home improvement at Home Improvement, Remodeling, Toxic Black Mold & Mortgage Refinance Blog

Bedroom placement	Bedrooms are best located away from the entrance and heavy traffic areas to best serve your need for restful sleep.
Placement of the bed	The head of the bed is best against a solid wall for “support” and to maintain energy levels. Place bed in the “position of power” i.e. diagonally opposite the door so that you can see the door from where you lie. If this is not possible, at least reflect the door with a small mirror. Avoid placing the bed so your feet face towards the door or a mirror as this can “drain your energy”. Avoid a view of yourself in a mirror when lying in bed. It is best to lie in a supportive direction for you (more on this later)
Mirrors	Mirrors in the bedroom produce Yang Chi and can disturb sleep and drain your chi. Minimise, remove or cover at night.
Other rooms	The bathroom/toilet is a Yang space and should be closed off from the bedroom. Close the door to the ensuite or bathroom if it located near your room. If your bedroom is at the end of a corridor, chi will tend to flow too quickly into your room. Slow it down by clever placement of solid objects in the corridor to encourage the chi to “flow” in curves; or hang a lead-cut crystal ball from the ceiling; also try partially closing your door at night.
Under the bed	All objects have a quality of chi. Check out the quality of chi under your bed. Clutter can indicate an overly active mind. Boxes of old “stuff” can indicate that you are hanging onto “old stuff” that may not serve you. Think about what the objects represent and try to relate them you’re your life situation. There will no doubt be a parallel. Keep clear and clean Get rid of the clutter by throwing out what you do not need (be ruthless) and storing the other elsewhere.
Colour	Soft pastels or darker tones are more likely to contribute to Yin chi than bright colours or busy tones like tartans and swirls.(More details on colour to come)
Windows	Keep window coverings simple yet effective to reduce glare. Darkened rooms are best, particularly for women, as sleeping in a light room can contribute to hormone imbalance.
Above the bed	Avoid pictures or any object that may hang over your head – beams, mobiles, pictures on the wall behind the bed.
Kids rooms	While similar rules apply to kids rooms, children generally enjoy more Yang energy so bright colours and pictures depicting movement are okay. Encourage your child to choose their own colours (if they are old enough). Kids are very intuitive and generally know what is best for them. A bookcase will encourage reading and studious behaviour.

By: Brian Dineen/RCAC

You have evaluated the neighborhood and find that your improvement is consistent with general aesthetic and size parameters. You plan to remain in the house for some time. You find that a second mortgage payment will not strain your current monthly budget. You feel you can devote a certain amount of time towards planning the project. And finally, you are really sick of waiting in line to go to the bathroom in your own house!

Your next step is to create a project budget. Decide how long you plan on staying in your home. The length of time you intend to stay in a home will affect how much money you should invest in it. If you are going to stay in the home for more than ten years, you should spend as much as you are able to create the home of your dreams. Make a list of all your debts. You should include any debts you pay on a monthly basis, such as mortgages, car loans, credit cards, and any other items with a fixed monthly payment. This list should not include payments for groceries, utilities, telephone services, or other general expenses. Call this list your monthly expenses. Determine your total gross monthly income. Include all sources of income that you would list on a loan application.

You are ready to determine a project budget. Use the following steps for this process; I have plugged numbers into the formulas to demonstrate how each works.

STEP 1

Lenders use a simple Debt-to-Income (DTI) ratio to determine if a homeowner can afford the additional debt of a remodeling project.

DTI
Enter Your Total Monthly Expenses $2,860.00
Add the Estimated Monthly Payment for the Project + $ 775.67
Total $3,635.67
Divide the Total by Your Gross Monthly Income $7,950.00
DTI = 45.7%

Each lender will approve loans at a specific DTI percentage (most lenders will tell you what their set DTI ratio is, if you ask). In this example, let us assume that the lender accepts DTI ratios of 45 percent. You are right at the cusp of qualifying. Provided your credit rating is good and you have plenty of equity in your home you will most likely be approved for this loan.

STEP 2

The next step is to determine the maximum monthly payment you can afford for remodeling. Multiply your monthly gross income amount by the lender’s maximum DTI allowance, and subtract your current total monthly expenses, excluding the estimated remodeling payment.

Gross Monthly Income $7,950.00
Lender’s DTI ratio x .45
Subtotal $3,577.50
Less Total Monthly Expenses - $2,860.00
Maximum Affordable Payment = $ 717.50

Use this figure to determine the maximum available to you to borrow. In this case we assume that the home improvement loan is a fifteen year note at seven percent. The maximum you can borrow is forty-seven thousand dollars for your project given this monthly payment. There are many different options you can explore with your lender during this process. These options can sometimes increase the amount you can borrow; it is best to discuss this thoroughly with lenders. We discuss financing in more detail in the next section.

