Making Sure Your Next Home Is Certified Mold Free!

When you are looking to buy a new home you often tend to create a list of "must haves." Things or features that you have determined are deal breakers when you buy a home. Most people list things such as "lots of cabinet space" or "updated bathroom. All of these things are perfectly great things to look for and these perks do increase your chances of selling your home. But there is something that you can do that might not be top of mind. The inspection!

Do you really know what an inspection could reveal about your home? In the south we get a lot of humidity, heat and moisture! Moisture and heat is a perfect environment to get some nasty things growing in your home! How do you know if you have mold? OK, so my bathroom flooded but I called the plumber and we put some box fans on it, that's OK right? Well, the simple answer to both of those questions is to call your local Certified Industrial Hygienist. An Industrial Hygienist can do air quality tests and find out if you have mold or something like Radon in your home.

No matter where you live there are several choices for inspectors. You can choose to do a general inspection--they do a great job doing a cursory over view of the property, or you can choose to have a hygienist take a more in-depth look. The general inspection will often reveal a presence of a problem. They will not however reveal the source or origin of the problem. If you want a more in detailed picture of your home problems it would be a great idea to contact your local Industrial Hygienist. A Certified Industrial Hygienist can do many things, and often time they do a lot of work in the manufacturing industry, BUT Hygienists are also great at finding unwanted house guests like mold, dust mites, Radon, and other allergens.

Maybe your general inspection found presence of mold, but you want to know more than just that you have mold! You want to know where the mold originated. How long has the mold been there? How do you get rid of mold? Does that mean I have a water or sewage issue? THIS is where you want to include your Industrial Hygienist. They can come out and conduct some air quality tests and see how prevalent the mold problem is.

Mold can make you sick. You don't want to buy a home or put a house up for sale if it has mold. I recommend that you get your house inspected, by a quality Hygienist so that you know as a buyer and as a seller that your home is mold and allergen free! You're buying a home, your dream home, and you've probably looked hard and saved up a lot of money to buy this home. Don't throw it all away by cutting corners and not getting a quality inspection. Don't know how to find a firm?

Hiring and Managing a Home Renovation Contractor - The Do's and Don'ts   Radon Resistance Features and Detecting Test Interferences   What's Involved In Inspecting The Roof During a Home Inspection?   Reasons For Asphalt Option Over Concrete And Gravel Pavements   

3D Laser Scanning Services For Today's Architectural Needs

The digital age now means that it is possible to see any building in amazing digital 3D without leaving your computer. This is thanks to the great technical leaps forward in Laser Scanning, and particularly 3D Laser Scanning Surveying techniques and equipment that have meant that ever greater amounts of data can be handled very quickly to produce more accurate representations of any building or physical object.

But what exactly is Laser Scanning Surveying?

Essentially, when we are looking at the world through our own eyes we are collecting enormous amounts of visual and spatial data, which our brains then process into interpretive 3D images of the world around us.

Laser Scanning Surveying adopts exactly the same processes, only this time it is sophisticated machinery that are collecting the images, spatial and geometric data, and a computer processor that is doing the processing.

The result is a point in time, very large, 3D database which accurately represents the environment that has been scanned. The 'point cloud' laser scanning data is geometrically rigid and can be used and brings benefits to a multitude of end users.

So how does Laser Scanning Surveying Work?

The way this is achieved is by 'bombarding' the building, rail, tunnel, road or subject with millions of safe laser pulses to obtain precise measurement information. This is done by setting up 'state of the art' equipment that sends out these laser beam pulses that are designed to bounce off the subject and then be reflected back between two mirrors in the laser scanner.

This allows the scanner to measure three things very precisely:

1. The exact time it takes to bounce the beam back.

2. The horizontal angle of the beam as it returns

3. The vertical angle of the beam as it returns.

This simple sounding process in effect provides extremely accurate X, Y and Z co-ordinates of the surface or object the laser points hit. When repeated millions of times, these co-ordinates can then be processed by ' 3D point cloud software' and then can be exported into a variety of different 3D software - revit, autocad, microstation, 3D visualisation software that allows a precise 3D image of the building to be built up.

