Crawl space encapsulations can seem expensive and overwhelming all at once. To combat this, some homeowners choose to try DIY crawl space encapsulation kits. These kits have lower price tags, but require a little bit of hands-on work. Unfortunately, complications from a DIY gone wrong can end up costing way more than a professional crawl space install. Pick your battles.
Ditch the DIY Crawl Space
There are several DIY dangers to beware of when attempting a crawl space encapsulation self-install kit. These dangers range from minor inconvenience to major repairs needed. Including:
Rain and snow can cause serious water damage to your home if you aren’t careful about monitoring drainage around your home. Draining water can harm your home by collecting in your crawl space. Maintain your home and prevent water damage with these tips for your downspouts.
Clean Your Gutters
It is important to remember to have the gutters along your roof cleaned at least twice a year. The simplest way is to hire a cleaning service to handle the disgusting gutters for you. While DIYers might save a penny by climbing a ladder and cleaning the gutters by hand.
If you neglect to clean your gutters, it can cause catastrophic water damage to your home. When downspouts become clogged, the water will build up on your roof causing water leaks in your ceilings or damaging your home’s foundation. This is especially damaging in hurricane-prone areas.
We’ve all been there. You flush the toilet expecting the bowl to empty nicely. This time, the water doesn’t go down. It rises and rises. You know what is happening, but you don’t know how to stop it from overflowing. Eventually, the water flows over the top of the bowl spreading waste all over your beautiful bathroom floor.
How could you have prevented this catastrophe? No matter what caused the clogged toilet leading to the overflow, there are a number of things you can do to stop a toilet from overflowing – without getting dirty.
There is no argument that a hurricane can cause devastating damage to your home and property. There are a number of steps you should take to protect your home before, during, and after a storm. To protect your home from additional flooding or to prevent your plumbing from being overwhelmed by the storm, consider the following steps.
Before the Hurricane or Storm
There are a number of things you can do to prepare your home and family for the tumultuous storm. But, did you know you should also be preparing your plumbing for large storms?
The first step to making your basement livable is to reduce the moisture. Moisture can make your basement air feel heavy and damp, or your items could feel damp after a few days down there. This might become a problem down the road when items start to develop mold and mildew. Crawl spaces can trap moisture as well, causing dangerous mold to grow on the floor joists of your home. One way to prevent dangerous crawl space moisture is to avoid DIY crawl space encapsulation. Always trust a professional.
If you think you have a moisture problem downstairs, but you aren’t sure where the moisture is coming from, tape a one-inch piece of foil to the wall or concrete floor. Make sure all of the edges are sealed with tape. Leave the foil there for 24 hours-48 hours. After your set time is up, remove the foil and look for condensation.
If there is condensation on the side facing the wall, moisture could be seeping in from outside. To avoid that, follow our instructions for reducing moisture from outside.
If there is condensation on the side facing the basement, your basement could be trapping humidity. Follow our instructions for dehumidifying your basement.
Both of these options can be dangerous for your home. Take the necessary actions to help reduce the moisture in your home, or call a professional for help right away.
Tankless water heaters are incredible. They provide nearly endless hot water no matter how many appliances or faucets you run at the same time. They are eco-friendly and take up less space. Consider making the switch today. Keep reading to find out why we think a tankless water heater is right for your home.
Endless Hot Water with Tankless Water Heaters
Rinnai has designed their tankless water heaters so they heat less water at a time. Traditional water heaters have one long coil inside that fills with water and heats. Then when you run the shower, you use the water in the coil, then it refills and starts over forcing you to wait for it to heat up before you can use hot water again.
With two coils inside the tankless unit, the unit heats both coils then uses one and refills the other, heats it while it uses the other before switching again. Like boiling a small pot of water versus boiling a large pot, by heating less water a time, the unit can heat more water faster
When you need a plumber, what is the first thing you do? The same thing we all do. We search “plumber near me” or “plumber in my area” on our phones or computer. You don’t know what you are going to find. It’s a gamble, and a lot like playing roulette, you don’t know if that gamble will be worth it until it’s too late.
Qualities of a Good Plumber
There are a lot of plumbers in the world. What makes one plumber any better than another is based on very few things, but very important qualifications nonetheless. Those things are:
Pipe and sewer repairs used to be a daunting task because there are many things that need to be done in order to start the repair. Floors need to be broken and dug. Walls need to be torn down as well. Driveways and streets need to be excavated. The amount of work to be done can cost a lot!
Trenchless pipe repair eliminates all these additional charges by using a technology known as cured in place pipe (CIPP) technology. CIPP is a good option to rehabilitate damaged pipelines caused by corrosion and rust. CIPP involves creating a pipe within the old pipe using special epoxy resins. The ability to do such a thing makes it ideal when it comes to pipe repair.
Repairing pipes with excavation can cost you between 20 and 50 thousand dollars. It can even cost more depending on how deep the excavation would be plus the safety tools that would be required to use during the job.
There are some plumbing issues where you don’t need to hire a plumber. For instance, there are clogged drains that can be remedied by a drain cleaner containing lye or a leaky faucet that can be fixed by replacing the seat washer. However, there are plumbing problems that are too complicated it is better and more cost effective to hire the services of a plumber instead of trying to fix it on your own.
Replacing a Water Heater
Replacing a water heater can be a daunting task for some. If you do not know a thing about water heater installment, it would be best to leave it to the water heater professionals take care of it.
Tankless water heaters are incredible. They provide nearly endless hot water no matter how many appliances or faucets you run at the same time. They are eco-friendly and take up less space. Consider making the switch today. Keep reading to find out why we think a tankless water heater is right for your home.