STEP 3

The final consideration for your budget is if there is any available cash to supplement what you borrow for the project. These are funds not being set aside for future financial obligations such as retirement, college, or other major purchases (like a new car). They are not required for monthly or general expenses as well. In this example let us assume that you have three thousand dollars in excess funds available for the project. This brings your maximum project budget to fifty thousand dollars.

The budget now becomes the overriding parameter that drives the project. Every decision from this point forward is made according to the limits set by the budget. The next thing to consider is the percentage of the budget necessary for contingencies. Contingencies are unexpected items that present themselves during the course of the project. The guideline is to set aside between five and twenty percent of your budget for contingencies. The actual percentage depends upon the complexity of the project. For instance, a new roof generally does not require other ancillary items be repaired or altered in order to install the roof. Therefore the minimum contingency of five percent is usually sufficient. On the other hand, a large addition to your home involves many more trades and materials that likely require the maximum contingency of twenty percent. As a rule if any portion of your existing walls, floors, or ceilings must be demolished or opened up in order to install the new materials you need a contingency towards the maximum. Although a professional architect and/or contractor have vast knowledge of the construction process he or she does not have X-ray vision. Often times there are situations that complicate construction contained within these areas that cannot possibly be known about until the area is opened. For our example we will assume you are putting on a small kitchen addition (referred to as a “bump-out”). Since you will have to open up an existing wall but the work area is concentrated to a small portion of the house a contingency of fifteen percent should suffice.

This means that the budget for actual construction that you present to the architect is forty-two thousand five hundred dollars. This is the parameter you want your design professional to use. You hold the seven thousand five hundred dollars in reserve to address any unforeseen expenses that occur once the project begins. You protect yourself from scrambling for extra funds in the middle of the upgrade; if you do not use all of the contingency, and there is no rule that says you have to, then you complete your project under budget (heretofore an unheard of occurrence in remodeling)!

Does Remodeling Boost Your Market Value?

Before you drop $25,000 for a major remodeling or renovation job, it certainly helps to know if that investment will pay off when you sell your home. Will it add $25,000 to the resale value of your home, or just make life more comfortable (or expensive)? It’s important information but don’t rely on remodeling industry statistics to provide it, says Kenneth Harney in The Nation’s Housing.

Remodeling Magazine publishes the annual “Cost vs. Value Report,” a nationwide survey that measures the possible return on investment for various remodeling projects when it comes time to sell. It takes a look at 60 regional real estate markets and 12 types of remodeling projects ranging from kitchen and bath renovations to windows and siding. Through a survey of real estate professionals, the report tries to measure how much and how fast the expenditure will add to a home’s resale value.

But the results obtained from these surveys is highly variable, extremely suspect and fraught with potential conflicts of interest, says Harney. Some of the results don’t make sense from a state or regional perspective, either. In the 1998 study, for example, a $10,000 kitchen renovation returns 45 percent of its value in Hartford, Connecticut. That same renovation, however, returns a whopping 125 percent in New Haven. The margin of error might have something to do with the methodology, says Harney, which isn’t backed by actual sales transactions or appraisals. Similar discrepancies show up in nearly every state and region.

Professional appraisers suggest looking at some basic factors in determining how much money you’ll get back from a remodeling expenditure:

1 - Consider Neighborhood Norms.
Compare your home to similar homes in the neighborhood, and apply common sense to the decision. For example, if your home has only one bathroom while most homes have two or more, then it might make sense to install one. But don’t go all out on a luxury, $40,000 master bath with sauna. Maybe a half-bathroom will suffice.

2 - Expensive Isn’t Always Better.
Sometimes the cheapest renovations offer the highest returns. Exterior paint and landscaping improvements can add considerable “curb appeal,” boosting your home’s salability. Basement rec rooms or swimming pools, on the other hand, tend to be losers.

3 - What’s the Demand?
Always look at your area and the real estate market’s relative strength. If homes are consistently selling like hotcakes, then chances are people will pay for your remodeling improvements. Also make sure you get your neighbors’ opinions and possibly a professional real estate appraiser’s assessment of your particular plan.

When to Consider Mortgage Payoff

Read the entire article here

What is Mortgage Payoff?

