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.
Water Damage and Interior Paint
Using waterproof paint to help prevent water damage to the walls and ceilings of your home is an option for most of us. The everyday wear and tear on the interior of our homes comes from all the areas in the home that are moist by nature such as the bathroom, the laundry room, kitchen, and basement. Showering, washing dishes, hot baths, and the steam from cooking all cause the water damage and discoloration of our walls and ceilings, but with waterproof paint, this does not have to be so.
Not only does water discolor the ceiling and cause the paint on your walls to peel, but it can also cause mold to grow in these areas, which introduces a new health risk to the indoor environment. Moisture becomes trapped under a layer of paint that allows it to seep in and mold begins to grow underneath it.
The best places for you to apply waterproof paint if you cannot apply it to the entire home are the areas that are most subject to the exposure of water vapor and steam. These are typically the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and your basement. Your bathroom and kitchen are the ones that you should concentrate on first, since every member of your household will have to go into these rooms at least once or twice every single day.
Using a primer that is waterproof and mold resistant is also good to use in these areas. The primer that you use does not have to be mold resistant, but it is definitely a plus. Finding one that is stain resistant is also good, since you will not have to repaint very often.
When it comes to just what kind of paint you need to apply to different things in your home, it depends on what kind of surface you intent on applying it to. A high-gloss paint is typically easy to clean, but if there are any flaws in the surface that you paint with it, they will all show up in perfect detail. Semi-gloss paints have less shine than high-gloss paints do, but these are easier to clean than high-gloss. Eggshell and flat finishes are the easiest to cleanse and these paints are starting to become more widely used since higher quality paints are becoming available in these no-gloss finishes.
Water damage, mold, and stains are all common household problems, but applying waterproof, stain resistant, and mold resistant paints to the moist areas of your home should help prevent a good bit of it.
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.
Not only does water discolor the ceiling and cause the paint on your walls to peel, but it can also cause mold to grow in these areas, which introduces a new health risk to the indoor environment. Moisture becomes trapped under a layer of paint that allows it to seep in and mold begins to grow underneath it.
The best places for you to apply waterproof paint if you cannot apply it to the entire home are the areas that are most subject to the exposure of water vapor and steam. These are typically the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and your basement. Your bathroom and kitchen are the ones that you should concentrate on first, since every member of your household will have to go into these rooms at least once or twice every single day.
Using a primer that is waterproof and mold resistant is also good to use in these areas. The primer that you use does not have to be mold resistant, but it is definitely a plus. Finding one that is stain resistant is also good, since you will not have to repaint very often.
When it comes to just what kind of paint you need to apply to different things in your home, it depends on what kind of surface you intent on applying it to. A high-gloss paint is typically easy to clean, but if there are any flaws in the surface that you paint with it, they will all show up in perfect detail. Semi-gloss paints have less shine than high-gloss paints do, but these are easier to clean than high-gloss. Eggshell and flat finishes are the easiest to cleanse and these paints are starting to become more widely used since higher quality paints are becoming available in these no-gloss finishes.
Water damage, mold, and stains are all common household problems, but applying waterproof, stain resistant, and mold resistant paints to the moist areas of your home should help prevent a good bit of it.
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.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Is Mold Affecting Your Allergies
So many people in the world suffer from allergies that it is often hard to completely get away from them, no matter what kind of medications you might be prescribed by your physician. Most allergy symptoms can be seen from spring to the late fall because the majority of allergies can be attributed to grasses, pollens, and different kinds of mold. Most grasses, flowers, and molds cannot grow during the winter time. Even though some types of mold can withstand cold temperatures, most cannot continue to live in temperatures that are below freezing, though they can lie dormant for quite a long time. If they are allowed to thaw, they can be just as live and dangerous as before they were frozen.
Unfortunately, not all places in the world are touched by freezing temperatures and so mold often grows year round, affecting not only the allergies, but also the general health of the people who live in a building infected by it. The allergy symptoms caused by mold can be anything from sneezing to runny noses to skin rashes. Perennial allergic rhinitis can also be brought about by the presence of mold, however mold usually causes allergy symptoms only when it is present in a fairly high amount. Mold allergy symptoms are often made worse by the consumption of any kind of food that has been made with a fungus such as mushrooms or even foods like bread and beer. Cheese made with mold, particularly bleu cheese, can also bring about the occurrence of these symptoms.
Compared to the number of species of mold on the planet, there are not too many kinds of it that are highly allergenic, but there are a few dozen. Cladosporium, Alternaria, and Penicillium are three kinds of molds that tend to cause many allergic reactions. Penicillium is the only genus that has both a medicine and a disease named after it, however.
