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
flood water damage restoration chicago and other states such as
South Carolina mold remediation companies across the united states.
Friday, September 28, 2007
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
North Carolina Sewage Damage Cleanup and other states such as
South Carolina mold remediation companies across the united states.
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
North Carolina Sewage Damage Cleanup and other states such as
South Carolina mold remediation companies across the united states.
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
Connecticut water damage restoration contractors and other states such as
North Carolina mold remediation contractor companies across the united states.
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
Connecticut water damage restoration contractors and other states such as
North Carolina mold remediation contractor companies across the united states.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
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
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
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
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Cleaning Up The Sewage From Your Home
Cleaning up the sewage in your home after it has been flooded is a pretty ugly experience, but unfortunately for some homeowners that live in parts of the United States where floods are common, it can be something that they have to go through at least once. While you can have a professional service clean up after the flood for you, you can save a substantial amount of money by doing a lot of it yourself. You can use this saved money to purchase new furniture, clothing, food, or anything else that you could need after the flood is over.
Flood waters can contain all kinds of things that can be hazardous to your health. This can include chemicals, sewage, soil, bacteria, viruses, and etcetera. These are things that you do not want to have in your home and doing your best to get them cleaned up, even if it means hiring a professional, is something you need to do. You need to purchase the protective equipment necessary to keep yourself from getting sick due to all the different things left behind by the water, but this will not be very much. You will need some latex gloves, a pair of plastic booties to cover your shoes, a roll of duct tape, and some disposable plastic coveralls. The duct tape will be used to cover the gaps between the gloves, the boots, and the suit so there is no way that the sewage can get to your skin.
There is not much that you can do to save all the furniture in your home after the flood is over. This is mainly upholstered furniture that has a lot of padding, though, so your wooden furniture should be fine. Padding in upholstered furniture will soak up the flood waters and everything that it contains, including soil, bacteria, and everything else. You can reupholster some items that have little padding and take this as an opportunity to replace fabrics that you do not care for any longer.
For the cleanup process, you will require at least two buckets, depending on whether you have someone help you clean up the rest of the house or not. Try to keep this at an even number, since you will need to work with the buckets in sets of two.
Take a mop and dip it into the bucket with the cleaning chemicals in it and begin scrubbing the floor. Scrub it thoroughly and dip the mop into the rinsing water. Do not put the mop back into the bucket with the cleaners until you rinse it first. You do not want to introduce sewage into the clean water.
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.
Flood waters can contain all kinds of things that can be hazardous to your health. This can include chemicals, sewage, soil, bacteria, viruses, and etcetera. These are things that you do not want to have in your home and doing your best to get them cleaned up, even if it means hiring a professional, is something you need to do. You need to purchase the protective equipment necessary to keep yourself from getting sick due to all the different things left behind by the water, but this will not be very much. You will need some latex gloves, a pair of plastic booties to cover your shoes, a roll of duct tape, and some disposable plastic coveralls. The duct tape will be used to cover the gaps between the gloves, the boots, and the suit so there is no way that the sewage can get to your skin.
There is not much that you can do to save all the furniture in your home after the flood is over. This is mainly upholstered furniture that has a lot of padding, though, so your wooden furniture should be fine. Padding in upholstered furniture will soak up the flood waters and everything that it contains, including soil, bacteria, and everything else. You can reupholster some items that have little padding and take this as an opportunity to replace fabrics that you do not care for any longer.
For the cleanup process, you will require at least two buckets, depending on whether you have someone help you clean up the rest of the house or not. Try to keep this at an even number, since you will need to work with the buckets in sets of two.
Take a mop and dip it into the bucket with the cleaning chemicals in it and begin scrubbing the floor. Scrub it thoroughly and dip the mop into the rinsing water. Do not put the mop back into the bucket with the cleaners until you rinse it first. You do not want to introduce sewage into the clean water.