Mortgage payoff is a financial maneuver whereby you pay slightly more each month in order to payoff your mortgage faster. For many people increasing the amount they pay on their mortgage is something that is very difficult to be able to afford. On the other hand, dividing the total amount in half and perhaps adding a little bit and making two smaller monthly payments seems much easier. Another option is making one mortgage payment every two weeks. This works particularly well for individuals who get paid every 2 weeks. Both of these options, while not adding a great deal to the amount you are paying per month result in a faster mortgage payoff because they do reduce the principle at a steady rate.

Why Do Mortgage Payoff?

Any little bit that you are able to afford to pay ahead on your mortgage will reap amazing savings over the term of your mortgage. Some mortgages only allow a certain amount of flexibility in the amount you are allowed to pay ahead. For that reason, you might want to discuss the wisdom of renegotiating your mortgage to allow better mortgage payoff options. The amount that you can save through mortgage payoff is likely well worth the refinancing fees. In most cases it is entirely possible to save in excess of $20,000 over the term of your mortgage. Not to mention that the length of the loan can be reduced by more than 2 years with a relatively small increase in payments.

For the first time since the beginning of the Consumer Federation of America consumer complaints survey, this year home improvement/home construction passed auto sales and auto repair as the top generator of consumer complaints.

This news confirms a long slide in consumer confidence in the building and construction industry. It also illustrates, once again, the lack of any governing body to regulate the remodeling/construction industry. We regulate Realtors who sell the new and previously owned houses, but we don’t regulate the people who build or improve them.

For years, homeowners have been telling me how difficult it is to even find anyone to work on some of the smaller jobs we all need to do around our homes. Here’s the problem: people who don’t have a lot of experience or expertise in construction or home maintenance are out there right now trying to work on these homes across the country. As a result, homeowners are finding that the jobs are not being completed to their satisfaction. Sometimes they are even prepaying for services that don’t get done.

This does not just apply to home improvement or handypersons working on small projects. New construction and new home building is generating just as many complaints. Too many homebuyers are only worried how many square feet or how big a house they can afford and not how the home is constructed and the quality of that construction. Trust me folks, the technology and products are out there now to build a home that is both energy efficient and low maintenance if the homebuyer and builder want to spend the time and money to build it that way. The problem today is homebuyers are more worried about what color carpeting they are going to install and the color scheme of the house rather than the walls and floors themselves.

There are ways to build a quality home but it takes a little more time and effort and – yes - a little more money, too. Let’s imagine two homes constructed side-by-side. One was constructed using all of the newest products and techniques available in the industry today and is 1,800 square feet. The second home, totaling 2,000 square feet, is built using less expensive materials and services, but acceptable under the code restrictions. Both houses may be the same price, but buyers seem to opt for the extra square footage and don’t seem to worry about the quality of construction.

Personally, I believe homebuyers would worry more about the construction quality if they were educated how a home really should be built as well as the great new products and services now available. Most home builders are aware of these facts, but are hesitant to build with this type of quality or expense because they aren’t convinced homebuyers want to spend that extra money for something they cannot see. The builders are also unconvinced because the products or services don’t add any extra square footage to the home. Many believe this is a “bottom line” for homeowners. This is a shame!

The problem, then, is twofold. If homebuyers will just quit buying cheaply made homes, the builders will be stuck with them and will be forced to stop building them. If builders will just build every home as if they were going to live there themselves, then perhaps homebuyers will have confidence their home purchase will not cost them an arm and a leg to maintain and fix each year.

We have to work both sides of the fence here. Homeowners need to be educated not only on how a home should be constructed but the products to use to make their home the quality purchase they expect. Likewise, home builders need to inform the buyers as to why they are building the home a certain way and why it is going to cost a little more than the one down the street.

In the coming weeks in this column, I will discuss how a home should be built and more importantly, how to hire a contractor or builder to do those building projects around your home as well as how to protect yourself from some of the ones that just really don’t know what they are doing.

~ Jimmy

Let’s tackle the in-depth, do-it-yourself cleaning projects.

Walls: The walls are covered with a winter’s worth of grease, dirt and all-around yuck. You can make painted walls a couple of shades lighter with a good cleaning. Use 2 ounces dry measure of trisodium phosphate (TSP) per gallon of water. If the kitchen walls are greasy, add 1/2 cup of household ammonia per gallon of the TSP solution. You can also use Dirtex instead of TSP.