If you have allergies, something that you probably do on a regular basis is watch for the grass, pollen, and mold spore counts that appear on the news every day. These are important to pay attention to because if you are elderly or have a small child who is allergic, going out into a day when there is a high count of anything you may be allergic to could be either an irritating day or end up aggravating your allergy until you need to go to the hospital. Severe allergic reactions are rare, but they can happen.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Unfortunately, not all places in the world are touched by freezing temperatures and so mold often grows year round, affecting not only the allergies, but also the general health of the people who live in a building infected by it. The allergy symptoms caused by mold can be anything from sneezing to runny noses to skin rashes. Perennial allergic rhinitis can also be brought about by the presence of mold, however mold usually causes allergy symptoms only when it is present in a fairly high amount. Mold allergy symptoms are often made worse by the consumption of any kind of food that has been made with a fungus such as mushrooms or even foods like bread and beer. Cheese made with mold, particularly bleu cheese, can also bring about the occurrence of these symptoms.
Compared to the number of species of mold on the planet, there are not too many kinds of it that are highly allergenic, but there are a few dozen. Cladosporium, Alternaria, and Penicillium are three kinds of molds that tend to cause many allergic reactions. Penicillium is the only genus that has both a medicine and a disease named after it, however.
If you have allergies, something that you probably do on a regular basis is watch for the grass, pollen, and mold spore counts that appear on the news every day. These are important to pay attention to because if you are elderly or have a small child who is allergic, going out into a day when there is a high count of anything you may be allergic to could be either an irritating day or end up aggravating your allergy until you need to go to the hospital. Severe allergic reactions are rare, but they can happen.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Steps To Take If Your Employer Ignores Mold Problems
Everybody’s found that great job that they do not want to let go of, but sometimes something gets in the way that you just cannot do anything about. Or can you? What do you do if you discover that mold is growing at the place you work and your employer does not want to do anything about it? How do you complain about the mold and keep your job at the same time? Sometimes it is easy to get an employer to take care of a mold problem once they realize that it can be a problem to their own health, as well.
But, what about those employers who do not seem to care what the mold does to their employees or their customers? It is dangerous and can cause many kinds of health problems, so what do you do? Do you keep quiet about it? Keep complaining and risk your job? It does not really matter what state that you live in, the truth is that if an employer wants to get rid of you, they are allowed to do so for almost whatever reason they want to and this is what makes issues such as this difficult to maneuver around if you want to keep your job.
Try talking to your boss about the issue first and explain to him everything that mold can do to a person’s health. Explain that he could be liable for the damages both to his employees and anyone else who enters the building. Tell him about the structural damage it could also be causing or how it might be damaging the product you are producing in some way. Most of the time this is enough, but what if they just do not care?
There are a few different things that you can do. You can stop complaining about it and let it get quiet for a while, then talk to someone at your state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the problem or your local county health department. Mold in the workplace is a safety violation for the employer.
If you work in a public building such as a hospital or a library and nothing is done about the mold problems, see if you can take some pictures of the infestation and get them to your local newspaper or television news station. This should draw enough attention to the problem that it gets taken care of, but unfortunately your job may suffer for it. Your employer can fire you for whatever he or she wants, but if they fire you for complaining about the mold, you can sue. What usually happens is they will do anything they can to find a reason to get rid of you, but if you suspect that this is what they are doing to retaliate for your exposing of the mold problem, contact your lawyer.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
But, what about those employers who do not seem to care what the mold does to their employees or their customers? It is dangerous and can cause many kinds of health problems, so what do you do? Do you keep quiet about it? Keep complaining and risk your job? It does not really matter what state that you live in, the truth is that if an employer wants to get rid of you, they are allowed to do so for almost whatever reason they want to and this is what makes issues such as this difficult to maneuver around if you want to keep your job.
Try talking to your boss about the issue first and explain to him everything that mold can do to a person’s health. Explain that he could be liable for the damages both to his employees and anyone else who enters the building. Tell him about the structural damage it could also be causing or how it might be damaging the product you are producing in some way. Most of the time this is enough, but what if they just do not care?
There are a few different things that you can do. You can stop complaining about it and let it get quiet for a while, then talk to someone at your state’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the problem or your local county health department. Mold in the workplace is a safety violation for the employer.
If you work in a public building such as a hospital or a library and nothing is done about the mold problems, see if you can take some pictures of the infestation and get them to your local newspaper or television news station. This should draw enough attention to the problem that it gets taken care of, but unfortunately your job may suffer for it. Your employer can fire you for whatever he or she wants, but if they fire you for complaining about the mold, you can sue. What usually happens is they will do anything they can to find a reason to get rid of you, but if you suspect that this is what they are doing to retaliate for your exposing of the mold problem, contact your lawyer.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
A Clean Fridge Is A Mold Free Fridge
Cleanliness in the kitchen is one of the most important things that you can train yourself to practice if you want to keep not only a healthy home, but also a slightly more padded wallet. The medical issues that can come about because of moldy or spoiled food in your refrigerator are not pleasant in any way and if they are severe or common enough, it can start to drain your bank account. Salmonella poisoning is not fun to deal with and it can possibly lead to death if you are not careful, but one of the most commonly occurring things that you do not want in your refrigerator is mold.
