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What Does Asbestos Cause?

The perfect example of a silent killer is asbestos. Wonder why? From the day of exposure, you might not see any symptoms of the asbestos containing material disease till years later and more often than not, these disease are not treatable. And as dangerous at it is, it’s most likely not something you’d think about on a daily basis unless you’ve been affected by this harmful material or probably someone you know has.

Found in rocks and soils, asbestos have been an important material for manufacturers across the globe for numerous reasons. Not only are they exceptional insulation materials in both electrical and buildings, but they’re also flexible and resistant to heat, chemicals as well as electricity. And due to this fact, they represent a very common material that’s used in automotive parts, construction materials as well as textiles.

Asbestos when disturbed and inhaled for a long period of time can significantly increase your risk for diseases such as lung cancer, mesothelioma as well as asbestosis. Smokers are more likely feel a greater impact as cigarette smoke irritates lung passages which makes it a lot more difficult for the lungs to remove asbestos fibres.

Mesothelioma. This is a form of cancer that affects the lining of the lungs as well as the lining surrounding the lower digestive tract. By the time diagnosed, it’s almost always fatal.

Lung Cancer. This asbestos related lung cancer is almost the same with that caused by smoking and other causes.

Abestosis. This is a serious scarring condition of the lung which usually occurs after exposure to asbestos after a lengthy period. It can lead to shortness of breath, and in some cases, can be fatal.

Do Bifold Doors Fold Back Flat?

Bifold doors, also referred to as folding doors, have grown to become a great alternative to the conventional sliding doors. It has become a necessity rather than a luxury for most home and property owners especially in the south east who are in need of more space and a memorable focal point. However, before installing the impressive bifold doors in your home’s doorways, it’s always a wise decision to learn more about bifold doors. In this article, we’ll let you whether or not bifold doors fold back flat.

Generally, bifold doors consists of 3 to 8 door panels, bifold slides and fold back against one another in such a way that they sit flat against one or both walls. However, this depends on how they’re designed, whether they’ve been designed to open either from the side or from the middle. They basically work on what’s popularly referred to as a concertina principle. This style fold principle works in a way that allows the door panels to smoothly fold back flat which totally opens up the room into an open plan masterpiece.

So now that you know that bifold doors fold back flat, you may also be curious to know whether they also open in or out. Depending on your specific requirements, bifold doors can actually open inwards and outwards independently. However, due to the fact that opening bifold doors can take up some essential space, several home and property owners do prefer installing their bifold doors in such a way that allows it to be opened outwards. What’s more? It’s also essential to take into account that opening bifold doors inwards have the potential to drip water onto internal flooring especially for the wet regions.

One of the major source of concern for several home and property owners in London when it comes to heating and cooling systems is whether its really necessary to use an air conditioning system throughout the year or just a couple of months a year. Well, if you’re also worried about the this, then you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’re going to consider why making use of an air conditioning system is essential all-year round. Let’s take a look!

The short and simple answer to this question is, it depends. However, if you really want to have a total control over your own comfort at home, then the answer is yes. In fact, most individuals who have installed heating and cooling systems with the intention of only using it in July and August usually find themselves making use of it all through the year and having a more sound sleep than ever before. What’s more? London is known to have uncomfortable and inconsistent temperatures all year long. If you intend to use your system for a specified couple of months, you may just be shocked to discover when you’ll need it the most may be outside your selected usage period.

In a move to protect older properties or an apartment complex, most landlords in London usually won’t give permission to enable structural changes. As a result, this has given several Londoners the impression that they’ll have to just cope with the heat and cold all throughout the year. In this kind of situation, all that’s needed is the installation of internal air conditioning units which does not need any penetration through the exterior wall to be fitted.

In theory, you can fit solar panels yourself. In practice, it’s worth leaving it up to the professionals.

If you get DIY solar panels and install them on your roof yourself, you won’t be able to apply for the government-backed Smart Export Guarantee (SEG). The SEG pays you for every unit of electricity you generate and send back to the grid, so it’s a scheme well worth signing up for. However, you must have your solar panels installed by a Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS)-registered engineer or company, so you’ll miss out if you install the solar panels by yourself.

The other thing to consider about installing solar panels yourself is that you’re dealing with electricity. Electricity is extremely dangerous if handled incorrectly, so if you don’t have any qualifications in working with electricity you could be putting yourself and your family at risk. Connecting DIY solar panels yourself and doing it incorrectly could mean that you give yourself an electric shock or cause a fire. If your home is damaged due to a fire caused by solar panels you’ve installed yourself, it’s unlikely that your home insurance company would pay out.

Before having a go at installing your own solar panels, do some quick sums to see how much money it could really save you. A 3.5kW DIY solar panel kit will cost around £4,000-5,000. According to the Energy Saving Trust, a home in the South East of England where most occupants are out all day until 6pm would save around £100 a year on their electricity bills. That means that you wouldn’t break even until 40 years, but solar panels last around 25 years on average. However, if you have your solar panels installed by an MCS-registered installer and they cost £4,500, you could save £220 a year including your SEG payments. That brings the payback time to around 20 years.

So although the initial outlay is slightly less when you install solar panels yourself, it’s much better to have them installed by an MCS-registered engineer so you can take advantage of the SEG payments.

