Spring Cleaning: Avoid Last-Minute Hassles!

Spring is almost here, and it’s time to start thinking about the annual spring cleaning ritual. After a long winter indoors, this is the perfect time to get your home in order and prepare for the warmer months ahead. Spring cleaning can be daunting, but with a few simple strategies and a well-organized plan, you can get your home ready for the summer months in no time.

Benefits of Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning comes with a host of benefits. For starters, it’s a great way to get rid of the clutter that has accumulated over the winter months. It’s also a great opportunity to give your home a deep clean, which can help reduce allergens and improve air quality. Plus, it’s a great way to organize your home and prepare for the new season.

While spring cleaning is mostly associated with cleaning and organizing your home, it’s also a great time to organize your life. Take this opportunity to purge unnecessary items, donate items you no longer need, and make a plan to organize your finances. It’s also a great time to declutter your digital life and organize your digital files.

Strategies for Staying Organized

Spring cleaning is all about staying organized and getting ahead of the clutter. Here are a few strategies to keep your house clean and organized all year.

First, create a cleaning schedule. This will help you stay on top of regular cleaning tasks like vacuuming, dusting, and wiping down surfaces. You can avoid doing a deep clean every few months by sticking to a schedule.

Second, create a place for everything. Make sure to designate a spot for all your items and put them away when you’re done with them. This will help keep your home organized and clutter-free.

Third, create a system for managing your finances. This can help you stay on top of bills, track spending, and save money.

Creating Your Spring Cleaning List

Creating a spring cleaning list is a great way to stay organized and ensure you don’t miss any important tasks. Start by making a list of all the tasks you want to complete. This can include deep cleaning tasks like washing windows, scrubbing floors, and dusting baseboards. You can also include smaller tasks like organizing your closets and cleaning your refrigerator.

Once you have your list, prioritize the tasks and break them down into smaller, manageable chunks. This will help keep you on track and ensure you aren’t overwhelmed. Include fun tasks like organizing your bookshelves or putting together a photo wall.

Deep Cleaning List

A deep cleaning list is essential to any spring cleaning routine. This list should include cleaning the refrigerator, washing the windows, and dusting the baseboards. You’ll also want to include tasks like vacuuming the carpets and cleaning and restoring tile and grout floors.

You’ll also want to clean your closets and drawers for a deep clean. This is a great time to purge any items that you no longer need and donate them to a local charity. You can also use this time to organize your digital files and declutter your digital life.

Room-by-room Spring Cleaning Checklist

Once you’ve created your overall spring cleaning list, you’ll want to break it down into room-by-room checklists. Start with the kitchen and include tasks like wiping the cabinets, cleaning the refrigerator, and scrubbing the floors.

In the bathroom, make sure to include tasks like scrubbing the shower and tub, wiping down the counters, and cleaning out the cabinets. You’ll also want to clean the medicine cabinet and replace expired items.

In the bedrooms, make sure to include tasks like vacuuming the carpets and dusting the furniture. You’ll also want to organize your closets and drawers and purge any items you no longer need.

Spring Cleaning Services

If you don’t have the time or energy to do your own spring cleaning, various services are available to help you out. Professional house cleaning services can help you tackle your spring cleaning tasks quickly. They can help you with deep cleaning tasks like scrubbing the floors and cleaning the refrigerator. They can also help you organize and declutter tasks like closets and drawers.

Conclusion

Spring cleaning can be daunting, but with a few simple strategies and a well-organized plan, you can get your home ready for the summer months in no time.

Get ready now and avoid last-minute hassles by creating your spring cleaning list, breaking it down into manageable chunks, and utilizing professional services when needed. With a little planning and some help from the pros, you can have your home looking and feeling its best before you know it.

Call SteamMaster at 970.827.5555 to schedule your cleaning services. We are a 24/7/365 Emergency Restoration and Cleaning Service business.

The Mitigation approach

https://spark.adobe.com/video/BpVeasnrk5tOV/embed

The mitigation approach to water damage restoration prevents secondary damage, less intrusive with quick turnaround time and cost-effective.

SteamMaster is the local expert providing superior service in all four main areas of our services. We are a 24/7 emergency response mitigation company. With our 9-bedroom employee housing, SteamMaster crew can respond immediately to any emergency situation whether it is a water damage, fire damage, smoke damage or sewer backup.

