If your insurance adjuster claims that mold has been around for many years longer than we have and that it does not to the damage that the media and health community say that it does, then perhaps something you should have them read up on is a verse that comes straight out of the Bible and blatantly talks about homes that are diseased.
It is called a “leprous plague” in the scripture Leviticus 14:34; it appears growing on the walls and if a family went to the priest and said “my house is diseased”, it was ordered that the people leave the house so the priest could go in and examine it. If it was determined to be diseased, then the stones of the house were to be removed and taken to a place that was away from town and from where people resided so that others would be safe from the plague. Stones were brought in to replace the ones that were removed and it was watched to see if the mold returned; if it did return, the entire house was torn down and all the debris was taken to where the first stones were dumped.
Mold was serious business in Biblical times just as it is today, but back then there were no formal antibiotics or fungicides to help get rid of the mold either in the body or on a person’s property, so most of the time it simply had to be torn down and replaced. Even the deaths of the firstborns of Egypt are sometimes attributed by scholars to the presence of mold on the food that was stored underground after the locusts came. If the food was contaminated with almost any mold, especially Stachybotrys atra, it is speculated that it would have been what killed all the firstborn children in Egypt at the time because during that period, it was customary for the eldest Egyptian child in a family to receive a second portion of food. Food that has been stored underground, especially if it was stored directly on top of the soil, would have been a perfect food also for mold. The Jews alive at the time would not have suffered from this plague because they ate herbs, lamb, and unleavened bread, which should have been safe from any mold contamination.
So, do not let your insurance adjuster fool you by trying to downplay the seriousness of mold. It was serious over 2,000 years ago and it is just as serious today.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami water damage restoration companies and
mold remediation companies across the united states.
Friday, October 12, 2007
How To Keep Mold Out Of Your Life And Off Of Your Property
Mold gets onto just about everything that we own at some point or another; it is whether or not the mold starts to actually grow on the item and stay there that tends to be the problem. Whether it is clothes, furniture, walls, floors, clothes, or food, mold can do quite a lot of damage to the things in our home and we cannot always see it coming. Even the items that we need to be clean the most, like our baby’s bottles that they drink their milk and juice out of.
The bottles that we have today are not just the cylinders that they used to be; sometimes they come in strange shapes that are hard to get completely dry and when this happens and they are put back into the refrigerator, they can often become moldy. How can you prevent this? All you have to do after you wash them is dry them inside the best that you can and then simply put them in the freezer until you are ready to use them again. Mold does not like these temperatures and this will inhibit any growth. It is a popular thing to put kitchen staples like flour, sugar, and cornmeal into the freezer to protect them from bugs and mice, so why not use this to your advantage to prevent mold, as well?
Mold also likes to grow on clothes that have been forgotten about in the backs of closets. Try not to pack your closets so full of clothes that air cannot circulate. The clothes being packed so close together creates the warmth that the mold needs to survive and if your house is humid enough, the moisture it needs is also there. The last thing mold needs to live is food and your clothing is more than enough to supply that need. It might also be a good idea to install a vent into the closet to help air circulate a little better, too.
Something else that causes mold to grow is when you throw damp and dirty clothing into a bathroom closet and leave it there. This is particularly a bad idea if you have carpet in it. Carpet in the bathroom is a bad idea all by itself, but when you couple it with dirty, wet clothes or towels, you are asking for a mold infestation to start in the back of your closet. The solution for this is to use a plastic laundry hamper and to empty it regularly, which should be around every day and a half. Mold usually starts to grow after about 48 hours.
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 bottles that we have today are not just the cylinders that they used to be; sometimes they come in strange shapes that are hard to get completely dry and when this happens and they are put back into the refrigerator, they can often become moldy. How can you prevent this? All you have to do after you wash them is dry them inside the best that you can and then simply put them in the freezer until you are ready to use them again. Mold does not like these temperatures and this will inhibit any growth. It is a popular thing to put kitchen staples like flour, sugar, and cornmeal into the freezer to protect them from bugs and mice, so why not use this to your advantage to prevent mold, as well?
Mold also likes to grow on clothes that have been forgotten about in the backs of closets. Try not to pack your closets so full of clothes that air cannot circulate. The clothes being packed so close together creates the warmth that the mold needs to survive and if your house is humid enough, the moisture it needs is also there. The last thing mold needs to live is food and your clothing is more than enough to supply that need. It might also be a good idea to install a vent into the closet to help air circulate a little better, too.