Mold starts to grow inside jelly jars or tubs of sour cream after they have been in your refrigerator for a while and if you are in the habit of buying a larger jar of something that you need, try buying a smaller one if it exists. Also clean out your refrigerator of outdated and spoiled items often.
One of the most important things that you can do to keep a clean kitchen is to keep a clean and well organized refrigerator. Keep Ziploc bags to store things like meat that do not have re-sealable containers, such as packs of bologna that you have to cut open with a knife. The longer a food remains uncovered, the sooner it will dry out and no one will want to eat it except the mold and bacteria that exist in your refrigerator. The unwanted top piece is left in the refrigerator in the hopes that someone else will eat it, but this rarely happens.
Produce like vegetables and fruits that are put into plastic sacks when you are gathering them in the produce aisle at the grocery store should be removed from these sacks when you put them in your refrigerator. Always refrigerate vegetables if possible; leaving them out at room temperature will encourage mold to grow on them. If you have grains such as flour or cornmeal (and you should), putting them in the refrigerator or freezer can also help keep mice, bugs, and mold away from them. However, remembering to allow the necessary portions of these to warm to room temperature before cooking with them is essential to good food.
Clean your refrigerator and wash it on both the inside and outside as often as you need to. Doing this will help keep your refrigerator as bacteria and mold free as possible and your food will taste better and be healthier for you because of it.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Dallas Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Mold starts to grow inside jelly jars or tubs of sour cream after they have been in your refrigerator for a while and if you are in the habit of buying a larger jar of something that you need, try buying a smaller one if it exists. Also clean out your refrigerator of outdated and spoiled items often.
One of the most important things that you can do to keep a clean kitchen is to keep a clean and well organized refrigerator. Keep Ziploc bags to store things like meat that do not have re-sealable containers, such as packs of bologna that you have to cut open with a knife. The longer a food remains uncovered, the sooner it will dry out and no one will want to eat it except the mold and bacteria that exist in your refrigerator. The unwanted top piece is left in the refrigerator in the hopes that someone else will eat it, but this rarely happens.
Produce like vegetables and fruits that are put into plastic sacks when you are gathering them in the produce aisle at the grocery store should be removed from these sacks when you put them in your refrigerator. Always refrigerate vegetables if possible; leaving them out at room temperature will encourage mold to grow on them. If you have grains such as flour or cornmeal (and you should), putting them in the refrigerator or freezer can also help keep mice, bugs, and mold away from them. However, remembering to allow the necessary portions of these to warm to room temperature before cooking with them is essential to good food.
Clean your refrigerator and wash it on both the inside and outside as often as you need to. Doing this will help keep your refrigerator as bacteria and mold free as possible and your food will taste better and be healthier for you because of it.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Dallas Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
The Three Ways Mold Affects Us
Mold has been around since before us and has been having an effect on us since the time of Moses, yet we have only recently begun to see the true effects of mold on the human body. Mold not only affects the human body, but also the bodies of animals, such as our dogs, cats, and even our birds. We have become aware that mold is not something that we want living where we do, but a lot of us do not feel that there is much that we can do about it. Most molds fit into three different categories and are classified according to what kind of effect they have on us and our health.
Molds that are considered toxic produce what are called mycotoxins and even though these molds rarely occur where we live, they can cause all kinds of health complications and some of these can lead to death in the most serious of circumstances. Penicilliosis is native to the region of Southeast Asia and has a fairly high mortality rate without treatment, but even with treatment the number of deaths total about one in five. Another serious occurrence associated with mold is called aspergilloma and it happens when fungus begins to grow in balls inside any cavities existing in the body, particularly the lungs. Stachybotrys mold produces mycotoxins and is the most famous of the different black molds that exist and has been referenced by the media as “toxic black mold”.
Allergenic molds seem to affect people the most often and as their name implies, they usually cause some common allergy symptoms, but can be quite a nuisance. They can aggravate existing allergies or asthma, making the symptoms that a person already has become worse over time. Anti-histamines may help a small amount, but getting rid of the contamination is usually the only way to keep the symptoms from returning.
Pathogenic molds are less rare than toxic molds or allergenic molds, but they can be just as dangerous in people that have compromised immune systems such as those who are HIV-positive or has AIDS, cancer, or is recovering from surgery of any kind. The elderly, pets, and small children are also more at risk than a normal healthy adult person would be.
