Mold | South Eastern Connecticut Landscaping

01 Apr

Pressure Wash Driveway: Your Clean Road at Home

Author: admin // Category: Home Gardening, Tips

Pressure Wash Driveway: Your Clean Road at Home

You can be meticulous with raking your leaves, trimming your grass and keeping your garden beautiful, but there are some parts of your outdoor areas that you really don’t have a lot of control over. For example, the paved areas tend to get dirty and grimy over time no matter how frequently you sweep or use a garden hose.

You may ask what is the solution for cleaning dirty concrete, cement or asphalt paths and patios? Frequent hosing is more likely to cause mold, moss and mildew to grow than to make those surfaces look really great. For a deeper clean you could get down on your hands and knees and scrub the whole area but that would require a huge amount of time and physical exertion.

Happily there is a much simpler and very effective way you get these areas clean as they can be; you can pressure wash your driveway and other paved areas. The process is simple and gives great results.

Of course in order to pressure wash your driveway you are going to have to get a pressure washer. You will need a pretty strong one, so many of the smaller home versions might not deliver the results you are looking for. You want to find a pressure washer that sprays with at least 3000 psi. This high pressure is strong enough to lift the types of dirt and stains that you are trying to get rid of.

For the type of sludgy, oil stain dirt your car can leave behind, a hot water pressure washer is what you will need to handle the job. Some of your stains may be so bad that you will need to use a cleaner to pre-treat them. You can also use a cleaning solution for the whole surface if it is very dirty or you want to get it extra clean.

It is important to cover the entire surface as you pressure wash your driveway since any little spot that you miss will be obvious once the area has dried. For a very dirty surface you may want to go over it all twice. The first run through can loosen up the dirt and it can be washed away in the second go.

You will be pleased with the look of your newly pressure washed driveway. However, keep in mind that from the moment you finish getting it clean it will start collecting dirt and grime again. For this reason it is a good idea to consider sealing it again to protect the surface from future stains and make your next cleaning session easier.

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11 Feb

Do-It-Yourself Home Repair: The Hero Complex

Author: admin // Category: Home Gardening, Tips

When I was a kid, I loved all those superhero cartoons on television: Batman, Spiderman, X-Men and others. The hero would always swoop in at the last second and save the damsel in distress using his special abilities.

I think many do-it-yourselfers and Mr. Fix-Its have this same type of mentality, and it is a major driving force behind their motivation to fix the leaks and repair the cracks themselves. We are Peter Parker struggling to get through the day when the evil super-villains’ basement mold and leaky faucets rear their ugly heads.

Our damsel in distress cries out for help (or sometimes nags about it), and we drop everything to take it on. Instead of a utility belt or spider sense, we have a hammer and a wrench. Sometimes the battle is fierce and we walk away with a few injuries or actually making a bigger mess than when we started. The super-villain is vanquished (for now), and we go back to our secret identities as mild-mannered husbands and wives.

We don’t expect adoration or even a pat on the back — just the knowledge that we helped make our home a safer place. Do we put ourselves in danger? Sometimes. Do we know how the situation is going to turn out when we start? Not always.

So next time your caped crusader (and if you actually wear a cape, then you need to seek professional help) fixes that leaky shower head so that you can get back to the practice of bathing, take him or her aside and show your appreciation. Odds are that his cheeks will become a little rosy, and he’ll simply reply, “It’s OK. I’m your friendly neighborhood Mr. Fix-It Man.”

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/springfieldhomer/3980431657

Home Repair: When Is It Time to Re-Shingle Your Roof?

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13 Jan

Pure Essentials: The Importance of Clean Air in Your Home

Author: admin // Category: Home Gardening, Tips

It’s easy to take for granted the air that you breathe in every day. Breathing is an automatic function, and unless the air is stinky or fragrant, people generally assume everything is OK.

It’s not until allergies start springing up or, in some worst cases, cancer and other life threatening illnesses caused by polluted air in your home that you sit up and take notice. The most common causes of bad air are dust and mold, but there are ways for you to make your air as clean as possible, for you and your family’s health.

1. Replace your filters. Many people don’t realize that their heating system has removable filters that must be replaced regularly. Even for people who do know there are filters, it’s easy to forget to change them, even though it should be done every three months or so. The filters don’t cost much money, and they filter out particulates in the air when your heating unit sucks in the air from the home to heat it up. Over time, the filter can become overwhelmed with dust, blocking the air from getting to the furnace. Also, the may degrade over time or be affected by moisture, causing more particulates to enter the air.

2. Use air purifiers. Just like purifiers for your faucet that keep your drinking water safe, there are also air purifiers to keep the air clean. These systems tend to be a bit expensive, but the filtering system is much better than the one on your furnace. These machines suck in the air from the home, and depending on the type of machine, filter out dust, mold and any other bad nasty things that might be floating around. These usually only take care of one or two rooms in the house, so the most common places to put them are area where people are for long periods of time such as the living room and bedrooms.

3. Get plants. Mother Nature has given us the best pollution control there is: plants. A few plants in every room will take in air and create wonderful oxygen in return. You want to have at least two plants in every room in order to make a difference. Plants are not only perfect purifiers, but they can also be an attractive part of your décor. ThisOldHouse.com has a great article on the various types of plants for purification.

