Friday, September 28, 2007

Protecting Your Deck From Water Damage

Waterproofing your deck that you worked so hard to pay for or to build is something that most homeowners need to do to keep their deck in good condition over the years. It will likely be used extensively and you want to keep it looking as good and as structurally sound as possible. Mold and rotting can occur to decks that are not properly waterproofed, so the deck’s structural integrity is also under scrutiny. Water from a pool or rain or snow can cause the water damage to your deck that you are trying to avoid, so applying a water sealant to the deck will help prevent all of this.

Waterproofing a new deck is not very different from waterproofing one that already exists on a property, but you should wait at least 30 days before you do, because the chemicals in the wood the deck was built with will need time to evaporate and the wood will need time to adjust to its new environment. After you have waited a month, you can start waterproofing the deck.

Clean off the entire deck and remove all furniture. It should be made completely bare and free of all debris, including leaves, sticks, pool toys, and etcetera. You can purchase a cleaner for the deck from most department stores. Follow the directions and apply it with a pump sprayer. When it starts foaming up, get a brush with stiff bristles and start scrubbing the surface of the deck firmly. This will not only remove all the dirt and other buildup from the deck, but also help to remove stains such as grease. After you are done, rinse all of the foam off with your garden hose or a few buckets of water. When you are doing this, you should be wearing eye protection.

Applying the sealant will be done with a roller or a pump sprayer and if there are any puddles of the sealant on the deck, you will have to roll them out so that the sealant coats the deck evenly.

Drilling a few small holes in your deck where water collects can also help further waterproof it. This will let the water drain off of the deck in these areas. They can be as big or as small as you want them to be, although 3/16 of an inch is about the smallest you can get that will allow for a decent amount of drainage.

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
flood water damage restoration chicago and other states such as
New Jersey mold remediation contractor companies across the united states.

How to Waterproof Your Deck

Waterproofing the deck that your family barbecues on or that surrounds the pool is an important thing to do if you want your deck to stand up to the weather for a long time. Warping and cracking will eventually happen to every deck made of wood, but what waterproofing will do is slow this process down quite considerably and the sealant will keep out most of the moisture that is placed upon it, whether it is rain, snow, or pool water.

If you wish to waterproof a new deck, it is best to wait at least 30 days before doing this, since the chemicals that the wood was treated with before installation need time to evaporate. Give the wood time to adjust to the climate. After you have waited this long, it is safe to begin the waterproofing process.

Start with cleaning off the surface of the deck and removing all debris. Also remove all patio furniture and equipment such as barbecue grills. The deck should be completely cleared off. A deck cleaner can be bought at most hardware and home improvement stores. Follow the instructions and you can apply this with a pump sprayer. When it starts to foam, start scrubbing the deck with a stiff bristled brush. This will make sure that the stains on the deck, almost no matter how stubborn they are, will come up. Rinse it off completely with a garden hose, but make sure you have on eye protection to keep anything from spraying into your eyes.

This is the time to apply the sealant. Spray it onto the deck with a pump sprayer or a roller. Sometimes there will be puddles of sealant that will form and these need to be rolled out evenly over the deck. Allow it to dry completely and after two days, you should be able to walk on it without damaging the seal.

When you apply sealant or any chemical to your deck, you should always wear eye and skin protection.

If you want to help keep your deck further waterproofed, you can drill some small holes into the areas of it that retain water on a regular basis. These holes can be as small as 3/16 of an inch to even ¼ of an inch and they will not adversely affect the appearance of the wood very much. They will, however, help keep the water drained.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
North Carolina Mold Remediation and other states such as
New Jersey Sewage Damage Cleanup companies across the united states.

Fire Damage Cleanup Tips

Having to deal with a house fire, even a small one, is something that no homeowner ever wants to have to do, but unfortunately, these are often cruel facts of life. If you are like the majority of the rest of us, you probably do not have enough money to hire a professional to take care of the cleanup process for you, so educating yourself about how to go about it before this event takes place is a good idea. The cosmetic damage to your home can mostly be done by you, but the structural damage will probably need to be handled by a professional.

