Simple Home Improvement Idea: Vinyl Siding

If you've been looking for an easy way to completely transform the exterior of your home, look no further than vinyl siding. Vinyl Siding is an excellent way to spruce up your home's exterior, and this easy home improvement can dramatically increase the value of your home. There are many advantages to installing vinyl siding including saving you money and giving you a look you can be proud of for years to come.

Vinyl Siding is virtually maintenance-free due to its resilient nature. You don't even have to paint it -- a task most home owners dread! Vinyl siding sustains less environmental damage than wood or other siding alternatives, and it maintains a fresh look for years with very little cleaning.

If vinyl siding is installed properly with good insulation, it can mean lower heating bills in the following years. It is estimated that vinyl siding could save a homeowner hundreds of dollars in heating bills over the life of the product. Some manufacturers even guarantee savings up to 20 percent, which is an impressive reduction indeed.

Leaky walls can be a nightmare and can cause damage to your interior woodwork, possibly cause a health risk to your family in the form of growing mold and give your home a mildewy smell. Vinyl siding waterproofs the home and saves you the hassle of having to worry about water damage and checking for leaks.

Paint fades over time, leaving you no other option but to repaint often. But vinyl siding is fade resistant, requiring less maintenance on your part and an overall better look for your home. Vinyl siding also will not rot, peel, dent, or show scratches which means that you can enjoy a bright, clean-looking exterior every day for years. If it does get a bit dirty, you can power wash it with soap and water, a very easy and inexpensive process when compared to special treatments required for some other exteriors.

There are a huge variety of styles and colors to choose from in vinyl siding. Some sidings are bold and modern; others can make your home look authentically original with heritage designs that emulate old-style wood paneling. Siding also comes in as wide a range of colors as you can imagine, which means that you can give your home a totally new distinctive look, or simply restore some of its old charm.

Installing vinyl siding is a home improvement project that can really add value to your home. Because buyers need not worry about maintenance, cracking stucco, rotting wood, or any of the other hassles that come with alternative products, they are more likely to buy a home with vinyl siding. Many buyers specify that they want a home with vinyl siding when they are house-hunting, so installing vinyl siding can also give you an edge in the market.

Not only does vinyl siding bring with it all these benefits, but many manufacturers of vinyl siding will also offer a lifetime warranty on their product. Vinyl siding is so durable and easy to maintain, and manufacturers so sure of their product, that they offer replacements for any defects over the lifetime of the siding. This is an impressive commitment that shows the level of quality and performance you can expect from your vinyl siding.

When it comes to home improvement, vinyl siding is a great way to revamp old, tired exteriors without having to replace them board-by-board. It gives you a clean finish that works well with any style of home, whether modern or classic. You can save money, time and hassle over a lifetime with this simple switch. So put it on your home improvement to-do list, and enjoy the style and comfort that a home with vinyl siding provides.

Are Homes Toxic?

My husbands cigarette box, courtesy the government, lists a handful of ingredients: Tar, Nicotine, Carbon monoxide, Formaldehyde, Hydrogen cyanide, and Benzene. There are probably more to list, but the flap is only so big. Many families with smokers have taken measures to keep the children (or themselves) away from smoke. They take it to one ventilated room, take it outside, or for the ultimate and only full protection they wisely abandon smokes forever.

You’re no doubt aware of that, considering all the media attention on a cigarette’s toxic fumes. What you may not be aware of is the “ingredient list” of everything that remains in your home. There are still dangerous fumes in homes everywhere, and I’m not talking about so and so’s habit of breaking wind.

Our homes have their own toxic sludge, even sharing some “ingredients” with cigarettes, like Formaldehyde!

Did you know?

*Wrinkle-free sheets contain formaldehyde. Your mattress probably does too!

*Some bath towels contain toxic chemical residues.

*If a family members workplace has issues with asbestos, lead, or other toxins, said toxins can be carried home!

*That “new car smell” is Vinyl chloride, a known carcinogen.

*Is your house over 30 yrs. old? Until the ’70’s many paints, floor finishes, and possibly more home renovation supplies still contained lead.

*Do you have a wood deck or swing set in your back yard put in before 2004? Weather resistant lawn items made before a certain 2004 (US) ban contain arsenic.

*Most popular home cleaning products contain Volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) which are linked to various medical problems including cancer.

Craig Mouldey, the Wood Flooring Guy (www.woodflooringguy.com) says, “there are many products in our homes, including plywood, the core of cabinets, and likely even laminate that uses a urea-formaldehyde adhesive.” Your furniture, your carpets, pretty much everything made by man contains VOCs.

The National Academy of Sciences estimates that 15% of the population currently suffer from Multiple Chemical Sensitivities and Environmental Illness due to the toxic environments we live in. So many home toxins are in fact, like cigarettes, linked to cancers and other debilitating illnesses. The next front in health may be the home front.