It is a high-tech process that produces amazing results and has applications not only in architecture, but anywhere where a digital representation of reality could be useful.

As a conclusion, what are the benefits of laser scanning technology?

There are as many as a fertile imagination can conjure in reality! But here are three immediate areas where laser scanning may be beneficial:

1. Accuracy - This process removes much of the human error that is often to blame for complications at the building stage of a project. A laser scanner does not get tired or make errors due to a heavy workload, so the results that it pumps out are much more dependable as well as being many times more accurate than normal surveying methods.

2. Speed - Measuring at 1,000,000 points a second enables an enormous of data to be collected very quickly. Information can be obtained almost instantly allowing decisions to be made at a greater speed than utilising traditional surveying techniques

3. Allows People to Focus on What People Do Best - The third big benefit of laser scanning is that it frees up people to focus on other aspects of a project and rids them of much of the tiresome burden of crunching the numbers. This almost inevitably leads to better designs, happier and more productive members of your team, and happier clients as the end results improve.

As you can, there are many great benefits of 3D Laser Scanning over traditional techniques, and it is well worth exploring for yourself if Laser Scanning Services are a good fit for your business.

Hiring and Managing a Home Renovation Contractor - The Do's and Don'ts   Radon Resistance Features and Detecting Test Interferences   What's Involved In Inspecting The Roof During a Home Inspection?   Reasons For Asphalt Option Over Concrete And Gravel Pavements   

How to Inspect Your Home's Electrical System After A Hurricane

One of the most important things to focus after a hurricane is the electrical system and appliance. After a storm or hurricane, homeowners should only re-enter their homes once the floodwaters have receded. Avoid all contact with any electrical system if your home still stands in flood waters. But it is very important to inspect your home visually even from afar for any obvious damages that would make your home unsafe to enter. If you are unsure about the electrical safety of your home, it is best to evacuate the property and have a licensed electrician perform the inspection before proceeding with any home restoration.

If your home appears stable and an electrician has deemed it safe to enter, the next step is to check for electrical appliances or devices that are most often indicated by sparks or frayed wires and this should be done in partnership with the electrician. Fire is the most frequent accident following floods and hurricanes. So you have to first check for broken electrical circuits, submerged electrical appliances and furnaces since these are fire hazards. Make sure you visually check for broken or frayed wires in your electrical system. If you smell something burning or there are sparks, turn off electricity from the main fuse box or circuit breaker (again provided that you're not stepping on a flooded water).

When you see water and silt get inside your electrical devices after a hurricane, it means corrosion and insulation damage can occur. We all know that water is the number one enemy of any electrical appliances since it always damage its motors, so aside from restoring your electrical system and reconditioning it, you should also be ready to replace it.

Below are safety tips to help you rehabilitate, restore, and re-condition your home electrical system and your home appliances after the storm or the hurricane. It is recommended that you allow a licensed electrician to guide you on the restoration or replacement of any electrical equipment in your home:

1. Get the 'go-signal' from the electrician if your fuse or circuit breakers are safe to use. This is very important because damages to these can cause more electrical problems and cause even fire.

2. Make sure to only use the appliances when they already completely clean from silt and had dried out; and when the electrician tells you so;

3. Consider replacing your electrical wirings. If the electrical wirings and equipments got submerged in water, contaminants can create fire hazards. Sometimes professional cleaning won't help since the wires are most likely exposed to chemicals and toxins present in your neighborhood and are very difficult to remove;

4. Do not let power cord connections become wet;

5. Use portable GFCI (Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupter) to prevent electrical shock injuries;

6. Discard GFCIs, plugs and switches, receptacles, circuit breakers, and fuses when they have been submerged in flood water;

7. Don't work with wet hands especially if it's concerning electrical devices;

8. Never use portable generator indoors or anywhere near doors, windows, and vents because it emits carbon monoxide (CO) which is very lethal when inhaled;

9. When you see your electrical appliance damage, don't turn on the device to check it, most likely it will not run as usual, you are only increasing the chance of fire in your home.

