Month: October 2017

The Importance of Fixing Water Problems

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When it comes to owning your Dallas/Ft. Worth home, there are few problems that can escalate faster than that of a water problem. What might seem like a simple leaky faucet could be the beginning of a very costly pipe repair if not tended to with the utmost urgency. Things like weather, broken pipes, or ruptured water lines from household appliances can all cause significant damage. The tricky thing about water problems is that the longer the water sits in place the more damage it can cause to your home. If you address your water problems head on you can save yourself thousands while also reducing the chances of hazardous mold growth in your home.

Here are just a few of the costly consequences of not fixing your water problems right away.

Water Problems Can Decrease Your Home Value

Ignoring a water problem can cost you big in the long run. A water leak that goes unchecked can over time result in major water damage by impacting drains and other pipes throughout the home. The piping in your home is all interconnected, so the effect can quickly become widespread throughout the system. Your plumbing system actually runs through your walls, so a leak or burst pipe can damage or in some cases destroy walls entirely. Your floors are also susceptible to damage from even a minor leak. The quicker you call in a professional to help, the more likely they will be able to preserve your walls and floors.

Water Problems Will Increase Your Water Bill

A water leak or change in water usage is most often the culprit of an unusually high water bill. Common water problems that can raise your bill include leaking toilets, dripping faucets, or a broken water pipe. Having a technician out to inspect for leaks is a great way to avoid a small problem becoming a huge pain, plus you can avoid out of control water bills. Unseen and unfixed leaks can waste hundreds to thousands of gallons of water. It’s important to have your plumbing routinely checked for leaky faucets, toilets and problems with irrigation lines to prevent costly water bills and larger problems down the road.

Water Problems Can Cause Mold

If you have water leaks in your home the potential for mold is very real. Mold is a dangerous problem and can cause health issues not only by touching it, but also by breathing in mold spores, as it is also an airborne threat. If you have discovered a water leak, let a skilled professional from RestoPros assess the damage and determine the next steps to remove mold from your home. We offer mold testing services as well as mold remediation. We have the expertise to make your home a safe place again where you can relax and we will remove any mold in a safe and controlled way.

Don’t wait until your water problem is catastrophic to get an assessment. If your home has sustained water damage of any kind, RestoPros can address your problems immediately and help prevent further damage from occurring. We employ a network of highly trained professionals who are skilled at assessing the unique needs of your problem. We have the expertise and are skilled in determining the classes and categories of water damage and to ensure the proper restoration of your home and possessions. If you need professional water restoration, call us at 855-587-3786 to schedule an appointment today!

 

 

Dallas/Ft. Worth Events for Halloween

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Halloween in Dallas/Ft. Worth means much more than just one night of neighborhood trick-or-treating. It’s an entire month of fun and scary events throughout the metroplex – for kids, adults and families. Concerts, movies, pub crawls and safe trick-or-treating sites are just a few of the many options around town. Halloween also happens to be a favorite of the RestoPros’ staff, so we compiled a list of essential events to help you plan the perfect spooky celebration.

Trick or Treating in the Children’s Adventure Garden (Dallas Arboretum)

October 27 – October 29, 6-9pm

$10 General Admission; $8 Member

Dress in your Halloween costume and join the Dallas Arboretum for a spooky, night-time exploration of the Children’s Adventure Garden. Take a journey through the Halloween maze. Trick-or-Treat stops along the pathways guide your candy search by the ghouls and goblins that haunt the garden. Create your own glow-in-the-dark flower. Then stop by the Exploration Center for the glowing excitement of hands-on Halloween fog and goo. This special opportunity to see the garden in dark shadows and twinkling lights is sure to thrill your family this Halloween.

Purchase Ticket

Boo at the Zoo

Oct. 27-29, 10 am – 5pm Daily

The Fort Worth Zoo’s annual daytime Halloween celebration features treat stations, carnival games and animal shows. Free with zoo admission ($10-$14; children 2 and younger are free).

