Whether it is due to a hurricane or a flood, water flooding your basement can be a nightmare for a homeowner, especially if they have anything of great value down there. Some people use these areas for extra bedrooms or entertainment areas, so the potential value of the items in the basement can be quite great.
Having a correctly functioning sump pump in your basement will help to keep it from flooding during times of heavy rain or hurricanes, since drying out a wet basement can take a very long time after such an event. If you want to help defend your basement against flooding and other forms of standing water, the most beneficial thing that you can do is to install a new sump pump.
A sump pump removes standing water from the basement by pumping it out of the lowest part of the basement before it reaches the floor level of the rest of it. When the water level rises up, the excess is pumped into a sump pump hole. After this water reaches a critical level, the pump will begin to direct this water out of the home and away from it to a drain outside.
You should keep a check on your sump pump regularly to make sure that it is functioning properly. You can do this by taking off the cover and pouring water slowly into the tank. The float that is in the tank should rise with the water and cause the pump to start up. When it turns on, the water level will quickly recede and as the float goes back down to the bottom, the pump will turn back off.
The majority of problems with a sump pump’s operation come from the float not working as it should. If it gets stuck on something inside the tank, it will not turn on and off as it should. Sometimes the float will need to be replaced in order to fix this problem. Pour water inside the tank and if the float does not trigger the pump turning on, the float is the problem. Also watch for it to trigger the pump to turn off. If it fails to do this, you may need a new float.
Some homeowners even choose to have a backup sump pump and a good idea for this is to have a back up pump that operates on the water pressure in your home’s water system instead of on electricity, so if the power goes out during a flood or hurricane, the water will still be pumped out of the basement.
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.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Fire Damage Cleanup Instructions
Dealing with the damage after a fire is something that no one who owns a home wants to have to deal with, not only since the home has been damaged, but also because the belongings inside it have been damaged, as well. Repairing the damage can be done either by a professional or by you, depending on the funds that you have to devote to the project, although you can probably do a lot of the cleanup and repair on your own.
The very first thing that you need to do before you re-enter your home after a fire is to make sure that your local fire marshal says that it is safe to. Once it is safe, turning off the electricity to your home is the next thing to do, since odds are good that the fire truck that responded to your call for help likely sprayed many, many gallons of water into your home. This can cause an electrocution risk of you step into electrified standing water. Remove this water after the electricity has been turned off as soon as possible.
Pets should be taken to a clean environment until the cleanup of the home is completed. This is especially true for birds, since they are much more sensitive to environmental changes than other animals.
Plants need to be washed on both sides of their leaves to remove soot, since this soot can likely kill them.
Any food that has been opened should be thrown away, especially if it was anywhere near the fire.
The windows and doors of the home should be opened to allow ventilation. This should help to remove the smell of smoke from the rest of the home.
Anything that needs to be vacuumed should be vacuumed carefully and without an upright vacuum that has brushes underneath it. Brushes will only rub the soot further into the carpet and all you want to do is lift it gently off the surface. After the soot is cleaned off the carpet and other upholstered items, put down plastic over them so you do not track soot in from other areas of the house.
Avoid sitting on upholstered furniture if you can help it.
Electronic appliances need to be cleaned and checked thoroughly.
Clean chrome, stainless steel, marble, and other materials in your home as soon as possible, since soot and ash can etch these items irreparably.
The clothing in your home should not be sent to a normal dry cleaner. Cleaning these items improperly may set the odor and smoke further into the fabric.
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.
The very first thing that you need to do before you re-enter your home after a fire is to make sure that your local fire marshal says that it is safe to. Once it is safe, turning off the electricity to your home is the next thing to do, since odds are good that the fire truck that responded to your call for help likely sprayed many, many gallons of water into your home. This can cause an electrocution risk of you step into electrified standing water. Remove this water after the electricity has been turned off as soon as possible.
Pets should be taken to a clean environment until the cleanup of the home is completed. This is especially true for birds, since they are much more sensitive to environmental changes than other animals.