Hiring and Managing a Home Renovation Contractor - The Do's and Don'ts   Radon Resistance Features and Detecting Test Interferences   What's Involved In Inspecting The Roof During a Home Inspection?   Reasons For Asphalt Option Over Concrete And Gravel Pavements   

When It Comes To Carpet Cleaning, It Is Never One Solution Fits All

It can be amazing to see what a difference a clean carpet can make in a room. You may look at your carpet now and notice a few small stains or marks, but you probably don't realise just how much the colour of your carpet has been faded with grime, dirt and dust and how much it can be revived to the bright and vibrant colour it once was when you first fitted it.

Carpet cleaning can therefore really help to spruce up a room. Rather than spending money on a new carpet or even new decor, often giving a carpet a truly good clean can make all the difference that you need to get your home back in order and on top form.

However, too many people believe that cleaning a carpet is a one size fits all approach. The fact of the matter is that different types of carpets behave in different ways, and different types of stains and dirt require different approaches in order to really get the best results.

For example, for small liquid or oily stains such as salad dressing or fats from foods, you should always opt for a spot and stain remover. These spot and stain removers have the chemicals that will break down these tough stains quickly and it is always advised that you use them as quickly as possible before they really set into your carpet.

For stickier messes such as spilling engine oil or oily make-ups and so on, you would probably want to try using a specialised cleaning solution and then follow up with a machine clean to really make sure that the stain is completely picked up and removed for good.

Of course, if you have children or pets, then stains such as urine can be quite common and in this case you would want to use a stain remover aimed at these sorts of bodily fluid stains. They will often also include an odour eliminator so that not only the visual stain is removed, but also the stain that you can smell too!

These sorts of specific spot cleaners are always advised for the small marks and stains that are inevitable at some stage in your carpets life. However, once you have removed all these marks and stains, the best way to then really bring your entire carpet back to sparkling life is to use a full carpet machine to clean the entire carpet. This will clean, refresh and revive your entire carpet in general and it can be surprising just how much brighter it can make your carpet.

Hiring and Managing a Home Renovation Contractor - The Do's and Don'ts   Radon Resistance Features and Detecting Test Interferences   What's Involved In Inspecting The Roof During a Home Inspection?   Reasons For Asphalt Option Over Concrete And Gravel Pavements   

Dealing With The Mould Menace

Nobody should live in a surrounding laden with mold because of the severe effects on your health which include skin ailments, allergies, infections in your respiratory tract, as well as asthma. If you are already ailing from any of these conditions then this might be a sign of trouble with your construction and you may need a mold inspection to be carried out by trained personnel. We may need to understand what mold is just before we embark on the inspection process. Molds usually consist of collection microscopic fungi referred to as spores and generally thrive on plants and animals. A building can get mold from the air, individuals can also carry mold, on objects and animals. They need food to develop and scatter which they get from non living organic matter like wood, cloth or paper. Moisture is another requirement for the mold to flourish and is promoted by low humidity conditions in the air. The mold is more widespread in colder weather as it is destroyed by intense heat beyond 100 degrees.

Moisture is usually troublesome in basements, when there is high interior humidity, clothes dyer ventilation system, crawl spaces and basically poor ventilation. Sick Building Syndrome is the term used where there is unhealthy air as well as associated respiratory effects on the regular room users. The above mentioned condition of sick building syndrome is majorly attributed to poor aeration of the room as well as unorthodox architectural works. The effect of the chemical emissions by various home crafting such as furniture and cleansing products contribute adversely to poor ventilation. The longest root of SBS is poor ventilation mostly due to chemical contaminants arising from cleaning agents and upholstery. Poor workmanship is also a great contributing factor.

