Physical Signs of Mold:

1. Mildewy or musty smells in the house can be a sign of a mold problem. The presence of this odor does not mean you have a problem, but it should prompt you to look for further signs.

2. Increased or chronic allergy or respiratory problems, especially by all or most household members is a common sign that there is a problem. According to a 1999 Mayo Clinic study, almost all chronic sinus infections (we’re talking about 37 million Americans), are a result of mold.

3. When levels of toxins from black mold or other fungi reach high levels, toxic poisoning can occur. Common signs include headaches, decreased attention span, difficulty in concentration, and dizziness.

Signs of Mold in Your Home:

1. Water pipe leaks, especially those that have gone undetected, are perfect breeding grounds for mold.

2. Areas of the house that may have been damaged from flooding is a common site for mold growth.

3. If your house has ever had a leaky roof, one logical place to look for signs of mold is the attic. Look for evidence of water damage or mold growth in ceilings on the upper floors.

4. Use of humidifiers can raise the moisture level to a point where mold growth is encouraged. Regulate the humidity level so that it stays within a 55-60% RH range.

5. A damp basement or crawl space can be a haven for mold growth and go undetected for long periods of time. Water leaks from upper sources may also make their way down and add to the problem.

6. Yellowy colored stains on walls, ceilings, and carpets are a sign of excessive moisture. A green, brown or blackish color may indicate the presence of mold. A medical grade black light shone over the area will indicate a yellow glow if mold growth is present. Also look for areas that are bowing or swelling due to excess moisture. Paint peeling and loosening drywall tape are also common indicators.

7. Blocked gutters can cause water to be absorbed into walls through the roof or collect at the base of the foundation.

8. Signs of condensation around windows, walls or pipes, or rusting metal is a sure sign of high moisture that may lead to a mold problem.

9. Warped wood is a sure sign of excess moisture. A build up could cause mold growth.

10. Mold growth behind tiles in a humid bathroom is a common area for detection. The grout is porous, and once the water penetrates, dirt is trapped and encourages mold cultivation.

11. If the steam from dryers or other appliances are vented indoors, this also can be a sign of a problem area. Check for indications of mold around the vent and surrounding area.

12. Be on the lookout for the presence of any wet articles in the house such as rags, indoor clothes dryers or areas where there is poor ventilation.

What to Do:

When you see actual spores of mold growing, perhaps in a small area of the bathroom or shower, take immediate action before it spreads any further. You’ll need to identify the cause of the problem and check to see if it has spread to any other areas. Thoroughly clean and disinfect the area and dry completely. Any spores left behind will continue to grow once the area is exposed to any moisture.

Taking an actual sampling of the mold and sending it off for testing can be expensive, and may only tell you what you already know. You may be better off identifying the extent of the problem and fixing it right from the start.

Yeah… you have guessed it right. Now there are Portable Air Conditioners w/ Built-in Dehumidifier available in the market that help us in living a quality life. Depending on the product you select, you will find different features that will promptly meet your present and future needs. For instance, some portable A/Cs have evaporative boosters, LCD control panel, built in castor’s for easy movement of unit from one room to another, programmable timer and much more.

There are different manufacturers of Portable Air Conditioners w/ Built-in Dehumidifier that offer portable air conditioner with 80 pint built in dehumidifier. It does not require too much electricity and has the efficiency to cool the space of up to 400 sq.ft. The special 3 M filetete filter cleans the air by removing dust, pollen and bacteria. With the help of in built casters, you can carry it anywhere in the home. So why to worry. May be maintenance is something that you are thinking will be a problem. No not all. It requires negligible maintenance and can be easily cleaned with the help
of a damp cloth. This model has a Nanomist Autodrain technology that makes it most suitable for use in any room.

