In building a house, the most important thing and often people neglected is the improvements. Home improvements should be anticipated as early as possible to prevent it from getting worse and cause a bigger problem.
For a home project that collaboration with the building contractor, the home improvements has an agreement between the assignor and the implementor. For example, construction services averagely three months, while for the electrical services until one year.
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What Are The Best Home Improvements For resale
Many things you can improve to add value to your home. So, improvements tasks are indispensable. The things that often occur in home improvements are
Ceramic tiles
Before stepping into the repair process, it is necessary to know in advance the cause of the damage. One of the disasters that commonly experienced is the lifting of ceramic tiles or often called popping up. The reasons why ceramic tile can popping up are.
- Water evaporation from the cement mortar mixture
In conventional ceramic tiles installation, cement mortar is very needed. Generally, cement mortar is mix with water. The water will evaporate due to heat from the ground when installing ceramic tiles. So, the mortar will decrease (shrinkage) because of the loss of water. As a result, ceramic tiles will easy lifted because they are not attached perfectly.
- The vibration
Vibrations, whether small vibrations from footsteps or vehicles, until strong vibrations caused by earthquakes or vibrations from pile foundations due to conditions around the building, can result in the lifting of ceramics.
- Temperature changed
Ceramic tiles can be lifted due to temperature changes. That happens because the mortar and sand are rigid or inflexible material, so they cannot be adaptable.
- Decreased building level
The building movements often occur due to mistakes in building foundations or due to increased building loads. If this is the problem, so the building’s level will go down, and small fractures in the structural column will be created. Although the movement is minimal, it will cause the ceramic tiles to lifted.
- Hard collision
This case is prevalent, either still in the installation process or when the house is inhabited. That is often experienced when moving furniture or partition.
If this is the problem, it is necessary to remove the popping up or broken ceramic area. To remove it, you can cut the grout with a grinding or chisel. It is recommended that when installing or replacing ceramic tiles using ceramic tile adhesive or instant cement (mortar).
Granite or marble floors
Granite or marble floor maintenance is relatively more straightforward compared to other floor materials. Besides durable, granite, or marble floor is also resistant to mold or mildew. By mopping it regularly using a cleaning additive, the floor will look shiny. If the surface looks dull, polishing it with a polish machine and special additives for granite polish, such as oxalic acid.
Hardwood or parquet floors
Wood or parquet floors maintenance is relatively difficult compared to other materials. That is because wood material is easily scratched, and the coating element is also easy to fade. By mopping it regularly using a cleaning additive, the floor will look shiny for a period of time. However, wood or parquet will turn back dull after use. If the surface is dull, it can be upgraded or repaired using finishing paint or coating elements like vinyl or carpet. As a result, a new atmosphere will be created. While for the replacement can be applied if there is a damaged wood or parquet. The replacement is straightforward; just remove the broken or damaged parquet, then replace it with the same type of wood or parquet. For the installation process, you can use wood glue.
Terrazzo floor
Terrazzo floor maintenance has relatively the same maintenance as the granite floors. Besides durable, the terrazzo floor is also resistant to mold or mildew. However, by mopping it regularly using cleaning additives, the floor will look shiny again. But, if the surface is starting to dull, then polishing it with a polishing machine and special polishing additives as well.
Carpet flooring
Many people assume that using the carpet as a floor coating is difficult to maintain. Even those who already have a carpet will not install it or just lay it at certain moments. In fact, maintenance of carpet floors is quite simple; for daily used, clean the carpet using vacuum cleaner regularly. However, if you want to store the carpet, it should be given camphor. Cleaning by wiping it immediately using a damp cloth can be applied if the carpet is exposed to stain or dirt. If the stain is difficult to clean, use a damp soft brush and water mixed with detergent. It should be noted that if you want to install carpet flooring, make sure the floor condition is dry.
Aluminium panel
Like other aluminum types, maintenance and repair of aluminum panels are also quite tricky. If the problem is only mold or mildew, then you just cleaning it using water and mixed it with detergent or other cleaning additives. Try to clean it using a soft rag. If you use a rough brush or rough rag, scratches will occur that will damage the panel surface. However, if the problem is dent due to impact or friction against hard objects, then the aluminum panel must be replaced.
Another thing to note is the color and brand of your aluminum panel. Each manufacture has different characteristics, colors, quality, and also the finishing paint type. Therefore, it is necessary to have a backup panel when buying it, so if you need to replace your panel, the color will same. The replacement process is quite easy, by opening the grout silicone filler using a cutter so the rivet nail will be easy to remove.
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GRC Walls (Glass-Reinforced Concrete)
GRC walls are quite strong against weather and alkali. Therefore, most of the damage occurs on the surface finishing, the paint. However, if the damage caused by a hit to the solid object or loosening of putty, it can be solved using a special putty GRC. Except if the damage is severe, then the replacement step should be taken. The replacement is straightforward; the damaged wallboard must be removed first, then replaced with the same GRC wall. In this way, the grout will look smoother.