Something else that causes mold to grow is when you throw damp and dirty clothing into a bathroom closet and leave it there. This is particularly a bad idea if you have carpet in it. Carpet in the bathroom is a bad idea all by itself, but when you couple it with dirty, wet clothes or towels, you are asking for a mold infestation to start in the back of your closet. The solution for this is to use a plastic laundry hamper and to empty it regularly, which should be around every day and a half. Mold usually starts to grow after about 48 hours.
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.
Important Steps On How To Avoid Water Damage To Your Home
Water damage is one of the worst things that can happen to your home that you can almost completely prevent, unless it is caused by mother nature. Floods and hurricanes are something that we can’t really prevent; all we can do is just try to prepare for it and often our preparations aren’t good enough. We should not feel bad about this, however, because nature will almost always win over any preparations that we make to try and keep her out of our homes. There are a few things that you can do to prevent water damage to your home on a smaller scale, but you will have to be diligent in your efforts if you are truly going to make it work.
Pay attention to your water heater. This and anything else in your house that uses a large amount of water is at risk of leaking out onto the floor and doing some serious damage. It should always be installed on the lowest level of your home, preferably in the basement raised up off the floor and sitting on a drain pan that is connected to a water drain in the floor. This will make sure that even if your water heater does start to leak, the water goes back into the sewer or your septic tank instead of onto your floor.
If you are worried about your dishwasher leaking, check the pipes and hoses that are leading to it first and make sure they are connected tightly and are not cracked anywhere. If you are buying a home that comes with a dishwasher already installed, you will want to check around the base of it to check for water damage. If the floor around it is discolored or if the base of the cabinet near it is warped, you might have a leaky dishwasher.
One thing that most homeowners have to do at least once a year is cleaning out the gutters that run around the roof and drain the water from the roof, through the downspout, and away from the house. These always end up collecting leaves, sticks, and other debris and if the gutters become clogged with this material, it will cause water to simply drop off the roof to the base of your house. If water saturates the ground at your home’s foundation, it will eventually cause it to sink into the ground.
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.
Pay attention to your water heater. This and anything else in your house that uses a large amount of water is at risk of leaking out onto the floor and doing some serious damage. It should always be installed on the lowest level of your home, preferably in the basement raised up off the floor and sitting on a drain pan that is connected to a water drain in the floor. This will make sure that even if your water heater does start to leak, the water goes back into the sewer or your septic tank instead of onto your floor.
If you are worried about your dishwasher leaking, check the pipes and hoses that are leading to it first and make sure they are connected tightly and are not cracked anywhere. If you are buying a home that comes with a dishwasher already installed, you will want to check around the base of it to check for water damage. If the floor around it is discolored or if the base of the cabinet near it is warped, you might have a leaky dishwasher.
One thing that most homeowners have to do at least once a year is cleaning out the gutters that run around the roof and drain the water from the roof, through the downspout, and away from the house. These always end up collecting leaves, sticks, and other debris and if the gutters become clogged with this material, it will cause water to simply drop off the roof to the base of your house. If water saturates the ground at your home’s foundation, it will eventually cause it to sink into the ground.
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.
Employer Concerns About Mold And The Options
One of the places that we don’t usually think of when we think of mold is our working environment. We usually think that we’ll find it in our homes, but other buildings are just as susceptible. If you are responsible for a number of employees and you suspect that there might be a mold infestation in your building, the first thing that you need to do is mold testing yourself and finding out if there truly is an infection of mold on the premises. Send off the mold samples to a laboratory that specializes in the identification of mold and you should receive your results back in a couple of weeks.
If you find that there is truly a mold infestation on your property, then the best thing that you can do for all concerned is to notify your employees that there is a problem. Call in an inspector so that they can determine just how extensive the contamination is and after they have given some professional advice, you should tell your employees that they are laid off until the contamination is taken care of. They should be informed of when the mold remediation will begin and the approximate date that it will end.
Inform your employees also that if they have been experiencing any health complications since they started working for you such as respiratory problems, skin rashes, or anything else that might be attributed to the presence of mold in the building.
Take care of the mold problem in your building as soon as possible; you do not want to be held responsible for the medical bills of your employees if they are diagnosed as having a condition caused by the mold they were exposed to while they were working for you. Not only will you be liable for the medical bills, but you will also probably be liable for their loss of income until they can return to work.
