While a house fire may be one of the most preventable disasters to happen to a home, a wildfire can be one of the least preventable on a small scale. Prevention of wildfires requires that a large number of people do what they can to make sure that the wildfires that do start are not manmade, but this awareness is only just now starting to catch on. When the fire is creeping toward your home, you are not likely to care what caused it, only what you can do to slow it down and in fact, there are a few different things that you can do to minimize the damage.
You may enjoy living in a more rural area, but you are at a disadvantage when it comes to wildfires because this is where they begin. One of the bad things about living in a rural area is that fire departments are not as prevalent, so the response to your home may not be as quick as you need it to be.
If you are contemplating having a home built for you, have it made of fire-resistant materials. Houses with an exterior made of brick, stone, or even metal will resist catching on fire much more than those that have exteriors made of wood or vinyl siding.
The most important exterior surface of your home is the roof. This is the largest surface area on the exterior of your home and it should be made of fire-resistant materials instead of the traditional wooden or oil-based shingles. Everyone knows that oil catches on fire very easily, so if you live in an area that is prone to wildfires, you may want to have another roofing material put on your home. Something else to do with your roof if a wildfire is nearby is to wet it down with the garden hose. This will give a little extra protection against the firebrands that are being carried in the air by the wind. Wetting the exterior walls of the house and wood decks is also a very good idea.
Do not allow any dead vegetation to build up in the yard. This includes grass cuttings, sticks, dead plants, and leaves. If a wildfire starts before you have a chance to get these dead organic materials cleaned up, all you can do is soak them and the rest of the yard with water via the hose and hope for the best.
Trees should also not be located close to the house, especially if the branches hang over the roof.
Dror Klar is a writer and promoter of
Newark NJ Water Removal
and
Charlotte Flooding Emergency Service Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Flooded Vehicle Facts
When you go to buy a used vehicle, the last thing on your mind is whether or not the car has been submerged in water before. This is not as rare as you might think that it is and a used car dealer or an individual defrauding a buyer is not uncommon, either. In order to protect yourself from flooded vehicles that you may not know how to look for correctly, there are a few things that you can do.
The first thing that you need to realize is that not all vehicle history reports are created equal. These reports do not list all of the damage done to a vehicle or all the work that has been done on it simply because these things are only listed if the person who owns the vehicle makes a claim on it with their insurance company. If a vehicle is flooded and the owner does not file an insurance claim, then the damage is not recorded as ever having happened at all. Vehicle history reports are useful, but you should realize that not all damage may be included.
Look around the trunk and glove box of the car and see if you can find any signs of rusting, sand, or silt. These are signs of being exposed to water. Also look for these signs under the seats and in any nooks and crannies that these things may settle into.
While you are in there, inhale deeply and notice what the car smells like. If there is a musty smell, then this is probably due to the presence of mold growing either in the carpeting or the upholstery. If there is an air freshener smell, then you may be dealing with someone who is trying to cover up another odor of some kind. Be wary of air freshened vehicles.
All electronic components need to be checked. Be sure that they are in working order before purchasing. Some electronic items are expendable to some vehicle owners, but if many of them are not working, consider it a possibility that the vehicle has been submerged. Test the turn signals, windshield wipers, and etcetera.
Look around under the dashboard and see if any of the wires appear to be brittle or cracked. If they are or they crack when you try to flex them, then they have probably been exposed to water.
Jim Gaykern is a writer and promoter of quality
Charlotte Water Damage Restoration and other cities such as
Sayreville NJ Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
The first thing that you need to realize is that not all vehicle history reports are created equal. These reports do not list all of the damage done to a vehicle or all the work that has been done on it simply because these things are only listed if the person who owns the vehicle makes a claim on it with their insurance company. If a vehicle is flooded and the owner does not file an insurance claim, then the damage is not recorded as ever having happened at all. Vehicle history reports are useful, but you should realize that not all damage may be included.
Look around the trunk and glove box of the car and see if you can find any signs of rusting, sand, or silt. These are signs of being exposed to water. Also look for these signs under the seats and in any nooks and crannies that these things may settle into.