Clean air is an important part of living in your home, since you are going to be spending a lot of time in it. You want it to be not only safe to live in, but also safe to breath in.

Image Source: flickr.com/photos/savara_gallery/3684642616/

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12 Jan

Top 5 Things to Do With a Finished Basement

Author: admin // Category: Home Gardening, Tips

My house is so old that my basement looks like a dilapidated bunker from World War II. I am pretty sure that I could find Civil War bullets and maybe even a few soldiers if I did enough digging, but that doesn’t keep me from dreaming about the day when I have a beautiful finished basement of my own.

There are many worries when it comes to finished basements, from water and moisture to mold and mildew, but the basement is also the perfect place for the man-cave or mom’s little hideaway. Here are some of my best ideas of what you can do with a finished basement.

1. The Bar: Every man dreams of having his own mahogany bar, complete with beer taps and those Tom Cruise “Cocktail” moves. You name it something cool like the Vegas Hideaway or The Gilded Hare and have your friends come over for drinks. People start expecting more drinks, so you end up buying books on mixology and become an expert on everything from exotic beers to using egg whites.

2. Craft/Tool Area: If you have children, then you know it can be difficult to have any kind of hobby in the main area of the house, because they will inevitably get into it. If you are into woodcarving, beading or other crafts, then a finished basement is perfect. You can keep the door locked so the children can’t get it and then enjoy an hour or two to go down and enjoy your hobby while your significant other takes care of the children.

3. Play Area: Many basements are basically one large room, and these can be perfect for play areas for your older children. You can put large items in there, such as a makeshift stage for plays or bins of costumes for dress-up. This keeps toys from getting spread about the house, but I would recommend that there be an adult to supervise whenever the children are down there. If you have limited space in your home, then a basement play area can save you a lot of cleaning effort, and you don’t have an main floor toy room.

4. Home Theater Arena: The worst part about having the main living room as the home theater area is that there is always so much going on. People come over, and the living room is where they go. The kids want to play X-box. The wife wants to watch “Steel Magnolias” … again. Or worse, you start to watch, and they ask you to turn it down. With its concrete walls, the basement is great for acoustics, and you can sit in relative peace and quiet as the rest of the world goes on above you.

5. The Game Room: We have all seen the basements with the pool tables, poker tables and other gaming implements in television, movies and even some relatives’ houses, and there is a reason for that. With such a large area, you can place many large gaming items, like tables and pinball machines, without having it look cluttered. It can be an area for kids or adults and provides the privacy to really concentrate on killing the bad guy.

Basements can be anything you want, from an extra bedroom to a home gym, and should be utilized in some way, especially if it is finished. Too many people forget about the basement and focus on decorating and renovating their main floors, but there is a whole area of the home not being considered.

Image Source:http://www.flickr.com/photos/20179579@N00/2596465411/

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17 Jan

What’s In Your Crawlspace?

Author: admin // Category: Tips

crawlspace

Most of today’s homes have crawl spaces, but few of us ever venture up there. No one really likes to think of crawling up into that tight space, but there may be a few reasons to consider it. It is important to schedule an annual checkup for your crawlspace, since this can help you spot potential signs of trouble and get them stopped before they become larger issues. Let’s take a look at how to inspect your crawlspace for a very common problem and how to fight it.

If you live in a humid area, or your area gets a lot of rain, you may notice a mildew smell in the house that you can’t get rid of. Chances are, your crawlspaces have become damp and the mildew is forming up there. It is important to get rid of this problem as quickly as possible, since mold could also be forming inside that crawlspace. Take this opportunity to check your crawlspace and see what is going on up there.

Once you’ve determined that your crawlspace is indeed a bit damp, there are a few things that you will need to do. First, it is important to ventilate the area. Most crawlspaces are closed up all year round and little air can circulate through there. This creates the ideal breeding ground for mold and mildew spores. If your home does not have a vent, you will need to install one.

You can find appropriate vents at your local hardware store, and the process of installing them is quite easy. Locate a spot on an exterior wall and cut a hole through to the outside. Place the vent in, and properly secure it. You now have a way to get rid of that moisture buildup!

This will help, but you may also need to see what is causing dampness in your crawlspace. If the mildew is not severe, it may just be the side effect of living in a moist climate. If it is severe, chances are you may have a leak. You will need to inspect all the walls inside that crawlspace and look for any leaks that may be occurring. If you do find a leak, repair it immediately. Overtime, this can lead to serious water damage on your ceilings and walls.

Lastly, it is a very good idea to completely clean out your crawlspace. If you are storing excess insulation or even household items up there, remove them and find a new storage space. Insulation is a particularly nasty culprit when it comes to mildew and can be the source of a lot of mildew odor problems. If your crawlspace is permanently smelly, get fiberglass insulation that has a vapor barrier. Install this throughout the crawlspace, with the vapor barrier facing the top of the crawlspace. This will help keep the odors inside the space instead of in your home. This is a great solution if the damage has already been done and you need to get rid of the smell of mildew in your home.

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