Crusade Learning

Having to deal with a house fire, even a small one, is something that no homeowner ever wants to have to do, but unfortunately, these are often cruel facts of life.  If you are like the majority of the rest of us, you probably do not have enough money to hire a professional to take care of the cleanup process for you, so educating yourself about how to go about it before this event takes place is a good idea.  The cosmetic damage to your home can mostly be done by you, but the structural damage will probably need to be handled by a professional.

Depending on the size of the fire, there is probably some standing water in the home from the fire hose spilling gallons upon gallons of water into it to put out the fire.  Electricity to the part of the home affected by the fire and water should be cut off so that you can clean up the standing water without fearing electrocution.  Remove the standing water as quickly as you can, since this will cause water damage to your floor and walls in addition to the fire damage that is already there. 

Pets should not be allowed back into the home until the initial cleanup is finished.

Any plants that you have need to have the soot and ash cleaned off of their leaves.  Leaving this on the leaves will kill them. 

If there is food in your kitchen that was open at the time of the fire, it should be thrown away, since it could be contaminated due to the excess heat and soot.

The smoke damage to your ceiling and walls can often not be removed by washing.  The most that you can do to this is paint over it with a primer made for this purpose and then paint over that with the color of your ceiling. 

Things like marble, stainless steel, chrome, and formica should be cleaned as soon as possible with the proper cleansers, since soot and ash can etch these items if you leave it on there too long.  This etching cannot be repaired.

Furniture that is upholstered should not be sat on until it has been vacuumed thoroughly with a hose that has no brushes on it, since a brush attachment will only work the soot further into the fabric.  This is also true for carpets.  Once these have been vacuumed, put plastic over them so you do not track soot and ash in from other areas of the house.

Flood Damage Cleanup

Many people have horror stories about how they lost anywhere between $50 and $600 on replacing a cell phone that was dropped into the toilet or the bath tub or any other liquid.  The sad fact is that most cell phone warranties do not cover water damage and unfortunately, cell phone manufacturers have begun to place what some are calling “snitch stickers” in their phones that change color if they have been exposed to even a drop of water.  While this keeps people trying to get a new free phone from saying that their old phone was not water damaged when it actually was, it is unfortunate for the consumer because these stickers have been known to change color in even just high humidity.  So, water damage to phones is a serious problem, but what do you do if your phone does become submersed?

Take it out of the water immediately.  The plastic covers on most cell phones these days are pretty tight, but water can get inside the phone.  As long as you get the phone out of the water in under around 20 seconds, it should not have that much opportunity to seep in. 

After you do that, remove the battery and do not hesitate.  This is to effectively cut the power supply off from your phone; electricity and water combined are what fries your phone, not just the water itself.

If your phone has a SIM card, remove that quickly, as well.  These cards store contact and other kinds of data from the phone and to some people, the information held on that card could be more valuable than the phone itself, even if the phone might cost them $600.  Some service providers, however, do not use SIM cards, like Verizon Wireless. 

Do not put the battery or the SIM card back into the phone.  Dry them separately.  Then, dry the phone itself from the outside and then if possible, put it in a bowl of rice and let it stay there overnight.  You might get a grain of rice or two in your phone, but this probably will not happen.  Rice will help draw out the moisture.  Wait at least two or three days before trying to turn your phone back on.  Never turn on an electronic device after it has been wet until you are sure it has completely dried out.

As long as the phone looks dry, it should be safe to try and turn the phone on.  If it doesn’t work with the battery, try plugging it into the wall outlet.  If this works, you just need to replace the battery.

Detroit Flooded Basement

A lot of us suffer from allergies due to pollen, grasses, dogs, cats, and any number of items, but mold can be the cause of allergy symptoms just as much as any of these. These symptoms are common in individuals from spring all the way into late fall and even though some molds can grow at freezing temperatures, most cannot. Any plants or animals that have been killed by the winter elements are a feeding ground for mold.

In some areas of the United States, such as the far southeast where it remains warm almost year round, mold can grow throughout the year and aggravate the allergies of anyone nearby. Molds that are allowed to grow inside the home or workplace can cause perennial allergic rhinitis.

The symptoms of mold allergies can be brought about or even made worse by eating foods that have been processed with fungi such as mushrooms or foods containing yeast such as bread or beer. Having an allergy to the mold penicillium can be held accountable for problems occurring when a person receives a dose of penicillin at the doctor’s office.

Generally only if mold spores are in large quantities do they aggravate a person’s allergies. Being easily carried by the air or being a specific kind of allergenic mold are also important factors. There are only a few dozen kinds of mold that are significantly allergenic. Alternaria and Cladosporium (Hormodendrum) are two of the frequently found molds indoors and outdoors and are allergenic. Penicillium is also a kind of mold that is allergenic and people with an allergy to the drug penicillin know this all too well.

Mold counts sometimes exist on the news or other weather reports and these exist to determine what kinds of mold and how much of it is in the air at a certain time or place. These reports aren’t always accurate because as the weather changes, the mold spores will spread out or collect in other areas. The time of day that you plan your activities is also important when it comes to planning around mold counts because research has indicated that dry mold spores tend to favor the daytime and wet spores tend to favor the night.

There are many different ways to determine if a mold health related condition exists in a person. There are x-rays that can be done, blood tests, examination of sputum, or a swab of a sore on the skin can be examined to determine if fungus exists living inside the body.

Water Damage