Easy Spring Cleaning...The Green Way!

   Spring has sprung once again, and although the weather hasn't officially warmed up long enough for us to notice, the spring cleaning bug has certainly bitten. As a business owner with an eye for eco-friendly solutions and cleaning methods, I thought it only fair to share my yearly tips for cleaning your own home with greener products that produce commercial results. If you've read any of my previous blogs, than you should be well aware of my fixation with a few simple household products that when combined in different combinations and quantities can clean the problem areas in your home. This time, I'll concentrate on the kitchen and bathroom, the two most frustrating places to keep clean. With a few commonly kept pantry staples, those two rooms can be cleaned the green way. Grab your white vinegar, baking soda and a little dish soap and lets get started with the first refresher course for 2013.

   Cleaning The Microwave - I use my microwave on a daily basis and the stains and smells can really build up quickly. But putting bleach or some commercial chemical cleaner in there really makes me nervous. I don't like bleach flavored re-heated ravioli. Simply take one cup of warm tap water and 1/4 cup of white vinegar, combine and place in a microwave safe bowl. Nuke it for two or three minutes on high power or until it actually boils but don't open the door yet. After the microwave has stopped, leave the door shut for five minutes so that the solution has some time to work, plus the hot vinegar odor can really make you choke a bit if its inhaled. But all is safe when the solution has a few minutes to cool. Open the door and wipe down the sides, door, base and plate with a clean rag dampened with warm water. The spills and stains should wipe right up and the past odors will be gone. Vinegar is great at odor neutralizing. 

   Kitchen Appliance Cleaning - Between your stove, oven, sink, coffee maker and stand mixer, cleaning your kitchen can seem like a never ending job. But you don't want to put chemicals anywhere that food might be next. You can simply clean items like your stand mixer with a sponge, a bit of dish soap ad some white vinegar. For tougher areas like the stove top or the grout between your kitchen tiles, you can make an all purpose scrubbing/scouring paste. Take 1/4 cup of baking soda and add 1 tbsp of dish soap and just a very small splash of white vinegar (enough to make the mix moist). Get out your scrub brush, a few clean rags and a sponge and start cleaning. This awesome paste does a great job of cleaning burnt on food and tough stains. Apply, scrub and/or let stand for tougher jobs. Then all you have to do is rinse the area well. I recommend using very warm water and a terry cloth towel so that you're sure there is no residue of the paste left over.

   Bathroom Cleaning - Using the cleaning paste I mentioned above, you can take care of your bathroom grout and any other tough looking stain in sight. Enough said.

   Toilet Cleaning - I hate this particular job the most so i was happy to find a very easy solution. Squirt a ring of dish soap under the rim of the toilet and then spray with that good old white vinegar. Grab your toilet brush and give the bowl a good scrubbing and there you have it. Just flush and you're done. But don't forget to leave the toilet seat down. That's a felony in my house!

   Shower And Tub Cleaning - You can use just a little dish soap and vinegar for the every day cleaning, or for tougher jobs, once again, use the scouring/scrubbing paste that I previously mentioned and your trusty scrub brush. Just remember to rinse well. As for the shower head, lime scale and hard water can really clog it up. Simply take a zip-top baggie and fill with vinegar. Place the bag of vinegar over the shower head and use a rubber band to secure. Leave it for an hour or two and that's it. C'mon, how simple is that?! You don't even have to remove the shower head to clean it!

   Vinegar, baking soda and a little dish soap can really go far when your cleaning. These solutions are simple, cheap and effective when you're cleaning the bathroom and kitchen. For more green cleaning solutions, check out www.bowermancarpetcleaning.com and stay tuned for my next cleaning blog. Happy Spring Cleaning!

So Much Rain, So little Time

The past few weeks here in Westchester County have been quite, well, wet. Maybe its just me but it seems that April, the month that's supposed to be rainy, wasn't, and May and June were. Regardless, the rain was here and supposedly there is more to come. So I want to remind all of you to protect your property from the potential hazards that come along with heavy rains.

