Buying a new house can be a headache all by itself, but if you are wanting to purchase a fixer upper, then you have a lot more on your plate than most people do. House flipping is a popular way to make some quick money, but it is not usually as easy as television shows and magazines make it out to be. It is not only difficult because of the construction costs, but also because of the physical and emotional strength you have to have to get through the process. Carrying the loan or loans that you may have to get to be able to afford the property is something else. If you are unmarried and already have an apartment or mortgage to pay for, then carrying another mortgage until the home is fixed up and finally sold can be a little scary.
One thing that you need to be careful about if you are planning on renovating on a budget is taking on tasks that you have no experience in. You may be able to paint the interior on your own, but cutting your new granite countertops may be something you want to leave to the professionals. This can be very complicated and can most of the time only be done once. Mess up the granite slab and you will have to buy another to replace it and this can punch a huge hole in your budget. When in doubt, leave something to the professionals and do not cut corners by taking on projects you are not sure that you can do to professional quality.
Always check for water and mold damage to the property before signing any papers. You want to know just what you are getting yourself into and these two problems cropping up in the middle of your renovation can sink you further into debt than you intended to go. Repairing these problems can sometimes cost thousands of dollars and most of the time, mold cannot be gotten rid of without removing all of the building materials affected by it. It can be scrubbed off of drywall sometimes, but if the growth is heavy on the surface, you should throw it away instead. Cleaners cannot get into the porous drywall far enough to completely kill it and it will return.
The most moist areas of the home are often the most likely to be structurally damaged and there have been many stories of toilets and bath tubs falling through the floor due to rotted supports. This is usually because the floor has been soaked with water on a regular basis for a long time and unfortunately, this can be a real pain. If you are remodeling the floor with new tile, you may want to go ahead and check for this kind of damage underneath it, just to be sure you do not have to go back and do all this again.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
Florida water damage restoration companies and
Miami Water Damage Restoration. contractors
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Getting Rid of the Mold
Even if you manage to kill the mold that exists in your house, your job is not over. When people discover there is mold in their homes, the first thing they usually want to know is the best way to kill it. This is the wrong way to approach the problem, because even though the mold is dead, it can still cause you health problems. The spores cannot cause yeast infections because they are dead and can no longer grow, but your body still recognizes them as something to be fought against, so you will experience allergy symptoms or even sometimes severe reactions to them. About one third of the population has mold allergies of some kind, so this is something that you want to consider.
Most of the time, removing the mold from the property completely is the only way to get rid of the allergy symptoms you or your loved ones may experience. This will probably mean opening up walls and removing drywall or even sometimes lumber from the home and replacing them with new material. You can sometimes wash mold off of the surface of drywall slabs, but if the growth is thick and heavily covers the surface, then it may be embedded into it and removal will be necessary. Mold killing chemicals cannot penetrate far enough into the drywall to kill the contamination and so it will only return, no matter how much scrubbing you do.
You can save clothes that have become molded sometimes, but unfortunately clothes that have been left molded for a long period of time can be so stained that it can never be taken out. Outside in the natural environment, the job of mold is to help with the decomposition of organic materials and it tends to do this fairly well, which is why you need to worry about it in your house. Lumber is organic, of course, and certain kinds of mold will cause it to rot completely.
Regularly check your house for water damage. If there is water damage, you can be sure that mold will start to grow there eventually if it is not taken care of. Moist areas in the home are the most at risk for mold growth and if you do not take care of them, you may end up having to do some heavy remodeling in the future to take care of the problem.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.
Most of the time, removing the mold from the property completely is the only way to get rid of the allergy symptoms you or your loved ones may experience. This will probably mean opening up walls and removing drywall or even sometimes lumber from the home and replacing them with new material. You can sometimes wash mold off of the surface of drywall slabs, but if the growth is thick and heavily covers the surface, then it may be embedded into it and removal will be necessary. Mold killing chemicals cannot penetrate far enough into the drywall to kill the contamination and so it will only return, no matter how much scrubbing you do.
You can save clothes that have become molded sometimes, but unfortunately clothes that have been left molded for a long period of time can be so stained that it can never be taken out. Outside in the natural environment, the job of mold is to help with the decomposition of organic materials and it tends to do this fairly well, which is why you need to worry about it in your house. Lumber is organic, of course, and certain kinds of mold will cause it to rot completely.
Regularly check your house for water damage. If there is water damage, you can be sure that mold will start to grow there eventually if it is not taken care of. Moist areas in the home are the most at risk for mold growth and if you do not take care of them, you may end up having to do some heavy remodeling in the future to take care of the problem.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.
Exhaust Fans Help Prevent Bathroom Mold
If you live in an older home or are thinking about buying one, there may not be exhaust fans in the bathrooms. Installing them will probably be in your best interest for quit a few reasons. First of all they help to pull those smelly odors out of the room. Next they stop your mirrors from fogging up so much, but more importantly they go along way towards the prevention of mold growth. All that moisture will eventually lead to the black fuzzy looking stuff setting up housekeeping on your bathroom walls and ceiling. Excessive moisture can damage to your paint or wallpaper and woodwork as well. If left unresolved it can damage sheetrock and cause extensive repairs to have to be made. Mold growing anywhere can be unsightly and not a very healthy situation either.
Installing an exhaust fan now can be a fairly inexpensive solution when compared to the costly consequences of putting it off until later. You can get them at most home improvement stores. They can be purchased with or without lights. If you have a ceiling light fixture in your bathroom already, you can replace it with a fan/light combination. Or add just the fan in another location. Before you go down to pick one out, be sure to know the measurements of your bathroom so you are able to purchase one that will be strong enough for the size of your room. A sales person should be able to help you locate one with the right CFM {cubic feet per minute} That information can be found somewhere on the box..
If your going to attempt the installation yourself, take a good look at the tools you will need and all the necessary steps involved to be sure that you are up to the task. There are several things such as electrical wiring, installing the vent into the ceiling and out of the house through the attic. You might want to consider hiring someone to do it for you. Sometimes this is the best way to go if your not very skilled at do it yourself projects.
Whichever way you decide to go, it will be an inexpensive improvement that will help to dispel a number of things excessive bathroom moisture can cause. It will defiantly be worth the time and money now compared with what it could cost you least on.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.
Installing an exhaust fan now can be a fairly inexpensive solution when compared to the costly consequences of putting it off until later. You can get them at most home improvement stores. They can be purchased with or without lights. If you have a ceiling light fixture in your bathroom already, you can replace it with a fan/light combination. Or add just the fan in another location. Before you go down to pick one out, be sure to know the measurements of your bathroom so you are able to purchase one that will be strong enough for the size of your room. A sales person should be able to help you locate one with the right CFM {cubic feet per minute} That information can be found somewhere on the box..
If your going to attempt the installation yourself, take a good look at the tools you will need and all the necessary steps involved to be sure that you are up to the task. There are several things such as electrical wiring, installing the vent into the ceiling and out of the house through the attic. You might want to consider hiring someone to do it for you. Sometimes this is the best way to go if your not very skilled at do it yourself projects.
Whichever way you decide to go, it will be an inexpensive improvement that will help to dispel a number of things excessive bathroom moisture can cause. It will defiantly be worth the time and money now compared with what it could cost you least on.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
mold removal in Atlanta Georgia and
Water Damage Restoration companies.
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