Tips for Clearing the Air in Your Home

-Avoid chemical products and cleaners

+Instead use common baking products like vinegar and baking soda or purchase “all-natural” non-chemical cleaners. If you have a closet full of chemicals, call your local government office for information about their disposal. They consider these items hazardous waste!

-Avoid the use of aerosol sprays (Includes hygiene products!)

+Search for alternatives to aerosol cleaners and hygiene products. If you’re an air freshener addict you can substitute it with an open box of baking soda in every room. You can use herbs as potpourri. For more substitutions see this page from NY’s DEC website. (http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dshm/redrecy/hhw1.htm)

+Keep up on maintenance of furnace, air conditioners, etc. Consider investing in some kind of air filter or cleaner.

+Ventilate high humidity areas such as bathrooms. In fact, ventilate the whole house weather permitting. Recent studies show indoor air pollution is worse than outdoor, even in the big city.

+Have your home tested for radon gas, mold, lead, asbestos and other more common pollutants.

+Use solid wood or at least seal any plywood or particleboard.

+Install hard floors and use very few rugs. Hard floors, which you can wipe clean, won’t harbor VOCs residue from cleaners and aerosols like carpets do. Choose stone, tiles or hardwood floors with nontoxic varnishes.

Also, when making purchases for your home be it bed sheets or renovation plans, google for product information and read labels to find out about the products safety. Look for “low-emitting,” “pesticide free,”"no outgassing” or “no offgassing,” and other related key phrases.

You won’t be able to keep out all chemicals, but you may be able to reduce the VOCs in your home by making environmentally friendly choices whenever possible. More than ever there are companies devoted to making safer products for your home. By being VOC-conscious you’ll also reduce the amount of hazardous waste being dumped into landfills when the time comes to dispose of your less hazardous belongings. As an unrelated but added bonus the time it takes to research products may prevent unnecessary purchases that would just add clutter to your home and put a hole in your pocketbook. Being toxin conscious thus has a myriad of positive effects!

Being a smart and toxin-aware shopper will help you clear the air in your home. You can make the world a little safer for your family and community.

Useful Resources

CHEC http://www.checnet.org/

Indoor Air Pollution Fact Sheet* http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=117535

*Presently includes contact info. to obtain a free pamphlet containing more household products and their associated risks.

VOCs info. from the EPA http://www.epa.gov/iaq/voc.html

Sewage Remediation

Why is Sewage Remediation Important?

Raised awareness of the health risks associated with mold has increased the convoluted nature of sewage backup. It takes the expertise of a licensed sewage remediation professional to efficiently address the complexities of sewage backups, its primary association with mold remediation from water damage, and the limits determined by your insurance company when filing your sewage and mold damage claims.

The Challenges of Sewage Backup.

Sewage runoff creates a dangerous and emotional situation because of the possibility of following health hazards and considerable property loss. Consequently, a sewage backup contains dangers you can see and unforeseen hazards you cannot see. Whenever it goes untreated, the damage expands, increasing sewage remediation costs, and sustained expansion of dangerous mold, and other contaminants.

The Health Risks of Mold Overgrowth.

Additionally, the level of mold progressively turns into a serious problem, as a result of settling on moist or damp surface areas. Mold has the potential to produce health risks, such as cold or flu-like symptoms, allergic reactions, eye irritations, and skin rash. In extreme instances, it induces breathing difficulties that could harm lung tissue.

Benefits of Professional Sewage and Mold Remediation.

Sewage backups make a nasty mess, not to mention the odors that accompany raw sewage. This sort of cleanup needs a professional sewage remediation company with a background in sewage cleanup and mold remediation. For sewage and mold remediation, you have got to move fast! The potential for illness and permanent damage can be estimated by the duration of time sewage residue lingers in your home. It becomes paramount to begin sewage cleanup from the time the sewer runoff has receded.

Why Hire a Sewage and Mold Remediation Company?

The most practical strategy to stop the likely dangers of mold is to employ a competent and respected sewage remediation company with proven experience in mold remediation, too. A sewage remediation company can effectively facilitate the elimination of heavy-duty damage from sewage runoff or separate storm damage catastrophes that generate mold overgrowth.

For this kind of job, it requires exceptional skills in testing and determining the precise method needed for mold remediation. Remember, the longer untreated sewage remains, the greater the plausible threat of danger to you and your loved ones and irreparable costly damage to your home.

By reacting promptly, a sewage remediation company, not only prevents advanced damage, they can markedly diminish the threat of continuous high-cost damage of mold, and restore your house to its true state or better, ridding it of prior sewage damage for good!

