Hiring a contractor to build your house might be some tricky business, especially since there are so many factors involved, but it does not have to be a nightmare if you do your research and know what to look for.
First of all, the contractor that you choose needs to be a licensed one. After you discover that they are licensed, find out if there have been any lawsuits or claims filed against that license. They should also have the appropriate levels of insurance so if anyone is injured while they are on your property, you are not liable for their medical bills.
Second of all, you need to talk to each contractor you are considering in person and make sure that you can get along with this person. You both need to be able to get along so you can concentrate on the process of building the home instead of arguing about this or that. This person will be in your life for at least a few months, so hiring someone that you can tolerate is important.
Next, you need to get references from each contractor that you talk to and talk to those references at length and make sure that the contractor does good work. Ask if they have had any mold or water damage issues since their home was constructed or since their remodeling work was finished. Mold may be the most important issue to look for, since this gets built into new homes more often than most people think due to materials being stored directly on the ground or because they have been rained on.
You should also consider what your contract with this person is going to have in it. You should schedule a date for when the project will start and an approximate date that you want it to have been completed by. If you are expecting a baby or any other major event that will require you to have the home completed, take this into account when hiring your contractor. Find out when they can start on the project and if you do not have any room to be flexible (this is rare), consider hiring someone else.
The contract also needs to contain exactly what materials you want your home to be built from, from the kitchen counter material to the type of finish you want on all the hardware. Be very specific and do not give room for any substitutions, since some contractors will substitute lower grade materials without you noticing if they can get away with it.
Showing posts with label waterproof. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waterproof. Show all posts
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Simple Ways to Prevent Water Damage
Finding mold growth in your house does not always require the help of a professional, since not all mold is hidden in nooks and crannies or behind the wall. The easiest places to find mold growth are typically in the bathroom, laundry room, kitchen, and basement. These are usually the places that show the signs of negligence the most and mold growing in these rooms is usually fairly easy to spot.
In a bathroom, the usual place to find mold growth is around the upper walls and ceiling if it does not have an exhaust vent or a window in it. Even though building codes in most places now require that there be either an exhaust vent or a window in the bathroom, older homes may not have either one. It is in your best interest to make sure that your bathroom is renovated to include one of these two features, although if your bathroom is located in the center of your house and not attached to an outer wall, you will have to install a vent to get rid of the excess moisture. What happens is that the moisture is soaked up by the ceiling or the upper walls and allows mold to grow on it and eventually, the ceiling will absorb so much water that it will be in danger of collapsing. The need for an exhaust vent also extends to the kitchen, since steam comes off the stove from cooking dinner.
Another problem to worry about in bathrooms or kitchens is whether or not the floor is waterproofed. No matter what kind of flooring that you have in either room it should be completely water tight so water does not get underneath it and to the floor joists. Floors have completely collapsed in these rooms due to this when waterproofing the floor would have been much cheaper than repairing the damage done by neglecting to do this.
Overflowing toilets, bathtubs, and kitchen sinks also cause mold growth and water damage to a home if it is allowed to happen very often, so making sure that this does not happen and that the floor around it is waterproofed is extremely important. You should do your best not to get preoccupied with other chores or talking on the phone while you are running a tub of bathwater or filling up the kitchen sink.
Any small leaks under the kitchen or bathroom sink also need to be taken care of fairly quickly. Put a bucket underneath it for a temporary fix if you have to, but do not let the drip continue to come into contact with the inside of your cabinet.
In a bathroom, the usual place to find mold growth is around the upper walls and ceiling if it does not have an exhaust vent or a window in it. Even though building codes in most places now require that there be either an exhaust vent or a window in the bathroom, older homes may not have either one. It is in your best interest to make sure that your bathroom is renovated to include one of these two features, although if your bathroom is located in the center of your house and not attached to an outer wall, you will have to install a vent to get rid of the excess moisture. What happens is that the moisture is soaked up by the ceiling or the upper walls and allows mold to grow on it and eventually, the ceiling will absorb so much water that it will be in danger of collapsing. The need for an exhaust vent also extends to the kitchen, since steam comes off the stove from cooking dinner.
Another problem to worry about in bathrooms or kitchens is whether or not the floor is waterproofed. No matter what kind of flooring that you have in either room it should be completely water tight so water does not get underneath it and to the floor joists. Floors have completely collapsed in these rooms due to this when waterproofing the floor would have been much cheaper than repairing the damage done by neglecting to do this.
