ceiling or walls.
There are a few different products that you can use to help waterproof your masonry chimney. Some of these products will allow your chimney to breathe water vapor and moisture out, but not allow it under the seal.
You should take good care of your chimney and keep a check on it every so often to make sure that it is not deteriorating at an excessive rate. If your chimney has cracks in it or areas look particularly unstable, you need to do whatever you have to in order to get this repaired as soon as possible. Severely water damaged chimneys can have pieces fall off of them before you know it and seriously injure someone in your family.
In addition to protecting your chimney from water damage, protecting the inside from becoming a fire hazard is also necessary and you can do this by burning logs that are specifically manufactured to cleanse your chimney of any buildup that may exist.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York water damage restoration and other states and cities such as
New York Basement Water Removal companies across the united states.
What Your Contract With Your Home Builder Should Have
Building a new home is a big job that requires a lot of paperwork, a lot of money, and a lot of responsibility. This responsibility falls not only on you, but also on the contractor that you hire to do it for you. Having a contract written up by your lawyer or signing a contract that the contractor hands to you is always a big issue and you need to make sure that you understand everything in it before signing it or any other document. Contracts are designed to protect the signers from each other in the event of a dispute or in the event that one person tries to cheat the other for any reason.
A contractor that you hire may ask whether you want a “time and materials” contract or a fixed price contract. Even though the time and materials contract might sound appealing, since it means that the contractor will charge you a percentage of the overall cost of the building materials needed to finish the job, this can be a real booby trap. Unforeseen issues and building costs can hold up a job and create a slow leak or a flood of funds coming out of your wallet before you realize what has happened. It can also take longer to finish the home than you first thought that it would. A times and materials contract puts it on you to make up for the change in the cost of materials. Having a fixed-price contract will protect your pocketbook from these time and budget increases.
Anything that you expect the contractor to do should be in the contract. This means that you need to include the dates that the project will last, as in when it will begin and an approximate date as to when it will be finished. There should be a list of materials needed to build the home and approximately what they will cost. You should also consider having in the contract the right to settle a dispute by arbitration, since this will cost significantly less than having to go through a court proceeding should there be any problems between you and the contractor.
You should also obtain a warranty on the contractor’s work that will last for at least a year on the materials and labor. Sometimes a state will require a warranty on the contractor’s work for the period of at least five years.
A payment schedule should also be specified and you should never pay cash. Do not let the payments get ahead of the amount of work done. If work stops, stop paying until it resumes.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Connecticut water damage contractors and other states and cities such as
Chicago mold remediation companies across the united states.
A contractor that you hire may ask whether you want a “time and materials” contract or a fixed price contract. Even though the time and materials contract might sound appealing, since it means that the contractor will charge you a percentage of the overall cost of the building materials needed to finish the job, this can be a real booby trap. Unforeseen issues and building costs can hold up a job and create a slow leak or a flood of funds coming out of your wallet before you realize what has happened. It can also take longer to finish the home than you first thought that it would. A times and materials contract puts it on you to make up for the change in the cost of materials. Having a fixed-price contract will protect your pocketbook from these time and budget increases.
Anything that you expect the contractor to do should be in the contract. This means that you need to include the dates that the project will last, as in when it will begin and an approximate date as to when it will be finished. There should be a list of materials needed to build the home and approximately what they will cost. You should also consider having in the contract the right to settle a dispute by arbitration, since this will cost significantly less than having to go through a court proceeding should there be any problems between you and the contractor.
You should also obtain a warranty on the contractor’s work that will last for at least a year on the materials and labor. Sometimes a state will require a warranty on the contractor’s work for the period of at least five years.
A payment schedule should also be specified and you should never pay cash. Do not let the payments get ahead of the amount of work done. If work stops, stop paying until it resumes.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Connecticut water damage contractors and other states and cities such as
Chicago mold remediation companies across the united states.
How Water Affects Documents
Water damaged documents and books can be a pain for homeowners and especially libraries to have to deal with. If you are planning on salvaging papers or books, there are a few things that you need to know, especially if some of the things you may have to restore are very old or rare.
Most people are not aware of the fact that depending on the condition, composition of the paper, and the age of it, it will absorb more or less water than you would expect. If you have a large collection of old texts and you live in an area where water damage due to floods or hurricanes, knowing about how much water your collection will absorb will help you select a drying method that is appropriate. Information you also might want to have is just how long your particular collection can stay under water before some serious deterioration of the material occurs.
Some papers may absorb up to 200 percent of their original weight. Materials that are older than around the year 1840 can absorb up to around 80 percent of their weight and these old materials are particularly sensitive to mold when they have been immersed in water.
Most of the damage that occurs to books that is caused by the swelling of the materials will happen within around the first four hours after they have been submerged. The papers of the text block and the cardboard that the book binding may contain will soak up quite a lot of water and this will eventually cause the block of text to become either partially or completely detached from the binding and this is most noted when the material starts to dry out on its own and the humidity in the area falls below around 70 percent.
Most leather and vellum books can be saved if they are dried using some very carefully controlled measures. If the leather or vellum book that you are trying to salvage is from the 15th, 16th, or 17th century, you are probably already aware of the rarity of it, so these should not be mixed together with other materials for salvation, stabilization, or drying.
The most important thing to do before you start treating your papers is to stabilize the environment they are in. Lower the humidity to around 65 percent and get rid of any standing water that still exists. If you have a large amount of books that are packed onto bookshelves very tightly, they should not be removed and fanned out because this will help stop mold from growing on them, at least on the insides.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York water damage restoration contractors and other states and cities such as
Connecticut mold remediation and water damage restoration companies across the united states.
Most people are not aware of the fact that depending on the condition, composition of the paper, and the age of it, it will absorb more or less water than you would expect. If you have a large collection of old texts and you live in an area where water damage due to floods or hurricanes, knowing about how much water your collection will absorb will help you select a drying method that is appropriate. Information you also might want to have is just how long your particular collection can stay under water before some serious deterioration of the material occurs.
Some papers may absorb up to 200 percent of their original weight. Materials that are older than around the year 1840 can absorb up to around 80 percent of their weight and these old materials are particularly sensitive to mold when they have been immersed in water.
Most of the damage that occurs to books that is caused by the swelling of the materials will happen within around the first four hours after they have been submerged. The papers of the text block and the cardboard that the book binding may contain will soak up quite a lot of water and this will eventually cause the block of text to become either partially or completely detached from the binding and this is most noted when the material starts to dry out on its own and the humidity in the area falls below around 70 percent.
Most leather and vellum books can be saved if they are dried using some very carefully controlled measures. If the leather or vellum book that you are trying to salvage is from the 15th, 16th, or 17th century, you are probably already aware of the rarity of it, so these should not be mixed together with other materials for salvation, stabilization, or drying.
The most important thing to do before you start treating your papers is to stabilize the environment they are in. Lower the humidity to around 65 percent and get rid of any standing water that still exists. If you have a large amount of books that are packed onto bookshelves very tightly, they should not be removed and fanned out because this will help stop mold from growing on them, at least on the insides.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York water damage restoration contractors and other states and cities such as
Connecticut mold remediation and water damage restoration companies across the united states.
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