If you believe that mold exists in your home, you should perform some do-it-yourself mold tests and when you get the results back, hire a professional to get rid of the infestation as soon as possible
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Molds that are considered toxic produce what are called mycotoxins and even though these molds rarely occur where we live, they can cause all kinds of health complications and some of these can lead to death in the most serious of circumstances. Penicilliosis is native to the region of Southeast Asia and has a fairly high mortality rate without treatment, but even with treatment the number of deaths total about one in five. Another serious occurrence associated with mold is called aspergilloma and it happens when fungus begins to grow in balls inside any cavities existing in the body, particularly the lungs. Stachybotrys mold produces mycotoxins and is the most famous of the different black molds that exist and has been referenced by the media as “toxic black mold”.
Allergenic molds seem to affect people the most often and as their name implies, they usually cause some common allergy symptoms, but can be quite a nuisance. They can aggravate existing allergies or asthma, making the symptoms that a person already has become worse over time. Anti-histamines may help a small amount, but getting rid of the contamination is usually the only way to keep the symptoms from returning.
Pathogenic molds are less rare than toxic molds or allergenic molds, but they can be just as dangerous in people that have compromised immune systems such as those who are HIV-positive or has AIDS, cancer, or is recovering from surgery of any kind. The elderly, pets, and small children are also more at risk than a normal healthy adult person would be.
If you believe that mold exists in your home, you should perform some do-it-yourself mold tests and when you get the results back, hire a professional to get rid of the infestation as soon as possible
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
The Dangers Of Mold, What You Should Know About Mold
A lot of people, including insurance companies, would like you to think that mold isn’t as dangerous to your health as all the media hype would have you believe, but actually mold is just as harmful as people say that it is. Mold has been around longer than human beings have, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t cause us problems both medically and financially. If anyone tries to tell you that mold isn’t going to cause any damage to your health, you might want to tell them some of the things that mold has been known to do.
Mold has been known to cause an excess amount of fatigue, sinusitis, allergy symptoms, and damaged vision. The allergy symptoms are one of the most common results and it can occur either in the form of a runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, or even skin rashes that are unsightly and tend to be very itchy. If you do not experience any of these symptoms while you are outside of your home, it might be mold or something else in your living environment that is causing you to have these reactions. Either way, you should probably see a doctor as soon as you are able to determine that something in your home is causing you to have these symptoms.
It has been known to kill our pets and cause lung bleeding, especially in infants. Elderly people, particularly those in poor health or with any respiratory problems, are at risk for the health effects of mold. Anyone who is HIV-positive, have AIDS, or those who are in the process of recovering from surgery are also at a high risk for mold-related infections and health complications.
Some of the most dangerous infections in the world are caused by mold and in the region of Southeast Asia, this includes a condition that affects mostly HIV-positive and AIDS patients called penicilliosis. It is caused by a mold in the genus penicillium, a genus which is most famous for including the species of mold responsible for the “miracle drug” penicillin that was invented back in the 1940’s.
There are actually a lot of things that you can do to make your home and workplace mold-free. Taping a do-it-yourself home mold test to the grill of one of your air conditioning vents is a good idea; it will test to see if your air conditioner is responsible for spreading the mold around your house. Putting tests in other rooms after you’ve stirred up the air for a few minutes with a house fan is also a good way to test for mold. If you see mold growing visibly on your wall, use rubber gloves and scrape a small bit off onto the test and send it to a mold laboratory.
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.waterbasementct.info and
http://www.moldrestorationusa.com
Mold has been known to cause an excess amount of fatigue, sinusitis, allergy symptoms, and damaged vision. The allergy symptoms are one of the most common results and it can occur either in the form of a runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, or even skin rashes that are unsightly and tend to be very itchy. If you do not experience any of these symptoms while you are outside of your home, it might be mold or something else in your living environment that is causing you to have these reactions. Either way, you should probably see a doctor as soon as you are able to determine that something in your home is causing you to have these symptoms.
It has been known to kill our pets and cause lung bleeding, especially in infants. Elderly people, particularly those in poor health or with any respiratory problems, are at risk for the health effects of mold. Anyone who is HIV-positive, have AIDS, or those who are in the process of recovering from surgery are also at a high risk for mold-related infections and health complications.
Some of the most dangerous infections in the world are caused by mold and in the region of Southeast Asia, this includes a condition that affects mostly HIV-positive and AIDS patients called penicilliosis. It is caused by a mold in the genus penicillium, a genus which is most famous for including the species of mold responsible for the “miracle drug” penicillin that was invented back in the 1940’s.
There are actually a lot of things that you can do to make your home and workplace mold-free. Taping a do-it-yourself home mold test to the grill of one of your air conditioning vents is a good idea; it will test to see if your air conditioner is responsible for spreading the mold around your house. Putting tests in other rooms after you’ve stirred up the air for a few minutes with a house fan is also a good way to test for mold. If you see mold growing visibly on your wall, use rubber gloves and scrape a small bit off onto the test and send it to a mold laboratory.
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.waterbasementct.info and
http://www.moldrestorationusa.com
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