Wall washing is an excellent two-person job. Each person should be equipped with a 2 1/2-gallon bucket, a long-handled sponge mop, rubber gloves and goggles. One person’s bucket is filled with the cleaning solution. The other person’s bucket is filled with rinse water. The long-handled sponge mops keep you from having to bend, stretch, or climb a ladder. Start from the bottom and work up. The first person applies a liberal amount of cleaning solution. After letting the solution work for a couple of minutes, the second person finishes the job with the rinse water. Change the rinse water at least every wall.

Cabinets & counter tops: Use a 2-ounce-per-gallon solution of Simple Green or Clear Magic to get rid of the stickies. Follow up with a thin coat of Doozy Furniture Polish by Mr. Furniture Finish Products. It’s a secret weapon used by the pros and will bring back the luster to counter tops.

Wallpaper: Mix up a 40- or 50-to-1 solution of a general purpose cleaner such as Simple Green or Clear Magic (that’s about 2 ounces of cleaning solution to a bucket of water) and put it in a spray bottle. Spritz on and wipe off.

Clean delicate wallpaper and lampshades with the brush attachment to the vacuum cleaner. If very dirty, wipe them down with the Soot & Dirt Remover sponge. This sponge can also be used for cleaning acoustical tiles or any surface you want to clean without water.

Vinyl flooring: Use a 50-to-1 solution of Simple Green. If you have to strip wax or acrylic build-up I suggest New Beginnings Floor Cleaner and Stripper by Armstrong. To put the shine back on, apply Armstrong’s Shine Keeper.

Hardwood floors: For light cleaning just spritz on liquid glass cleaner WITHOUT AMMONIA and damp mop. Do not use any product with ammonia. It can damage your expensive hardwood. For tougher work use a specialized cleaning product such as Clean ’n Strip Wood Cleaner by Bruce or Enforcer Products’ Hardwood Floor.

Tile & grout: Clean the tile with a general cleaner or a specialized tile cleaner like Armstrong Floor Cleaner for No Wax & Ceramic Tile Floors.

Clean grout with a specialized grout cleaner from Tile Helper, Tile Pro, Aqua Mix or SCI (Stone Care International). Then seal the grout with a liquid penetrating grout sealer by the same company.

Grout is best cleaned on hands and knees with a cuticle brush. This is strong stuff so wear rubber gloves and goggles. Dip the brush into the cleaner and scrub the grout, then rinse with water. When clean and dry, seal with a liquid penetrating grout sealer. The sealer closes the profile of the grout and keeps it looking good longer.

Windows: To clean inside windows use a solution of 4 ounces of household ammonia and 1 teaspoon of liquid hand dish washing detergent to a gallon of water. Apply with a sponge, then remove the solution with a squeegee. Wipe up drips from sills with an old bath towel.

If the temperature is over 50 and you have really dirty windows outside, use 2 ounces of TSP, 4 ounces of white vinegar and a gallon of water.

Where to find products: Most of these cleaners are available at good hardware stores and home centers. You’ll also find strippers and specialized cleaning products at cleaning supply stores.

Good Luck from ‘The Crew.’

You can find a lot of information on mold, but trying to understand it may be difficult to those who didn’t take biology and chemistry. Even after stumbling through the pronunciation of these words, not everyone can comprehend what was meant by the statement.

“Satratoxin, a low-molecular weight non-volatile organically derived agent, belongs to the macrocyclic trichothecene class of mycotoxins generated from fungal microorganisms.”

As an aid to the homeowner, this overview is intended to explain a few bad products of mold in a less scientific manner. It will focus on those types of mold that have been considered as problematic to the “indoor mold issue” and does not address other fungal organisms which may behave differently. Analogies presented are not intended to be scientifically accurate, but rather to illustrate complex behaviors in more simple terms.

For mold, the root system is made up of hyphae (high-fee). As hyphae grows into a mass during the vegetative state,it becomes a mycelium (my-sill-ee-um). The spores, designed for reproduction, are similar to seeds.

Like a weed, mold needs food and water to survive (yes, both need more than that, however, we are simplifying things here). For mold, the food of preference is organic matter (things that once were living). Indoors, those things are wood, paper, organic dust and dirt, leather, skin flakes, body oils, etc.

When mold spores that are floating around in the air land on a food source, they sit there patiently waiting for water. If the item they land on should contain sufficient moisture, or water comes from another source (leaks, etc.), the spore germinates and hyphae grows. The hyphae branch out, secrete enzymes to breakdown the food, form the mycelium, and absorb nutrients to grow. As long as the food and water hold out, colonies will continue to grow. Note that individual hyphae and spores are very, very small and few can see them without a microscope. When you see visible mold, you are generally seeing that mass of mycelium.

