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Knowing whether or not your basement has a water problem is usually pretty easy.  Basements that have water damage issues are typically plagued by a musty smell, especially if there happens to be carpet in the basement.  Mold loves to eat carpet and the padding that goes underneath it and where there is water and humidity, there is almost always mold. 

Causes of wet basements are generally the infiltration of water from the ground around your home, either from rain water on the surface or even water coming in from underground.  Indoor and outdoor humidity also tend to be causes of wet basements.

One of the best things to do to prevent water from getting into your basement is simply to make sure that the ground surrounding your home causes water to drain away from the foundation instead of toward it.  Water settling around the foundation of your home can not only get into your basement and cause water damage, but it can also eventually cause your home to sink into the ground due to soil displacement. 

Water damaged furnishings in the basement should be gotten rid of unless they can be repaired or cleaned.  After this, you need to identify what the problem is. 

If the source of the problem is surface water such as rain, the likely reason is that your rain gutters need to be cleaned out or that the ground around your home’s foundation is not sloped properly to promote drainage.  Downspout extensions are also a good idea because they make sure that the water that comes out of your downspouts does not settle around the foundation. 

Water seeping into the basement from underground is a somewhat difficult situation to control.  There could be an underground spring or it could be due to water pressure from saturated soil because of heavy rains.

Humidity can also be a problem.  One way to deal with indoor humidity in your basement is to purchase a dehumidifier.  Dryer exhausts and basement shower vents should be installed to vent steam outside and away from the home.  You should not hang wet laundry in your basement to dry, because this creates humidity. 

There may also be structural problems to deal with.  Look around your basement and note if any of the wood appears damaged or to be rotting.  Checking with a professional is sometimes recommended because even if the beams look fine to you, they may actually need replacing soon. 

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Even though Penicillin was developed back in the 1940’s to help combat infections caused by bacteria and it was developed from penicillium mold, other species of penicillium molds can also cause diseases.  One such disease, called penicilliosis, occurs predominantly in Southeast Asia. 

The mold that causes the disease, Penicillium marneffei, is indigenous to the region and so the cases of the disease are generally confined to that area, although people traveling to the region can become infected if they are not careful.  People particularly at risk are those diagnosed with HIV and AIDS and it has been called the third most common opportunistic infection in these people. 

This mold is a fungus at room temperature, but like with any other mold, when it enters the body and is warmed up to body temperature, it changes into a yeast.  The symptoms of a case of Penicilliosis are generally anemia, fever, lesions on the skin, generalized lymphadenopathy, abdominal pain, and weight loss.  The skin lesions generally are located on the genitalia, face, ears, toes, and fingers, but the symptom that happens the most often is a skin rash that can cause small bumps on the top skin layer and some of these bumps can have ulceration.  This happens most often on the upper part of the body. 

Fungus cultures can be grown from the swabbing of skin lesions and this is to identify the infection as being Penicilliosis, but this is not the only way to detect this infection.  A biopsy of bone marrow, skin lesions, or lymph nodes can also detect the presence of the fungi in the body.  When the fungus is grown in a Petri dish, it has a flat green surface and a red color on the bottom.

It is advised that anyone with HIV or AIDS who is going to be traveling to the region of Southeast Asia should be very careful or to not travel there at all.  This is a dangerous infection, especially in someone with a compromised immune system.  Without treatment, this disease tends to have a high mortality rate and even when treatment is administered, the mortality rate still lingers around the area of twenty percent.  Treatment often comes in the form of an antifungal drug called amphotericin and is followed up with a maintenance-type drug named itraconazole.  If you have been to Southeast Asia recently and are experiencing any of the symptoms named here, you should seek medical treatment immediately.

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Despite the general knowledge that water damage is bad for any building, especially one’s home, it is not so well known just what all the possible causes for water damage are, or what factors can lead to it. The most common known causes of water damage are leaky plumbing, and leaking roofs, but there are mounds of other causes that are not as well known.

If you have a basement, and you have it insulated with fiberglass, it is easy for moisture to become trapped behind the walls, and air between one floor of the home and the basement floor can leak into them. It is because of this that insulating your home with fiberglass is not recommended, nor is installing plastic sheeting, as it is capable of trapping just as much moisture. A good idea for the insulation is using blue board, as it allows the moisture to move about the wall freely and makes the wall better able to dry off.

Problems, however, can arise if the land your home is on is sloped towards its foundation. If water is flowing towards the home, as opposed to away the home, it can seep into the basement and cause serious damage to the structure of your home, and can cause sink holes, which can cause your house to sink.

You should especially be careful to have your ceilings properly insulated in a cold climate, on account of the fact that they are not, water can leak into your house by way of what are called “ice dams”. In a warmer climate, flaws in air conditioning or air ducts can cause water damage by the formation of steam and humidity that likes to attach itself to things like roofing. And this build up can cause rotting on your roof as well as the infestation of mold, which can be harmful on one’s respiratory system as well as many other sicknesses that may result.

Improperly shielded attic hatches are another chief offender of water damage to one’s ceilings, as condensation is far more likely to gather in this manner. Lighting fixtures should be as tight as humanly possible when you install them, especially the recessed kind and exhaust fans are not directed outside from the house, it should be, whether they are in the bathroom, or places of this nature. Exhaust fans should have vents to the outside so moisture does not condense and cause avoidable water damage.

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