We provide several specialty cleaning services from carpet cleaning, hard surface cleaning, and restoration, oriental and area rug cleaning, fine fabric cleaning, leather cleaning and drapery cleaning.

Mold remediation and crawl space repairs are services we are experts at. With almost 40 years as a provider serving the mountain resort communities, you can trust and depend on SteamMaster – We are the Local Experts, with World-Class Solutions. Call us at 970.827.5555 or visit us at SteamMaster.com Please visit our YouTube Channel for numerous work videos

Effective Water Damage Extraction

This video is about Effective Water Damage Extraction in Vail, Breckenridge, Aspen and surrounding mountain communities. SteamMaster has almost 40 years of experience in the Restoration and Cleaning Industry. You can visit our website at http://www.SteamMaster.com or go to the Restoration pages of the website at https://steammaster.com/water-damage-… The immediate response of a Water Damage situation is critical when you can mitigate the situation preventing a larger and more expensive cost with proper water extraction or water removal. Using the proper tools and equipment to extract all or as much water you can.

The immediate response of a Water Damage situation is critical when you can mitigate the situation preventing a larger and more expensive cost. With proper water extraction or water removal and using the right tools and equipment to extract all or as much water you can, helps the drying process better and prevent saturation as well as the need to remove drywall and then face to replace it all.

Mitigating a water damage with proper extraction will also reduce the business or residential disruption. SteamMaster’s approach is to prevent these inconveniences and always seek to better our services by doing it right the first time. Water removal in a flooding or broken pipe situation is critical.

We have a live person answering our phones all the time. Our staff is on a rotation based on-call system. Call us at 970.827.5555 24/7/365

Identifying Hidden Water Leak in Your Home

Have you ever wondered how much water is wasted in most homes? The statistics will actually shock you. The average family wastes more than 11 gallons of clean water every year and this is through leaks alone. Yes, 11,000 gallons wasted through leaks and not laundry, shower, flushing or cleaning of utensils in the kitchen.

As a homeowner, you probably are very busy working in an office and looking for new business opportunities in order to increase your income. This is not bad at the end of the day, you need to buy stuff – electronics, clothes, vacation, a home, and investments. This is not an excuse to assume that everything is ok. It is important to try and find out if there are any hidden leaks and water damage in the crawl space, mechanical room, behind the sink, in the bathroom and under the sink.

Here is how to identify hidden water leaks in your home.

Improper insulation and poor construction cause ice dam in homes that subsequently is the silent cause of water intrusion in homes causing mold behind walls and structures. SteamMaster uses Infrared Thermal Imaging Cameras to detect these leaks.

 

In the Bathroom

Bathrooms are very important rooms as they provide the much-needed space and privacy to take a shower each morning and probably in the evening too. Have you ever encountered a musty smell when you step in the bathroom? This is actually a sign that you have a leak. Damaged walls, stains or warping are clear signs of leaking in the bathroom. The smell of old accumulated water and stains on the ceiling especially for the lower floor are clear signs of leaks in your bathroom.

According to experts, bathroom leaks occur as a result of damage to pipes passing through the walls. They may also occur due to a crack in the bathroom faucet or the bathtub itself.

In the crawl space

A damp crawl space has been found to support the growth of mold. It also causes dry rot in posts, beams, sills and floor joists. When wood begins to rot, it loses its strength which means it will compromise the floors, walls and ceilings. If you want to identify leaks in the crawl space, use a screwdriver. Probe the framing especially discolored areas.

Other signs of hidden water leaks in the crawl space include condensation, rust on metal, insect infestation especially termites, white chalky substance and flooding.

Behind and under the sink

Just like the bathroom, water leaks under and behind the sink can be detected by the growth of mold and mildew. While it is acceptable for a few to appear, if the growth is dense, then you have a hidden water leak. Old, accumulated water and stained walls beneath the sink is another clear sign of hidden water leak.

To eliminate the consequences brought about by hidden water leaks, it is important to hire a home restoration and flood mitigation expert. They are experienced and qualified to deal with water damage and leaks.

Just be sure to select the best!

SteamMaster provides 24-hour emergency service for water, sewer, fire mitigation services. Please call us at 970.827.5555 for immediate response.

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Three Major Causes of Structural Damage

Water is a very powerful force that can cause serious damage to the structure of your home or business. Today we are going to take a deeper look at different types of water damage that can affect your foundation.

