Posted by Rebecca Langley on Tue, Mar 30, 2010
Chances are, if you live in Rhode Island or Massachusetts, you have been pumping water out of your basement for the past two days. If you have a large amount of water, you will have to rent or buy a sump pump to help you get rid of the water in a timely fashion. The longer the water sits, the more likely it is that mold will grow and odors will persist.
Below is a to-do list for those of you affected:
Do pump the water out of your basement ASAP using a sump pump or wet/dry vacuum depending on severity. The key to minimizing the damage is catching the problem early.
Do NOT pump the water out too quickly. This can cause stress on the walls of your home and your floors to heave. If possible, try to keep up with the flow of the water or rain coming into the basement.
Do use your best judgment when unplugging electronics that have been affected by the flood. If you have any doubt, ask a professional for help.
Do NOT use electrical equipment that is affect by the flooding. Call for help if you are unable to unplug items. If the electrical panel has been affected, electronic sump pumps should NOT be used unless accompanied by a 12-volt auto battery.
Do put your personal possessions on pallets or shelves. Water can damage cardboard boxes and its contents, which can be a breeding ground for mold. Use a mixture of bleach & water to clean any area that is affected by mold.
Do NOT handle wet paper until it is dried out. Important documents and books that get wet can be extremely fragile. Wait for the items to dry off before opening them.
Do air out the basement once the water has been pumped out and the soil has been cleaned up. Using a dehumidifier or a fan can help get the moisture out of the basement. This will help prevent mold & mildew.
Do NOT forget to disinfect. Using a bleach and water mixture on the walls and floors can kill any mildew and mold. It only takes 48 hours for mold to begin to form!
Do use a lump of charcoal placed in a tin to get pesky odors out.
Do perform regular outdoor maintenance. Clean out the gutters regularly, or invest in Gutter Helmet, which directs rain water away from your house rather than having it pool in your basement. This will minimize future damage to your basement.
If the weather in Rhode Island or Massachusetts has damaged your roof, siding or if you are interested in Gutter Helmet, contact us at 1-800-975-6666. We are conveniently located in Woonsocket, Rhode Island and can come right out to your home for a FREE estimate!
Photo Credit: Flickr member dustpanalley
Posted by Damien Cabral on Mon, Mar 29, 2010
Do you have home Improvement questions or just enjoy reading about home improvement? We all do! Recently, I stumbled upon a weekly
home improvement Q and A series on
www.boston.com. Peter Hotton, a Globe Correspondent and home improvement guru, answers local homeowners questions and posts the Q and A in a weekly column. Below is an excerpt of some of our favorite articles.
Note: Globe Handyman on Call Peter Hotton is available Thursday 1-6 p.m.
Tuesdays to answer questions on house repair. Call 617-929-2930. Hotton also chats online about house matters 2-3 p.m. Thursdays. To participate, go to www.boston.com. Hotton's e-mail is photton@globe.com
Q. My house has no insulation. Do you think a do-it-yourself foam injection kit is a feasible solution?
A. No, installing foam is very tricky, and too often the foam, which expands greatly, can cause the walls to bulge. You can blow cellulose into walls with less likelihood of distorting them because it is easier to handle. Also with foam, you must make sure it is nonflammable. I think Icynene is the best of the foam, and it is installed by professionals, usually on new construction, or on walls that are open to the studs.
Q. My son left some big truck tires on a finished wood floor and they left many black marks. I tried various cleaners such as paint thinner, Brillo, and Murphy's oil soap, without success. Do you know what will do it?
A. Try one of these: Dow's Bug & Tar Remover, any citrus cleaner (Citrus Green, Citrus Clean), or mechanic's waterless hand soap. In a pinch, apply any kind of oil, wait 15 minutes, and scrub with a nylon pot scrubber.
Q. I have a big problem with an interior woodworking paint job. Professionals painted all the woodwork and used a high quality Benjamin Moore paint. Just a few weeks later the paint is coming off in thin layers, especially around door knobs. What went wrong?
A. If the woodwork was not sanded lightly, that is one possible cause. Another is the lack of a primer (undercoater or primer-sealer). A third reason for failure is that around door knobs and other areas where hands often touch, oils from the skin are transferred to the finish. The old bugaboo about latex not going well over oil paint was discredited years ago, although light sanding would have helped. The correction: Those professionals should come back and sand off all that peeling paint, then apply a primer-sealer and finish with the Benjamin Moore paint. For free, or at a greatly reduced fee.
