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Is Your Washing Machine a Potential Water Hazard?

Don't be held captive by your washing machine's potential for destruction.

Don’t be held captive by your washing machine’s potential for destruction.

Of all the hazards that can damage property, water is the most insidious. Water is for the most part silent, travels in all directions from the source, and often doesn’t surface immediately. It just lies quietly in the dark doing its damage. Sometimes it goes undetected for weeks and even months.

There are many preventative steps any homeowner can take themselves to detect a water leak. Checking the water bill every month is a simple check, as an unidentifiable spike may lead to detecting a leak. Be alert to water stains or standing water. Usually you can track down the leak and correct the cause. Continue Reading →

Sandy Survivors Still Victims…to Mold

Mold on the abandoned house on Staten Island, NY.

Mold on the abandoned house on Staten Island, NY.

Here in California, Hurricane Sandy is but a distant, pre-election, pre-2013 blip on the weather map. But to most of the people on the Eastern Seaboard, the after effects of Hurricane Sandy are still felt on a daily basis.

Take Pat Scala of New Dorp Beach in Staten Island, New York. She’s not so concerned about her own home, but more about the two abandoned houses next door. You’d think the dead animals would bother her—and they do—but what scares her more is the mold growing on the inside and outside of the houses. Continue Reading →

Is Your Landlord Liable for Mold in Your Rental Property?

Read your lease carefully for mold liability.

Read your lease carefully for mold liability.

Mold is quite an insidious tenant in any property—rented or owned, commercial or residential, nobody wants mold around. And it’s really not surprising, as it can cause significant health problems, including rashes, chronic fatigue, nausea, memory loss and reduced brain functions, hemorrhaging, asthma—and that’s just to name a few.

Although the naturally humid climates of California, Texas and across the Southern United States usually experience more cases of mold than in other areas, mold can grow just about anywhere water is present. And all those health problems we mentioned? There is considerable debate within the scientific and medical communities about mold, particularly about which molds in what situations actually cause serious health risks to people. That’s because many molds are perfectly harmless to humans, and it takes an expert to know which mold is just annoying and which is dangerous. Continue Reading →

Is Mold in Schools Making Your Children Sick?

We’ve posted about this before, but we wanted to post a reminder, as kids will be having a break from school over the holidays. Why is that important? Because, like Matthew Asseline of Winsted, Connecticut, your kids might be sick while in school, but energetic and active when they’re not.This doesn’t have to do with not wanting to do math problems or learn their history lesson.

If this happens to your son or daughter, there’s a possibility that there’s mold in your child’s school. Continue Reading →

It’s All Sunshine Now, But Winter Is Coming

If you see this on your roof, you will have some unwanted water in your home when it rains.

And even though our winter won’t be as bad as the fictional winter we referenced from Game of Thrones in the title, we should be bracing for an El Niño. Last year we had an La Niña winter, which means it was dry and fairly warm, so you can guess what an El Niño is. That’s right, it’s the exact opposite.

Even though there are varying degrees of El Niño weather, and we’re not absolutely sure what to expect this year, we’re advocating some preparation to head off any potential disasters. Even though flooding and water damage is our business, we’d like to help the Inland Empire stay dry and safe.

We’re more than happy to come out and check your roof—you do remember that we are fully licensed and bonded contractors, don’t you? But there are ways for you to check your roof yourself. Just please be careful—we don’t want any accidents on ladders! (For our commercial customers, we highly recommend that you use a professional to check your roof.) Continue Reading →

Is Your Loved One’s Nursing Home Infested with Mold?

It’s a hard decision and tough to find the right nursing home for your loved one.

It’s never a happy time in anyone’s life when they realize it’s time to find a nursing home or assisted-living facility for their parent or loved one. There is so much emotion involved with the decision, and then the guilt that they won’t get the best care when in a facility.

But sometimes, there’s just no other choice, especially when the medical needs of the loved one can exceed the capabilities of the family caregiver. But that doesn’t make the decision any easier, and it still leaves the need to find and choose an appropriate facility.

Recently, inspectors from the California Department of Justice performed surprise inspections in 14 nursing homes across California. The results were grim. Continue Reading →

Is Mold Growing in Your Child’s School?

When mold grows in school buildings and portable classrooms, it can be bad new for some staff and students, particularly those with allergies or respiratory problems. It may actually cause some health problems, which can not only be bad for the sufferers, but create legal problems for the school administration.

Why Would Mold Be Growing in My Child’s School? Continue Reading →

Foreclosed Homes Hiding Huge Mold Problems

This mold was uncovered in an Atlanta, Georgia by a Channel 2 News team.

It’s not just here in California that mold problems lurk behind walls, under roofs and under floors. Our winter and spring weather, a mold-happy combination of wet weather followed by hot sunshine, has triggered mold growth for tens of thousands of potential homeowners. And they probably won’t know until it’s too late. Continue Reading →

Can Your Business Survive Severe Water Damage?

The problem with water damage in your place of business is that it can do more than just property damage. The water can slow down, hinder or completely shut down your business until remedied, which means time and money lost. In some cases, the water can even damage records, client listings, or even transactions, meaning setting the company back days, months, or even years. That is why it is so important to take steps in preventing leaks, flooding and mold in your workplace. Continue Reading →

Using Unlicensed Contractors Can Invalidate Your Homeowners Insurance

Don't wait this long to call us for a roof inspection! More rain is predicted for the fall and winter of 2012.

Saving money sounds good at first, but when it comes to home repairs, you have to decide if you want to save money now or later. What most homeowners don’t realize is that unlicensed contractors are cheaper for multiple reasons. The obvious one is that they do not acquire a bond to protect their work and thus, do not have to pay licensing fees. Continue Reading →