Plants need to be washed on both sides of their leaves to remove soot, since this soot can likely kill them.
Any food that has been opened should be thrown away, especially if it was anywhere near the fire.
The windows and doors of the home should be opened to allow ventilation. This should help to remove the smell of smoke from the rest of the home.
Anything that needs to be vacuumed should be vacuumed carefully and without an upright vacuum that has brushes underneath it. Brushes will only rub the soot further into the carpet and all you want to do is lift it gently off the surface. After the soot is cleaned off the carpet and other upholstered items, put down plastic over them so you do not track soot in from other areas of the house.
Avoid sitting on upholstered furniture if you can help it.
Electronic appliances need to be cleaned and checked thoroughly.
Clean chrome, stainless steel, marble, and other materials in your home as soon as possible, since soot and ash can etch these items irreparably.
The clothing in your home should not be sent to a normal dry cleaner. Cleaning these items improperly may set the odor and smoke further into the fabric.
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.
Water Damaged Papers
One of the first things that you need to be concerned with after a hurricane or a flood is the condition of the important documents that reside in your home with your other belongings. These are often the original and only copies of such documents and losing them could cause us at the least some inconveniences and at the most, a good amount of legal trouble. You should know how to protect these documents in case a flood or hurricane or other water-related event ever affects them, but how to restore them should this happen is something else to be aware of.
Any documents should be removed from water before a period of 48 hours is up. This will almost completely insure that mold does not start to grow on these items, since once mold starts to grow on them, they must be thrown away. Mold loves to eat cellulose-based products like paper and cardboard. Lower the humidity in the home as much as you can and the temperature inside should be around 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Opening the windows and doors throughout your house should also help with lowering the humidity and helping with the air circulation, as long as the humidity outside is not higher than it is inside. Air circulation inside the house will also help dry things out.
Remove any standing water from the home and any documents found in it should be removed very carefully and put on a dry, flat surface. This will allow the paper to dry completely, but do not put documents on top of each other to dry. If papers are stapled together, take the staple out carefully and separate the pages.
The documents that are the most important to you and your family should be taken care of first and foremost. This will include items like birth certificates, social security cards, divorce papers, banking information, and warranties on any large appliance in your home. Other valuable information that is printed, but that you may not have stored on electronic media, will also need to be saved. Company presentation materials, a writer’s manuscript, and other valuable items should also be given high priority.
Items that you need to have taken to a freeze dry facility should be packed loosely in freezer paper. Loose leaf papers should be packed in boxes with other loose leaf papers and books should be packed with books. Keep these materials separated. After you get them packed up, make sure all of your contact information appears on the outside of the box.
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.
Any documents should be removed from water before a period of 48 hours is up. This will almost completely insure that mold does not start to grow on these items, since once mold starts to grow on them, they must be thrown away. Mold loves to eat cellulose-based products like paper and cardboard. Lower the humidity in the home as much as you can and the temperature inside should be around 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Opening the windows and doors throughout your house should also help with lowering the humidity and helping with the air circulation, as long as the humidity outside is not higher than it is inside. Air circulation inside the house will also help dry things out.
Remove any standing water from the home and any documents found in it should be removed very carefully and put on a dry, flat surface. This will allow the paper to dry completely, but do not put documents on top of each other to dry. If papers are stapled together, take the staple out carefully and separate the pages.
The documents that are the most important to you and your family should be taken care of first and foremost. This will include items like birth certificates, social security cards, divorce papers, banking information, and warranties on any large appliance in your home. Other valuable information that is printed, but that you may not have stored on electronic media, will also need to be saved. Company presentation materials, a writer’s manuscript, and other valuable items should also be given high priority.
Items that you need to have taken to a freeze dry facility should be packed loosely in freezer paper. Loose leaf papers should be packed in boxes with other loose leaf papers and books should be packed with books. Keep these materials separated. After you get them packed up, make sure all of your contact information appears on the outside of the box.
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.
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