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.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Water Damage Tips For the Bathroom and Kitchen
Something most homeowners are aware of is the fact that preventing a kind of damage to the home often takes a lot less effort and money than repairing the damage after it has already been done. It might take some purchased materials and a little bit of diligence on our part to make sure that the rest of the household follows the rules, but in the end it will end up saving you hours of time and hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Water damage is one of the most preventable kinds of damage that can occur to a home, unless it is caused by some natural disaster like a hurricane or a flood. There are a number of different areas of your home that you will need to pay attention to in order to keep the cost of repairing this damage down. The areas of the home that are the most exposed to moisture are the ones that you have to go into usually at least twice a day: the kitchen and the bathroom.
A precaution that applies to both areas is simply to make sure that sinks and other water receptacles do not overflow. You may forget the water is running while you are on the phone or doing another household chore, but letting this happen over and over can cause some serious damage to your floor. Another way to prevent floor damage is to make sure that tiles on your bathroom or kitchen floor are not cracked or that the floor is completely water tight.
Installing an exhaust fan in both of these rooms in your home will help prevent damage to the ceiling and upper walls, since the steam will have somewhere to escape to instead of just clinging to the ceiling. If your ceiling becomes discolored from water stains, the only real option here is to paint over it. If a slab of drywall on the ceiling becomes cracked due to absorbing water over a long period of time, you can usually repair this with joint compound and some time repainting it, but if the crack is in the middle and is sizeable, the whole slab needs to be replaced.
Carpet should not be installed in either of these rooms, since there are so many water junctions in both of them. Carpet loves to soak up water and get moldy and when the carpet padding underneath becomes molded, it needs to be taken up and thrown out. Even if you clean the mold from the carpet, if you do not take up the padding underneath, the growth will return.
Flood Water Damage Cleanup
Houston Fire Damage Water Restoration
Water damage is one of the most preventable kinds of damage that can occur to a home, unless it is caused by some natural disaster like a hurricane or a flood. There are a number of different areas of your home that you will need to pay attention to in order to keep the cost of repairing this damage down. The areas of the home that are the most exposed to moisture are the ones that you have to go into usually at least twice a day: the kitchen and the bathroom.
A precaution that applies to both areas is simply to make sure that sinks and other water receptacles do not overflow. You may forget the water is running while you are on the phone or doing another household chore, but letting this happen over and over can cause some serious damage to your floor. Another way to prevent floor damage is to make sure that tiles on your bathroom or kitchen floor are not cracked or that the floor is completely water tight.
Installing an exhaust fan in both of these rooms in your home will help prevent damage to the ceiling and upper walls, since the steam will have somewhere to escape to instead of just clinging to the ceiling. If your ceiling becomes discolored from water stains, the only real option here is to paint over it. If a slab of drywall on the ceiling becomes cracked due to absorbing water over a long period of time, you can usually repair this with joint compound and some time repainting it, but if the crack is in the middle and is sizeable, the whole slab needs to be replaced.
Carpet should not be installed in either of these rooms, since there are so many water junctions in both of them. Carpet loves to soak up water and get moldy and when the carpet padding underneath becomes molded, it needs to be taken up and thrown out. Even if you clean the mold from the carpet, if you do not take up the padding underneath, the growth will return.
Flood Water Damage Cleanup
Houston Fire Damage Water Restoration
The Invisible Mold Threat
You might think that you know exactly how to look for mold and what it looks like physically, but you may not realize that you could be missing some serious mold infestations that are right in front of you, but cannot see them. Hidden mold that grows inside your walls is one thing, but there are also molds that grow on your walls that are difficult to see with the naked eye, at least, without some help. There are members of the Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. that can be almost invisible on different surfaces of your home and you can very easily miss them when you are doing a normal inspection. There is a way to detect these growths, but you will need a flashlight and know just how to use it in order to accomplish this.
Detecting molds that are nearly invisible with a simple flashlight might seem like an odd idea, but the way it is done is shining the light along the surface instead of directly against it at a 90 degree angle like most people would. These molds are particularly hard to see on wood paneling and sometimes the appearance of the paneling itself can give away the presence of mold. Paneling that is warped or buckling may indicate that it has been water damaged and that mold may exist on its surface. Paneling is often used as a cheap replacement for drywall that has been flooded, since many people cannot afford to fully replace all the drywall in their homes after such an event.