Every day care. If your antiques are part of your daily life (which great pieces are!), then make sure they are treated with care. The value of an antique goes down if the original finish is removed, so you want to avoid this type of restoration work. Always use coasters under cups and glasses, even just a cup of coffee. Wooden surfaces can be damaged by heat as well as moisture. If the piece is a dining room table, make sure that you have a trivet or other heat protective mat to place food on. Don’t push anything across the surface of the piece. That means do not slide plates,
decorative pieces or anything else over the top of the table or desk. Doing this can result in scratches on the surface. While you may be able to buff away very small surface scratches, anything deep will need to be repaired by a professional. Clean up spills right away. To protect the finish on your piece, clean up all liquid and solid spills immediately. If the liquid is some sort of solvent (such as polish remover), blot the liquid rather than wiping so you don’t risk removing more finish by smearing the solvent over a wider area. Dust your wood antiques with a clean dry cloth. You
don’t need to be using a spray cleaner on your antiques.

Long term care. How you treat your antiques over the long run will determine how well they keep their value. Controlling the humidity is one important factor. Depending on where you live, you may have damp conditions all the time, or dry winters and moist summers. With wood antiques, you want the humidity to be as stable as possible. This means don’t store your pieces in a damp basement, or in a stuffy attic. Seasonal changes will have the biggest impact on your pieces. Consider installing a humidifier on your furnace to raise the humidity levels in winter and run a dehumidifier during
the summer months. Keep your pieces out of direct sunlight. While that end table may look great in front of the south facing window, the sunlight that shines on the table can yellow the finish. And it will discolor unevenly. Wax your pieces three or four times a year. Using a paste wax, apply a small amount in a circular motion, then buff dry with a new cloth. This waxing will give you a depth of color and finish and will remove any tiny surface scratches. Do not use spray polish, as this can actually remove the finish from your piece. The only time you want to use a spray polish is
when you have a waxy buildup that has dulled the finish on your antique.

Following these tips will give your wooden antiques a long life, keep their value and allow you to pass on heirloom pieces to your family.

Heat pump dehumidifiers are complex, low-production machines and are not low-prices items. Spring seems to be the best time to buy: in the last few years dealers have held sales early in the spring with savings of $50 to $100.

The more water a dehumidifier holds -which is measured in litres or U.S. pints a day-the more it costs. You pay more for special features.

A refrigerant dehumidifier with air conditioner is a best buy if you are in an area where the temperature during the year is mostly in the higher scale of the thermometer than in the lower scale. Refrigerant humidifier not only lowers the air humidity to 45%; it cools the air too during hot days. It helps climb up temperature without making the air too dry.

If however you live in an area which is colder you will need to get yourself a desiccant dehumidifier. This type of dehumidifier will only control the humidity of the air. It does not affect the temperature in any way. It will control the humidity so that on warmer days it lowers the humidity and on colder days humidifies the temperature so that the environment is comfortable.

Don’t try to save money by buying a unit that does not have automatic defrost. If a room is too cool, a dehumidifier can frost over and stop removing moisture. A frosted-over dehumidifier left running for a long time will break down.

Get a unit with a two-speed fan. They are quieter at lower humidity, which reduces the nuisance factor. Test all units in the store for noise level, especially if you plan to use one in or near a bedroom.

They’re mobile, trouble free and much easier to install than it would be if you would put in a window unit. Still, a window is still needed in the vicinity to vent the hot air outside. They come with a foam insert and an exhaust tube, with the water being drained out the window or inside a bucket. They’re pretty heavy, even if they’re portable, with a weight between 50 and 90 pounds.

Usually, their height is around 30 inches and they take between 12 and 18 inches of space. Like most other electronics, they have energy efficiency ratings, and choosing one that is higher will insure a smaller electrical bill in time.

Sizes of Portable room air conditioners

Some of the available portable air conditioners can cool down a room with a size between 150 and 200 square feet. These are usually of the 7500-8000 BTU power.

They’re the most economical and small units you can find. In some cases, they will come with separate dehumidifier and cooling functions for you to choose from. An air filter, a timer, three cooling fan speeds and a temperature display are some of the functions you can choose from.

If the room is bigger than 200 square feet, you should go with a 9000 BTU unit instead. Some of them come with an ion generator and come in two different sizes, 9500 and 11500 BTU. Both these types of models have remote controls and multiple speeds to choose from.