Depending on the size of the fire, there is probably some standing water in the home from the fire hose spilling gallons upon gallons of water into it to put out the fire. Electricity to the part of the home affected by the fire and water should be cut off so that you can clean up the standing water without fearing electrocution. Remove the standing water as quickly as you can, since this will cause water damage to your floor and walls in addition to the fire damage that is already there.

Pets should not be allowed back into the home until the initial cleanup is finished.

Any plants that you have need to have the soot and ash cleaned off of their leaves. Leaving this on the leaves will kill them.

If there is food in your kitchen that was open at the time of the fire, it should be thrown away, since it could be contaminated due to the excess heat and soot.

The smoke damage to your ceiling and walls can often not be removed by washing. The most that you can do to this is paint over it with a primer made for this purpose and then paint over that with the color of your ceiling.

Things like marble, stainless steel, chrome, and formica should be cleaned as soon as possible with the proper cleansers, since soot and ash can etch these items if you leave it on there too long. This etching cannot be repaired.

Furniture that is upholstered should not be sat on until it has been vacuumed thoroughly with a hose that has no brushes on it, since a brush attachment will only work the soot further into the fabric. This is also true for carpets. Once these have been vacuumed, put plastic over them so you do not track soot and ash in from other areas of the house.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Houston Fire Damage Water Restoration Contractor companies and
Los Angeles Water Damage and Restoration Services.

Areas in the Bathroom Prone to Water Damage

Since your bathroom is one of the most important rooms in the house, you need to be aware of the different areas of it that are the most at risk for water damage. These are the water junctions in your bathroom and this means that these are the areas that water comes out of the plumbing and into the room at some point, whether it is at the shower, the sink, or the toilet.

Having tile down in your bathroom to protect the floor underneath from water is an absolute must. While you can put down carpet in the bathroom, this is not advised, since mold will eventually start to grow in it or under it, especially in the bathroom closet where you are likely to throw wet towels and clothes. These wet items are usually forgotten about and dry clothing is thrown on top of them.

Do an inspection of your bathroom when you go in it every now and then to make sure that there are no real signs of water damage occurring.

The tiles on the floor and on the walls around the shower and bath tub can become cracked over time and when they do become cracked, you need to replace them to keep water from seeping under them. Water that gets under these tiles will damage the surface underneath and if they become very damaged, tearing up the tile and replacing this surface is the only option to maintain structural integrity.

The plumbing under the sink should be inspected for leaks on a regular basis and you should replace the pipes if they are cracked or loose at all.

You should also pay attention to the area around the base of the toilet and cracked tile around it needs to be replaced. Toilets overflow all the time from clogging and you can prevent this most of the time by just not putting too much toilet paper in the toilet. Also avoid putting hanging toilet bowl cleansers in it, because these also tend to cause clogging.

The plumbing inside the walls can be checked out, but this is the most difficult area of the bathroom to keep an eye on, since the pipes are located inside the walls. Watch for moisture on the drywall or leaking into the floor from any part of the wall. Either of these signs should be a giveaway that there is a problem in the wall.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration contractors and
Mold Remediation companies across the united states.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Water Damaged Cell Phone Tips That May Save Your Phone

If your cell phone has been submersed in water recently and you have managed to save it yourself, then good for you. But, there are some other tips that you might want to know just in case.

Another method for helping the phone dry out (if you do not have any rice on hand) is to put it on top of the vent on a monitor or a television for at least 24 hours. The low amount of heat put out by these devices should be enough to gently dry out the phone.

If you are the kind of person who keeps the silica packs that come packed in electronics, coats, shoes, and etcetera, you can put the phone into a plastic bag with a couple of these and let them absorb the moisture over a couple of days. If you do not have these on hand, a local craft store should have a flower drying kit that will contain a silica sand-type mixture. Put it in a Tupperware dish, use a dryer sheet, lay the phone on top of it, and seal it.

Corrosion is a definite threat to cell phones and other electronics and some people have suggested that you wash the phone in distilled water to wash away any kind of minerals that might have existed in the water or other liquid the phone was originally submersed in. If you choose to try this, do it only after you have removed the SIM card and battery.