Not all hidden molds grow behind your drywall or paneling, but they can actually be growing right in front of you and you do not realize it. These molds are very light colored and it is often that deliberately looking for them with a flashlight is the only option to find them.
While these molds can be harmful to your health and you can miss them very easily, there are cosmetic molds, such as Ceratocystis, that are very easily seen, but are almost completely harmless to humans and the homes that they live in. Looks can be deceiving and it is often the threats that we cannot see that are the most dangerous to us. Try not to judge a book by its cover and if you find mold in your home of any kind, consult a professional to determine just what it is and how dangerous it might be.
How To File An Insurance Claim For Water Damage
Detecting molds that are nearly invisible with a simple flashlight might seem like an odd idea, but the way it is done is shining the light along the surface instead of directly against it at a 90 degree angle like most people would. These molds are particularly hard to see on wood paneling and sometimes the appearance of the paneling itself can give away the presence of mold. Paneling that is warped or buckling may indicate that it has been water damaged and that mold may exist on its surface. Paneling is often used as a cheap replacement for drywall that has been flooded, since many people cannot afford to fully replace all the drywall in their homes after such an event.
Not all hidden molds grow behind your drywall or paneling, but they can actually be growing right in front of you and you do not realize it. These molds are very light colored and it is often that deliberately looking for them with a flashlight is the only option to find them.
While these molds can be harmful to your health and you can miss them very easily, there are cosmetic molds, such as Ceratocystis, that are very easily seen, but are almost completely harmless to humans and the homes that they live in. Looks can be deceiving and it is often the threats that we cannot see that are the most dangerous to us. Try not to judge a book by its cover and if you find mold in your home of any kind, consult a professional to determine just what it is and how dangerous it might be.
How To File An Insurance Claim For Water Damage
Clogged Toilets and Water Damage
Everyone who has had a toilet has had the misfortune of having to unclog it and clean up the mess that resulted. A toilet that is let to overflow often can be a serious source of water damage to your floor and the sad thing is that this can be avoided the majority of the time.
If you have small children that like to play around in the bathroom, then it is possibly a good idea to invest in a product called a lid lock. This will lock down the lid of the toilet so that the hand of an adult can open it easily, but a child’s hand cannot. This keep you from worrying not only if the child has put something in the toilet that does not belong there, but also stop curious toddlers from actually climbing in it. These are not expensive at all and can save you quite a bit of time and worry.
Whenever a toilet overflows, the first thing most people tend to do is try and flush it again. This is not a good idea. Allow the water to get back to its normal level before attempting to flush it again. Be sure that the rest of the members of your household know this, too.
Bale water from the clogged toilet out until you cannot remove any more. Try using a plunger to see if that dislodges the object and the water goes down. If a plunger does not work, see if you can get the object out of the toilet by putting your hand (preferably in a waterproof glove that reaches to your elbow, since the water is probably nasty) down inside it, but be careful not to get it stuck. If you cannot get it out this way, you may need a plumbing snake.
If you think the clog is gone, fill a bucket with water and pour it down into the toilet. If the water goes down as it should, then the blockage is gone.
If none of these methods worked, it may be time to call a professional. There are such things as emergency plumbers that are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but getting one of these in your local area may be a bit difficult. If the problem is a blocked city sewer, then you need to call the water company, since it will be their responsibility to remove the blockage.
Texas Water Damage Contractor
Mold remediation contractor
If you have small children that like to play around in the bathroom, then it is possibly a good idea to invest in a product called a lid lock. This will lock down the lid of the toilet so that the hand of an adult can open it easily, but a child’s hand cannot. This keep you from worrying not only if the child has put something in the toilet that does not belong there, but also stop curious toddlers from actually climbing in it. These are not expensive at all and can save you quite a bit of time and worry.
Whenever a toilet overflows, the first thing most people tend to do is try and flush it again. This is not a good idea. Allow the water to get back to its normal level before attempting to flush it again. Be sure that the rest of the members of your household know this, too.
