Most contractors know this, but something most homeowners do not know is that the concrete in their basement is a naturally porous material and that if there is water seeping in the house through it, this is something that should be expected. Well, it should be expected if your basement was not properly waterproofed when your home was first built. The problem with water getting in the basement through the concrete usually lies with the construction of the home and not with the actual concrete itself, since water will eventually seep through any concrete at any thickness.
Keeping a dry basement can be a difficult thing to do if your basement was not waterproofed very well. Sometimes ground water is responsible for getting into the basement through the walls and the only real thing that you can do about this is to have a drainage system installed so that the soil around the house does not become oversaturated.
Checking around outside the home’s foundation is the first thing that you need to do. See if there is any water settling in pockets around the exterior walls of the house and if there is, then one thing that you can do to stop this is piling up more soil in this area to do away with the puddles. Making sure your rain gutters are completely cleared out at all times will help keep the water directed to the downspouts instead of falling down onto the ground next to the base of the house.
Cracks in concrete walls cannot be caulked shut, because the caulking will eventually be worked loose by the water and will peel off. Hydraulic cement will also not work because it does not stick to the concrete very well. Installing cement will not work, either, because cement is a rigid material and the concrete is not. Cement placed inside the cracks will become as loose as the caulking you put in before.
Cracks in the walls can be filled in with a number of different effective materials, but will either bond or not bond depending on if the surface is wet. Expandable polyurethane will work and will bond to the surface whether the surface is wet or dry. This merely creates a waterproof barrier.
An injection of concrete with a caulking gun is an option, but so is an injection of epoxy. Epoxy, however, will not bond to wet surfaces.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
flood and water damage cleanup and
water damage restoration> companies across the united states.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Most clothes that are damaged directly by fire cannot be saved, but those that are damaged only by the soot and ash that is left behind afterward can be if they are taken care of properly. Most often this kind of damage occurs to clothing that is hanging in the closet and becomes engulfed in smoke as the fire ravages another part of the house. Clothes that have soot and ash all over them might not be as difficult as you think that it is, but you still need to take care in the way that you attempt to clean the clothing. Most of this task will be just sorting the clothing into types of fabric and determining when to wash them.
Begin by sorting the clothes by how heavily soiled they are. Lightly soiled items need to be washed first, but they should be shaken out thoroughly first to remove excess soot.
Make piles of clothing and put synthetics with synthetics and organics with organics. Cotton and wool items will be a little more difficult to get the smoke smell out of than synthetic items, but it can be done.
Use as much laundry detergent as the detergent’s manufacturer says to use for every load you need to wash and you should also add one cup of water conditioner. Adding a half a cup of all-fabric bleach will also help. The temperature of the water also matters when washing these soiled clothing items and you should also use the most amount of water that your washer will be able to handle.
Synthetic items should be washed in warm water only in order to stop them from wrinkling when the spin cycle turns on.
All soiled items need to be washed twice and if the soot is still visible, the clothes need to be air dried instead of using the electric dryer. The smoke odor should be gone after they air dry, but if it is not, then the clothes should be aired out outside the house and washed again. Detergents that have perfumes can mask the smell of smoke damage, but after the perfume dissipates, the smell may return.
Chlorinated bleach should not be used on fabric that is organic, because the fabric might have been weakened in certain areas due to the excess heat.
Items that are not subject to dye running, such as very light colors, can be washed in hot water, but this can vary depending on the type of fabric. Look at the clothing tag and see what the care directions say.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.
Begin by sorting the clothes by how heavily soiled they are. Lightly soiled items need to be washed first, but they should be shaken out thoroughly first to remove excess soot.
Make piles of clothing and put synthetics with synthetics and organics with organics. Cotton and wool items will be a little more difficult to get the smoke smell out of than synthetic items, but it can be done.