The most recent ones even come with self-evaporating technology. There are even 10000 BTU units available, which can take care of a 250 square feet room, and they also come with a washable activated carbon filter, two speed fans, 8 hour timer and a remote control.

To make a choice of a portable air conditioner, the rooms required to be conditioned and the cumulative square footage of these have to be considered. This data can be used at the US Department of Energy’s air conditioner size calculator to finalize what strength is required.

Further, the style has to be selected. When portability is the prime requirement, a free standing air conditioner is the ideal choice. The different types in these are:

In order to be able to choose a portable air conditioner, you need to know how much square feet a room has first. You can use this data together with the US Department of Energy site, which offers a size calculator, and find out how much strength you need.

Modern technology has however come up with a machine known as a dehumidifier that serves as deliverance for the people suffering from this problem. For some people the idea of installing such a machine falls under the umbrella of luxury. But when you consider the long term health implications of the benefits that dehumidifiers have it becomes clear that they are surely something worth investing in.

The health risks of excessive humidity

Living in an environment that has more than the desired amount of humidity for the human body, can have adverse effects on your health. One of the things that the presence of excessive humidity does is that it increases the population of dust mites in the air. The increased volume of dust mites can trigger allergic reactions.

Then you have all sorts of other problems that excess humidity can cause to your home. You will find your windows to always be condensed. The humidity may even ruin the paint job on your house walls and pose a threat to the water pipes as well. Rust on metal and the warping of wood are other problems that high levels of humidity pose. Even your electronic items are not safe from the harmful effects of excess humidity.

To elaborate the case further on you will also find that the development of mold and fungus is also possible which can even give birth to foul odors in the air while posing an even greater threat to personal hygiene.

The recommended remedy

The obvious recommendation that anyone would give you under these circumstances is to install some sort of a dehumidifier in your home. After having understood the dire consequences that excess humidity can have on your health and your home it shouldn’t take too much convincing for one to actually go ahead and purchase one amongst the many different kinds of dehumidifiers available in the market.

Health care experts have determined that the ideal level of humidity that should be present in the air should range from 40% to 50%. In the summer time the level tends to increase far greater than the ideal content. Hence it becomes imperative for the health conscious people to take action and purchase some sort of a dehumidifying machine.

Things to consider

It is just as important not to rush towards buying any dehumidifier as is buying one. This is because there are many variations of the machine that serve the purpose in various ways. TYou will be able to get a machine that works for a specific domain such as a basement dehumidifier or a whole house dehumidifier. Similarly you have portable dehumidifiers that can be carried around wherever you go. Hence it is important to take your living environment under consideration and choose your dehumidifier accordingly.

Although the dehumidifying unit does not cool the air, it makes it more comfortable by decreasing the humidity that can cause mold and mildew to accumulate and cause health problems for your family and your pets.

There are several signs that will let you know that you need a dehumidifier in your home. First, if you see condensation on your windows, there is too much moisture inside your home. Check for wet spots on the ceiling and walls. A musty smell, stuffiness in the room, or an increase in allergy symptoms can all be signs that that there is too much humidity in your air. Dehumidifiers are also used quite often when there has been flooding in a home, such as a hot water heater leak.

You need to check a dehumidifier’s reservoir capacity if you are buying a new one as a larger capacity reservoir works more efficiently and would need to be emptied less frequently than a smaller unit. If your dehumidifier has an air vent on top, you can place in against a wall. If it doesn’t, you’ll want to make sure that it sits away from walls or furniture so that the air can circulate properly. Make sure that all windows and doors are closed when you are using your dehumidifier as this will allow it to work most efficiently. If you use a hose drainage system, make sure that you do not
create an electrical hazard by allowing water to flow near plugs or wires.

Dehumidifiers are an excellent way of making the conditions in your home more comfortable and healthy.

While most of us might think of the underground sections of our homes as dark, dank places suitable for the third-act climax of a bad horror movie, avoiding a wet basement is probably easier than you think. Here are a few relatively simple steps to keeping your basement dry.

