Quality Life Blog

Take A Look At Some Of The Work We Have Done Recently Protecting your basement from the potential of water damage is an important part of owning any home. Most recently we installed a sump pump system and basement drainage in a house off of Mason Rd. in St Louis. Take a look at our installation process for several of the services we do. Our trained staff will quickly and neatly remedy any basement...

Winterizing Your Home Utilize Ceiling Fans Most ceiling fans come with a switch that will change the direction of the blade rotation from counterclockwise to clockwise. This clockwise rotation circulates the warm air that is trapped against the ceiling down into the room, thus making the room feel warmer without turning up the heat. Seal Doors and Windows According to the U.S. Department of Energy...

Sump Pump Maintenance and Backup Battery Systems Properly maintaining your sump pump is crucial to avoiding costly basement repairs and restoration. Many homeowners install their sump pump and forget about the system entirely until a heavy downpour threatens to overwhelm their pump. To avoid sump pump failure, most maintenance should be conducted once every three months and should include the foll...

Structural vs. Non-Structural Foundation Cracks Seeing cracks in your foundation walls or floor? Cracking can be the result of site conditions, building history, normal curing processes, changes in temperature, foundation settlement, or applied loads, among other issues. While care needs to be taken in diagnosing these cracks, your foundation may not be in such dire straits as you think. Shrinkage...

How to Create an Awesome Outdoor Space Make It Cozy Buy cushioned seating, big chairs, and extra padded lounge furniture for your outdoor space. Your outdoor space should be just as inviting as your indoor space, so don’t skimp on the throw pillows and indoor-outdoor rugs for a little extra dimension and color. Consider building a fire pit, which will enhance the coziness of your space, especially...

Smell Musty? Time to Breathe Easy Many basements, even basements in newer homes, have trouble with mustiness and poor air quality. Reasons for this can include excess moisture, lack of air circulation, lack of cleaning, and mold and mildew growth. Moisture is the most common issue that causes musty odors and poor air quality. The excess water that comes into your home due to poor drainage, leaking...

Gardening Tips for the Clueless Gardener Confession time: I don’t have a green thumb. I have killed cactus. I can easily imagine that plants shudder in horror when I get too close. Until this past year, the only plant that has survived while in my care was a Golden Pothos plant, a hardy little vining plant that requires a drought, a swarm of locusts, and a bazooka to kill. Though I have since boug...

The Signs of Poor Yard Drainage 1. Clogged Gutters Clogged gutters are a tell-tale sign of problems to come. Clogs force water that should be draining down the downspouts to flood over the edge of the gutter and pool too close to the foundation – potentially ruining sliding and paint in the process. Clogged gutters are obvious in a downpour; other signs include streaks of dirt on the outside of gu...

Making Your Basement More Livable Let’s face it - sometimes finishing the basement just isn’t in the budget. Instead of leaving the basement empty or utilizing the whole basement as a large storage area, consider expanding your living space with these simple fixes. Area Rugs – Area rugs are a much cheaper option than carpeting the entire floor. Area rugs define a space and give it a cozier feel. H...

Gutter Cleaning and Maintenance While checking off all those items on your spring cleaning list, don’t forget to clean out the gutters as well. Gutters that aren’t properly maintained allow debris to build up in the gutters, which can cause water to pool up against the fascia boards or overflow too close to the foundation below. Prep for Cleaning Make sure that it hasn’t rained in a while, as clea...

DIY Leak Detection In most cases, the amount of water running into a home is measured for utility billing. Sudden increases in the water bill may not actually be due to price increases, but a leak somewhere in a home’s water supply lines. Even a slow, seeping water leak wastes gallons of water and has the potential to create high utility bills and damage over time. Though water leaks are often due...

Basement Flooding Clean-Up Homeowners typically understand that water infiltration and leaks can be expensive, but many may not be aware of how expensive it can be. Even with just an inch of standing water, carpets, flooring, hard wood, drywall, baseboards, electronics, and furniture can be destroyed. Mold grows rapidly in moist environments, and can produce health concerns such as asthma and othe...

7 Steps to Help Prevent Basement Flooding Basement flooding can happen quickly without warning, and can be extremely expensive. Damages due to flooding often take days or weeks to repair. Homeowners must also worry about mold spores, which appear roughly 24-48 hours after a flood. Even small amounts of mold can aggravate asthma or cause other serious health issues. The good news: the risk of basem...

Basement Water Infiltration: The Basics Water infiltration is a concern for many homeowners. Water can push up under the foundation at the seams between the floor and the wall, or through cracks in the walls themselves. These conditions are often due to a high water table, hydrostatic pressure, and the normal shrinkage of concrete. In geological terms, the water table is the level below which the ...

Preventing Cold-Weather Damage While heavy winter accumulation is not as commonplace in the Midwest as in the northern States, cold weather can still be the bane of many homeowners in the Midwest. Side effects of cold weather, such as burst pipes and ice dams, have the potential to cause serious and costly damage to a home. Homeowners can help prevent cold-weather damage by following some simple, ...