Use as much laundry detergent as the detergent’s manufacturer says to use for every load you need to wash and you should also add one cup of water conditioner. Adding a half a cup of all-fabric bleach will also help. The temperature of the water also matters when washing these soiled clothing items and you should also use the most amount of water that your washer will be able to handle.
Synthetic items should be washed in warm water only in order to stop them from wrinkling when the spin cycle turns on.
All soiled items need to be washed twice and if the soot is still visible, the clothes need to be air dried instead of using the electric dryer. The smoke odor should be gone after they air dry, but if it is not, then the clothes should be aired out outside the house and washed again. Detergents that have perfumes can mask the smell of smoke damage, but after the perfume dissipates, the smell may return.
Chlorinated bleach should not be used on fabric that is organic, because the fabric might have been weakened in certain areas due to the excess heat.
Items that are not subject to dye running, such as very light colors, can be washed in hot water, but this can vary depending on the type of fabric. Look at the clothing tag and see what the care directions say.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.
Sump Pumps in Wet Basements
Having a wet basement due to a flood, hurricane, or ground water seeping in is at the very least an inconvenience to most homeowners and at the most, it can lead to serious structural damage that can cost thousands to fix. No matter what you use your basement for, you probably have a lot of important things down there that you either use all the time or are simply in storage to be taken care of at a later date.
The best thing that you can do to prevent having a wet basement is to keep a properly functioning sump pump in it so that the water that builds up in the lowest portion of the basement is pumped out when it reaches a certain level. The pump directs the water to a drain that carries it outside and away from your home’s foundation. This makes sure that the rest of the basement does not become flooded with water.
Keeping an eye on your sump pump and making sure that it working correctly is essential if you want to keep a dry basement. After all, the pump cannot do all the work on its own. It can pump the water out of the basement during heavy rains and floods, but keeping it maintained is your job. Check the float inside the tank and make sure that it is working right by pouring a large amount of water into it. The float should rise to the top, cause the pump to turn on, the water will drain out, and the float will trigger the pump to turn off when it gets to the bottom of the tank. This is how the pump behaves when it is working properly.
Having a backup pump is also a good idea and a lot of times the backup tends to be a water pressure powered one and this will come from the water system in your house. If the electricity flips off during a storm, the backup pump that does not require electricity will take care of the water flooding into your basement.
You should also consider what kind of pump you need to install in your home. Cast iron pumps will last much longer than the plastic ones, but they do come at a higher cost.
Submersible sump pumps are something else you might want to think about. These are designed to work while under water, but these are quieter and tend to last longer than other types.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York flood water damage restoration and other states and cities such as
South Carolina mold remediation companies across the united states.
The best thing that you can do to prevent having a wet basement is to keep a properly functioning sump pump in it so that the water that builds up in the lowest portion of the basement is pumped out when it reaches a certain level. The pump directs the water to a drain that carries it outside and away from your home’s foundation. This makes sure that the rest of the basement does not become flooded with water.
Keeping an eye on your sump pump and making sure that it working correctly is essential if you want to keep a dry basement. After all, the pump cannot do all the work on its own. It can pump the water out of the basement during heavy rains and floods, but keeping it maintained is your job. Check the float inside the tank and make sure that it is working right by pouring a large amount of water into it. The float should rise to the top, cause the pump to turn on, the water will drain out, and the float will trigger the pump to turn off when it gets to the bottom of the tank. This is how the pump behaves when it is working properly.
Having a backup pump is also a good idea and a lot of times the backup tends to be a water pressure powered one and this will come from the water system in your house. If the electricity flips off during a storm, the backup pump that does not require electricity will take care of the water flooding into your basement.
You should also consider what kind of pump you need to install in your home. Cast iron pumps will last much longer than the plastic ones, but they do come at a higher cost.
Submersible sump pumps are something else you might want to think about. These are designed to work while under water, but these are quieter and tend to last longer than other types.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York flood water damage restoration and other states and cities such as
South Carolina mold remediation companies across the united states.
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