Brick walls
Damage to the brick wall often occurs on the paint layer or the wall condition itself. The things related to the brick wall maintenance are as follows.
- Paint problems
After finished the brick wall installation, the next step is plastering (stucco). Then, for the interior wall should be given putty. Besides, it can save the paint; the use of putty can also close the wall pores so the results are flatter and the wall surface more smooth. However, for exterior walls, the use of putty should be avoided, because the paint will easily peel off if to often contact with the weather. Applying waterproof paint for exterior walls is recommended.
Wall paint exfoliation usually starts with the bubbles appearing on the paint surface. In most cases, the cause of this problem is poor wall finishing processes and the humidity factor. This problem can also occur because of repainting that directly overwrites the old paint without cleaning it first.
Other problems concerning paint on the wall are mold and mildew and oil splashes on the kitchen wall. To overcome this problem is to repaint. However, repainting the moldy and mossy walls should use filler and anti-moss paint. It’s has been widely produced for those materials. While for oil stains on the walls, you should use wallcoverings that are easy to clean, such as ceramics.
- Wall problems
In most cases, cracked and damped on the wall surface is often encountered. The bathroom wall is an area that mostly wet. A bad mixture of plastering material is the leading cause of the damp wall; for example, the amount of cement is inadequate, or the sand contains a lot of mud. To overcome the moist wall is to peel off the plaster layer. Indeed, this method will be more prolonged and more expensive.
For this reason, a fast and inexpensive way can be chosen, using other wall finishing types. For example, using plywood, gypsum, or GRC board then finished with paint. This solution is faster and cheaper than peeled off all the plaster layer.
Another case is wet areas only at one point on the wall. A broken pipe may cause this problem, a seepage of groundwater through a sloof connection, or you putty the wall, but the plaster hasn’t dried. So when it’s dry, that’s the weakest spot. Typically, seepage of groundwater through sloof connections occurs because the concrete is not completely-casted. Peeled off the wall concrete is the solution to overcome this problem, and the walls left to dry first. After that, plaster the wall again.
While for the cracked walls is caused by imperfectly-dry wall plastering but the wall has been putty or mortar mixed with sand that contains a lot of mud. The solution is to patch the cracked area using white cement or instant cement, then repaint it.
Cracks in certain areas, like at the top corner or bottom of the jamb and the middle of the column, it’s caused by burden and degrades structure. If the crack extends along the wall from top to the bottom corner or the middle of the wall, then it’s caused by columns that sag (bend) or integration between the wall and the concrete is not solid. The solution is to fill the crack using the injection method (grouting) with premixed mortar. Cases like this will continue if the problem is due to the wrong structure.
Wallpaper
Wallpaper very easily exposed to water and collisions with solid objects such as furniture. If this happens, then do not peel the wallpaper, but attach it back. However, what about the torn wallpaper, then you just replaced the torn area. With handyman skills, the torn area will be peeling using a cutter tool. Furthermore, replace the torn area with the same wallpaper pattern. In this way, it will hide the patch area. Therefore, it’s better to ask for extra sheets when you buy wallpaper to anticipate if you need to replace the torn wallpaper in the future.
Water damage problem 1: The leaky roof
Several cases of leaky roofs will have different solutions, depending on the roof design and shape. In some cases, cracks on the ridge or rafter are the cause of a leaky roof. The gutter is too flat or too narrow, wrong roof pitch, poor roof quality, incorrect nailing installation, nail hole is not patched correctly (for asbestos, metal or corrugated roof tile), or waterproof coating needed (for slab concrete roof) are other causes of leaky roofs. The solution for each leakage problem is different. For ridges, the cracks appear between mortar and roof tile is not perfectly joined, so it needs to be given waterproofing coating or recast using instant cement/concrete.
Water damage problem 2: Ceiling water stain
During the rainy season, a residential home will face some problems. One of them is water damage, wet ceiling. The damp ceiling usually leaves brown stains when it is dry. The size of the water stains depends on the size of the leak on the roof. To overcome that problem is not only fix the ceiling, but you should start from the causes, a leaky roof, for example. After the leak on the roof has been resolving, then peel the ugly paint in the ceiling area. However, there are some cases that the paint on the ceiling still sticks well, especially if the plywood is the ceiling material. To fix this issue, you should coat it using oil painting first, then paint it with wall paint.
Stucked door or window
During the rainy season, the material condition can changes (expands or shrinks), lack of hinges on doors or windows, or changes in building construction due to the wet state of the ground base. If expansion is the problem, then after rainy season passes, it will be automatically resolved. However, if the lack of hinges is the problem, then hinges on doors or windows need to be added. Use large hinges for the door; for example, three hinges on each door. Meanwhile, if structural is the problem, then you need to chisel the door or window shape to fit the jamb shape.
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