If you live in an apartment or a home that has been found to be contaminated by mold due to no fault of yours, then you might have a good reason to speak with your landlord about the problem. Some landlords are quick to remedy the problem, but some are not and either try to blame the mold problem on you or they try to say that the mold poses no threat to your health or the health of your family and pets. No matter what they say, if you want to get any benefits from them, you will have to dispute anything that says mold is not a threat to you or that it is your fault. Agree that it is no threat or that it is your fault will get you absolutely nothing.
If you have to, you can even quote the Holy Bible on the fact that mold was considered to be a threat to the health of people and their animals in ancient times. It was common practice to visit a rabbi if you believed that your home was contaminated by mold and if it was found to be so by the priest, then everything in your home was removed and thrown into an “unclean place” far from where any people lived so they would not suffer from the contamination. The house was shut up for 7 days, says the scripture, and after that period of time had passed, the rabbi returned and re-examined the house. If it was still found to be diseased, the entire house was torn down and all building materials were taken also to that same “unclean place”. If you had any clothing that you thought might be infected, you were to take it to the rabbi, as well. If he deemed them unfit, then they were to be thrown to that unclean place, also.
It is also thought that the last plague of Egypt could be attributed to mold-contaminated food that had been stored underground to save it from the plague of locusts. The oldest Egyptian children of that time were given two portions of their meals and would have likely consumed enough of the molded food for it to make them sick at the very least. Jewish children were not afforded this and nor did they consume the same foods that the Egyptians did.
Be careful what you agree to when speaking with your insurance claims adjuster. Even if you are not Christian or Jewish, you can still quote these scriptures as evidence of mold being seen as a “disease” in times long past.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Household Water Damage Prevention Tips
Water damage is something that no homeowner wants to have to deal with, but many times it is just a fact of life. Whether it is a flood, excessive rain, or even something as devastating as a hurricane, sometimes water damage cannot be helped, but what about the water damage that occurs to our homes that are simply accidents? Or something that we have just overlooked for far too long? There are quite a few things that you can to in order to keep water damage from impacting your pocketbook, but for them to have any affect, you have to remain vigilant.
Cleaning out your rain gutters as soon as the leaves stop falling in autumn is a pretty good idea. What your rain gutters do is keep the rain that falls on your roof from simply falling to the base of your home and settling there. Allowing water to settle around the base of your home will eventually cause it to sink into the ground, doing damage not only to the structure of the house, but also to the home’s value, as well. Another way to prevent this kind of slowly occurring damage is to make sure that the soil around the foundation of your home is piled up against the house at an angle so water drains away from the foundation naturally. Keep downspouts clear of leaves and sticks, as well, and make sure that the bottom of the downspout has gully that drains the water coming out of it away from the home.
Making sure the plumbing that leads to your dishwasher or to your clothes washer is of good condition. You should not have to replace these hoses very often, maybe around every 4 to 5 years, but hoses of poor quality can rupture and leave you with a huge mess, especially if you happen to be out of the home at the time it bursts. Clean up any spills as quickly as possible, but if the floor in your kitchen is hardwood, the best thing to do is just soak up whatever water you can with towels. If you have a vacuum used to draw water up, such as a carpet shampooer, you can use this to get some more of the water out. Do not use artificial heat to dry your floor, because this can cause the floor to buckle or cause what is called “cupping”.
Something else that you can do is install a vent in your bathroom and kitchen. This allows the steam that builds up from cooking or bathing to escape the house and not be absorbed by your walls and ceiling.
Cleaning out your rain gutters as soon as the leaves stop falling in autumn is a pretty good idea. What your rain gutters do is keep the rain that falls on your roof from simply falling to the base of your home and settling there. Allowing water to settle around the base of your home will eventually cause it to sink into the ground, doing damage not only to the structure of the house, but also to the home’s value, as well. Another way to prevent this kind of slowly occurring damage is to make sure that the soil around the foundation of your home is piled up against the house at an angle so water drains away from the foundation naturally. Keep downspouts clear of leaves and sticks, as well, and make sure that the bottom of the downspout has gully that drains the water coming out of it away from the home.
