Water Loves Your Deck, Too

Barbequing and swimming in the pool in the backyard is a staple at many private homes across the country that are lucky enough to have both and anyone who has both those items is likely to want a hardwood deck built onto the back of the house for just this purpose. They look very nice and most homeowners will brag for weeks or even years about how much they love their deck and for good reason. Taking care of the deck either on the front of the house or the back is not too difficult, but if you neglect to do this, then you could be dealing with some serious damage later on down the road.

Waterproofing the deck attached to your home is very important if you do not want to have to replace parts of it later. Water does much more damage to wooden items left out in the elements than we might realize and it is important to make sure that as soon as possible after your deck is built (wait at least 30 days after construction), it gets waterproofed. You can do this or you can hire someone else to do it for you, depending on whether time or money is the most important factor. You may not have the time to do it or you may not have the money, but if you want to keep your deck looking good, you will have to sacrifice one or the other.

Applying a stain to the deck should be done before waterproofing, because the sealant that you put on it will not only repel rain, but also other liquids. Allow the stain to set the appropriate amount of time before applying the sealant.

Sealants for decks can be purchased at most hardware, home improvement, or department stores and applying them is a cinch. You do need to make sure that the whole deck gets cleaned first with a deck cleaner that you can also purchase at one of these places. This will be applied with a pump sprayer and allowed to foam up before you scrub it with a stiff bristled brush. Rinse it with a hose when you are done.

All furniture should be removed before you put the sealant on. For safety, you may want to sand down any sharp edges or splinters that may be sticking up, if you are doing this to an older deck that already shows signs of wear.

The sealant should be applied with a sprayer or a roller, depending on what the instructions call for. After you apply it to the deck, you need to wait at least a few days before walking on it so the seal is not damaged.

Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
South Carolina Water Damage Restoration and and other states such as
Chicago Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.

Taking Care of Your Water Pipes

Living in your first home can be an exhilarating experience, but when the winter gets to your area, you may forget about some things that you can do to keep your water pipes from bursting. In fact, you may not think of this at all, since you are probably not used to maintaining a home that belongs to you. Your home is an investment and you should take care of it as much as you can, since you may want to sell it later in exchange for another. Your parents probably insulated the pipes in your home when you were younger, but you probably did not really get the significance of this at the time.

When it gets colder than 20 degrees outside, the water pipes that are exposed to these temperatures are likely to freeze and burst. If you are not home at the time, like off on vacation for Christmas or another holiday, this can wreak havoc on your water bill if you do not get home and fix the problem soon and it can also cause a significant amount of water damage to your home in the process.

Any pipes that will be exposed to this weather that you can get to should be insulated in some way. You can do this by wrapping them in cloth or preferably a construction grade of insulation. A good amount of cloth will help in a pinch, though.

Inside your home, the pipes underneath the different sinks in the house can be kept warm by opening the cabinets so the heat in the house can get to them. Keeping a space heater near exposed pipes in your basement could also be a good idea, but use extreme caution when using space heaters, since they can catch on fire. You can use an extension cord with a space heater, but it needs to be a pretty heavy duty one and most homes do not keep extension cords as heavy duty as the kind needed around often. Place space heaters in your home very carefully and if possible, do not use them on carpeted surfaces.

You can also leave a trickle of water running out of the faucets when the temperatures outside get this low. It might add a little bit to the water bill, but it is only necessary to do this when the temperature gets below freezing, especially at night.

Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.localrestoration.com and
http://www.moldrestorationusa.com

Taking Care of Your Sewage Damaged Home

One of the nastiest things you may ever have to do to your home is clean up the sewage left behind by a flood. You can have a professional cleaning service do this for you, but you should really be able to do this on your own unless for some reason you are physically unable or you get sick very easily. The money that you will save by doing it yourself will be substantial and this is money that you can use to purchase new clothing, furniture, or anything else you may need in the days, weeks, and months following the flood. Having the right information to help you with this is crucial, though.

The worst thing about this is that flood waters are usually contaminated with bacteria, viruses, hazardous chemicals, and sometimes even decaying bodies. Wearing protective equipment while you are in this process is essential to keep yourself from getting sick, so purchase whatever you need to. Latex gloves, disposable coveralls, and disposable foot covers are necessary. You do not want to wear porous clothing while you are doing this, because it will soak right through to your skin. A roll of duct tape should also be bought to seal up the gaps around your ankles and wrists.

Depending on whether you have someone else helping you take care of the other sewage damaged areas of the house, you will need two or more buckets. You need to keep this at an even number, because one will be used as a rinse bucket and the other will have the cleaning solution in it.

Unfortunately, you will probably not be able to save most of the upholstered furniture in your home because the padding will soak up so much of the soil, sewage, and bacteria. You can save items with small amounts of padding that can be replaced, like dining room chairs, and even take this as an opportunity to put a new pattern of fabric on them. Carpets will also probably need to be thrown away and the padding underneath them certainly will be.

Once the padding and carpet has been taken up if it was necessary in the area you are in, you should have a mop or some other cleaning utensil to use. Dip it into the cleaning solution and begin scrubbing the floor with it. Rinse it in the other bucket thoroughly before putting it back into the cleaning bucket. Do not contaminate your bucket filled with cleaner. After you get done scrubbing the whole room, you should go back over it with a disinfectant for a little extra assurance.

Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the Water damage restoration and mold remediation Industry. Visit his sites for more information.
http://www.localrestoration.com and
http://www.moldrestorationusa.com