There is a great concern about SBS with business buildings suffering a great deal. One thing you should know is that whenever you decide to have your home or place of work inspected, make sure you get a professional as you can be sure the right qualifications and know exactly what they are doing. To be sure of this, they should come with the title; Certified Mold Remediation/ certified Mold Inspector/ Certified Environmental Hygienist An intense search of any poisonous, domestic or bacterial mold invasion; widespread allergens plus cockroaches, dust mites and investigation of drinking water and painted surfaces is what makes up the testing process. Stachybotrys, a black mold, should be specifically looked out for as it is the most hazardous! Next, the specialist deals with any infected area, for instance, carpeting or wallpaper by removing the infected area. It is therefore important for the professional to do a thorough testing in order to detect any contamination. Dryness in surfaces should be maintained at all costs to avoid any future occurrence of contamination. As a preventive measure, home owners as well as contractors should be well educated on this subject to avoid any contamination. Discover the right individual to do the job for you and that way you will definitely get value for your money and live in a clean mold free home.

Hiring and Managing a Home Renovation Contractor - The Do's and Don'ts   Radon Resistance Features and Detecting Test Interferences   What's Involved In Inspecting The Roof During a Home Inspection?   Reasons For Asphalt Option Over Concrete And Gravel Pavements   

The Benefits of Having Castor Wheels Inside Your Homes

Aside from the usual convenience and the mobility that castor wheels provide for you inside the house, there are other indirect benefits that castor wheels give you.

Here are six indirect benefits that your castor wheels give you:

New look to the family members

When was the last time you gave your living room or any room in your house for that matter a new look? Most probably you did when you purchased new household furniture or new king size bed for your bedroom or that new flat screen TV for your living room. So does that mean that you will have to wait for next new purchased object to rearrange the stuffs in your house?

The truth is you can't buy new stuffs every day. But don't let this hinder you from improving the overall atmosphere inside your rooms. Redesigning has positive effects for everyone at home. It gives a sense of rebirth or a new persona to your rooms without even you spending a penny.

The trick is to be radical, be artistic and be open to whole new possibilities. So the next time you think about revitalizing your rather boring, lousy rooms don't decide to buy new stuffs immediately. Use whatever you already have inside your rooms and improvise.

New look to the visitors

Nothing requires more cleaning and preparation than a visitor or two coming over for a nice hearty dinner or just a casual visit from your parents. Rearrangements inside your rooms will surely be appreciated by your visitors rather than them seeing the same arrangement the visit before.

During special occasions

House parties for birthdays or family reunions will invite many people inside your house. Due to this, you need to move your furniture aside to accommodate the expected huge crowd. Castor wheels play a very important role in realizing this without damaging your floor.

Plus, during the party proper, you will find yourself needing to move the seats around whenever the visitors need to sit down. Times like this demand for mobile couches and seats ready to be moved around at a moment's notice and with minimal effort. Small conveniences like this contribute so much to the success of your hosted parties.

Make way for new household objects

Should you acquire new things for the different rooms in your house, the old things that you already have can be conveniently moved. Moreover, it is easier to figure out where the new stuff fits best if you are able to readily rearrange all of the objects inside the room over and over again.

Moving things outside the house

There are numerous occasions when you need to move the furniture and couches outside like barbecue parties, pool parties or just sunbathing in your backyard. Without mobile tables and chairs, you may be discouraged to push through such important family and friend bonding events.

During repairs and maintenance

Home improvements also require a great deal of moving around of your household furniture. You can't just set furniture at a permanent spot in a corner of your room since that single spot where you placed all of your things may also need repairs. It is very unfortunate to have repairs and maintenance and yet end up with some of your stuff damaged in the process.

Hiring and Managing a Home Renovation Contractor - The Do's and Don'ts   Radon Resistance Features and Detecting Test Interferences   What's Involved In Inspecting The Roof During a Home Inspection?   Reasons For Asphalt Option Over Concrete And Gravel Pavements