The contamination of your building should never be ignored, whether it is your home or your workplace, because even if you can afford to pay for the medical bills of others, you do not want this affecting your own health. It is truly not worth it to risk the health of others along with your own in order to try and save some money. Have the mold removed as soon as possible.
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.
If you find that there is truly a mold infestation on your property, then the best thing that you can do for all concerned is to notify your employees that there is a problem. Call in an inspector so that they can determine just how extensive the contamination is and after they have given some professional advice, you should tell your employees that they are laid off until the contamination is taken care of. They should be informed of when the mold remediation will begin and the approximate date that it will end.
Inform your employees also that if they have been experiencing any health complications since they started working for you such as respiratory problems, skin rashes, or anything else that might be attributed to the presence of mold in the building.
Take care of the mold problem in your building as soon as possible; you do not want to be held responsible for the medical bills of your employees if they are diagnosed as having a condition caused by the mold they were exposed to while they were working for you. Not only will you be liable for the medical bills, but you will also probably be liable for their loss of income until they can return to work.
The contamination of your building should never be ignored, whether it is your home or your workplace, because even if you can afford to pay for the medical bills of others, you do not want this affecting your own health. It is truly not worth it to risk the health of others along with your own in order to try and save some money. Have the mold removed as soon as possible.
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.
Easy Ways To Maintain A Smoke Free Fireplace
Quite a few homes have fireplaces, but not all of them are fit to be used as they are because they have not been cleaned in so long that when you do try to use them, it fills the house with smoke. This can do a lot of damage to the inside of the home, including ruin the paint on your walls, your curtains, and discolor your carpet. It is also a health risk, since breathing this in is not good for anyone, but the elderly, people with allergies, pets, and children are especially affected. Fortunately, though, in most situations you can make a fire that will not smoke up your house without much trouble as long as you follow a few rules.
The damper of your chimney needs to be open before you do anything. Burn some paper or other easily combustible materials in the fireplace, because you want to warm the chimney up. Cold air in the chimney is will push the warm air down and cause the smoke to fill up the room.
Open up the windows in the house and make sure that there is enough air circulating to ignite the fire. A home that is insulated well might not have enough of a draft to allow the wood to catch on fire.
You should also have some fireplace bricks underneath the grill to add some more air circulation to the process. More draft in the fireplace will make it easier for the fire to ignite.
The top of the fireplace also needs to be cleaned out regularly, since anything that gets stuck in it like leaves, sticks, bird nests can keep the smoke from being able to escape and so it floods back into the house, which is exactly where you do not want it.
You should also have the fireplace cleaned by a professional cleaning service if possible, since a layer of creosote is likely built up on the inside of the chimney. This is a tar-like substance that results from burning wood in the fireplace and if your chimney has not been professionally cleaned before and you have lived in your house for many years, then it is time for it to be. Creosote can catch on fire and cause the whole house to burn down, so having it cleaned out is essential.
To keep your fireplace functioning the way that it should, you need to know how to use it and take care of it and by the time winter gets to you, you will be able to enjoy your fireplace once again.
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 damper of your chimney needs to be open before you do anything. Burn some paper or other easily combustible materials in the fireplace, because you want to warm the chimney up. Cold air in the chimney is will push the warm air down and cause the smoke to fill up the room.
Open up the windows in the house and make sure that there is enough air circulating to ignite the fire. A home that is insulated well might not have enough of a draft to allow the wood to catch on fire.
You should also have some fireplace bricks underneath the grill to add some more air circulation to the process. More draft in the fireplace will make it easier for the fire to ignite.
The top of the fireplace also needs to be cleaned out regularly, since anything that gets stuck in it like leaves, sticks, bird nests can keep the smoke from being able to escape and so it floods back into the house, which is exactly where you do not want it.
You should also have the fireplace cleaned by a professional cleaning service if possible, since a layer of creosote is likely built up on the inside of the chimney. This is a tar-like substance that results from burning wood in the fireplace and if your chimney has not been professionally cleaned before and you have lived in your house for many years, then it is time for it to be. Creosote can catch on fire and cause the whole house to burn down, so having it cleaned out is essential.
To keep your fireplace functioning the way that it should, you need to know how to use it and take care of it and by the time winter gets to you, you will be able to enjoy your fireplace once again.
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.
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