Most experience homeowners know all about this water damage prevention necessity, but anyone who’s just beginning to live in a new home or a rental might not think about it. The winter is a crucial time for the water system in your home and if it’s not taken care of, some pretty big problems will ensue. This happens when the temperature outside reaches under 20 degrees, water pipes located underneath your house, in the basement, or any other area that is exposed to the elements can freeze and burst, spilling water everywhere.
Any water pipes that you can easily gain access to should be covered completely with insulation of some kind and the more warm air that can reach your pipes during the winter, the less of a chance the pipes have of freezing and rupturing. Open the kitchen and bathroom cabinets whenever it’s convenient and leave them that way as long as possible to make sure the pipes inside of them get at least a little warm air. Sometimes using space heaters can help keep pipes from freezing, so keeping one in the kitchen or wherever you have pipes exposed can be a fair idea, as long a few feet away from anything that can catch on fire.
If you have any water hoses connected to the house, be sure to disconnect them before the freezing weather hits.
Try to leave a trickle of water running through your faucets at all times during the winter; it doesn’t have to be very much at all and it might cause your water bill to be a tiny bit extra at the end of the month, but it’s worth it. The water running through the pipes is less likely to freeze than water that’s standing still inside them.
Water damage is generally covered under most insurance policies depending on how you report it, but one of the things that is usually a direct result of water damage, mold, is not. Unless you pay for a special policy that covers mold, most homeowner’s insurance policies don’t cover it. Mold is expensive to get rid of and when a cracked or ruptured pipe in your wall or under your house bursts during the winter, it’s a very real threat. Your family and pets will become sick over time if the mold isn’t removed as quickly as possible, so doing your best to prevent water damage to your home is the first line of defense. It can start to grow as quickly as 48 hours after water has been soaked up by a surface like sheetrock.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Aspergillosis and Its Forms
While some of us might know what causes mold to grow and what it can do to our bodies and buildings, we’re not exactly familiar with the different species of mold that exist in the world. Not all mold species grow effectively indoors, but aspergillus is a genus of mold that does quite well in that area. Depending on the species, some aspergillus molds can be harmful to human beings and some can cause any number of conditions that are collectively known as aspergillosis.
Aspergillosis symptoms can vary depending on the type of infection. In its allergic form, these symptoms can include coughing up blood or brown mucous, weight loss, shortness of breath, coughing, and fever, among others.
Aspergilloma, which are fungus growths in the body that are caused by mold, are typically found growing in the lungs, but can also grow in other parts of the body. They are usually found growing in pre-existing cavities in the lungs or other organs, such as when a person has had lung cancer, tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, or other infections that cause them. A lot of the time when a person actually has aspergilloma somewhere in their body, they have no symptoms. When symptoms do finally show up, they sometimes include coughing up blood, fever, weight loss, and shortness of breath. Wheezing can also be heard in some patients. Some tests that can be done to test for aspergilloma are a chest x-ray, a bronchoscopy, or a blood test that can be done to find antibodies to fight off aspergillus mold.
Pulmonary aspergillosis of the invasive type is known to occur in people who have weakened immune systems and the symptoms of this can include blood in the urine, headaches, chest pain, meningitis, sinusitis, and shortness of breath, among others. Chest x-rays, skin tests, and blood counts are a few of the methods that can be used to test for it.
Pulmonary aspergillosis causes some inflammation of the esophagus and the air sacs located within the lungs. Aspergillus mold is a common genus and so infections that are a direct result of touching it or inhaling it are possible, but rare. Some people are hypersensitive to the presence of aspergillus mold and have an allergic reaction and this may imitate such conditions as pneumonia or even asthma because a lot of the time patients that have allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) also have asthma.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Water Damage Miami and
water damage restoration in atlanta companies.
Aspergillosis symptoms can vary depending on the type of infection. In its allergic form, these symptoms can include coughing up blood or brown mucous, weight loss, shortness of breath, coughing, and fever, among others.