Overflowing toilets, bathtubs, and kitchen sinks also cause mold growth and water damage to a home if it is allowed to happen very often, so making sure that this does not happen and that the floor around it is waterproofed is extremely important. You should do your best not to get preoccupied with other chores or talking on the phone while you are running a tub of bathwater or filling up the kitchen sink.
Any small leaks under the kitchen or bathroom sink also need to be taken care of fairly quickly. Put a bucket underneath it for a temporary fix if you have to, but do not let the drip continue to come into contact with the inside of your cabinet.
Advice For Hiring a Contractor
Most people would love to be able to design and have a home built just for them, but not everyone has this opportunity. If you do, though, it would benefit you to do a lot of research beforehand to make sure that you get the right person to do the job.
Something you should understand about hiring a contractor is that the best place to find a good one is not in the phone book. The contractors with the ads that look the best are not always the best people for the job and if you or someone you know has ever had a home built and was dissatisfied, then you probably already know this. Ask your friends and relatives for someone that they can recommend to build your home for you, even if the only work they have had done for them is some small scale remodeling. If the contractor that they hired did a good job, then even if that person does not build entire homes, they can probably point you to someone else who will do similar quality work. Only resort to the phone book if you cannot find anyone through friends or relatives.
Get a few different contractors from any source you like, but be sure to talk with them face to face first. You will have to deal with them for at least a few months of your life, so make sure that you get along. You need to have somewhat of a bond with your contractor so that you can focus on getting the house done right, not arguing.
The contractor you choose should also have all the appropriate insurances and that you can obtain a copy of all of these policies to keep on hand in a job file. Keep a record of every piece of paper concerning the job and the progress of the project, including a payment schedule. You should pay your contractor as the work is done and never let your payments get ahead of the amount of work that has been done on the house.
Mold can also grow on building materials that are stored directly on the ground. Visit the job site regularly to make sure that the contractor is not doing this, especially with drywall. Everything should be stored on tarps and the site should be covered during rain until the roof and walls are put up to protect the interior.
Something you should understand about hiring a contractor is that the best place to find a good one is not in the phone book. The contractors with the ads that look the best are not always the best people for the job and if you or someone you know has ever had a home built and was dissatisfied, then you probably already know this. Ask your friends and relatives for someone that they can recommend to build your home for you, even if the only work they have had done for them is some small scale remodeling. If the contractor that they hired did a good job, then even if that person does not build entire homes, they can probably point you to someone else who will do similar quality work. Only resort to the phone book if you cannot find anyone through friends or relatives.
Get a few different contractors from any source you like, but be sure to talk with them face to face first. You will have to deal with them for at least a few months of your life, so make sure that you get along. You need to have somewhat of a bond with your contractor so that you can focus on getting the house done right, not arguing.
The contractor you choose should also have all the appropriate insurances and that you can obtain a copy of all of these policies to keep on hand in a job file. Keep a record of every piece of paper concerning the job and the progress of the project, including a payment schedule. You should pay your contractor as the work is done and never let your payments get ahead of the amount of work that has been done on the house.
Mold can also grow on building materials that are stored directly on the ground. Visit the job site regularly to make sure that the contractor is not doing this, especially with drywall. Everything should be stored on tarps and the site should be covered during rain until the roof and walls are put up to protect the interior.
Mold home Inspections
Going through your house and looking for mold is something that every homeowner should do at least two or three times a year, especially since mold can start growing in as little as 48 hours after the spores land on something they like. Killing the mold is not the only problem you will have to deal with if you find it; removing the mold from the property is something else to be concerned with, since dead mold spores can still cause allergic reactions in some people. Depending on the severity of the allergy, these reactions can be a simple case of sneezing or as severe as requiring hospitalization. You can take antihistamines to help combat this, but no one should take medication if they do not have to.
There are a few places in your house that you need to inspect regularly for mold growth. These are areas of the house that naturally have a lot of moisture and these include the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and the basement.
The basement is somewhat humid because of its underground location, but there are things that you can do to add unnecessary humidity to it. Some people use the basement as a laundry room as well and this is fine, but you need to make sure that the dryer is properly vented to the outside of the house. Having an exhaust fan in the room will also help get rid of some of the excess moisture. One thing that you should really avoid doing at all costs is hanging up laundry to dry without proper ventilation.
The bathroom is one of the worst areas for mold in the house and this is generally due to flawed waterproofing. This could be cracked tiles on the floor, missing areas of grout or caulking, or mold growing on the ceiling because the humidity in the room is too high. This can be corrected by having an exhaust fan installed, just like in the basement. In fact, having these fans in all moist rooms of the home is recommended and the chances for mold growth will be greatly reduced.