Moonworks Home Improvement also prides itself as a Home Improvement resource for New England Homeowners. Be sure to Subscribe to our Blog by submitting your email on the top right corner of this page.
Looking to kill some time? Check out our Home Improvement Photo Gallery here.
Posted by Damien Cabral on Tue, Mar 23, 2010
Cool and Green roofing technologies have been out for years but continue to 
change rapidly. A new material from United Environment & Energy (UEE) claims to take cool roofing technologies to another level. Traditional cool roofing technologies reflect the sun’s rays (and therefore heat) from your roof to decrease cooling costs during the warmer months. The challenge with the traditional technology is it also reflects the suns rays during the winter months, when additional heat on your roof can be beneficial.
UEE claims to have solved this problem by inventing a coating that allows homeowners to gain efficiencies during both seasons. The coating is made from a cooking oil-based polymer, with molecules strung together in a long chain, that hardens into plastic. Change in temperature alters the coatings optical properties. The coating reflects the sun’s rays in warmer temperatures and absorbs the rays during colder temperatures. UEE claims that the cooking oil coating can reduce temperatures by up to 80% during the summer and increase temperatures by 80% during the winter (when compared to other cool roofing technologies).
"It will help save fuel and electricity and reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds from petroleum-based roofing products. In addition, it will provide a new use for millions of gallons of waste oil after it is used to cook french fries and chicken nuggets." - Ben Wen, VP of United Environment & Energy
Unfortunately, this technology isn’t expected to be ready for production until 2013. Moonworks provides conventional Cool Roofing Shingles in the Northeast, including Rhode Island (RI), Massachusetts (MA), and Connecticut (CT).
This is not the first smart roof technology to emerge in the past few months. MIT Invented a Color Changing Roof (click for a detailed blog article) recently as well. The heart of this discovery is a new roofing tile that changes color based on ambient temperature. The tiles turn white (reflecting the heat) when it is hot outside and turn black (absorbing the heat) when it is cold. The tiles have been shown to reflect up to 80% of the sunlight when white and 30% when they are black.
Photo and Source Credit
Posted by Damien Cabral on Mon, Mar 22, 2010
Check out our most recent product overview video of Moonworks' product offerings.
Be sure to checkout other useful home improvement resources, including a solar white paper, on the Moonworks website.
Posted by Rebecca Langley on Fri, Mar 19, 2010
With the reco
rd breaking rainfall and high winds, many Rhode Island and Massachusetts homeowners are dealing with damage to their home due to flooding and wind. With State of Emergencies declared in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, many people are anxious to get their house cleaned up and repaired. The weather also impacted jobs as some companies were forced to lay off employees due to flood damage. When hard times strike, it is important to know what to do and how to go about it in order to minimize further hardship.
Here are a few tips:
Know what you are entitled to. Did you know that in Rhode Island if you get laid off due to a state emergency or natural disaster you can bypass the required one week waiting period and receive unemployment benefits right away? Your employer must file for a special waiver to eliminate the mandatory one week waiting period. However, this benefits the business as well because the layoffs associated with the emergency will not raise their unemployment tax.
Assess the damage and act quickly. The object is to get the contents of your home dried out and cleaned up as quickly as possible. This minimizes the growth of mold and mildew. For minor basement flooding, a wet/dry vacuum may suffice. Be sure to clean and disinfect all items affected by the water. For more intensive jobs, filing a claim with your homeowners insurance may be the most cost effective and timely option.
Be sure that the contractor you hired is licensed with the state. In times of emergency, it is important to be vigilant when choosing a contractor because it is at this time more than ever, people get taken advantage of by the company they hired. The states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts have an online area where you can search and look up companies to see if they are licensed and if so, if that license is current. Rhode Island has a specific section that includes registration and licenses that have been suspended or revoked.
Moonworks is a licensed residential contractor in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. If the weather damaged your roof, siding or gutters, call us for a FREE no obligation estimate at 800-975-6666.
Photo Courtesy of Flickr user: xingcat
Posted by Damien Cabral on Tue, Mar 16, 2010
As the weather gets warmer, spring fever becomes inevitable and urge to start home improvement projects comes along. In most cases, money is tight and everyone wants to get the most bang for their buck. The Coldwell Banker West Shell-Hyde Park released the Top 10 Projects that Add Home Value. Most items are projects that have a modest price tag and will add value to your home.
Here are some highlights:
With the price of utilities, finding an energy efficient solution allows you to not only add value but also continue to save money in the future. The top energy efficient project is adding insulation. According to the Department of Energy, adding more insulation to your attic is easiest and cost effective. If you have 
less than 11 inches, you will need to add more. This helps your house stay warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Moonworks offers blown in cellulose and fiberglass insulation. Most houses over 10 years old only have 1/3 of the recommended insulation. You can save 20% on your utilities!
