Fresh Cents

Hiring the right contractor to build your new home can be a tricky business and there are typically a lot of factors involved, including the price, the level of experience, and just how well you and your contractor “click”.  Hiring a contractor that you can get along with for a few months while he and his employees build your new home is an important part of the process.  You should not hire anyone that you could not stand to have around for less than at least a few months, perhaps longer.

You should try to choose a contractor based on the experience of your friends or relatives, but websites with licensed contractor listings are also available.  After you have decided which way you want to go, you need to pre-quality a few different contractors.  Every contractor should have worker’s compensation, personal liability, and property damage insurance.  You need to verify this and determine whether their level of service is what you are looking for.  Do this by calling them and requesting a list of at least three good references.  Call the references and if possible, ask to see the work that was done for them.  You may feel a little strange about asking to view a complete stranger’s new home, but do not be shy about this.  Most people who own new homes or have had remodeling work done in their old one are more than happy to show off the new property or the improvements. 

Request a bid from each contractor you are considering, but make sure that the plans and specifications of the home you want to build are exactly the same for each bid that you request.  Inexperience may cause one contractor to give a bid that is very low compared to the others or even perhaps desperation for work.  Desperation is not usually a problem, but inexperience could be a huge one.

You should also be aware that water and mold damage can occur to your home before it is even finished being built.  The entire structure should be covered with tarp during rain and so should all building materials until the walls and roof are put up.  Building materials should never be placed directly on the soil due to the chance of becoming contaminated with mold.  In order to further prevent mold in your home, have your contractor use paperless drywall.

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Looking around for a used vehicle to buy either as your first car or as a replacement for your last one can be a hassle enough by itself without having to worry about whether you’re going to end up buying a lemon.  You have to worry about financing, what kind of vehicle is best, and if it’s going to break down on you as soon as you get it home, but one thing that a lot of people don’t tend to think about when shopping for a new vehicle is if it has ever been completely submerged in water.

These vehicles aren’t always readily noticeable as having been submerged before.  Dishonest car dealers and individuals looking to cheat you aren’t likely to tell you that a vehicle has been flooded, so you have to watch out for yourself. 

One of the most dangerous things about vehicles that have been flooded can be is the possibility of mold growth in the interior of the car.  It’s just as dangerous as the mold that can grow inside your home, but you’re less likely to notice it because most people don’t think about mold growing in their cars.  Sometimes bad car dealers will try to cover the odor of mold in the car with air or carpet fresheners.  You never know if the mold has been completely removed from the car unless the carpet has been replaced and the interior cleaned by a professional.

Even the engine isn’t safe.  Any flood waters the car has been exposed to contain sand, dirt, silt, or any number of debris that can work its way into the engine and cause it to malfunction.  Even sewage can be found in some flood waters. 

There are also electrical problems abound in vehicles that have been flooded before.  Many things on a vehicle today are monitored not by manual gauges, but by electronics and trying to use these by powering on the car before it’s completely dried out will probably ruin them.

Look for rust in the trunk of the car, particularly around the headlights and smell the interior closely.  If there’s a musty odor or you can detect a scented air or carpet freshener has been used, it’s probably a good idea to go somewhere else to find a vehicle.  Even if you purchase a vehicle history report off of a website, you might not get all the information on a vehicle.  You’ll get any information that was reported to the insurance company and a claim was done on, but if the car was submerged and the person or dealer chooses to sell it without reporting the incident, they can.

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Nobody likes mold in the house, but whether we like it or not, mold will get into your home.  It comes in the house attached to the bottoms of our shoes, attached to our clothing, and through the doors, windows, and the air conditioning unit.  The only thing that you have control over is whether the conditions in your home are favorable for the mold to begin growing. 

Something that mold loves to hide underneath is your carpet.  If the carpet is old (especially if you have it in the bathroom), you can bet there is likely to be something living underneath it.  Not only does mold like to hide under your carpet, it will also make a meal out of it.  In order to reproduce, mold requires moisture, warmth, and food.  The carpet provides part of the insulation that the mold needs to grow under it, so all that is left for you to provide is moisture either in the form of humidity or water spills that do not get cleaned up properly.

If you think that your carpet is moldy or mildewed, you can clean it with a biocide.  Biocides are produced to stop things like mold and bacteria from growing where you do not want them to.  Even if you use this, though, you will still have to remove the carpet padding underneath.  This padding is not cleanable and will need to be thrown away.  If your carpet has been completely submerged in water and it is not just a small area, it is advised to just tear it up and throw it away, as well.  Cleaning a room’s entire carpet can be costly and it’s possible that you are better off just getting new carpet. 

While you are cleaning your moldy carpet, you should wear gloves.  After it has completely dried, using a vacuum that has a HEPA filter on it should remove any mold spores that still remain in the fibers of the carpet.

Having wall-to-wall carpeting is not advised.  If you already have it, you can reduce the chances of mold and mildew growing by removing your shoes before walking on it and disallowing pets to enter carpeted areas.  Using a good vacuum cleaner (with a HEPA filter) regularly will also help to stop mold from growing.  HEPA filters are about 99.97 percent accurate in removing particles from your carpet and air.

Wet Carpet Drying