Mandatory evacuations during hurricanes and floods are not always fun to have to deal with and even during hurricane Katrina, some people did not wish to evacuate their homes and did not believe that they should be made to leave their property if they did not want to. If you cannot evacuate from your home for one reason or another or wish not to, then you really need to be prepared to stay there for a long period of time until the flood waters recede and the area is cleaned back up.
This means that you need to be stocked up with plenty of food and even more bottled water than you think you might need for a week or two’s time. Depending on the number of people in the home, you will want to have more food and water saved up. Having one gallon of water put up for each person for every day you expect to be staying in the home and even more than that, since you never know exactly when you will be able to leave.
If you need to leave the home for any reason and the waters have receded, something you need to be aware of is downed power lines. These are extremely dangerous and you can never tell if the downed line is electrified or not. Never attempt to cross one of these, not even in a vehicle.
Whatever water damage was inflicted on your home needs to be recorded with a camcorder, if you can get your hands on one. You can show this to your insurance claims adjuster so that he or she knows just how much damage was done to your home and can give you a good idea of how much compensation you can expect from your insurance company.
After you have made a video of the damage, drying out your home is the next thing that you need to start doing. Wet items should be taken outside and left to dry, unless more rain is expected.
Open the doors and windows all around the home so that air from outside can blow through out the structure and start drying things out naturally. A wet vacuum can be used to help extract some of the water from under hardwood floors, but a regular vacuum cleaner should never be used to do this due to the risk of electrocution.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.
Friday, September 28, 2007
How Water Affects Documents
Water damaged documents and books can be a pain for homeowners and especially libraries to have to deal with. If you are planning on salvaging papers or books, there are a few things that you need to know, especially if some of the things you may have to restore are very old or rare.
Most people are not aware of the fact that depending on the condition, composition of the paper, and the age of it, it will absorb more or less water than you would expect. If you have a large collection of old texts and you live in an area where water damage due to floods or hurricanes, knowing about how much water your collection will absorb will help you select a drying method that is appropriate. Information you also might want to have is just how long your particular collection can stay under water before some serious deterioration of the material occurs.
Some papers may absorb up to 200 percent of their original weight. Materials that are older than around the year 1840 can absorb up to around 80 percent of their weight and these old materials are particularly sensitive to mold when they have been immersed in water.
Most of the damage that occurs to books that is caused by the swelling of the materials will happen within around the first four hours after they have been submerged. The papers of the text block and the cardboard that the book binding may contain will soak up quite a lot of water and this will eventually cause the block of text to become either partially or completely detached from the binding and this is most noted when the material starts to dry out on its own and the humidity in the area falls below around 70 percent.
Most leather and vellum books can be saved if they are dried using some very carefully controlled measures. If the leather or vellum book that you are trying to salvage is from the 15th, 16th, or 17th century, you are probably already aware of the rarity of it, so these should not be mixed together with other materials for salvation, stabilization, or drying.
The most important thing to do before you start treating your papers is to stabilize the environment they are in. Lower the humidity to around 65 percent and get rid of any standing water that still exists. If you have a large amount of books that are packed onto bookshelves very tightly, they should not be removed and fanned out because this will help stop mold from growing on them, at least on the insides.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.
Most people are not aware of the fact that depending on the condition, composition of the paper, and the age of it, it will absorb more or less water than you would expect. If you have a large collection of old texts and you live in an area where water damage due to floods or hurricanes, knowing about how much water your collection will absorb will help you select a drying method that is appropriate. Information you also might want to have is just how long your particular collection can stay under water before some serious deterioration of the material occurs.
Some papers may absorb up to 200 percent of their original weight. Materials that are older than around the year 1840 can absorb up to around 80 percent of their weight and these old materials are particularly sensitive to mold when they have been immersed in water.
Most of the damage that occurs to books that is caused by the swelling of the materials will happen within around the first four hours after they have been submerged. The papers of the text block and the cardboard that the book binding may contain will soak up quite a lot of water and this will eventually cause the block of text to become either partially or completely detached from the binding and this is most noted when the material starts to dry out on its own and the humidity in the area falls below around 70 percent.
Most leather and vellum books can be saved if they are dried using some very carefully controlled measures. If the leather or vellum book that you are trying to salvage is from the 15th, 16th, or 17th century, you are probably already aware of the rarity of it, so these should not be mixed together with other materials for salvation, stabilization, or drying.
The most important thing to do before you start treating your papers is to stabilize the environment they are in. Lower the humidity to around 65 percent and get rid of any standing water that still exists. If you have a large amount of books that are packed onto bookshelves very tightly, they should not be removed and fanned out because this will help stop mold from growing on them, at least on the insides.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.
What Your Contract With Your Home Builder Should Have
Building a new home is a big job that requires a lot of paperwork, a lot of money, and a lot of responsibility. This responsibility falls not only on you, but also on the contractor that you hire to do it for you. Having a contract written up by your lawyer or signing a contract that the contractor hands to you is always a big issue and you need to make sure that you understand everything in it before signing it or any other document. Contracts are designed to protect the signers from each other in the event of a dispute or in the event that one person tries to cheat the other for any reason.
A contractor that you hire may ask whether you want a “time and materials” contract or a fixed price contract. Even though the time and materials contract might sound appealing, since it means that the contractor will charge you a percentage of the overall cost of the building materials needed to finish the job, this can be a real booby trap. Unforeseen issues and building costs can hold up a job and create a slow leak or a flood of funds coming out of your wallet before you realize what has happened. It can also take longer to finish the home than you first thought that it would. A times and materials contract puts it on you to make up for the change in the cost of materials. Having a fixed-price contract will protect your pocketbook from these time and budget increases.
Anything that you expect the contractor to do should be in the contract. This means that you need to include the dates that the project will last, as in when it will begin and an approximate date as to when it will be finished. There should be a list of materials needed to build the home and approximately what they will cost. You should also consider having in the contract the right to settle a dispute by arbitration, since this will cost significantly less than having to go through a court proceeding should there be any problems between you and the contractor.
You should also obtain a warranty on the contractor’s work that will last for at least a year on the materials and labor. Sometimes a state will require a warranty on the contractor’s work for the period of at least five years.
A payment schedule should also be specified and you should never pay cash. Do not let the payments get ahead of the amount of work done. If work stops, stop paying until it resumes.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Los Angeles water damage and restoration services and Denver water damage restoration companies.
A contractor that you hire may ask whether you want a “time and materials” contract or a fixed price contract. Even though the time and materials contract might sound appealing, since it means that the contractor will charge you a percentage of the overall cost of the building materials needed to finish the job, this can be a real booby trap. Unforeseen issues and building costs can hold up a job and create a slow leak or a flood of funds coming out of your wallet before you realize what has happened. It can also take longer to finish the home than you first thought that it would. A times and materials contract puts it on you to make up for the change in the cost of materials. Having a fixed-price contract will protect your pocketbook from these time and budget increases.
Anything that you expect the contractor to do should be in the contract. This means that you need to include the dates that the project will last, as in when it will begin and an approximate date as to when it will be finished. There should be a list of materials needed to build the home and approximately what they will cost. You should also consider having in the contract the right to settle a dispute by arbitration, since this will cost significantly less than having to go through a court proceeding should there be any problems between you and the contractor.
You should also obtain a warranty on the contractor’s work that will last for at least a year on the materials and labor. Sometimes a state will require a warranty on the contractor’s work for the period of at least five years.
A payment schedule should also be specified and you should never pay cash. Do not let the payments get ahead of the amount of work done. If work stops, stop paying until it resumes.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Los Angeles water damage and restoration services and Denver water damage restoration companies.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