Aspergilloma, which are fungus growths in the body that are caused by mold, are typically found growing in the lungs, but can also grow in other parts of the body. They are usually found growing in pre-existing cavities in the lungs or other organs, such as when a person has had lung cancer, tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, or other infections that cause them. A lot of the time when a person actually has aspergilloma somewhere in their body, they have no symptoms. When symptoms do finally show up, they sometimes include coughing up blood, fever, weight loss, and shortness of breath. Wheezing can also be heard in some patients. Some tests that can be done to test for aspergilloma are a chest x-ray, a bronchoscopy, or a blood test that can be done to find antibodies to fight off aspergillus mold.
Pulmonary aspergillosis of the invasive type is known to occur in people who have weakened immune systems and the symptoms of this can include blood in the urine, headaches, chest pain, meningitis, sinusitis, and shortness of breath, among others. Chest x-rays, skin tests, and blood counts are a few of the methods that can be used to test for it.
Pulmonary aspergillosis causes some inflammation of the esophagus and the air sacs located within the lungs. Aspergillus mold is a common genus and so infections that are a direct result of touching it or inhaling it are possible, but rare. Some people are hypersensitive to the presence of aspergillus mold and have an allergic reaction and this may imitate such conditions as pneumonia or even asthma because a lot of the time patients that have allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) also have asthma.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Water Damage Miami and
water damage restoration in atlanta companies.
Water Damage and Preventing It From the Outside
When talking about preventing water damage, one of the most important places to start is outside the home. Making sure rain and flood waters run away from your home instead of settling around the foundation is essential to prevent the weakening of it. Water will not only cause structural damage, but it will loosen the soil in the ground around the house and cause it to sink over time.
If you live in an extreme climate such as on that receives an exceptional amount of rainfall or snowfall every year, you need to take some extra measures to prevent water damage to your home, since it’s likely to occur in these areas more than in some others. The more rain a home is subject to receiving upon it every year, the more likely it will seep inside and cause water damage to your home’s structural integrity. Make sure soil at the base of the home is piled upward so that water drains away from the foundation and into another area of the yard; if you can, have it drain into the ditch that usually runs beside most homes just next to the road.
Sometimes your gutters can be overloaded by water if the rainfall is harder than normal, so the gutters attached to the outside of your home need to be as large as necessary to handle a large amount of water. They should remain clear of debris such as leaves, sticks, and anything else that can stop them up. Being sure these are cleaned thoroughly might be a pain, but when you think about the money that’s spent on water damaged homes every year, you’re actually saving yourself a lot of trouble.
Be sure the downspouts that are connected to your gutters are free and clear of debris both inside them and down at the ground level so the water collected by your gutters doesn’t collect around the base of the house.
Your roof should be built at such an angle that water is not able to merely sit standing on any part of it for any period of time. Standing water on your roof will cause weak spots and will begin to leak inside the house and eventually cause standing water there, as well. Insulation soaks up water like candy and once it’s wet, it’s no longer effective and becomes a breeding ground for mold and other fungi.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Los Angeles water damage and restoration services and Denver water damage restoration companies.
If you live in an extreme climate such as on that receives an exceptional amount of rainfall or snowfall every year, you need to take some extra measures to prevent water damage to your home, since it’s likely to occur in these areas more than in some others. The more rain a home is subject to receiving upon it every year, the more likely it will seep inside and cause water damage to your home’s structural integrity. Make sure soil at the base of the home is piled upward so that water drains away from the foundation and into another area of the yard; if you can, have it drain into the ditch that usually runs beside most homes just next to the road.
Sometimes your gutters can be overloaded by water if the rainfall is harder than normal, so the gutters attached to the outside of your home need to be as large as necessary to handle a large amount of water. They should remain clear of debris such as leaves, sticks, and anything else that can stop them up. Being sure these are cleaned thoroughly might be a pain, but when you think about the money that’s spent on water damaged homes every year, you’re actually saving yourself a lot of trouble.
Be sure the downspouts that are connected to your gutters are free and clear of debris both inside them and down at the ground level so the water collected by your gutters doesn’t collect around the base of the house.
Your roof should be built at such an angle that water is not able to merely sit standing on any part of it for any period of time. Standing water on your roof will cause weak spots and will begin to leak inside the house and eventually cause standing water there, as well. Insulation soaks up water like candy and once it’s wet, it’s no longer effective and becomes a breeding ground for mold and other fungi.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Los Angeles water damage and restoration services and Denver water damage restoration companies.
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