Hyphae can intertwine into the fibers of the substrate, penetrating the pores. As it consumes the substrate, it can also create it’s own route by dissolving pathways into the material. This is one of the reasons it is so difficult to kill and/or clean up mold on organic substrates. If you remove the surface growth, those bits of hyphae within the substrate are ready for re-growth upon the return of moisture.

As the organism matures, it develops spores intended for reproduction. Spores vary in size, shape, weight and methods of distribution. Some are light and buoyant so they float easily through the air. Others are wet and sticky and may cling to insects, rodents, etc. as a mode of travel.

Volatile Organic Compounds

As mold “consumes” it’s food, the chemical reactions of enzymes, substrates and mold growth produce carbon dioxide, water, and volatile organic compounds (VOC’s). Because these items are a result of actions essential to the growth of the organism, they are classified as primary metabolites.

For mold, many types of VOC’s are produced and typically include aldehydes, alcohols, keytones, and hydrocarbons. They have complex structures and names like “2-methyl-1-propanol”, so if you are going to dig deeper into VOC’s, get ready for chemistry class.

They are called volatile in that they evaporate easily at room temperature and pressure. Fortunately, this volatility aids in dilution with fresh air to minimize concentrated build-up of these chemicals. Testing for VOC’s is often accomplished by using vacuum cylinders to obtain samples of the air with laboratory analysis obtained from sophisticated test instruments (gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer).

When you smell a “musty-moldy” odor, it’s generally the VOC’s you are noticing. VOC’s are often considered irritants to mucus membranes, however, are also capable of both short-term and long-term adverse health effects. If you do smell these odors, it’s a sure sign the mold is consuming and growing and you need to take action. (Note that VOC’s may also be derived from non-mold sources including natural materials used in cleaning agents.)

Toxins

Many molds are capable of producing compounds called mycotoxins which are toxic to other organisms, including people. Mycologists believe these toxins are produced as protection against competing organisms and therefore, humans are simply caught in the cross-fire of this fight for survival.

Since these toxins are not essential for growth, they are classified as secondary metabolites. Toxic secondary metabolites require extra work on the part of the organism so production does not occur at all times, or, with all types of mold.

Scientists have identified over 400 mycotoxins and unlike VOC’s, these compounds are usually non-volatile (don’t evaporate easily at room temperature and pressure). One strain of mold may produce multiple toxins and one type of toxin may be produced by multiple strains of mold. Research has indicated that the type of substrate (nutrients), the growing conditions, together with the species of mold, will impact which toxins are created.

Some of these toxic substances are considered extremely hazardous to people, unfortunately, quantified human dose-response data is limited. Lab and field studies have shown these compounds to produce severe toxic effects in both animals and humans and therefore, the general recommendation is to minimize exposure to potentially toxigenic mold. Symptoms from toxic exposure range from flu-like symptoms, skin rashes and lesions, bleeding, fatigue, difficulty breathing, depression, etc. to longer-term nerve and organ problems, altered immunity, and cancer.

Not all secondary metabolites are considered bad for people…the antibiotics such as penicillin have beneficial use. However, from the mycological standpoint, antibiotics are considered mycotoxins since they too are generated by mold to ward off microorganisms (i.e. competing bacteria).

When the organism is producing toxins, the toxins are known to be present in the cell wall of spores and hyphae. It’s relatively easy to test for spores and hyphae, however, testing these components to see if they contain toxins is significantly more complex. Whereas a single spore can be viewed under a microscope, identifying what compounds are contained in the cell wall is difficult.

In order to identify these toxic compounds, laboratories must have a sufficient quantity of toxin-containing spores and carefully process them through sophisticated and expensive equipment that is capable of isolating chemicals down to billionths of an gram (remember, mold spores are microscopic so what is contained within it’s cell wall is extremely small). This testing is made even more difficult since there are a few hundred toxins to analyze and the behavior of mold is such that a toxin-producing mold in the field doesn’t necessarily produce the same type and quantity of toxins in the lab.

Generally speaking, identifying a mold type that is known to be capable of producing toxins is sufficient information to warrant precautions and avoid exposure without submitting for toxic analysis. However, if trying to confirm specific adverse health effects, obtaining an analysis of both VOC’s and toxins can be beneficial but often expensive.

Randy Penn is an independent licensed real estate inspector (Texas #5491) who specializes in mold testing and specimen recovery. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering, is a member of the Indoor Air Quality Association, has invested hundreds of hours in researching and training on fungal microorganisms, has completed IAQA’s workshop on mold remediation and has provided mold related presentations to homeowners and real estate professionals.