Foot Health Information

Flat roofs require more attention than traditional pitched roofs. Flat roofs are not completely flat- they do have a slight slope, usually 10 degrees. Flat roofs consist of a waterproofing layer over a building or residence. Water is directed to the drains, gutters, and downspouts due to the slight pitch. Flat roofs develop more problems than traditional pitched roofs, but these problems can be avoided by doing a little preventive maintenance. Regular inspection for cracks, flashings, nail heads and damage done due to the elements will eliminate the need for costly repairs. It is recommended that inspection of roofs be carried out at least twice a year.

Flat roofs are generally constructed by laying an asphalt roll or asphalt building paper. This is then mopped with hot asphalt liquid. A layer of crushed stone or gravel is then evenly embedded on the hot asphalt. It is advisable to use the services of a professional roofer due to the complex nature and skill requirements to do a thorough job. Special equipments are required to install a flat roof and it would prove expensive to the homeowner to buy these only for a one-time installation. However, homeowners can carry out preventive maintenance and small repairs on their own.

Careful inspection is the only way as crawling under the roof to detect pinholes of light on sunny days is ruled out, as flat roofs do not have any crawl space under them. This makes detecting the exact spot causing the leak difficult. Also water does not necessarily damage the spot from where it leaks inside; the damage could be a few feet away from the leak.

Some of the trouble spots you should inspect are

Exposed roofing nail heads.

Roof drains, around gutters, downspouts and other drainage systems.

Flashings such as chimneys, skylights, vents and other roof projections.

Areas where that are devoid of gravel.

Valleys

Roofing seams and at junctures with other roofs.

Look for discoloration in the gravel, as this is a clear indication of pooling causing the leak. Sometimes roofing gets pulled away from the base or the decking causing blisters, moisture accumulates in the space between the decking and roof membrane causing leaks. It is advisable to conduct roof inspection on moisture free cooler days. Also check the weather forecast to rule out the possibility of rain in the next two days. After inspection the next step is repairing your flat roof.

Carry all the essential tools that are required and also wear thick rubber soled boots. First sweep the roof and clear away all the loose material and gravel from the damaged area. Make a rectangular cut with a knife and straight ledge. Cut through all the damaged layers and remove the rectangular piece. Next cut a piece of the roll the exact size of the one you removed. Inside the cut out area, spread a layer of plastic roofing cement also spread a layer of the cement on the edges of the cut out area. Place the patch and nail it down with special roofing galvanized nails, space the nails two inches apart. A second patch usually four inches larger than the first one is then placed on the first patch after applying roofing cement on the first patch. Press the second patch firmly and nail it down with roofing nails and apply cement as was done on the first patch. Once the cement begins to set sweep the gravel over the patch.

This procedure seems fairly simple for you to do, in case you do not feel confident you may call a professional roofer to do the job.

Heavy Broken Spa Covers Waste Energy. I saw this advertised on line the other day. When I went to check out the guys website, guess what he’s selling? Rigid foam spa covers that will end up heavy or broken, usually within two years. To me this is like a coat salesman telling you wet wind breakers won’t keep you warm, here you need to buy this new dry wind breaker and go play outside in the rain.

Instead of selling you something that won’t get heavy or broken he keeps selling the same thing, hoping you won’t notice. If you have had to replace a spa cover because it got heavy, maybe the question you should ask before you buy the next one is, Why?

What causes the foam spa cover to get heavy is that it traps moisture inside. Rigid foam board is used in lots of insulation applications. It can be used around refrigeration storage areas like in a super market. Layers of foam board can insulate the cool storage area while the customer area can be kept comfortably warm. But in this type of installation the foam is not subjected to hot moist air. As long as the foam stays dry it has a predictable insulation value. But if the foam were to have moisture in it instead of the little air spaces it uses to insulate, it would have no insulation value at all.

If you wanted to produce the perfect environment for a rigid foam board to become saturated it would be to put it over a source of warm, humid, steam. You couldn’t get water into it faster even if you tied it to the bottom of your swimming pool. Why? Because water molecules are bigger than steam molecules. Steam can get into smaller spaces faster than water. And once the steam cools, it condenses back into water, displacing air in the foam as it does.

Long before you notice the spa cover getting heavy, moisture has begun to replace the air spaces in your cover. When it does, the little insulation value that cover might have had, goes down dramatically. From whatever it may have been when you first put it on your spa it has gone down to as much insulation as a wet piece of plywood by the time you actually notice it got heavy.

You might get fooled into thinking that it is still insulating well because snow won’t melt off it. Unfortunately, you would be wrong. Snow won’t melt off a frozen pond either but it doesn’t mean the ice is insulating the water. When snow falls on a saturated foam spa cover, it freezes the moisture in the cover because it is laying directly on the cover. The water of your spa is never in contact with the foam since the foam is resting way up on top of the acrylic of the spa, usually about a foot above the water surface. What’s happening is the warm spa water is evaporating into steam. That steam is rising, because that is what heat does, until it hits the bottom of the frozen spa cover. Then the steam cools and turns back into water. The water, now cooled, falls, because that’s what cold does, back into the warm spa water, cooling it off.