1989 Colonial Parkway, Fort Worth

www.fortworthzoo.org

Highland Park School Orchestras’ Halloween “Hauntcert” 

Tuesday, Oct. 30, 7pm

This annual concert is free!
NorthPark Center in the NorthCourt
8687 N. Central Expressway
Dallas, TX 75225

Treat Street

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 6pm

Fort Worth Stockyards
130 East Exchange Avenue
Fort Worth, TX 76164

http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/events

Dark Hour Haunted House

Sept. 22-Oct. 31 

7 p.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday and 7-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday. General admission: $10 (Carl’s Playhouse); $23-$30 (Dark Hour). Combo general admission: $31-$38. Fast pass admission: $20-$70. 701 Taylor Drive, Plano

www.darkhourhauntedhouse.com

Hangman’s House of Horrors

Sept. 22-Nov.4: Hours Vary by Day

Tickets: $12.50-$29.

4400 Blue Mound Road, Fort Worth.

www.hangmans.com

Scare on the Square

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 4pm

McKinney Historic Downtown Square
111 N. Tennessee St.
McKinney, TX 75069

http://www3.mckinneytexas.org/660/Scare-on-the-Square

Granbury Ghosts & Legends Tour

Every Friday and Saturday, 7 pm and 9:15 pm

Spend a spooky evening with ghost stories and legends of historic Granbury, located southwest of Fort Worth. There are two tours on each night, weather permitting. Tickets are $10 per person and $7 for children 12 years of age and under. For reservations, contact 817-559-0849.

https://www.granburytours.com/

Howl-O-Ween at Great Wolf Lodge

Hours: Morning to Night

100 Great Wolf Drive
Grapevine, TX 76051
Resort direct: (817) 488-6510

https://www.greatwolf.com/grapevine/deals/howl-o-ween

Halloween on Lowest Greenville Avenue 

Oct. 31, 11am

Area businesses will be handing out candy for trick or treaters and the Greenville Avenue Pizza Company will be giving out a free Halloween pizza topped with Nutella, Candy Corn, Marshmallows, M&Ms and Heath Bars! Beginning at 11:00 a.m., kids can trick-or-treat at many of the strip’s fine establishments, including Greenville Avenue Pizza Company.

 

Fall Mold Prevention Tools (for the Home Interior)

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We’ve recently covered mold prevention for the home exterior – and home maintenance solutions that can help keep mold at bay. In the fall (and winter), there are several additional steps that you can take to ensure that your home interior stays mold and mildew-free. Fall and winter in Dallas/Ft. Worth can be difficult seasons for homeowners that have consistent mold problems. Warm fronts can come through, bringing both high temperatures and high humidity. These fronts usually bring rain or, worse, freezing rain and hail. These weather fronts often make it difficult to keep a healthy humidity in your home – and can wreak havoc on older homes with ventilation and insulation problems. RestoPros wants to make sure our neighbors have the proper information and tools to fight mold and mildew issues proactively. We’ve compiled a list of essential tools that can help keep your home interior dry and your indoor air quality healthy throughout the rollercoaster weather patterns of our fall and winter.

HEPA Vacuums

If you are concerned about mold spores, a great way to ensure your home is free of them is to invest in a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) vacuum. HEPA filters can trap the smallest particles including mold spores and other biological allergens that collect in the carpet. Only these filters are designed to remove particles that small. If your household suffers from allergies inside the home, HEPA technology can help reduce the symptoms – and keep mold spores from infiltrating your indoor air quality.

HEPA Air Purifiers

You can also fight mold spores in the air with HEPA air purifiers. These units have proven effective in removing spores and particulate pollution from small areas. They work best in bedrooms of allergy sufferers – or bathrooms where mold spores also collect and proliferate.

Do Air Purifiers Eliminate Mold?

Dehumidifiers/Humidifiers  

For Dallas homes that have rooms or areas where humidity is a year-round problem (including basements, crawl spaces and attics), portable dehumidifiers are a good way to keep the air dry – and prevent mold. They are available in a variety of sizes and designs and can be very helpful in keeping small spaces moisture-free. Be cautious in using a humidifier in your home. A humidifier is used to put moisture back into the air and most commonly found in infant’s rooms during the winter. However, even in the coldest of winters, our humidity levels don’t get very low. Dallas/Ft. Worth’s climate classification is humid subtropical, which allow for mid-to-warm winters. A humidifier is not recommended in the fall/winter unless it is suggested by your doctor or pediatrician for health reasons.