Something to avoid having in the bathroom or another moist area of the home is carpet. Mold loves to grow in carpet and once the padding underneath it is contaminated, it has to be taken up and thrown away, because it cannot be cleaned.
The kitchen is another area where the floor and ceiling are the most at risk. Try to seal up and cracks in the flooring and make sure there is an exhaust system over the stove to get rid of steam before it hits the ceiling.
There are a few places in your house that you need to inspect regularly for mold growth. These are areas of the house that naturally have a lot of moisture and these include the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and the basement.
The basement is somewhat humid because of its underground location, but there are things that you can do to add unnecessary humidity to it. Some people use the basement as a laundry room as well and this is fine, but you need to make sure that the dryer is properly vented to the outside of the house. Having an exhaust fan in the room will also help get rid of some of the excess moisture. One thing that you should really avoid doing at all costs is hanging up laundry to dry without proper ventilation.
The bathroom is one of the worst areas for mold in the house and this is generally due to flawed waterproofing. This could be cracked tiles on the floor, missing areas of grout or caulking, or mold growing on the ceiling because the humidity in the room is too high. This can be corrected by having an exhaust fan installed, just like in the basement. In fact, having these fans in all moist rooms of the home is recommended and the chances for mold growth will be greatly reduced.
Something to avoid having in the bathroom or another moist area of the home is carpet. Mold loves to grow in carpet and once the padding underneath it is contaminated, it has to be taken up and thrown away, because it cannot be cleaned.
The kitchen is another area where the floor and ceiling are the most at risk. Try to seal up and cracks in the flooring and make sure there is an exhaust system over the stove to get rid of steam before it hits the ceiling.
How to Waterproof A Deck.
Every homeowner who has the space to build one in would love to have a fresh hardwood porch or one in the back to barbecue on, but those of us who already have one want to do whatever we can to protect it from the elements. Over the years your deck will suffer from different forms of precipitation and natural damage and protecting it from these is a little more difficult than from the regular wear and tear of feet running across it. Rain will cause the deck to crack and warp over time, but sealing it water tight with a chemical that can be purchased at almost any hardware or home improvement store will protect it for years to come.
The easiest way to protect your deck is by waterproofing it with a deck sealant, but you can do this yourself or hire someone to do it for you. Doing it yourself is not very difficult and you should be able to manage fine, so this is great for anyone who is on a budget, but if money is not a concern to you and your time is, hiring someone else may be the way to go.
If your deck is newly constructed, then you will want to wait at least 30 days before doing anything like this to the surface of it, since new lumber needs time to adjust to your climate and get rid of any oils and moisture that may already be inside it. If you want to put a stain on the deck, this is probably a good time to do it, since the sealant will prevent the deck from soaking up most liquids.
Clean everything off of the deck and scrub it before you do anything else, whether it’s applying the stain or the sealant. It needs to be as free of furniture, dirt, and other debris as possible. You can purchase a deck cleaning solution from your local hardware, home improvement, or department store and apply it yourself with a pump sprayer. Scrub it with a stiff bristled brush to get it as clean as you can and rinse it off with your water hose when you get finished. It is starting to look better already!
Follow the instructions on the deck sealant and this should include using a sprayer or a roller to apply it to the surface of the wood. You need to let it dry for a few days before walking on it, so start from the end of the deck furthest from a good entrance and work your way back.
The easiest way to protect your deck is by waterproofing it with a deck sealant, but you can do this yourself or hire someone to do it for you. Doing it yourself is not very difficult and you should be able to manage fine, so this is great for anyone who is on a budget, but if money is not a concern to you and your time is, hiring someone else may be the way to go.
If your deck is newly constructed, then you will want to wait at least 30 days before doing anything like this to the surface of it, since new lumber needs time to adjust to your climate and get rid of any oils and moisture that may already be inside it. If you want to put a stain on the deck, this is probably a good time to do it, since the sealant will prevent the deck from soaking up most liquids.
Clean everything off of the deck and scrub it before you do anything else, whether it’s applying the stain or the sealant. It needs to be as free of furniture, dirt, and other debris as possible. You can purchase a deck cleaning solution from your local hardware, home improvement, or department store and apply it yourself with a pump sprayer. Scrub it with a stiff bristled brush to get it as clean as you can and rinse it off with your water hose when you get finished. It is starting to look better already!
Follow the instructions on the deck sealant and this should include using a sprayer or a roller to apply it to the surface of the wood. You need to let it dry for a few days before walking on it, so start from the end of the deck furthest from a good entrance and work your way back.
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