Areas At Risk For Mold

If you own a home, then you have probably gone through your home looking for mold on at least one occasion and if you have not, then you really should think about doing this sometime soon. We have all heard about toxic mold on the news in one form or another and how harmful it can be to our health, but this is not the only issue with mold. Even if you manage to kill it, it can still cause allergic reactions in some people because the spores are still airborne and our bodies still recognize them as something they need to defend themselves against. Taking some antihistamine medication can help, but no one wants to take allergy medicine all the time if you really do not have to.

There are a number of signs that will show you that you should look for mold in different areas of your house, but you may not exactly know what you are supposed to be looking for. Go around your house and any room that is inherently moist should be scrutinized closely. Unless you have done a remodeling job recently and you have completely waterproofed the bathroom, then you should consider it as a possible breeding ground for mold. Other rooms that are inherently moist are the kitchen, laundry room, and the basement.

You should look for signs of moisture in the laundry room since it is likely to stay humid due to the amount of wet clothing and evaporating of water that stays in there all the time. Your dryer needs to be properly vented to the outside if it is not already, unless it is a ventless model. Always wash wet clothes as soon as possible and do not put dry clothes on top of them. You will most likely forget about them and they will mold after about 48 hours.

Your kitchen is another area that you should be concerned with. Areas around the sink and floor that are not waterproofed and even the ceiling should be suspect. The steam that comes off the stove when you cook damages the ceiling and can discolor it over time, so you should have an exhaust fan installed over the stove to help prevent this. These fans should also be put in other moist rooms of the house, especially the bathroom. This will keep you from having to repaint the ceiling as often as you would normally have to and even keep you from having to replace drywall.


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

Tips To Prevent Wildfire Damage

Even though wildfires are a part of the natural process of creation and destruction in the environment, the bad thing for people is that sometimes their homes are located directly in the path. A large number of people have to worry every year whether a wildfire will affect their area, but if you own your home and you know what to do, there are things that can protect your home from them. Depending on the circumstances and where your home is located, it may not be enough, but it certainly cannot hurt to try and you may actually end up saving your home.

Using fire-resistant materials on the exterior of your house is essential. The roofing material is the most important, since this has the largest amount of surface area and sparks of fire called firebrands will be picked up by the wind and possibly carried over your house. Having the fire-resistant roofing material such as metal, fiberglass, or tile will slow down the spread of the fire from the roof and it may not even catch on fire at all from one of these small sparks. You do not want to use oil-based roofing materials on a home that is located in a place at risk of wildfires.

Fire-resistant materials on the outer walls of your home will also slow down the spread of the fire, such as stone, metal, or brick, so if you are considering having a home built for you, these are materials you really want to consider. You should also have smaller windows on the exterior of your home, since large windows are more likely to break and allow the hot air and fire sparks from the outside of the house inside, where it will catch curtains and everything else. If you have to have large windows, have multi-pane ones instead of single-pane.

If there is a wildfire close to where you live, wet down the exterior of the house, especially your roof. This will give a little extra protection against firebrands floating by on the wind. Wetting down the yard and vegetation will also help, but you should do this just before you decide to leave the house.

Get rid of any dead vegetation in the yard and do not allow things like dead leaves to build up, since these are easy targets. If you do have a pile of leaves in your yard, the best thing that you can do before you evacuate is soak them down with water.

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