If the battery is wet, do NOT heat it to try and dry it out. Batteries, especially lithium-ion ones, are quite sensitive and they very well may explode if you try to speed up the drying process in this manner.

If you choose to use alcohol to clean off parts of the phone that are sticky with soda or another similar liquid, do not apply heat to the device in any way. Do not reattach the battery until the smell of alcohol is completely gone.

This might also seem like common sense, but do not put any electronic device into the microwave. You will probably destroy not only your device, but even your microwave could be put at risk.

You should be aware that most phone warranties do not cover water damaged phones and that most phones today have special stickers inside them (only one visible to you) that will tell a technician if the phone has come into contact with water or even just too much humidity. Be careful when taking your phone outdoors when humidity is very high. It is possible to void your warranty.





Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies

Things You Should Know About Water Damage And Your Computer

Water or almost any other kind of liquid is not a great thing to have around your computer or any other electronic device. This kind of damage can be expensive to either replace or to have repaired and unfortunately, many people who are unfortunate enough to have this happen to them cannot afford it.

If the liquid spilled upon the device is acidic, like soda or coffee, then it generally does more damage than simple water would do. It causes more corrosion to the metal areas of the motherboard or any other computer component such as the hard drive or CD-ROM.

One of the worst case scenarios is that you spill a liquid onto your laptop where everything, motherboard, hard drive, CD-ROM, and etcetera are all packed into the same general area. In most cases of water damage to computers, the liquid is spilled merely on the keyboard or another outside component such as the mouse. With laptops, spilling a liquid on the keyboard does not mean that only the keyboard is affected, but also the other components sharing the shell of the laptop are, as well. What can you do if water or another liquid is spilled on your laptop?

Unplug it from the A/C adapter and remove the battery IMMEDIATELY. Unplug any other external devices including external hard drives, mice, other input devices, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and etcetera. The next thing is to turn the laptop completely upside down to stop the liquid from sinking any further into it.

Use a towel or paper towels to clean up the spilled liquid, wipe off the keyboard, exterior, and any external devices that came into contact with the liquid as well.

At this point, you could do one of two things. You could take it to a professional repairman and have them look at it (I hope you have an extra arm and leg lying around) or if you know how to take something apart and put it back together, you can try to fix it yourself. In trying to fix it, you may irreparably damage it, so if you are even remotely unsure about your ability to repair it, it is better to take it to a professional.

If you choose the do-it-yourself route, disassemble the computer and allow it to dry out completely for at least 24 hours, if not longer. Let it dry until you are satisfied that it is completely done. Whatever you do, do not turn the power on before it is. It is not water itself that kills the circuit board of any electronic device, but the electricity that runs through it when someone tries to turn the device on when it is still wet.

If it was just water, drying should be all it needs. If it was soda or any other acidic liquid, clean it with rubbing alcohol and Q-tips, then put it back together and wait for the alcohol to dry. See if it works.



Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Water Damage Miami and
water damage restoration in atlanta companies.

Water And Your Cell Phone Do Not Mix

Many people have horror stories about how they lost anywhere between $50 and $600 on replacing a cell phone that was dropped into the toilet or the bath tub or any other liquid. The sad fact is that most cell phone warranties do not cover water damage and unfortunately, cell phone manufacturers have begun to place what some are calling “snitch stickers” in their phones that change color if they have been exposed to even a drop of water. While this keeps people trying to get a new free phone from saying that their old phone was not water damaged when it actually was, it is unfortunate for the consumer because these stickers have been known to change color in even just high humidity. So, water damage to phones is a serious problem, but what do you do if your phone does become submersed?

Take it out of the water immediately. The plastic covers on most cell phones these days are pretty tight, but water can get inside the phone. As long as you get the phone out of the water in under around 20 seconds, it should not have that much opportunity to seep in.

After you do that, remove the battery and do not hesitate. This is to effectively cut the power supply off from your phone; electricity and water combined are what fries your phone, not just the water itself.

If your phone has a SIM card, remove that quickly, as well. These cards store contact and other kinds of data from the phone and to some people, the information held on that card could be more valuable than the phone itself, even if the phone might cost them $600. Some service providers, however, do not use SIM cards, like Verizon Wireless.

