Friday, September 28, 2007

Your Laptop and Water Damage

Putting a laptop and a soft drink onto the same surface is almost taboo to most people who own a laptop computer, even though most people who are at their computers or laptops for several hours a day will tell you that it is quite difficult to put in a full day’s work at the computer and not eat and drink almost at the same time. I keep a drink near me at all times and fortunately I have never spilled anything onto my beloved laptop, but there are many incidents where others have. Those who have only just purchased their first laptop will probably not know how to deal with water (or liquid) damage like this. There is a way to handle this situation and possibly save your machine, however.

Most water damage that is done to your laptop is usually caused by acidic beverages like soda or coffee, because they leave a sticky residue on anything they are spilled on. They also tend to cause corrosion on any metal contacts that they might touch on the motherboard, hard drive, and etcetera.

If you do spill something on your laptop, remove the power source as quickly as possible. This includes the A/C adapter and the battery, as well, because it is not the liquid alone that causes the problem. If a laptop or other electronic device has no electricity running through it when the liquid is spilled, it will likely be fine if you dry it out as soon as possible. However, an electric current running through a wet device is what causes the circuits to essentially fry and all software programming to be removed. Let a device such as a CD player that has become submerged in water dry out completely before you attempt to power it on. Remove the batteries until you are sure. This same principle can be applied to a wet laptop.

If you have merely spilled water onto it, then you might not have a big problem on your hands as long as you removed the electrical current from the device before the water sank deep into the device. If you have spilled soda or coffee into the device, then it will leave a sticky residue on the inside of your laptop.

After removing the electrical current, turn it over and allow the excess liquid to drain out. After you to this, wipe the outside with a cloth of some kind.

After this, you can take the machine to a professional repairman to make sure the inside is undamaged or if you have only spilled water into it, you can wait until it is completely dry. If you are absolutely sure that the inside components were not damaged by the electric current, turn it back on after you are sure the inside is dry.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York water damage restoration contractors and other states and cities such as
Connecticut mold remediation and water damage restoration companies across the united states.

What You Should Know About Stachybotrys Mold

Most of us have heard the term “toxic black mold” on the news or other television program, but what exactly does this mean? Well, the famous mold that is usually referred to as “toxic black mold” the most often is Stachybotrys chartarum and some people who are familiar with it, particularly mycobiologists, tend to refer to it as simply “stachy”. The media has had a fair field day with this kind of mold the past few years and it has been one of the reasons for the renewed concern for mold dangers in the civilized world. Some people may not realize that mold growing in your home or your business can be quite devastating to your health, especially if you are exposed to this for a long period of time.

This kind of mold is a very dark green color and it is also fairly slimy. Whatever you do, do not touch this mold with your bare hands or get it on your skin anywhere. If you are planning on removing it from your home, it is highly suggested that you hire a professional with the correct equipment because this mold is called “toxic” for a reason. It has been linked to sicknesses that have a similar effect on a person’s mind that Alzheimer’s Disease has and it has also been proven to kill a person’s brain cells. Dizziness and disorientation are also not uncommon in those who have been exposed for long periods of time.

Stachybotrys mold typically likes to grow on things made of cellulose, that is, dead plant materials. This can include the wood that you built your home with, papers, cardboard, and etcetera that has been piled together in an area, allowed to become significantly wet, and allowed to stay that way. This essentially opens up a mold nursery in your home and even though Stachybotrys does not require constant moisture in order to remain alive, it does like plenty of it. So, if you have any leaks in your basement or anywhere else in your home that stays wet almost constantly, you need to do anything necessary in order to stop this leakage. Because of the wetness of the Stachybotrys spores, they do not stir up and into the air that we breathe very easily; however, if this mold is let to dry out, these spores will enter the air and possibly our ventilation systems. Mold does not have to be alive in order to cause an allergic reaction to it.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
flood and water damage cleanup and
water damage restoration> companies across the united states.

