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Mold vs. Bacteria And the winner is?
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We have been getting a lot of calls from people with wet basements that were never professionally addressed after the July floods. Many of these calls pertained to concerns about mold and possible health effects. A significant number of these homes and business had sanitary sewers back up into basements and lower levels. If sewage has come into contact with non structural building materials, porous or semi porous contents, those materials and contents should be discarded. In general, the potential for significant health affects are far greater from bacteria than mold. Also, items and structure that have stayed wet for weeks, sometimes many weeks, possess a high probability for gross bacterial contamination as well. While we certainly don't want elevated mold levels in our homes due to water damage, from a health risk perspective, bacteria will always trump mold.
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Fall Home Maintenance Tips
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 Have a heating professional check your heating system
every year. Wood burning stove connector pipes and chimneys should be
inspected by a certified chimney sweep at least annually.
Protect your home from frozen pipes. Read more at No Frozen Pipes.
Replace your furnace filter. Furnace filters need to be replaced frequently to allow
your heating and cooling systems to operate properly.
It's a good time to check that ventilation is working properly in attics. Check all attic vents to make sure they are operating properly and not clogged or obstructed.
Run all gas-powered lawn equipment until the fuel tank is
empty. By doing this, you are removing flammable liquid storage
from your garage. At the same time, make sure you aren't storing dirty, oily
rags in a pile. They can ignite spontaneously.
Have a certified chimney sweep inspect and clean the
flues and check your fireplace damper. Soot and creosote, which build up inside the chimney, can
ignite when a fire is lit in the fireplace.
Remove bird nests from chimney flues and outdoor
electrical fixtures. Bird nests on top of light fixtures are a fire hazard.
Bird nests in chimney flues can prevent a proper venting of combustion gases
and can catch fire from sparks. You should exercise great caution when working
on your roof or consider hiring a qualified professional to take care of any
work that needs to be done.
Inspect and clean dust from the covers of your smoke and
carbon monoxide alarms. Read more at Smoke alarms save lives.
Make sure the caulking around doors and windows is
adequate to reduce heat/cooling loss. Check glazing for loose or missing putty or glazing
compound. This will also help reduce water damage to the windows and door
frames.
Make sure that the caulking around your bathroom fixtures
is adequate to prevent water from seeping into the sub-flooring. Check for cracked or missing caulk around the base of
your toilet, bath tub, and bathroom cabinets. Properly sealing gaps between
your bathroom fixtures and flooring material can prevent damage.
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