Make sure your rain gutters are completely free of debris. Rain gutters that can’t carry rain away from the house tend to spill rain right out near the foundation, creating puddles that can eat away at the porous concrete over time. And if gutters empty themselves from a great distance in one spot, the falling water can create a depression in the ground that speeds wear and tear on the foundation. A good basement waterproofing contractor can install a French drain – a type of drainage system that draws water away from the house. A good French drain can’t guarantee a dry basement, but it’ll
help eliminate one of the primary causes of leaks.

Keep the ground around your foundation sloped away from it. Obviously, this isn’t the simplest thing to do; if you live on a hill, you’re going to have to deal with water rolling downhill toward your home. But it’s easy to find depressions near the foundation and fill them, so they don’t fill with water when it rains.

Keep an eye on window and door seals. If these are caulked, go around at least once every six months with a caulk gun to reinforce them. Ideally, however, they should have a more secure sealant.

Keep a dehumidifier handy. If you hang clothes to dry in the basement, humidity might be a problem – and humidity in such an enclosed space can cause condensation. Keeping a dehumidifier isn’t a magic bullet, but it can help if your basement moisture is coming from condensation and not seepage. But how can you tell the difference? It’s fairly easy: If you have wet basement walls, find a spot that’s particularly wet. Tape a section of aluminum foil to the wall, with tape around all the edges so it’s airtight. Check in on it after a day or two: If the side on the inside is dry, you’ve got
seepage. If the outside is dry, condensation is the more likely culprit.

If your house has an outdoor spigot, make sure it doesn’t leak. A dripping spigot can create a concrete-eroding puddle with hardly any effort at all. If necessary, call a plumber to fix the leak – it’ll be less expensive than repairing your foundation if the problem goes on too long.

Fix leaks the minute you discover them. You’ll never have a dry basement if there’s a constant leak. Basement moisture can come from a variety of sources; a leak has the benefit of being relatively easy to spot. A good basement waterproofing company can examine your basement to determine the type of leak you have, and recommend the best way to fix it. Look for a basement waterproofing contractor who gives a free estimate, and don’t fall for any hard-sell tactics; a quality contractor will be completely honest, and give you time to make the best decision.

Relative humidity Central heating is the worst thing to happen to antiques. A warm inside and cold outside makes life comfortable while wreaking havoc on antiques.

It’s the fluctuations in relative humidity that central heating creates which cause the problem. Wood responds to relative humidity by expanding and contracting as it tries to maintain a balance with its environment. It’s not the rapid changes during the course of a day that cause the most damage. It’s the long-term seasonal fluctuations, which cause the serious damage. During the dry winter months when it is cold outside and warm inside, wood tends to shrink. During hot damp summers when it is warm outside and cooler inside, wood tends to expand. Long-term exposure to these conditions leads
to cracking, warping and splitting.

How can you guard against the fluctuations in relative humidity in your home? Use a humidifier during the cold winter and a dehumidifier in the damp summer. Think twice before putting a good piece of furniture in a basement, attic, near heating vents or near fireplaces. Keep fresh air circulating. Maintain a constant room temperature and turn it low at night.

Finishes are affected by relative humidity. Just as the wood expands and contracts, so too does the finish, which becomes brittle and crack. This is called crazing.

What can you do about crazing? Restor-A-Finish is a great multi-purpose product that penetrates through the existing crazed finish and stain, bringing up the color and restoring the luster.

Sunlight Just as sun damage to the skin is cumulative and permanent, its effects on wood are just as destructive. Diffused sunlight over a long period of time can be as detrimental as direct sunlight over a short period of time. Sunlight can turn a clear finish yellow.

How can you avoid sun damage? The only good news about sun damage is that it’s easy to avoid. Draw the drapes, pull the blinds or have an UV-filtering film applied to your windows.

Insects Termites are a menace to North American homes and are often found in older homes. Hopefully, you’ll notice an infestation of termites in your home before they reach your furniture.

The termite solution? Professional fumigation is the best remedy.