Making sure the plumbing that leads to your dishwasher or to your clothes washer is of good condition. You should not have to replace these hoses very often, maybe around every 4 to 5 years, but hoses of poor quality can rupture and leave you with a huge mess, especially if you happen to be out of the home at the time it bursts. Clean up any spills as quickly as possible, but if the floor in your kitchen is hardwood, the best thing to do is just soak up whatever water you can with towels. If you have a vacuum used to draw water up, such as a carpet shampooer, you can use this to get some more of the water out. Do not use artificial heat to dry your floor, because this can cause the floor to buckle or cause what is called “cupping”.
Something else that you can do is install a vent in your bathroom and kitchen. This allows the steam that builds up from cooking or bathing to escape the house and not be absorbed by your walls and ceiling.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
How to Keep Your Basement Dry
Most homeowners do not consider the basement a very important part of the house, but since the rest of your home’s structure is on top of this, you might want to rethink just how valuable of a room this is. Whether you use it for storage, a guest bedroom, laundry room, or anything else you can think of, it is important to make sure that this room of the house remains structurally sound.
While it is a common problem, wet basements are something that most homeowners do not have to deal with if they take some precautions and the time to make some adjustments on their own. Many wet basement issues can be fixed by the homeowner without having to hire any outside help.
You can fix any cracks in the concrete walls of your basement where water is leaking in by using a simple injection of concrete. Doing this used to require expensive and heavy equipment, but the size and expense of this has gone down so significantly that you can now do it with a normal caulking gun. Do not try do this with the silicone caulking that you would use in a bathroom or kitchen or attempt to fix it with cement, either. These two items will only become loose and fall out, no longer forming the water barrier that you need to have in place.
If water is forming in puddles around the foundation of your house, then you probably need to pile some more soil around the house so the water runs away from the house instead of leaking down into the basement. Installing a drainage system can also help with this. Making sure your rain gutters stay cleaned out is also another thing that you can do to try and keep water out of your basement. While they seem unrelated, gutters that are clogged let water merely fall off the roof and down to the base of the house.
You can also choose to install a dehumidifier and some energy efficient windows. You will know that you have a humidity problem in the room if condensation builds up on the window panes. Putting in an exhaust vent down there can also help reduce the humidity, especially if you use the area as a laundry room or an extra bathroom. This helps prevent the steam from being absorbed by the rafters or the drywall ceiling.
While it is a common problem, wet basements are something that most homeowners do not have to deal with if they take some precautions and the time to make some adjustments on their own. Many wet basement issues can be fixed by the homeowner without having to hire any outside help.
You can fix any cracks in the concrete walls of your basement where water is leaking in by using a simple injection of concrete. Doing this used to require expensive and heavy equipment, but the size and expense of this has gone down so significantly that you can now do it with a normal caulking gun. Do not try do this with the silicone caulking that you would use in a bathroom or kitchen or attempt to fix it with cement, either. These two items will only become loose and fall out, no longer forming the water barrier that you need to have in place.
If water is forming in puddles around the foundation of your house, then you probably need to pile some more soil around the house so the water runs away from the house instead of leaking down into the basement. Installing a drainage system can also help with this. Making sure your rain gutters stay cleaned out is also another thing that you can do to try and keep water out of your basement. While they seem unrelated, gutters that are clogged let water merely fall off the roof and down to the base of the house.
You can also choose to install a dehumidifier and some energy efficient windows. You will know that you have a humidity problem in the room if condensation builds up on the window panes. Putting in an exhaust vent down there can also help reduce the humidity, especially if you use the area as a laundry room or an extra bathroom. This helps prevent the steam from being absorbed by the rafters or the drywall ceiling.
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