Bale water from the clogged toilet out until you cannot remove any more. Try using a plunger to see if that dislodges the object and the water goes down. If a plunger does not work, see if you can get the object out of the toilet by putting your hand (preferably in a waterproof glove that reaches to your elbow, since the water is probably nasty) down inside it, but be careful not to get it stuck. If you cannot get it out this way, you may need a plumbing snake.
If you think the clog is gone, fill a bucket with water and pour it down into the toilet. If the water goes down as it should, then the blockage is gone.
If none of these methods worked, it may be time to call a professional. There are such things as emergency plumbers that are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but getting one of these in your local area may be a bit difficult. If the problem is a blocked city sewer, then you need to call the water company, since it will be their responsibility to remove the blockage.
Texas Water Damage Contractor
Mold remediation contractor
Dealing With Flooded Carpets
If your home is flooded, then odds are pretty good that your carpet is going to need to be taken up. Sewage, chemicals, and other biohazards live in the dirty flood water that took over your home during that time and most of the time, porous materials such as carpet cannot practically be saved. You can go through a lot of trouble trying to save your old carpet when the most efficient thing to do is just to throw it out.
Trying to shampoo the carpet itself may work and remove a lot of the smell and stains, but the carpet padding underneath will need to be completely taken out and replaced. Foam padding like this cannot be cleaned and will usually end up shredding if you try, so whether you choose to clean the carpet or just replace it, it will still need to come up.
Removing your carpet is not a difficult task. You must remove all furniture from the room first and depending on whether you want to save the carpet or just replace it, you can take a utility knife and cut it in areas that may be difficult to take up. You can also use it to cut the old carpet into strips if you do not want to save it. Pull the moldings on the walls around the room off and take the door off its hinges. Removing the door will help you get the old carpet out and the new carpet in. The carpet padding also needs to be removed.
Pulling the old tackless strips up and installing new ones may be a good idea and you need to leave about half an inch of space between the new strips and the wall. The tips of the tacks need to be facing toward the wall.
If the floor has had much mold or sewage damage to it, you will want to clean this up before installing new carpet or re-installing your clean old carpet. Cleaning up mold stains can be done by putting 5 tablespoons of trisodium phosphate in a single gallon of water and scrubbing the floor with something that will not scar it.
If you cannot afford new carpet or to have the old carpet cleaned, refinishing the hardwood floor that may be underneath it may be an option. If you had to take carpet out of the bathroom, laundry room, basement, or kitchen, then you will really want to avoid putting carpet back into these areas, since these rooms of the house tend to stay damp.
water damage Restoration Contractor
Austin Water Damage Restoration
Black Mold Removal From Drywall
Trying to shampoo the carpet itself may work and remove a lot of the smell and stains, but the carpet padding underneath will need to be completely taken out and replaced. Foam padding like this cannot be cleaned and will usually end up shredding if you try, so whether you choose to clean the carpet or just replace it, it will still need to come up.
Removing your carpet is not a difficult task. You must remove all furniture from the room first and depending on whether you want to save the carpet or just replace it, you can take a utility knife and cut it in areas that may be difficult to take up. You can also use it to cut the old carpet into strips if you do not want to save it. Pull the moldings on the walls around the room off and take the door off its hinges. Removing the door will help you get the old carpet out and the new carpet in. The carpet padding also needs to be removed.
Pulling the old tackless strips up and installing new ones may be a good idea and you need to leave about half an inch of space between the new strips and the wall. The tips of the tacks need to be facing toward the wall.
If the floor has had much mold or sewage damage to it, you will want to clean this up before installing new carpet or re-installing your clean old carpet. Cleaning up mold stains can be done by putting 5 tablespoons of trisodium phosphate in a single gallon of water and scrubbing the floor with something that will not scar it.
If you cannot afford new carpet or to have the old carpet cleaned, refinishing the hardwood floor that may be underneath it may be an option. If you had to take carpet out of the bathroom, laundry room, basement, or kitchen, then you will really want to avoid putting carpet back into these areas, since these rooms of the house tend to stay damp.
water damage Restoration Contractor
Austin Water Damage Restoration
Black Mold Removal From Drywall
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