 

Three Major Causes of Structure Damage

 

If your building or home has had foundation damage, 9 times out of 10 it has been caused through some form of water damage. When water creeps up and gets in and around the foundation of a building, bad things can happen. Water can cause costly damage and can even make your building unsafe to dwell in. Foundation restoration is a long and difficult process but needs to be done in order to insure that your building is safe. Below are three situations where water damage can cause structural damage.

 

1. Soil erosion– Water is one force of nature that you really don’t want to ignore. The soil around your foundation was put there for a good reason. This soil helps support the foundation and when it is removed due to water damage, the foundation becomes weaker. This can cause your foundation to sink. Signs of soil erosion include drywall cracks, tilting chimneys and doors that will not properly close.

 

2. Standing water– Standing water if not removed by a sump pump can cause major foundation damage. The longer the water sits the more saturated the ground can be. This can cause your foundation to shift, which will put your building at risk. Proper drainage can also help keep water from standing around the outside of your foundation.

 

3. Hydro-static pressure– This is probably the number one cause of foundation damage, due to water. If you have a leaking basement most of the times this is the cause. When the soil around the foundation becomes infiltrated with water the pressure builds. This pressure can do more than just cause a leak. If hydro-static pressure becomes too much, it can cause foundation failure.

 

If you believe you are experiencing any of these you can call us for a free evaluation of your situation. Once we complete the evaluation process we are able to provide an estimate typically within 24 hours.

Fire and Smoke Damage Restoration

The aftermath of a fire can be a devastating time for everyone involved. In some instances, people may lose all of their possessions and they will have to start all over again by buying new things to replace their old items. On the other hand, if the fire is contained by the fireman in time, the owners of the home and their families will be left with clean up that will not only take time, but also quite a bit of effort and money. Even though some people may be tempted to take on this job and complete it themselves, they may soon discover that there are numerous financial advantages to hiring the right type of fire damage restoration professionals to complete these tasks.

The professionals that the family may consider contacting first is the smoke and fire damage restoration crew at SteamMaster. When our emergency team comes into the home, they will focus on getting things taken care of quickly in order to minimize the financial loss. One of the most important steps is getting rid of all of the water and other types of debris that’s left from the fire and firefighting efforts. This can be accomplished in numerous ways, including using commercial equipment to vacuum up all of the water out of each room that has been affected.

The main step is to ensure that we document, assess and evaluate all damage. Since some items are completely destroyed because of the fire and smoke, they will have to be bagged and discarded. However, there are other items that have been affected that can be salvaged. With a professional team involved, they have the best tools and equipment available to complete these jobs effectively. For example, a professional fire restoration remediation company will have various types of wet cleaning tools, rotary scrubbers, chemical sponges and hot fogging machines that expand into wall cavities. This means we can use these tools to remove all of the smoke that lingers within.

Reporting in the news recently discussing various plant life, shows that they can become highly flammable at certain times of the year. With forest fires being a real threat to our homes and community, it helps to be aware of our experienced professionals. We will come out any season any time of the day or night.

Restoring Your Terrazo Flooring

Common terrazzo flooring appearance

Terrazzo is a stone that is man-made and created via the use of small pieces of natural stone. In a nutshell, it is a hard surface using stone chips set in epoxy or cement. The name comes from “Terrazza”, which is an Italian word that means, “terrace”. It began back in the 15th century when Venetian mosaic artists utilized leftover bits of marble for surfacing their own terraces at home. The fact that it is steeped in tradition and history makes terrazzo all the more attractive to many people for their homes or businesses.

Terrazzo floors are really quite resilient, but older terrazzo floors may need general restoration for the purpose of restoring them to their original beauty. Pits and holes in places where chips of stone could have come loose and could require filling. A lackluster surface could require the help of a professional to make it shine again.

Terrazzo’s attractive appearance and high level of durability make it an excellent natural stone hard surface for restoration. Generally it contains marble or some other type of natural stone that tends to be capable of maintaining a high shine once polished. Terrazzo can then be maintained by using a penetrative sealer to protect it from discoloration and stains.

Once it has been restored by a professional, maintaining terrazzo in all of its beauty is as simple as regular dry and wet mopping. It is, however, quite susceptible to etching, therefore it’s necessary to prevent any acidic spills or, if any occur, to wipe them up immediately. And, often it is difficult to tell whether a stain is actually a stain or a natural part of the floor itself. The best way to find that out is to ask a professional to look at it and make a recommendation.

