Water Damage, Mold, and Mildew

One of the worst mistakes that a homeowner can make is ignoring the possibility of water damage to their home. While it may not seem like the steam in your bathroom from your showers or baths can do a lot of damage to the room, over time it can discolor the ceiling and eventually cause the drywall to sag down and possibly even collapse. You can imagine what kind of damage to the value of your home this can do and if you have purchased a home with water damage to the floors or ceiling, you know how much of a headache it can be to remodel it.

The answer to the steam problem is to install a simple exhaust vent in the ceiling over the tub or shower. This allows the steam to escape outside the room and the house and stops it from being absorbed by your ceiling drywall. You can often paint over the discoloration of the drywall after it has been damaged, but if the slab is sagging or cracked in the middle, it needs to be replaced as soon as possible. The last thing you want is for a loved one to be in the bath and the ceiling collapse on them.

Mold is also a threat to this and other moist rooms in the house. Mildew also tends to build up on tile and stone. Mildew and mold are close to the same thing, since they are both fungi, but mold tends to grow on more porous surfaces.

We have all heard horror stories of the bath tub or the toilet falling through the floor and unfortunately, most of the time this is due to the floor boards rotting. Too much water has soaked the floor over the years and has caused the boards to become flimsy. You can prevent this by making sure the floor of your bathroom is a hard, non-porous surface such as tile. The floor should be completely water tight and you may want to even install a drain on the bathroom floor, just to make sure the water goes where it is supposed to.

Even if you have a watertight floor, keeping the bathroom as dry as possible is a good idea. Always dry off the floor and other surfaces in the room after you get done with your shower. This helps lower the humidity in the room and ensures that the person who comes in the room after you does not slip and fall.


Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.localrestoration.com and
http://www.moldrestorationusa.com

Venting Is a Good Thing to prevent mold

If you do not have a ceiling exhaust fan installed in your bathrooms, it will not be long before you realize why you need one. There are so many reasons that they are a necessary item. Have you ever tried to blow dry your hair in a steamy bathroom? If you could see yourself in the mirror it might help, but with all that moisture in the air it’s not likely. Then there are also those unspeakable bathroom odors that almost anyone would rather not speak of, but they go along with the natural procession of things and the exhaust fan is a marvelous invention, if only to dispel an unpleasantness that remains even after its last occupant is gone!

A bad hair-do will be the least of your worries if the moisture problem is not corrected. A consistently steamy bathroom can result in shrinking the edges of wallpaper and peeling paint. These minor complications are bad enough in themselves, but with prolonged exposure, it can actually cause wooden window frames to swell, preventing them from opening easily, or not at all. Other wood, such as door frames, crown molding, and baseboards can swell and be damaged also, and then there is the scary mold that can grow on the ceiling and walls. It can be much cheaper in the long run to install exhaust fans rather than wait around for more costly repairs to show up later. Rest assured, any unresolved water problems in a home will not result in any thing good.

The exhaust fan is something that is rarely overlooked in newer homes, but not so in older ones. If you are a do it yourselfer, this could be a project you can handle. However, it does involve some electrical wiring, cutting holes through your ceiling and possibly through your outer wall in the attic. Home improvement stores have them with or without lights. If there is any existing light fixture in the ceiling of your bathroom, it is an advantage. If not, it will be a little more involved. In any case, if you are not familiar with electrical wiring and reciprocating saws, then hiring someone to install it for you might be the easiest and safest option. Saving money doing it yourself is great if your work is done properly. Just remember it is only home improvement if you are fixing old problems and not creating new ones!

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

House Renovating Woes

Buying a new house can be a headache all by itself, but if you are wanting to purchase a fixer upper, then you have a lot more on your plate than most people do. House flipping is a popular way to make some quick money, but it is not usually as easy as television shows and magazines make it out to be. It is not only difficult because of the construction costs, but also because of the physical and emotional strength you have to have to get through the process. Carrying the loan or loans that you may have to get to be able to afford the property is something else. If you are unmarried and already have an apartment or mortgage to pay for, then carrying another mortgage until the home is fixed up and finally sold can be a little scary.

One thing that you need to be careful about if you are planning on renovating on a budget is taking on tasks that you have no experience in. You may be able to paint the interior on your own, but cutting your new granite countertops may be something you want to leave to the professionals. This can be very complicated and can most of the time only be done once. Mess up the granite slab and you will have to buy another to replace it and this can punch a huge hole in your budget. When in doubt, leave something to the professionals and do not cut corners by taking on projects you are not sure that you can do to professional quality.

Always check for water and mold damage to the property before signing any papers. You want to know just what you are getting yourself into and these two problems cropping up in the middle of your renovation can sink you further into debt than you intended to go. Repairing these problems can sometimes cost thousands of dollars and most of the time, mold cannot be gotten rid of without removing all of the building materials affected by it. It can be scrubbed off of drywall sometimes, but if the growth is heavy on the surface, you should throw it away instead. Cleaners cannot get into the porous drywall far enough to completely kill it and it will return.

The most moist areas of the home are often the most likely to be structurally damaged and there have been many stories of toilets and bath tubs falling through the floor due to rotted supports. This is usually because the floor has been soaked with water on a regular basis for a long time and unfortunately, this can be a real pain. If you are remodeling the floor with new tile, you may want to go ahead and check for this kind of damage underneath it, just to be sure you do not have to go back and do all this again.

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