The wood beetle is a nasty archenemy of European antiques. It’s not as common in North America. Nevertheless, you want to be aware of the wood beetle in case you bring an antique from overseas into your home and infest the rest of your furniture.

The wood beetle lays its eggs in the crevices in wood; the larvae hatch and eat their way through the wood creating a series of tunnels. As the beetle ages, it digs its way out of the wood leaving a hole, flies off to lay its eggs and continues its life cycle.

A tell tale sign that you have wood beetle is the pile of frass (wood dust and insect excrement) on the floor. Another sign of a serious infestation is to pick up an item; if it is very light, likely a large portion of the inside has been eaten away.

How to rid your furniture of this pesky insect? Isolate the infested object. Ensure that the infestation has not spread. Hope that this infestation happened during the winter because the easiest way to get rid this bothersome bug is to place the item outside on a dry sub-zero day.

Surface damage A great deal of surface damage can be prevented if you always remember to use coasters, mats and trivets and avoid placing hot and/or wet items directly on furniture.

Scratches – Never slide anything (vase, plate, serving dish etc) across a surface because it will scratch. A very light scratch can be treated with Restor-A-Finish. Deep scratches require the skill of professional restorers.

Liquids – Spilled water should be thoroughly wiped up immediately. Alcohol and solvents (nail polish, nail polish remover, perfumes) should be dabbed, not wiped because they can act like a furniture stripper and damage the finish. White rings left from either a hot drink or a wet glass should be attended to right away. A little Brasso applied with a clean cloth may do the trick. Or, I have found that Restor-A-Finish works well to remove white rings. Always test on a small area first.

Candle wax – Wait for the wax to cool then gently loosen using a fingernail to remove.

Cleaning For daily cleaning, use a clean cloth or a clean duster. For those who like to use something more, I recommend Orange Oil because it works well to clean and polish wood finishes. I like it because it doesn’t leave a wax build up and doesn’t contain linseed or silicone oil. Avoid aerosol spray polishes because they can contain silicone oil and other agents that can be harmful to your furniture.

Every couple of months, wax with a good quality paste wax that can be found in any hardware store. If you wax too much, it can dull the finish and attract dust. To remove a waxy build up, apply varasol with a clean cotton cloth. Proper waxing will bring up the color and grain of the wood and protect it. Rub a small amount on a soft cloth and apply it in circular motions. Let it dry then buff with a clean cloth. A

Moving/Handling Remember to treat your antiques with care. They are old and should be given the respect that their age commands. Pick up chairs from underneath the seat; not by the arms. Lift a large piece of furniture; dragging it can put excessive pressure on the legs. Tables should be lifted by the apron; not by the top or the legs because they could be loosened. Open drawers using both draw pulls; not just one. Sit squarely on a chair; don’t tilt back on it.

Planning is critical before starting a Finished Basement project. From a financial standpoint, first determine how big your budget is and how you will finance the project. Will a mortgage be required or can you refinance or obtain a home equity loan?

From the project standpoint, carefully consider what you want to use the space for. As part of this consideration, consider ceiling heights, existing pipes, Oil Tanks, and Heating and Water systems. Also consider lighting. To make a Finished Basement cozy, warm and comfortable, the number and kinds of lights to install is key. In addition, consider natural lighting. Can additional windows be installed and will they be appropriate for the finished space?

Installing a Bathroom in a basement can be a challenge, particularly if a pump-up system is required. It is important you meet with a plumber before you start any work, as they will have many questions and requirements for your bathroom. Potentially the most onerous aspect of installing a Bathroom may be the removal of some of the cement flooring. This is a very dusty and messy job!

Also consider heating. Does your existing furnace have the capacity to support the additional space? If not, you will need to consider putting in a bigger system or creating a secondary heating system.

Finally, and probably the most important aspect to consider, is dealing with moisture. A finished basement will quickly loose its charm if water problems create mold and mildew. Basement floors and walls should be sealed and insulated to reduce moisture content in the basement. Even with these precautions, a dehumidifier may be required.