Right Way Contracting.com - a leading nationwide water damage restoration company specializing in 24/7 emergency service water damage restoration, water damage repair, mold remediation, flood damage repair document drying, fire and smoke damage.

How To Remove Mildew From Fabrics

There are many age-old and homemade methods to clean the mildew from various fabrics. Lemon juice and salt is probably the most common and oldest method of cleaning the mildew from fabric. As soon as you discover there is mildew on your clothes, first step would be to brush off the surface immediately. Mildew is actually a living organism, a mold that thrives in places that are warm and lives longer in humid environment.

Here are some instructions you can follow to clean the mildew from your clothes.

Take the piece of clothe/s away from rest of the clothing and take it to area where you can brush off the mold growth from the cloth. You can use a soft bristle brush to do this or you can just do it with your gloved hand. If you delay in brushing off the mold, there are high chances that the mold will eat your clothes away and soon you will find small holes in the place of the mold. Take enough care not to scatter the mildew spores in your house or anywhere on the clothes you are wearing. Sometimes when the mildew hasn't grown much just cleaning it with a brush and washing it in a detergent and drying in the sun would be sufficient. But even after dusting the mold from your cloth if you still find the mildew spores on the cloth then you can use any of the following remedies listed here.

Mixture of natural cleaning products like lemon juice and salt as mentioned before is the safest and easiest method to clean the mold from your clothes. Make a thin paste of lemon juice and salt in a bowl and slowly spread it on the area where you see the mildew spots. Allow the clothes to dry in the sun and once it is dry, rinse it under the running tap water and sun-dry it again. The mixture of lemon juice and salt works as a natural bleach to remove the mildew and the mold stains from the fabric.

If the mildew stains are stubborn and are spread wider on the fabric then try using Peroxygen bleach to clean it. Take a pint of water and make a mixture using about one to two tablespoons of sodium perborate or powdered bleach that has sodium perborate also in it. If you do not have powdered bleach with sodium perborate then alternatively you can use same amount of potassium monopersulfate. If your fabric can be washed with hot water, use hot water to soak the cloth with the mildew stains and apply this mixture of powdered chemicals. You can also soak the cloth directly into the solution for at least 30 minutes and then rinse it off thoroughly with cold water and allow it to dry in sun. If the stains are old and are not gone after the first wash then you might have to soak the fabric in the solution for one night and then follow the same procedure. Only risk you have with this method of natural cleaning is that you might end up harming the fabric texture and color. Hence ensure that you check your clothes for colorfastness before trying this method.

Some Facts on Moss Infestation and its Removal

All homeowners are aware of the problems associated with moss and mildew infestation and how difficult it is to remove these substances from the affected areas. Roof moss removal especially poses a tough challenge. Moss grows rampant, particularly in the rainy season, due to wet and moist climates and overcast skies; all conditions where moss tends to thrive. Dark and shady areas are particularly susceptible to moss infestation as it flourishes well in dark places where the sun’s rays rarely penetrate. So, using the right mold mildew cleaner becomes a requirement. Unless you perform roof moss removal these surfaces can become dangerous as they ultimately damage the valley of the roof. Moss and mildew are also known for making walkways and driveways very slippery, which can lead to slip and fall accidents. So, if you wish to prevent damage to your property and prevent accidents as well as keep your home pretty, you need complete roof moss removal as soon as it appears. The longer you postpone a roof moss removal project the more difficult will it be to clean later.

Are you wondering how to remove moss and mildew growth from your home? My advice is to get Wet & Forget solution, one of the best mold mildew cleaners on the market. Your roof moss removal project will involve no scrubbing. It is one of the most convenient and fuss-free methods of getting rid of moss. Just spray on the mold mildew cleaner on the affected area and you may forget about it while nature’s elements, like rain and wind, wash off the moss over time. Thus, we can say the name Wet & Forget is truly apt in regards to the service it delivers.

One of the best features of Wet & Forget is of course the fact that it is non-acidic and non-caustic mold mildew cleaner. This gentle moss remover is different from all other such products available in the market. Many other mold mildew cleaners that you find on the market are either acidic or caustic and may even contain heavy doses of bleach making them quite damaging to both your skin and exterior surface of your beautiful home. If you want a mold mildew cleaner that does not cause any sort of harm to the exterior surface then Wet & Forget is your best bet.

While searching for effective roof moss removal solutions, remember the best time to apply Wet & Forget solution is on a windless day when there is little or no chance of rain. I would advise applying this solution on dry and cool days because this enables the affected area will remain wet with the solution for a longer period of time. Early mornings as well as evenings are good as the rate of evaporation is minimal at these times. If you have a pet, you may wish to keep them away from the area for a while. Wet & Forget makes roof moss removal easy and hassle free saving time, money, and energy. It will solve all your moss related problems in no time at all.