Prevent Moth and Flood Damage To Your Home

Prevent Moth and Flood Damage To Your Home
Prevent Moth and Flood Damage To Your Home

If you’re a homeowner, you’re always worried that at any stage you might have to pay out for huge repair bills. A significant threat for many homeowners in the UK is the possibility of flood damage. Many low lying areas are hugely susceptible to flooding and if your property gets hit by a flood, repairs will end up costing a bucket load.

However, you needn’t despair if your property is in a high risk area, as there are a number of steps you can take in order to limit the extent of any flood damage.

The initial step to take before kitting your property out in anti-flood damage kit is to be aware of all means through which water can enter the property. Floodwater is tricky and can find its way into a property through a variety of routes, including: around and underneath closed doorways, backflow through sewerage pipes and seepage through cable holes and external walls.

It’s very important to buy and install flood products in advance, otherwise you won’t be able to prepare your property in time.

Flood boards are a cheap and effective way of preventing costly flood damage repairs. Purpose-built flood boards can be fastened onto external doors and windows when flooding is expected.

In cases of severe flooding, backflow can occur, so by fitting non-return valves to drains and pipes you will be able to prevent wastewater from flowing into a property during a flood.

Another effective way of preventing the spread of floodwater is by erecting barriers to prevent water flow. If your property is one of many at risk in the nearby area you can co-ordinate your flood defences with them, which should help to cut the costs.

If you need a quick and easy solution then sandbags are a good solution because they require very little preparation to be effective, however, they can often be difficult to find during times of emergency so you’ll want to stock up beforehand.

Our advice is to always be prepared if you property is in a high risk area. No matter how much preparation you put into protecting your property from a flood, there’s very little you can do to prevent flooding entirely, especially in very severe cases. However, by undertaking these preparatory measures, the costs of any flood damage repairs should be lessened significantly.

It is estimated that around 1.5 million homes in the UK alone experience problems with moths, and it’s an issue that is getting worse. With central heating, the moth life cycle has now become active all year around, and it seems that inner cities are the worst hit areas. Finding moths can cause significant distress. Problems range from disgust at moth larvae in rugs, horror at holes in expensive jumpers, worry about wool carpets to food moths in kitchen cupboards.

Here are some tips on how to stop carpet moths –

1. CLEAN – Move furniture away from edges of the rug/carpet and thoroughly vacuum (both sides if possible), paying particular attention to skirting boards and crevices

2. KILL – Use moth spray on the rug/carpet deep into the pile and on the underside if possible to kill any eggs and / or larvae – also consider foggers for severe moth infestations, producing an insecticide smoke that pests cannot avoid

3. MONITOR – Place moth traps close to affected areas to monitor for adult moths and to break the breeding cycle

4. REFRESH – Vacuum deep into edges regularly, keep moth traps current and replace every 3 to 6 months and consider respraying regularly – with warmer houses carpet moth damage and infestations are now a year-round problem. Prevention is better than cure.

A recent feature in early 2012 about Moth Prevention on the BBC’s THE ONE SHOW and several related discussions on BBC RADIO 2 over the past year highlight just how widespread the problem has become. Good luck, and happy moth-free living!

Great Bathroom Wall Coverings and Wooden Kitchen Countertop

Great Bathroom Wall Coverings and Wooden Kitchen Countertop
Great Bathroom Wall Coverings and Wooden Kitchen Countertop

One of the easiest ways to give a whole bathroom a quick face lift is to change the wall coverings. There are plenty of options available to you but you do have to remember that bathroom wall coverings have to be able to withstand far more use and abuse than wall coverings in the other rooms of your home. Heat, moisture and frequent cleaning are all challenges that have to be met by a good bathroom wall covering. Here are just a few of the most commonly used ones.
Paint

Having your bathroom walls painted is a very simple way to change the look and feel of the room in just a few hours. Gloss and semi gloss paints work best in a bathroom setting as they repel water and are much easier to clean. On the downside though if your bathroom walls are a little lumpy and bumpy a gloss paint will accentuate all those imperfections.
Wallpaper

Although there are a lot of gorgeous wallpapers available these days, most of them are not suitable for use in the bathroom. Vinyl wall coverings are a much better choice. There are still a great many design options available but these wall coverings are made to be moisture resistant and can be used in a bathroom and remain looking good for years.

Wallpaper borders are a different matter. Many of them are waterproof and a nice wallpaper border used in conjunction with paint is a bathroom décor accent that is easily added in a just a few hours.
Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tile has been used in bathrooms for centuries. Ceramic tile is probably the perfect bathroom wall covering in terms of durability and ease of cleaning but covering all of the wall space with ceramic tile in a medium to large size bathroom can be a rather expensive undertaking. Using ceramic tile as an accent on painted bathroom walls is a less expensive alternative that can still look very striking.
Wood

Some people love the warm look wood panels on the wall can bring to a bathroom. Any wooden wall coverings in a bathroom – whether solid or plywood-backed veneers – must be coated with urethane or another water-resistant coating prior to installation though or they will be ruined by the moisture in the air in just a matter of months.
Glass Block

Glass block is growing in popularity for use in the bathroom and for very good reasons. Glass block has a very sleek, modern look and, being glass, obviously has the ability to transmit light while preserving privacy. It can be used for walls and windows as well, making it a very versatile bathroom choice.

The only downside? The cost; glass block could not be called a cheap bathroom wall covering so, if you are going to make the investment, spend a little more to have a good mason install them since even one slip by an amateur could up being a very costly mistake.

For those embarking upon a kitchen remodel there are many different counter top options available today. While granite is the hot trend right Altura EC now wood kitchen counter tops are still an option well worth considering. Like any other counter top material wooden counter tops come with their own set of pros and cons to weigh up when deciding between wood and other counter top material choices. Here are some of them to keep in mind.
The Pros of Wood Kitchen Counter Tops

Adaptability – Most wooden counter tops will blend in with almost any color scheme or kitchen décor and can be used to create a very rustic feel in the kitchen or as butcher block counter tops to give the space a professional restaurant style feel.

Hygienic – Wood counter tops are considered to be naturally more sanitary than other kitchen counter top options because of their inherent, built in protection against all kinds of nasty bacteria.

Easy to Fix – Bumps and dents can usually be sanded out of wooden kitchen counter tops fairly easily, meaning that such kitchen accidents are not the disaster they may be if they occur with other counter top materials.
The Cons of Wood Kitchen Counter Tops

Moisture Problems – Wood counter tops are prone to moisture damage if they are not sealed properly before they are installed. They also have to be cleaned with great care, avoiding the use of bleaches or other harsh chemicals.