Making sure your gutters are in proper working order is a top priority. They should be cleaned every year to remove debris like leaves and sticks. The only way that a gutter can do its job is when its clear of obstructions. The gutters are supposed to carry water away from your house and foundation. So often I see gutters that have down-spouts that are pointed directly towards the foundation of the home. This will only lead to one conclusion, when heavy rains come, the water will find its way into your basement or first level via the porous concrete. Take my advice and do a proper walk through of your property. Make sure your down spouts are directed away from your home.

While we are talking about walk throughs, inspect the rest of your property for other red flags. If you see any broken or dead branches that could potentially damage your roof or home, have the branches removed. All it takes is one strong gust of wind, and that branch could wind up damaging your roof, windows, or worse. Once you have damage on your roof, water is likely to follow. Don't take a chance with the safety of your home.

The next time a heavy rain storm comes, take a walk around the perimeter of you house. Check the ground for any pooling water or heavy puddling around the foundation. Sometimes, if the ground has not been properly leveled or graded, the rain water will pool very close to your home. French drain systems and dry-wells are common solutions to re-directing water away from the foundation of your house.

If you have an underground sprinkler system, be sure to have it professionally checked. Faulty sprinkler heads can directly place water right at your front door. Broken pipes or underground lines can lead to massive flooding. Proper maintenance will keep your grass green and your house dry.

Be sure that if you do have a basement that is prone to water infiltration, you have a sufficient number of sump pumps. If you are concerned about losing power to your sump pumps, you might want to consider having an alternative source of power installed. Generators have become very popular since Hurricane Irene occurred in the summer of 2011. Many of us lost power for long stretches of time, rendering our sump pumps useless. Back up generators can be a lifesaver. They come in a variety of sizes, price-ranges and use several different sources of power.

Lastly, household maintenance is a sure-fire way to prevent water damage in your home. Having items like water heaters, air conditioners, heating systems, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers inspected and maintained by certified professionals is the only way to ensure their properly working. These items are notorious for causing damage to homes. There is no way to prevent complete accidents from occurring, but you can drastically reduce the potential with simple, regularly scheduled maintenance.

Water damage is the number one cause of damage for our customers in particular. It can destroy a lifetime of memories in a matter of hours. Please remember, water damage can lead to even more disastrous situations like mold infestation. Keeping your home and family safe from the elements of Mother Nature is the only way to reduce your risk for expensive remediations.

Flooded Basements and Wet Feet in Elmsford, NY

Yesterday and into today, we were given some much needed rain. But it fell pretty hard and fast, causing some  areas to get flooded. We received a call already from a client in Elmsford, NY who's basement has several inches of water in it. When your home or business is located in in low-lying areas like Elmsford, NY, you are at greater risk for water infiltration, even with a small amount of rain. And if you have a basement, you can assume that the water will be headed for it because when it comes to water, gravity rules.

If you cant afford a total home makeover, I suggest starting with the least expensive option, buy a sump pump, or two. The sump pumps should be placed in the lowest points of your basement and having more than one pump will provide back up in case the something goes wrong with the other. Two is always better than one. If water enters your basement, the sump pumps will turn on and do their job, removing the excess water and expelling it into a slop sink, drain, bucket or outside. But installing your sump pump properly is very important. As I saw too frequently during Hurricane Irene, many home and business owners lost power, thus, making their sump pumps obsolete. The solution is simple, have your sump pumps installed properly and have a backup power source. Even a small generator that runs on any alternative power will do the trick, as long as you do proper maintenance on a regular basis. The very last thing that you would want to happen is to have the power go out and get to your basement only to discover that your generator will not start.

A more advanced solution to flooding basements is to have a french drain system installed below the soil line around the perimeter of your homes foundation. These systems carry excess water away from your home and the ground surrounding it and expel it into the street or to an underground dry well. The perforated pipes can be a material as simple as PVC or more advanced materials depending on your needs. French drain systems can be installed professionally or by a savvy do-it-yourselfer. The choice is yours.

