According to CNN, there are as many as 700 water main breaks in the U.S. on a daily basis. The cause of these breaks is due to an aging water delivery infrastructure where up to 30 percent of water pipes are 40 to 80 years old. Many of the aging water lines lie beneath homes and businesses, and their ruptures result in massive property loss and public health threats.
Danger to Your Health, Home and Business
In 2009, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. drinking water system a D-minus in an infrastructure report card. The CNN report states that anytime there is a break in a water main there is a risk of contaminating drinking water with viruses and bacteria, and gives the example of the 2008 salmonella outbreak in Alamosa, Colorado. Additionally, 7 billion gallons of water leak from broken water mains on a daily basis around the country. Funds for this infrastructure, however, are severely lacking and some believe that the privatization of community water utilities is the answer to fixing this problem.
Most water mains to run under ground, and some are as large as 72 inches. When one breaks, basements and ground-level floors are at risk for major water damage that can lead to dark water and mold. Water damage is expensive to remediate and may not be covered by a home or commercial insurance policy if an owner does not also have flood insurance. In addition to the memories that can be lost to water damage, like family photos, important documents can also suffer the consequences of a water main break. Home and business owners should question how safe their items are in the event of catastrophic water damage, which is often sudden and unpredictable.
The cold weather months are some of the wettest of the year. Consequently, the extra humidity creates the perfect environment for mold to grow in a home. While your works of art, photographs, antiques and family heirlooms may have the protection of the roof in your home, they may be susceptible to mold damage if you do not display or store them properly.
Areas to Avoid Displaying Valuables
Laundry room: the washer and drier create a humid environment that can tarnish fine metals, warp paper and be an ideal breeding ground for mold.
Bathroom: water and moisture are always present in the bathroom. Hence, the reason many household mold and mildew removers are targeted for use in this room.
Kitchen: keep all art and photographs away from the sink area, food preparation and cooking surfaces and the areas around an oven and dishwasher. The heat, moisture, food particles and oil in a kitchen will cut the life of your valuables short.
Near windows: windows tend to reflect the weather outside, especially if not sealed well. It is best to keep your heirloom books, photographs and antique findings off a windowsill.
By heating vents, air conditioners, radiators, air purifiers and humidifiers: while practical for maintaining a constant temperature in a home, these items are not art-friendly.
By a hot lamp or in an area that receives direct sunlight: the sun’s UV rays will quickly fade any art it touches. Hot lamps can cause art and photographs to become dry and crack.
The ideal, low moisture temperature for art, antiques and family heirlooms is 66 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your valuables in the same environment you enjoy—one that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Should your antiques, photographs and art experience mold damage, contact a restoration specialist as soon as you notice the problem. These professionals have state of the art equipment that can clean, dry and restore your irreplaceable valuables.
Growing in walls, old books, wet documents and old carpets, mold is a problem that invades homes, schools and businesses when there is any hint of humidity. This summer the Florida Mold Bill became a law to establish standards for professionals who do mold assessments and perform remediation services in the state.
When you find a mold infestation, according to the state of Florida, there are three things you should do:
1. Make sure the remediation specialist holds an American Council Accredited Certification. This agency provides remediation contractor licenses for several states.
2. Make sure the remediation professional has liability insurance coverage that has a mold specific pollution-liability rider.
3. Keep in mind that the state you are in may not allow the contractor who performs the mold assessment be the same contractor who remediates the mold. This helps make sure there is a high level of accountability among contractors to make sure mold is remediated according to the state protocols in place, damage to property is prevented, there are less chances for economic injuries and health risks are reduced.
When it comes to mold damage in a home or building, individuals should take measures to ensure safety and welfare, particularly when it comes to those with weakened immune systems, young children and the elderly.
Does your lawn still have a grayish-white fuzz on it even after the winter snow melts? If so, you have snow mold on your hands. Snow mold happens when deep snowfall occurs early in the cold weather season and prevents the ground from freezing. The cool, moist area between the ground and snow becomes the perfect breeding ground for snow mold to become active. As long as the ground stays moist, the mold will stick around. This type of mold is sometimes also seen in piles of un-raked leaves.
While snow mold will just cause gray patches of grass that are slow to green, there is a chance it could affect your home if tracked inside. The mold may continue to grow if it is tracked into a cool, damp area of a home, such as the basement or garage. If you have items stored in these rooms, such as important documents or books, snow mold could damage them. When you have mold-damaged documentsorbooks, you will need the help of a mold remediation specialist to restore them.
To help avoid the growth of snow mold, avoid using a fertilizer that contain a lot of nitrogen during the fall months. Additionally, the University of Minnesota suggests fertilizing your lawn around Labor Day. If your lawn is particularly prone to snow mold growth, however, do not fertilize it in the fall at all. Finally, when mowing you lawn, do not trim it shorter than two inches.
Whether it comes from nature or is manmade, water damage can lead to unimaginable destruction to a building. Water damage can come in the high-visible form of a flood, or lurk behind the walls of a building. When left untreated, standing water is the perfect breeding ground for mold growth.
Preventing
As soon as your building experiences water damage, dry it as soon as possible. If you do not employ the services of a professional, open all the windows in the building (if it is not raining) or use a dehumidifier to help dry-out the room. If there is actual water damage that you cannot simply just dry, remove the water-damaged items and replace them with new materials.
Finding
Whenever there is mold growth in a building, the first thing you should do is find the source of the water leak. In a building, water can leak from burst pipes, roof damage, poor window seals, areas where there is standing water or a natural disaster. Finding the source of water that caused the mold growth can help you quickly remediate the problem.
Fixing
The best way to fix mold damage is to hire a disaster restoration company. In a home, mold can compromise the integrity of a family’s health. In a building such as a school or office, mold can impair the day-to-day operations of the establishment, especially if the building must be closed during the remediation process.
Cleaning mold can be a costly and time-consuming process. You can prevent the return of mold growth in a building by contacting a mold remediation specialist.