So if you wanted to invent a radiator to cool off your warm spa water this would be the perfect design. Put a block of frozen foam over the water. Load it up with snow so it will keep the spa cover frozen and stand back and watch the power meter spin. Instead of buying another rigid foam spa cover that will positively end up like the one you are replacing now, shop online for one that is designed better. Look for a spa cover that will insulate the water from the water surface, without rigid foam.

Does your house have a major mold problem? Then it is highly recommended that you hire a mold removal professional, and that is for several reasons. First, mold can cause health hazards. The combination of mold and the harsh chemicals used to get rid of mold can cause a broad variety of health issues including respiratory problems and aggravated allergies. Also, mold remediation can sometimes be really hard if you do not know the proper techniques to use.

But if the problem is not severe, and you would rather try to do it yourself, here are a few tips on how to get rid of the mold. First, you will want to turn off your ventilation systems, because these can spread the mold spores throughout the house. Make sure that the room is still well ventilated so that you can breathe well, though. Next, you will need to get some protective gear so that the mold will not affect your health.

You will want to wear disposable plastic gloves, a half-face respirator with a HEPA filter, and goggles or some other form of protective eyewear. You will also want to wear plastic disposable full body clothing such as a lab coat, and rubber boots or foot coverings.

Now that you are ready, you will want to clean and disinfect everything in the room, and then let it dry out completely. You will want to wash off non-porous surfaces such as metal, glass, solid wood, and plastic with hot water and a non-ammonia detergent. If you are cleaning surfaces that are not wet, you will want to mist them lightly with water before you clean them. This is because it is easier for dry mold spores to become airborne than wet ones. If the mold spores become airborne, they can lay dormant for months and then re-infest your house later. Disinfect items by using either bleach and water, or alcohol.

Finally, let the surfaces dry. Drying can take anywhere from a few days to a week, but if some mold spores were not cleaned off, they will not be able to grow again if the surfaces are dry. Carpets, upholstery and other porous items are harder to clean. You will need to clean them, disinfect them, and then wait for them to totally dry. If you see any re-growth of mold, you will either have to throw that item away or get a mold removal professional.

How dangerous is an overweight foam Spa Cover? Recently a friend was checking the chemicals in his spa. Rather than attempting removing the entire spa cover, he decided to just lift one side enough to get at the water long enough to get a sample. He bent over and supporting the heavy cover with his left arm while attempting to fill a sampling bottle with water from the spa to check the chemical content, and total alkalinity.

As he leaned over further, the weight of the water logged spa cover dislocated his left shoulder and allowed the cover to hit him on the back knocking him into the spa. He was now face down in the spa with his legs pinned to spa by the weight of the spa cover. His shoulder was dislocated and unlike the Mel Gibson character in Lethal Weapon, he was in agony because of a the pain. He tried to move but could not budge the weight of the waterlogged cover.

He began to choke as he swallowed spa water and tried to rise up but could barely get his head out of the water. With what could have been his last breath, he screamed for help. Fortunately he had left the door from the house to the deck open. His daughter and her boy friend heard the commotion and looked out to see his legs sticking out of the spa cover.

His daughter and her boy friend were able to lift the cover off of his legs. His daughters boy friend jumped into the hot tub and pulled him up from the water. They took him to the emergency room where they put his shoulder back in place and treated him for shock.

Women who have experienced both child birth and a dislocated shoulder report dislocating a shoulder as more intense than childbirth. I do not know about that, I suspect that with child birth you can prepare mentally for the pain and with the shoulder it comes at you unexpectedly. But either way I think we can agree the pain is excruciating.

My friend had owned a hot tub for 12 years and had replaced 3 conventional rigid foam core spa covers. While the life on the foam covers had averaged from 2 to 4 years, regardless of manufactures claims, all the covers became waterlogged. He has since bought a Spa Cover that uses air chambers to insulate rather than rigid foam. He is certain that the air filled spa cover will not try to kill him as the other foam cover did.

A lady friend of ours and her husband were in the hot tub with their rigid foam spa lid propped up against the wall. A gust of wind hit the spa cover and it suddenly fell hitting her husband on the head. The blow was hard enough to push them both under the water. Fortunately they were not trapped and they both recovered quickly, or so they thought.

A couple of days later the left side of her husbands face suddenly went DEAD. He had no feeling, sensation or movement. Naturally they both were quite frightened and thought he had suffered a stroke. They did exactly what any of us would do and rushed immediately to the hospital. The doctor diagnosed him with Bells Palsy which can be caused by stress and or trauma like a heavy spa cover hitting him on the head. He later made a full recovery. He was extremely lucky.

Here is something you will never hear from a foam spa cover dealer. Every year people are injured by foam hot tub covers. Most of the injuries have come from a gust of wind blowing the heavy foam cover onto people as they use their spa. Sometimes people attempting to carefully maneuver a saturated foam cover off their spa, have lost their grip and had the hard foam cover slam down breaking the arch of their foot.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission people have even been drowned when they have become trapped under heavy foam covers. Maybe now is a good time to search for a better spa cover. With the World Wide Web, you can literally have the world to shop from. Do you really want to risk injury or death trying to use your spa?