Now that spring is here, many people want to get outside for their home projects. The top home exterior project is repairing gutters. In addition to alleviating water damage, keeping your gutters clean make your home look more attractive. Luckily, Moonworks provides Gutter Helmet, the gutter protection system that once installed means that you never have to clean your gutters! Which will keep your home’s exterior looking clean and beautiful for years to come. Landscaping is another top home improvement project. Add some curb appeal to your home by keeping your lawn clean and lush. Plants and perennial flowers help add beauty to your home as well. Your local nursery will be able to help you pick plants and flowers that will flourish in your area.
While most of these projects are budget friendly, the winner of the most budget friendly project is cleaning the clutter from your home. Now that the weather is warmer, spring cleaning will begin. Cleaning and organizing your home will not only give you more space but also piece of mind.
Moonworks provides many products that aid in adding value to your home. Adding insulation, solar hot water, solar pool heating or a new roof allows your home to be more energy efficient, saving you money in utilities. Siding and new windows allows your home to have more curb appeal and therefore increasing its value. However, if you want to make to the most of the warmer weather coming our way, Gutter Helmet is maintenance free because you never have to clean your gutters again. That means, you can enjoy more time in the warm spring weather!
Posted by Damien Cabral on Thu, Mar 11, 2010
From time to time we are known to have a good time here at Moonworks. This month we decided to have a Turkey Fry to break up the day. It was interesting to fry a turkey while it was snowing, to say the least. See below pictures from the event. (Luckily Moonworks Head Quarters did not burn down during the frying of the turkey.)
Posted by Damien Cabral on Tue, Mar 09, 2010
What will they think of next? This is by far one of the
most interesting blog finds of the year. Before the great manufacturing decline of the 20th century, Barcelona was a grand industrial hub. Now the city is trying to revitalize the areas riddled with abandoned mills. One project spearheading this initiative is a test project called
22@Barcelona. The vision
for the new district includes “energy autonomous" buildings that serve as new offices and factories. The Media-TIC building, designed by Cloud9 architects, is one of the most striking and innovative sights in 22@Barcelona.
The newly constructed building features an inflatable Ethylene Tetra Fluoro Ethylene (ETFE) skin. A solar-powered automatic light sensor, that regulates sunlight and temperature for the structure, controls the skin. Essentially the skin is a dynamic form of insulation and super energy-efficient window in one. The ETFE skin allows light to filter through but shades the people inside from direct sunlight, reducing UV rays by 85%. Additionally, the skin is an anti-adherent, which minimizes the need for external cleaning and maintenance. Be sure to check out some pictures of Barcelona’s most recent experiment below.
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Posted by Damien Cabral on Thu, Mar 04, 2010
Tuesday, President Obama
proposed rebates up to $3000 to help homeowners pay for energy-efficient upgrades in their homes. While Congress has not yet passed this plan as a formal bill, it is a major initiative backed by the White House and is sure to be
fast tracked over the next month. The hope of the
Home Star program, aka Cash for Caulkers, is to make Americans' homes more energy-efficient while creating jobs during these trying times.
"I'm convinced that the country that leads in clean energy is also going to be the country that leads in the global economy. I want America to be that nation."
- President Obama
Fast Fact: Jim Cramer, of Mad Money, first coined the term "Cash for Caulkers."
So what is Cash for Caulkers all about? Some details have been changed since
Cash for Caulkers was first proposed and more changes will most likely be made for the bill is signed as law. The new plan as we know it today includes two tiers:
Silver Star Rebates: Consumers can expect $1000-$1500 in rebates for each energy-efficient upgrade with a maximum of $3000 or at least 50% of the projects cost (whichever is less). Qualifying home improvements include: insulation, duct sealing, water heaters, HVAC units, windows, and doors. A certified contractor must install the upgrades.
Gold Star Rebates: Consumers interested in a more holistic approach to energy-efficiency could receive up to $3000. This involves a comprehensive energy audit coupled with retrofits that lead to at least 20% higher efficiency. Additional funds are available for upgrades that lead to more than 20% increase in efficiencies.
How is this plan different from the existing $1500 tax credit for energy-efficient tax credits?
These incentives are instant rebates! Consumers would receive the cost savings immediately and the time of purchase, a similar process used for Cash for Clunkers. Contractors would apply for reimbursement from the federal government after the installation is complete.
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