Posts Tagged ‘Mildew’
Flood in Your Basement?
While no one can predict when a flood might happen to your basement, or anyone’s basement for that mater, it’s best to be prepared with a flood protection plan in case you are suddenly stuck with a flooded basement.
First, it’s a good idea to keep all HVAC units on the first floor or have them mounted on the wall so that if you do end up with a flood in your basement, they will not become damaged and cost you further money in damages. A flooded basement is costly enough to repair without the additional cost of having to replace a heating and cooling system. It might be a cost to have them raised to the ceiling level now, but it is one that you should be willing to pay now rather than pay much more later down the road.
Placing your furniture up on blocks might not look fashionable, however, if you basement is prone to flooding, you might consider it or take the furniture out and use the basement as an unfinished area where you might just store things up on pallets of wood or cinder blocks to protect them from water damage. Put your valuable items being stored in waterproof plastic tubs with lids will also help.
Most basements are finished and you can protect your self by having flood insurance policy on all your property in the basement. When you purchase a new couch and chair or television and recliner, make sure you notify your insurance agent and take photos of all your belongings in the basement, this includes washer and dryer if they are located in the basement. That way you have proof of their existence and, you will be able to show the insurance agent exactly what was in the basement if you have to clear it out before he or she can get to you.
Sometimes there is a large area that floods many basements and the insurance agents are very busy. You don’t want mildew building up in your home so you need to take everything out that came in contact with the water and make sure it is hauled away by the garbage truck. Mold and mildew can be deadly if left to grow in your basement. Once the furniture is taken away and the water has receded, make sure you take up any carpet or hardwood flooring or vinyl flooring that has been laid down because mold and mildew love to grow under these types of materials. Next you need to scrub everything with bleaching agent and water combination so that the mold and mildew will die. It’s a living, breathing fungus and you need to make sure it doesn’t reproduce and grow again.
A sump pump is another line of defence for a basement that might be prone to flooding. This is a machine that is placed in the basement, deep in a hole in the ground, which helps pump water away from the basement from underground. It is fairly effective, yet also costly.
The Advantages Of Using A Gutter Scoop
Cleaning gutters isn’t a fun chore for any home owner. It will be a messy and dangerous job. Therefore it is prudent to try and realize tools that will build it go faster, limit the mess, and facilitate your be safe. A gutter scoop is one of these tools.
A gutter scoop may be a tool that is just what it sounds like. You employ it to scoop out debris from your gutter system. It sometimes has high sides to maximise its capacity and is as long as eight to ten inches for the same reason. The larger the volume of the news, the more debris you’ll be able to take away with each scoop and fewer fast the work can get done. They’re most often made of plastic, however I have seen tools created of metal as well. The metal can scratch your gutter system, however that is not too much of a priority as a result of individuals don’t often look at the within of your gutters. The larger concern and reason that plastic is healthier is that metal rusts. The plastic can stoppage better in wet conditions and is easy to scrub and store.
Gutter and downspout cleaning can be messy if you try to try and do it by hand. Each time you grab some, of debris most of it will squeeze out between your fingers and drip onto your siding and clothing. If you use a gutter cleaning tool like this then you’ll be able to eliminate that dripping mess. The extra high sides and deep bottom make it tougher for material to fall out. Plus, your hands keep clean.
The wet leaves and debris that fill a gutter system exist in an atmosphere that encourages the expansion of mould and mildew. Returning into contact with each of these can be harmful to your health. If you’ll be able to avoid touching the gutter mess with your hands then you will be that abundant better off in terms of avoiding respiratory and infection problems.
Another reason that scoops build it safer for the home owner is that you do not have to succeed in as way to clean the same space of gutter. The half of gutter cleaning that takes the most time is the visits up and down the ladder so as to move it to the next section. When you are up on the ladder you wish to try and reach as far as possible in both directions before you’ve got to climb down and move the it. When you are using an aid you are doing not have to lean out away from your center as way as you do when using your clean hands and you’ll be able to wash the same amount of linear house while not being unsafe.
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Solar Attic Fan
One of the more popular uses of solar power in the home is the solar attic fan.
As its name implies, a solar attic fan is powered and activated by sunlight. It is installed into the roof of the attic, with its panels facing the sky.
Why would one need a solar-powered attic fan?
Well, first of all, what is the purpose of an attic fan?
Since heat rises, all of the heat in a home tends to rise up into the attic. If this heat has no easy outlet, it will simply get stuck up there. This causes the over-heating. When combined with a lack of proper ventilation, this leads to dampness, mildew, and the the like.
Furthermore, when the accumulated attic heat is not allowed to escape, the temperature of the entire home rises.
While there are some circumstances under which you want to warm up your home, there are other circumstances under which you would prefer to cool it down. A lack of sufficient ventilation in a hot attic can make matters difficult. Thus, an attic fan can play an important role in allowing you to control the temperature of your home.
Okay, now that we understand what the purpose of this fan is, why would we want it to be solar-powered?
The first answer is obvious – to use cleaner energy and to avoid using fuels which damage the environment.
By using solar power for the fan, we can also save a bit of money on electricity.
But a more pragmatic reason for using a solar powered fan is the simple fact that it is basically “wireless.” You won’t have to worry about installing electrical wires and cables into your attic, in order to run your fan.
Solar-powered fans are relatively simple to install into one’s attic. But if you aren’t an enthusiastic DIYer ready to climb onto your roof with a knife and a hammer, you will probably want to get someone else to do it.
When installing a solar-powered fan into the roof, one has to actually cut a hole into the roof and install the fan in that spot. It’s smart to install it on the south facing side, which will receive more sun (unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere, in which case you would obviously install it on the north side). There is a certain degree of skill involved, as is normally the case when one considers the prospect of climbing up on the roof, removing shingles and roofing material, and cutting a hole through to the other side without damaging any rafters.
But overall the process does not take a long time, for someone who knows what they’re doing. The installation of the fan should be well worth the trouble in the long run, particularly if you live in a hot climate. It will run at virtually no running cost, while reducing the overall level of heat in your home. That reduces the costs involved with cooling your house (using less energy-efficient methods, such as air conditioning).
So, even if you don’t give a hoot about the environment, a solar attic fan might be a very worthwhile investment. Providing you do have an attic.
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Visit Anna Williams’ website to find out more about Residential Solar Power, DIY Solar Power, and where you can find a The Solar Attic Fan and How it Works.