Do not put the battery or the SIM card back into the phone. Dry them separately. Then, dry the phone itself from the outside and then if possible, put it in a bowl of rice and let it stay there overnight. You might get a grain of rice or two in your phone, but this probably will not happen. Rice will help draw out the moisture. Wait at least two or three days before trying to turn your phone back on. Never turn on an electronic device after it has been wet until you are sure it has completely dried out.

As long as the phone looks dry, it should be safe to try and turn the phone on. If it doesn’t work with the battery, try plugging it into the wall outlet. If this works, you just need to replace the battery.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Los Angeles water damage and restoration services and Denver water damage restoration companies.

Mold Legislation Before Congress To Help Americans With Mold Problems

In March of 2003, Congressman John Conyers Jr. out of Michigan introduced a bill to Congress called the United States Toxic Mold Safety and Protection Act.

This Bill says that the Centers for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection agency will be responsible for examining the effects of different kinds of mold on the health of human beings and they will research and develop more accurate results of the serious problems that are presented by the presence of mold in human habitats.

This Bill will also direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a certain number of items that will constitute the conditions that will cause mold to grow indoors and will outline what can be done in order to inhibit this growth. These guidelines will not only address the causes of mold growth and what can be done to prevent it, but also the inspection, testing, and remediation techniques.

The Bill also says that you could receive tax credits for the inspection and/or removal and remediation of any mold in the home or business.

Grants will be given for the removal of mold in any and all buildings accessible by the public.

It also will create what it calls a National Toxic Mold Insurance Program that will be administered by FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) in order to protect home and business owners from any crippling financial losses, because most insurance companies do not provide insurance for mold at all or what they do provide is inadequate.

It will also necessitate the modification of building codes in local areas in order to keep the risk of mold infections in newly built homes and other buildings down.

This bill will also require mold inspections for apartment complexes and any other multi-unit residential property. Public housing is also subject to these mandatory mold inspections.

Victims of mold health complications will also be covered by Medicaid if they do not have any other health care in place at the time.

It has also authorized the establishment of different public information programs that will educate the public about the hazards of mold that is allowed to grow indoors. It is believed that an educated public is better prepared to defend itself against these hazards.

For more information, please visit http://www.house.gov/conyers/mold.htm . If you support this bill, please contact your congressman.



Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Miami water Damage companies.

Fixing A Water Damaged Laptop

You might not it, but the circuit board in your laptop and any other electronic items in your house were rinsed in clean water and dried before they were put into use? As long as the water is clean, the device will not be irreparably damaged. If something is allowed to soak in dirty water, however, with different particles and other mineral content, then the device will become damaged.

If you have a laptop that has gotten wet, the first thing to do is to turn it off immediately and remove all sources of power from it including the A/C adapter and batteries. Set these aside while you take the laptop and turn it upside down. This will stop any more liquid from seeping further into the computer.

After you do that, use paper towels or a rag to mop up the liquid that was spilled, wipe the liquid off the keyboard and the outside. Also wipe down anything else electronic nearby that got wet, too, like an external CD-ROM or external hard drive.

Disassemble the laptop (take a look at your user’s manual, too) and allow the insides to air out for at least a full day. Most people who have gone through this procedure recommend longer, especially if the liquid got further down into the computer. The best thing to do is let it sit and dry until you are confident that the interior is completely moisture-free.

If the only liquid it came into contact with was water out of your faucet, then allowing it to dry should be all that is necessary, but if it was something like soda, tea, or coffee that was spilled onto it, then you will want to clean it with some rubbing alcohol. You can use cotton swabs for this. Do not apply any heat to the device while you are cleaning it with alcohol and wait until the smell of alcohol is completely gone before you try to power it up.

Put the device back together after you are finished letting it dry or cleaning it up. Reattach the battery and see if it powers on. If it does, wait and see if it starts up as it should. If it does not, then attach the A/C adapter and plug it up. If you can turn the device on after trying this, then all you should need is a new battery. This should be pretty easy to obtain, as long as you have the money to purchase it with, either from the manufacturer or from a site like eBay.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.