If you’re a business or homeowner in Eagle County who has a terrazzo floor in your home or office, and it’s starting to look dull or damaged, then your best bet is to contact certified technicians to re-seal your floor and ensure years of beauty and enjoyment. Don’t make the mistake of trying Do-It-Yourself methods on your floor when you need to remove stains or etching. Trust the professionals to extract those stains and preserve the beauty of your terrazzo floor.

Latest Updates and Videos from SteamMaster

Winter is still here and we have had some great warm days and well as powder days. We like both and enjoy the any great weather nature brings us in the mountains. Our crew has been busy with emergency work, some in-house cleanup of trucks and equipment, some specialty cleaning services and more.

We would like to share some video recently posted on our YouTube and website. The first video show our recent work in Vail where there was a Diesel Spill. The second video is one from our sister company Colorado Crawl Space and the interview with Harrison Ratzlaff.The third video highlights Donna Albani, our Marketing Director sharing about Ice Dams and water intrusion to homes.

We also have been working on a fire restoration project in Wildridge, Avon and several of our technicians are currently in Denver at an Applied Microbial Remediation Technician (AMRT) Mold Class. The prerequisite for this class is obtaining the Industry’s IICRC Certification in WRT.  The Applied Microbial Remediation Technician course covers mold and sewage remediation techniques to individuals engaged in property management, property restoration, IEQ investigations or other related professions. Emphasis will be placed on teaching mold and sewage remediation techniques to individuals who will perform these procedures in the field. Course graduates will be adequately equipped to perform remediation services, while protecting the health and safety of workers and occupants. This is a 4 day course for our Technicians.

SteamMaster takes pride and place a huge emphasis on education in Technical expertise for our staff. To provide excellent service we go out of our way to earn the knowledge and experience needed in all the types of services we provide. Call us to schedule your Cleaning and Restoration needs today at 970-827-5555.

Tips To Help Reduce Damage During A Flood

Flood Response Vehicle On The Scene.

 

Next to a fire, almost all homeowners fear flooding, and the damage it can cause. The flood can be caused by many things, from a frozen/broken pipe to an overflowing river, the results can be devastating. In almost all cases, some type of water damage restoration will be required. Most homeowners will find that they will need to rely on a specialist in water damage cleanup.

 

These specialists will have both the knowledge and equipment to rid your home of water, and to minimize the damage of the actual structure. Yet, that isn’t the only place flood damage can occur, losses typically include: furnishings, family photos, pieces of art and books. The following tips can help lessen the damages of items that are irreplaceable. The following safety tips for water damage can all be done before the water restoration team gets to your home.

 

Safety Tips For Water Damage

 

First of all, the homeowner must prevent serious, and even fatal injuries. To do this they should:

Turn off all power to the area before allowing others to enter the flooded area. Next, the homeowner must attempt to find the source of the water, if a plumbing emergency is thought to be the cause. Once the source is found, all water to the area should be shut off to minimize damage. Last of all, remind everyone that the area may be slippery.

These tips should be taken in the order written. Once done, the area may be entered and the water restoration may begin.

 

Tips For Beginning The Water Damage Cleanup

 

The homeowner can begin the cleanup before the water restoration team arrives. These steps if done can save many of the most precious of mementos:

• Remove as much of the water as possible by mopping or blotting. If there is any dripping or leaking, a bucket or empty trash can is an effective way to save a lot of water from further damaging its surrounding areas. A Homeowner should not attempt to vacuum the water, remember no electrical appliances should be used in the affected area.
• Wipe any excess moisture from unaffected susceptible content in the area. Once dry, removal to an unaffected area is suggested.
• Remember not to put items that bleed color next to, or on other surfaces that can absorb the colors(such as carpet).
• Use a clothes hanger to support the bottom of any long drapery/curtains on the curtain rod
• Remove all area rugs that are in the flooded area.
• Move all photos, pictures and art works to a dry, and safe area.
• Remove all books or important documents from the area, if they are wet, place them on a dry area, spread the pages to allow faster drying.
• Open all affected doors, drawers, closets and pieces of luggage to aid in the drying phase.

 

 

Things That Should Never Be Done

 

There are three things that should never be done. By doing so, people risk serious injuries, and possible death. Learn these safety tips for water damage, and keep everyone safe:

• Do not use an ordinary or electrical vacuum.
• Never use electrical appliances in flooded areas.
• Do not enter severely flooded areas until the electricity has been turned off.

 

I hope these tips are helpful, but mostly I wish you many dry years!