Hygrometers

These instruments measure the relative humidity in a home – and digital designs are available in most home improvement stores. Keeping tabs on the humidity in your home is a good way to prevent mold growth. Too much moisture in the air can lead to an infestation. The ideal relative humidity for health and comfort in a home is anywhere from 40 – 50%, but in the winter (on a cold day in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area) it might need to be lower than 40%.

Ceiling Fans/Portable Fans

Fans in general are great for moisture control. They help with the ventilation and indoor air quality. Ceiling fans can also help maximize the heat in the winter. By setting the rotation of the blades to clockwise (a feature on most modern designs), the fan will push the warmer air downward. Moisture control and ventilation are essential in keeping mold from growing in your home.

Efficient Ceiling Fan Directions

 

 

 

 

Jack-O-Lantern Safety

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The staff at RestoPros takes their Halloween festivities very seriously. The leaders in mold remediation are especially concerned with proper preparation, presentation and preservation of carved pumpkins; also referred to as Jack-o-lanterns. These Halloween décor staples are part of a long and storied tradition that continues to well into our high-tech age of inflatable spooks and animatronic monsters. Part of our fascination with these old-world totems is the short lives that they lead; even shorter in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area given the high humidity still prevalent during our fall. The hot, humid weather can usually be counted on to prematurely kill our creations with mold, mildew and rot. Because we deal with mold issues, we have remedies for keeping your carved creations around for longer than a few days. We also have jack-o-lantern safety tips for keeping everyone safe during the preparation of a new pumpkin design.

Carving Safety

The best place to carve a pumpkin is outside, on a grassy area where the inside contents can fall without causing anyone to slip. Find a sturdy patio or picnic table and place newspapers over the work space. Cut open the top and scoop out all the seeds and fibrous strands; placing them in a bowl. Never dispose of the inside detritus in your sink – as it will hurt both the disposal and the plumbing. Place the pumpkin insides in a compost heap or a garbage can. After carving the pumpkin, you will want to dispose of the various pieces the same way.

Preservation

One of the best ways to preserve your creation, especially if you want to keep it on the porch for a prolonged period, is to soak it in a bleach and water solution. Exposing it to the bleach will keep it free from mold for at least a week. The sodium hypochlorite in the bleach kills the microorganisms that allow the pumpkin to rot. After you have carved the pumpkin, thoroughly wash out the inside with water – making sure to clean out all the fibrous material. Fill a bathtub (or large bucket) with three gallons of water and then add three teaspoons of bleach. Using a pair of plastic gloves, completely immerse the pumpkin into the water for a couple of minutes. You will need to hold it down as it will otherwise float. Remove the pumpkin from the solution and then let it air dry outside. This will ensure that your jack-o-lantern lives to light up the night for at least a week (it will also keep squirrels, birds and other animals from tearing into it as well).

Presentation

Part of the magic of a jack-o-lantern is the orange glow that comes from the candle placed inside. However, candles are not good for the interior and are a fire hazard. The best alternative to a wax candle is a flameless candle, which comes in a variety of designs. The best flameless candle for a jack-o-lantern is a flameless tea light – the kind that replicates the flickering of a burning wax candle. Glow sticks and small flashlights have also been used as light sources, but neither offers the flickering light of the compact tea lights. Flameless candles won’t heat up the interior of the pumpkin (which helps to prematurely age them) and will last much longer than wax candles. When you are finished with your jack-o-lanterns, you can reuse your tea lights for the next big holiday.

The staff at RestoPros hopes that you and your family have a safe and happy Halloween season. If you find yourself dealing with the specter of mold during the scariest time of year – don’t be afraid! We can help with a variety of remediation solutions that best suit your household. Call us at 855-587-3786 and schedule an appointment today!

Related Blogs:

Fall Maintenance and Mold Prevention

Mold Awareness Month