Water Damage Prevention Tips

The kitchen and the bathroom are two of the most important rooms in your home and if you are conscious about what makes a home valuable, then you probably understand that these are also the two rooms that can add to or subtract from your home’s value the most easily. The conditions of the bathroom and kitchen are extremely important when you go to sell your home. These two rooms are often what make or break the sale of a home. When selling a commercial building, the kitchen is typically not a factor because most do not have them and even though all commercial buildings have bathrooms of some kind, the bathroom does not usually affect the sale. The presence of a bathroom is usually enough in these buildings.

You should do whatever you can to maintain the structural integrity of these two rooms even if you do not plan on selling your home. An unfortunate event may occur and you may have to sell your home to pay for it; in life, not much is ever certain.

How do you prevent water damage to these two rooms? Keep an eye on the plumbing in both rooms, for one. Under the sinks are pipes that can sometimes begin to leak or burst completely and sometimes the vinyl on our kitchen floor or the tile on our bathroom floor is not sealed completely. This allows water underneath and will soak your floor boards. Mold can start to grow as a result of this.

The overflowing of bath tubs and kitchen sinks is also a mildly common occurrence. Maybe you forgot the water was running or you just got pre-occupied talking on the phone, but the fact is that you can leave yourself in a mess pretty quickly. Clean up the water as quickly as you can.

Install a steam vent or fan in the kitchen and bathroom if possible. This will let the steam that comes from cooking dinner or taking a bath escape the room and not cling to your ceiling. Drywall absorbs water quite well and unfortunately, mold also will start to grow on your ceiling if this steam damage continues. Installing a vent in the ceiling will possibly be one of the best investments that you can make for both of these rooms.

Also keep a check on the water line that connects to the ice maker in your refrigerator, if you have one. Water leaks from these are not uncommon and ice that melts due to a power outage can also cause water damage, especially if you are not home to take care of the spill.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Miami Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors and
Orlando water Damage companies.

Salvaging Watery Electronics

People say that electronic devices are sensitive to water and water damage, but this is only half true. Most people are almost certain that if they drop an electronic device into water or spill water on one that it is pretty much toast. What they do not typically understand is the fact that it is not the water alone that does the damage to the device, but it is the electricity running through it that causes the device to become unusable. In effect, the water acts as a conductor for electricity and fries the item’s circuit board and does away with most, if not all programming that it had before.

The key to saving most electronic devices from water damage and from essentially frying the circuit board is to remove it from the source of water and remove the electric current from it as quickly as possible. This means removing the battery or the A/C adapter immediately and turning the device over to allow the water to drain out of any openings that may exist in it. Cell phones are often fairly air and water tight, but this does not mean that water cannot get into them. Remove it from the liquid in under 20 seconds and you have a pretty good shot of saving it. If you leave it in much longer, the water will eventually seep inside past the keypad and onto the circuit board inside. This might not be a big problem if your phone happens to be off at the time that you drop it in the liquid, but unfortunately, most of these incidents occur when the phone is powered on and you are talking on it.

Whatever device you happen to drop into a liquid, if possible, you should place it in a bowl of uncooked rice. It should be left there overnight or even longer until you are sure that it is completely free of moisture on the inside. Do not attempt to power on your phone or re-insert the battery before all moisture is gone. All moisture must be gone from the device to be certain that it will be fine.

Devices that are dropped into muddy or sandy water can be complicated to clean, because of the grit and dirt that can get inside. This could involve completely taking apart the phone and using alcohol to clean it. Never use water to clean anything on a cell phone, whether it is on the inside or outside.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
New York flood water damage restoration and other states and cities such as
South Carolina mold remediation companies across the united states.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Fighting the Landlord Over Mold

No matter where you live in the United States, one important thing to realize when you’re renting a home or an apartment is that there are some things you are not liable for and the landlord is. Some landlords will try to tell you that a certain thing is not their responsibility or that it was not in the lease, but the fact is that the landlord has a responsibility to make sure that the home or building that you are renting is a safe and healthy environment.

If you discover mold growing in your rental, your first order of business is to have a mold test done either by yourself or preferably by a professional. You have to first prove to the landlord that a problem exists in the rental before you can make him or her do anything about it. Once you have the burden of proving there is mold off your shoulders, then you can worry about what you’re going to do if the landlord chooses to do nothing about it. Mold inspections and tests are not generally covered by most leases and so you have to pay for them.

