Home Improvement Blog

Archive for March, 2010

If you have a open fireplace, its all important to fix your chimney cleaned at least once a year. Suitable fireplace and chimney maintenance will forbid risks like fires or carbon monoxide envenoming and sustain your home and your family secure. As fires burn up, smoke arises the chimney. Several smoke will concentrate into coal-tar creosote on the inside of the chimney, or what is called the flue. Coal-tar creosote looks like a tar and it’s really hard since it easy builds over time after each fire. If creosote passes off to catch fire, a chimney fire will ensue, which will be so aloud that it will sound like a jet engine.

The absolute majority from expand of creosote happens as fires are being lit. Cold chimneys will concentrate more smoke than hot ones. An uninterrupted fire is more improbable to build creosote than several separate fires. As Creosote can burn so hot, and often without detecting, nearby walls and rafters have been recognized to explode into flames. Chimney fires can banquet so fast that the fire department often comes too late to have any encroachment, and often well after the fire has destructed the home.

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A number of fungi cause wet rot, which normally remains in the original area of attack although dry rot can take the hold nearby. Wet rot is revealed in its early stages by discoloration around decayed wood.

The difficulty in spotting wet rot is that all the damage may be taking place under what appears a sound surface – a skin of paint, for example – and will not be discovered untill the skin finally collapses or is prodded with a sharp knife. Timber attacked by wet rot may also supporting dry rot. Even wood that has dried out sufficiently to kill wet rot could still be harbouring dry rot. So always suspect the presence of dry rot. Areas to associate strongly with wet rot are bathrooms, kitchen, the roof, cellars, fence posts, sheds and garages. Read the rest of this entry »

Dampness can lead to dry and wet rot which, if not properly treated, will cause a great deal of damage to the structure of a house. Dry rot, in particular, spreads rapidly and must be tackled immediately it is discovered.

Once there is an indication of dry rot, check all vulnerable parts of the house, looking for defects that allow damp to infiltrate through the roof, walls and floor. Examine the chimneys, downpipes and gutters, pointing, rendering and masonry. Check the level of soil in relation to the damp proof course and airbricks. If the house has been flooded or burst pipes have soaked timbers, be sure to check the wood has dried out. Read the rest of this entry »