How To Landscape A Garden

Are you thinking about landscaping your garden? Well, not only will this make your property more visually appealing, but can also go a long way to add value to it. Landscaping a garden can be a very difficult project which should be left to a reliable professional who can guarantee the best results the first time, especially if you lack proper training or experience in the field. This way, you get to save time and extra money that can result due to possible costly mistakes. However, if you’re confident enough about your skills, here’s a step by step guide to help you through the garden landscaping process.

• Start from the front yard. This is the first place you’ll see when you get home and visitors will admire when they stop by.

• Hardscape first. Tackle all the handscaping projects before setting out the plants. The hardscapes include the sidewalk, drive way, porch, decks, fencing and the likes.

• Toil in the soil. When it’s time for the garden, you can start by amending your soil with organic matter before you set out the plants.

• Plan next to your house. When it comes to landscaping a garden, functionality is just as important as the beauty. With that in mind, never allow your foundation planting to cover your house, but to embrace it.

• Selecting the right plants. Study the landscape, observe when the sun rises and sets and determine the best plants for those conditions, you can consult with a local garden centre for more information.

• Plant shapes and textures. You can include some design elements to your landscape simply by taking advantage of the plants’ shape and texture.

• Finishing touches. These includes adding stuffs like containers, window boxes, hanging baskets both to add a little more functionality and a bit more colour to your landscape.

• Maintenance. To enjoy your beautiful landscape for a longer period, it has to be maintained.

If you want to guarantee the comfort of those inside your work environment, getting a commercial HVAC system should be a top priority. And if you already have one installed, knowing the best time to have it replaced rather than repaired will go a long way to save you some huge bucks. For instance, an air conditioning system that’s old and malfunctioning is best replaced due to the fact that all the components are probably weak and can only keep generating series of faults till it finally breaks down beyond repair. When evaluating your air conditioning unit, there are some factors that you’ll need to take into account to save yourself some money and headaches. Let’s take a look!

• Age. If your commercial HVAC system is within 15 to 20 years old and starting to look like a giant rust attached to your building, then its probably time to get a replacement. Also when old, most commercial air con systems are usually much less efficient and will consume more energy which implies higher energy bills.
• Wear and tear. If your system has experienced a significant amount of wear and tear, then its probably not heating or cooling as efficiently as it used to. Depending on the product’s quality as well as the level of maintenance many commercial HVAC system would be overdue for an upgrade by the time they’re about 15 years old.
• Malfunctions. When it comes to heating and cooling systems, some issues are quite easy to fix or resolve while others ( such as a broken furnace fan or refrigerant problems) should be best left to the experts. However, if the malfunctions are becoming more often or serious enough, then you should probably consider getting an upgrade.

First and foremost, the purpose of a landlord insurance is simple and pretty straightforward. It protects against risks associated with your rental property as well as activity. Most policies start out with building insurance as well as property owners’ liability insurance but you’re absolutely free to include several other covers. These covers can include tenant default or accidental damage, loss of rent and more depending on your needs. It’s important to note that varying types of landlord insurance provides coverage for different sorts of risks. For instance, building insurance provides coverage for the cost of repairing or rebuilding your property, while contents insurance provides coverage for contents if they’re damaged or stolen. However, the question is, does landlord insurance cover boiler? In this post, we’re going to shed more light into this to help you make informed decisions moving forward. Let’s take a look!

The short and simple answer to this question is yes, landlord insurance can definitely cover boiler break down! However, this is usually possible only if you select this option when you purchase your landlord insurance policy. With some boiler cover providers, you’ll have to include a home emergency cover to your landlord insurance so as to cover any form of boiler break down. Once this is done, if the boiler in your rental property starts to malfunction or stops functioning, a Gas Safe registered engineer would be sent to your premises to help out with the situation. With this, the repairing cost of your heating system would be covered by the insurance excluding any excess and up to the limit of your policy.

Generally, a paved driveway is always subjected to regular usage and yours isn’t likely to be an exception, otherwise you won’t be here. Regular usage automatically necessitates regular maintenance of the driveway in order to extend its lifespan, make your property safer and add more value to it. This maintenance will involve a frequent inspection of the paved driveway so as to identify and repair divots, cracks as well as rutting. Paved driveways usually have a lifespan ranging between 15 to 20 years, but this can only be guaranteed when backed by regular maintenance activities. Failure to provide your paved driveway with a regular maintenance will lead to a rapid deterioration within just a couple of years after installation.

The issues commonly faced by paved driveways is usually different based on several factors such as the weather, your location, your property’s sub base as well as some other elements. The ability to identify the problems and solve or repair them on time is key to success while it’s also save you some time and money. In this article we’re going to look at how to go about do-it-yourself tasks that involves minor cracks. More intense damages are advised to be handled only by professionals.

✓ Prepare the area. Clear the debris, weed the plants or vegetation (if any).

✓ Use a strong spray from a garden hose to wash clean the cracks

✓ In the event whereby the crack is deep, simply fill it until it reach about a quarter inch of the surface with sand.

✓ Tamp down the sand to make it more compact.

✓ Apply a patching compound to the surface of the cracked paved driveway.

✓ Leave it for some time to cure.

✓ Once cured, you can then apply your sealant.