You must decide whether to continue living in the unit until your landlord takes the necessary steps to have the mold removed or to leave and try to make your landlord pay the cost of relocating you. Depending on the size of the mold infestation, it might be more feasible to stay in the unit. If it’s a large infestation, staying shouldn’t be considered. Sometimes mold can be gotten rid of by you if you’re unwilling to bother with your landlord and go through the trouble of making him or her do anything about it, but whether you do it yourself or have your landlord take care of the problem for you, the mold must be removed somehow if you are to continue living there safely.

When you notify your landlord that a mold problem exists, do this by certified mail so that you have legal proof that you communicated this to him. Send along the proof in the form of a paper signed by a certified mold inspector and what the mold test concluded. If this notice is received and you receive no communication from your landlord, sending a second notice saying that you are not going to pay your rent until he does something about it is the next level. If this is still ignored, notify your landlord a third time by certified mail and inform him that you are moving out and that you will be getting a lawyer. You can sue your landlord for the cost of relocating due to the mold and he is also probably liable for any medical expenses you have incurred due to the infestation.



Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Mold Remediation and
water damage restoration> companies across the united states.

Consumer Electronics and Water Damage

One thing that most people who own a cell phone or a laptop are very concerned and careful of is spilling water or another liquid onto it. It happens quite often and can easily put you out $100 and up, depending on what the liquid ruins. Maybe you like to drink a cup of coffee while you’re working and you reach over for a pen and it topples onto your keyboard or maybe you’ve dropped your cell phone into the toilet or the bath tub. No matter how the liquid came into contact with your electronic device, most of the time you assume that it’s completely dead and there’s nothing that you can do about it. Sometimes this really isn’t the case.

Even if you completely submerse a CD player or other electronic device in water, if it’s not powered on at the time, it can usually be saved if you allow it to dry out completely before trying to turn it on and use it. One thing to worry about, though, is how long the object is allowed to stay in the water. Depending on what the inside is made out of, it may or may not absorb water and expand the longer it stays submerged. Wait at least a few days before trying to power on the device again and allow it to dry out naturally.

If you have a device that is powered on when it comes into contact with a liquid substance of any kind, unplug the device from the wall or from your car’s cigarette lighter or whatever power source it happens to be using at that moment. Remove any batteries that could accidentally be instructed to supply power to the device by pressing a button.

If you have an item that has been water damaged by more than just spilling a cup of liquid on it or just dropping it in the toilet, it’s best to consult a professional. For example, a computer that has been submerged in flood waters for a period of time isn’t that likely to be recovered, but with the right care and proper conditions, it can be done. It all depends on the circumstances of your situation, but whatever you do, don’t try to power on the device or use it in any way before it’s dry, no matter what size or kind of device it may be.




Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.

Cleaning Moldy Wet Clothes

Our first instinct when we come into contact with clothing that has been contaminated by moldy Wet Clothes is to throw it away. Depending on the lifestyle you’re currently living, as in whether you work a full time job or have children or other matters to tend to, it might indeed be more beneficial to your situation to just throw them away. But, if you have a little more time on your hands and a little patience, you can keep the clothing that was covered in mold as long as you’re careful to completely decontaminate it.

Most items can be cleaned and the mold gotten rid of, but one thing that mold tends to do is cause stains. If you’re dealing with white clothing, you can possibly use bleach to remove them, but the longer you let the Wet clothes sit without treating them, the more difficult it will be to remove the stain in the long run. A brush can be used to remove the mold and putting a pre-wash spray onto it and soaking it in water and laundry soap can be a good way to begin the process of removing the stain. Let it soak in the water around 45 minutes and then wash it in the washing machine. The best thing that you can do after they’re done washing is to let them dry outside naturally on a clothes line in the sun instead of using the clothes dryer in the laundry room. Using this artificial heat source can hinder your effort to remove the stain, but putting white clothes outside in the sun can actually help whiten them.

If you have something made of real leather and mold grows on it, the easiest thing to do is throw it away. Leather items can usually not be restored back to their former condition after becoming contaminated with mold.