Finally, there are several professional companies that provide basement systems to prevent any water infiltration. These basement sealing systems have proven very effective, and many times are guaranteed for years by the company that installs it. Without getting into every step of the process, they seal out water from entering your basement, from floors to walls, interior to exterior. But each home is different and some companies have a variety of materials and methods.

Educating yourself about the options that are available to you can save you a headache in the long run. Preventing water damage in your home is essential. As my Dad always says, "An ounce of prevention is worth its weight in gold!"......... I think he just makes this stuff up out of thin air (LOL) ! Stay dry out there!

Don't Rip Up That Wet Hardwood Floor Just Yet!

A few months ago, we completed a fairly large restoration job in Scarsdale, NY. The homeowners had a significant amount of water damage to their home after several days of heavy rains. Because their house sits at the lowest part of a steeply inclined street, their house is the prime target for excess runoff from heavy rains, or any water for that matter. Being new homeowners, they had begun to update areas of the house to suit their personal tastes. One of the first things they did was installing beautiful hardwood floors throughout the basement. They were trying to create an upscale game room and the pictures that they showed me were really impressive. unfortunately, the heavy rainfall created alot of excess water, and water, as we know, seeks the lowest possible place to settle. It just so happens that the lowest point was their newly finished basement. They were devastated, to say the least. There was several inches of water covering their brand new hardwood floors when I arrived.
The clients assumed that their hardwood floors would have to be ripped out and replaced because of the warping they had begun to see after we extracted the water. It's actually not always the case. In this particular instance, we were able to successfully salvage their floors. Depending on how long the floors were exposed to the water, how much water actually penetrated the wood, and several other factors can determine if your floors can be saved. An experienced restoration company will have the tools to properly assess the damage and the equipment to properly fix it. The equipment that I use in scenarios where there are wet hardwood floors uses air that is directly injected under and in-between the planks or panels of wood. It can take several days of drying to properly salvage the floors, but only experienced technicians should be handling these types of repairs. It's important that flooring, among other fixtures, dry slowly, evenly and thoroughly. This principle actually applies to most damaged parts of the structure.
If your home suffers water damage, the best thing to do is to call a reputable disaster restoration company (preferably mine....shameless plug......I know). Next, take a deep breath and let the professionals do what you hired them to do. A great restoration company will have employees that can answer all of your questions and concerns, the proper equipment to do the job and a plan of action to properly handle the situation. If they don't, call another company!

Restoring Damaged Rugs

When it comes to a disaster, there is a list of to-do's that can be a mile long. One of the things that we specialize in, is restoring damaged rugs, such as Orientals, antiques, and heirloom rugs. When your home gets flooded, has a sewage leak, fire, or soot damage and your cherished rug gets caught in the mix, many times we can salvage, if not restore your rug. In certain cases, such as a fire, if a rug becomes so badly damaged that it costs more to fix than the actual value of the rug, than I would typically reccomend not bothering. But let's say there is only a small part of the rug that was damaged, then of course I would tell the client to do the repair. Many times, when a basement gets flooded, and it has wall-to-wall carpeting, we can remove the excess water and dry out the space so that we can eventually clean the carpets. But if you have a flood and the water has sat for over 72 hours, it is no longer considered "salvageable" by most industry standards. Usually we would reccomend removing both the carpet and padding underneath it to prevent any chances of mold growth. There are so many things that can damage rugs and carpeting; holes, ripped fringe, insect damage, flooding, burns, soot, and wear and tear in general. When you need an honest opinion and an honest estimate, give us a call. We have been proudly servicing all areas of Westchester County including, Scarsdale, Larchmont, Rye, Bedford, Chappaqua, New Rochelle, as well as NYC and Connecticut for generations.

MICHAEL BOWERMAN - PRESIDENT
BOWERMAN RESTORATION LLC & MICHAEL BOWERMAN CARPET CLEANING, INC.
17 JEAN LANE, HARTSDALE, NY 10530

WEB:   http://www.bowermanrestoration.com/
WEB:   http://www.bowermancarpetcleaning.com/
E-MAIL:   michael@bowermanrestoration.com
CELL:   914-804-5737
OFFICE:   914-674-1499
TOLL FREE:   800-638-4799