While you are in there, inhale deeply and notice what the car smells like. If there is a musty smell, then this is probably due to the presence of mold growing either in the carpeting or the upholstery. If there is an air freshener smell, then you may be dealing with someone who is trying to cover up another odor of some kind. Be wary of air freshened vehicles.
All electronic components need to be checked. Be sure that they are in working order before purchasing. Some electronic items are expendable to some vehicle owners, but if many of them are not working, consider it a possibility that the vehicle has been submerged. Test the turn signals, windshield wipers, and etcetera.
Look around under the dashboard and see if any of the wires appear to be brittle or cracked. If they are or they crack when you try to flex them, then they have probably been exposed to water.
Jim Gaykern is a writer and promoter of quality
Charlotte Water Damage Restoration and other cities such as
Sayreville NJ Water Damage Restoration companies across the united states.
Keep Mold Off Your Things
Unfortunately for us, where there is organic matter such as plants and animals, mold is also there in the form of spores or colonies. It is on the ground we walk on and in the air that we breathe, so there is not that much that we can do to totally escape it unless you live in a home with an air supply that is very strictly controlled. Aside from living in a clean area of a hospital or a laboratory, getting away from mold completely is not really an option.
Keeping mold off of your belongings probably does not seem like a difficult thing to do if you have never had to deal with mold on anything that you own before, but if you have, then there might be a few things that you are not doing that you should be.
For example, wet clothing or towels should be washed as soon as possible, preferably within about 2 days to prevent mold from starting to grow on them. Whatever you do, do not throw these items on your floor or in a laundry basket anywhere and just leave them there. Even worse, do not cover them up with dry clothing and forget that the wet ones are underneath, since this will mold the entire batch. While that is bad, there is something else that you can do that is even worse: putting wet clothes on the floor of a bathroom closet that has carpet on it. The clothes and carpet will both mold and you will end up having to take the carpet up to get rid of it.
Try not to pack your clothing into your closet so tight that air cannot circulate in it. This is a problem mostly for people that have large amounts of clothing that they do not wear, but refuse to throw away or take to the thrift store. Your clothes need to breathe to keep from being contaminated with mold, since mold likes to grow on dust as much as anything else.
Strangely shaped baby bottles and other items in our kitchen cabinets can also become moldy if we have a hard time getting them completely dry. This happens most often when someone does not have a dishwasher with a dry cycle or when the item is just washed in the sink. To keep these items from molding on the inside, especially the ever important baby bottles, put them inside the freezer for storage until you need them again.
Dror Klar is a writer and promoter of
CT Flood Water Removal
and
Elizabeth NJ Wet Basement Flooding Emergency Service Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
Keeping mold off of your belongings probably does not seem like a difficult thing to do if you have never had to deal with mold on anything that you own before, but if you have, then there might be a few things that you are not doing that you should be.
For example, wet clothing or towels should be washed as soon as possible, preferably within about 2 days to prevent mold from starting to grow on them. Whatever you do, do not throw these items on your floor or in a laundry basket anywhere and just leave them there. Even worse, do not cover them up with dry clothing and forget that the wet ones are underneath, since this will mold the entire batch. While that is bad, there is something else that you can do that is even worse: putting wet clothes on the floor of a bathroom closet that has carpet on it. The clothes and carpet will both mold and you will end up having to take the carpet up to get rid of it.
Try not to pack your clothing into your closet so tight that air cannot circulate in it. This is a problem mostly for people that have large amounts of clothing that they do not wear, but refuse to throw away or take to the thrift store. Your clothes need to breathe to keep from being contaminated with mold, since mold likes to grow on dust as much as anything else.
Strangely shaped baby bottles and other items in our kitchen cabinets can also become moldy if we have a hard time getting them completely dry. This happens most often when someone does not have a dishwasher with a dry cycle or when the item is just washed in the sink. To keep these items from molding on the inside, especially the ever important baby bottles, put them inside the freezer for storage until you need them again.
Dror Klar is a writer and promoter of
CT Flood Water Removal
and
Elizabeth NJ Wet Basement Flooding Emergency Service Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.
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