If you need to clean mold off of furniture or anything else made of cloth, using the brush method mentioned a minute ago is the best way to go about doing this. Using a vacuum cleaner that has a hose and brush attachment piece can help in making sure that the mold spores get sucked up into the vacuum instead of into your air conditioning system. Clean the item where the mold was with a clean white rag and laundry or dish liquid, as long as you’re sure that the cleaner won’t stain the fabric.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.

Bursting Winter Pipes: What You Can Do

Most experience homeowners know all about this water damage prevention necessity, but anyone who’s just beginning to live in a new home or a rental might not think about it. The winter is a crucial time for the water system in your home and if it’s not taken care of, some pretty big problems will ensue. This happens when the temperature outside reaches under 20 degrees, water pipes located underneath your house, in the basement, or any other area that is exposed to the elements can freeze and burst, spilling water everywhere.

Any water pipes that you can easily gain access to should be covered completely with insulation of some kind and the more warm air that can reach your pipes during the winter, the less of a chance the pipes have of freezing and rupturing. Open the kitchen and bathroom cabinets whenever it’s convenient and leave them that way as long as possible to make sure the pipes inside of them get at least a little warm air. Sometimes using space heaters can help keep pipes from freezing, so keeping one in the kitchen or wherever you have pipes exposed can be a fair idea, as long a few feet away from anything that can catch on fire.

If you have any water hoses connected to the house, be sure to disconnect them before the freezing weather hits.

Try to leave a trickle of water running through your faucets at all times during the winter; it doesn’t have to be very much at all and it might cause your water bill to be a tiny bit extra at the end of the month, but it’s worth it. The water running through the pipes is less likely to freeze than water that’s standing still inside them.

Water damage is generally covered under most insurance policies depending on how you report it, but one of the things that is usually a direct result of water damage, mold, is not. Unless you pay for a special policy that covers mold, most homeowner’s insurance policies don’t cover it. Mold is expensive to get rid of and when a cracked or ruptured pipe in your wall or under your house bursts during the winter, it’s a very real threat. Your family and pets will become sick over time if the mold isn’t removed as quickly as possible, so doing your best to prevent water damage to your home is the first line of defense. It can start to grow as quickly as 48 hours after water has been soaked up by a surface like sheetrock.




Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Dallas Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.

Aspergillosis and Its Forms

While some of us might know what causes mold to grow and what it can do to our bodies and buildings, we’re not exactly familiar with the different species of mold that exist in the world. Not all mold species grow effectively indoors, but aspergillus is a genus of mold that does quite well in that area. Depending on the species, some aspergillus molds can be harmful to human beings and some can cause any number of conditions that are collectively known as aspergillosis.

Aspergillosis symptoms can vary depending on the type of infection. In its allergic form, these symptoms can include coughing up blood or brown mucous, weight loss, shortness of breath, coughing, and fever, among others.

Aspergilloma, which are fungus growths in the body that are caused by mold, are typically found growing in the lungs, but can also grow in other parts of the body. They are usually found growing in pre-existing cavities in the lungs or other organs, such as when a person has had lung cancer, tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, or other infections that cause them. A lot of the time when a person actually has aspergilloma somewhere in their body, they have no symptoms. When symptoms do finally show up, they sometimes include coughing up blood, fever, weight loss, and shortness of breath. Wheezing can also be heard in some patients. Some tests that can be done to test for aspergilloma are a chest x-ray, a bronchoscopy, or a blood test that can be done to find antibodies to fight off aspergillus mold.

Pulmonary aspergillosis of the invasive type is known to occur in people who have weakened immune systems and the symptoms of this can include blood in the urine, headaches, chest pain, meningitis, sinusitis, and shortness of breath, among others. Chest x-rays, skin tests, and blood counts are a few of the methods that can be used to test for it.

Pulmonary aspergillosis causes some inflammation of the esophagus and the air sacs located within the lungs. Aspergillus mold is a common genus and so infections that are a direct result of touching it or inhaling it are possible, but rare. Some people are hypersensitive to the presence of aspergillus mold and have an allergic reaction and this may imitate such conditions as pneumonia or even asthma because a lot of the time patients that have allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) also have asthma.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.