TEAM MATTOS Blog

Preventing Frozen Pipes

TeamMattos — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:53:00 +0000

An average of 250,000 families have their homes damaged each winter because of water pipes that froze and burst. Save yourself the mess, expense, and aggravation of burst pipes by taking the few simple precautionary measures.

Before the winter weather gets too harsh, disconnect garden hoses and if possible use an indoor valve to shut off and drain water from pipes leading to outside faucets. Use caulking or insulation to seal around pipes and fill in gaps that could allow cold air into your home.

During the winter, keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage. Let warm water drip from household faucets during the night, preferably from a faucet on an outside wall. Also consider opening cabinets and closet doors to allow heat to get to the un-insulated pipes.

Additionally, if you are going away for an extended period of time, make sure to keep the heat on in your home. It is suggested that you do not lower the temperature in your home below 55 degrees.

If you have any further questions, or need to contact a member of SERVPRO’s Team Mattos, contact our Providence location at (401) 941-5500, our Boston location at (617) 227-2200, or our Weymouth location at (781) 337-0344.

Protecting Your Family From Carbon Monoxide

TeamMattos — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:47:17 +0000

With the arrival of some of winter’s coldest months, families are turning up the thermostat to keep warm. However, the rise in your heating bill isn’t the only thing to worry about. Turning up the thermostat can drastically increase your chances of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.

CO is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, toxic gas, which, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, takes 140 lives per year. By entering your lungs and displacing the oxygen from your bloodstream, CO interrupts your normal supply of oxygen to the heart, brain, and other vital organs.

Produced by the incomplete combustion of gas, oil, coal, wood used in gas-fired appliances, charcoal grills, wood burning furnaces or fireplaces, and motor vehicles, CO can accumulate in your home and put your family at risk. Therefore, a CO detector is essential to detect traces of CO in your home.

Mild CO exposure can cause side effects that are often mistaken for the flu, including a slight headache, nausea, and fatigue. Moderate exposure to CO can cause a severe throbbing headache, drowsiness, confusion, vomiting, and an increased heart rate. Extreme exposure to CO can cause unconsciousness, convulsions, cardio respiratory failure, and death.

If your CO detector alarms, turn off all your appliances, open the windows and doors, and evacuate everyone from your home. Once you and your family are out of your home, call 911 immediately.

When furnaces puff back, we solve the soot.

Team Mattos — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:49:06 +0000

The cold weather is officially upon us and many are turning on their heating system to keep warm – some for the first time since March. It is important to remind your clients to have their heating system properly cleaned and inspected before they turn on their furnace or oil burner. A malfunctioning heating system may result in a puffback, which occurs when a furnace or oil burner emits a sudden explosion of soot throughout the interior of a home. Often, it happens gradually, and is mistaken for dust. But sometimes, it can cause serious damage. Soot from a puffback is so fine it can seep into every corner of a home and can damage possessions as well.

Fortunately, if you do experience a puffback, our professionals have the tools to complete a thorough cleaning and removal of any soot and odors. Our Fire Restoration Team will respond immediately, provide a written estimate, project time line, and make it look Like it never even happened^®.