Tag: tips

housing tips

5 Tips for Segregating Your Waste at Home

Why Is Waste Sorting Important When Recycling? | Greentumble

Waste segregation is an action so important, that an effective practice of it would not only be realized to be beneficial to the occupants of the home in question, but would also be advantageous to environmental health.

Where waste is not segregated as it should, it may result in a poor disposal of certain wastes, which would reach the landfill and contribute to the pollution of air and water.

On UK.collected.reviews, many have shared their experiences with waste segregation, and what role the solar panels, one of the green energy providers, play in the correct disposal of wastes.

Below are five factors instrumental to the segregation, which aids in the correct disposal of waste at home:

Separate Bags, for Separate Waste:

There are certain types of wastes that are of a dry nature, just as there are the ones that are of a wet nature. If a proper segregation is to be had, these wastes must be ‘stored’ properly. Plastic and glass materials should be disposed of in a dry bag. Clothes are of a dry nature, as well as shoes and food containers. Where these are made clean, they may be recycled, or given to organisations that collect them, thus reducing the wastes that get to the dump site.

Compost the Wet Waste:

Kitchen waste like vegetables, fruit peels, egg shells, fish insides and scales, cooked food, would qualify as wet waste, and it is best that these types of waste are composed. There are different processes by which wet waste may be composed, and when done properly, rich compost will be had, and it can either be used at home, or sold as manure.

Store the Hazardous wastes separately:

Cleaning agents, paints, insecticides, and other combustible and flammable materials would qualify as hazardous and what is best done to them is that they are properly disposed of. This may be by keeping the materials in their original packaging before disposing of them, donating them, or dropping them off to specific facilities that cater to hazardous materials.

Dry before you Dispose:

Before these wastes are put in a bag, it is necessary that they are properly dried. The cake and pizza boxes are dry waste, and they should be cleaned and dried before being disposed of. Where they are bottles that contain a sauce or flavoring, they must be washed clean and dried before getting added to the bag of dry waste.

Dispose Properly:

Where it is an item that may not fall under the category to be donated or composed and would simply be thrown away, the disposal of such item should be done properly. Broken furniture, glass, sanitary wares, or simply debris should be stored properly till they are ready to be picked up.

The amount of waste generated at home is a lot, and it is for this reason important that it is disposed properly because when it isn’t, the wastes would prove hazardous to the environment, which would in turn negatively affect … Read More...

building tips

How to Keep Concrete Structures from Cracking in the Winter

Like it or not, old man winter will soon be here and he’ll bring with him all of his cold weather might.  Winter is easily the harshest time of the year as it brings cloudy, damp days, below freezing temperatures, snow, wind and frost.  Materials that are left exposed to the elements suffer most since the fluctuations in temperatures cause them to expand and contract from day to day.  This often has a very negative effect on brickwork and concrete.

Since these two materials are porous, the frigid temperatures often cause moisture in brick and concrete to freeze and expand.   As the temperatures increase above freezing, the moisture heats up and eventually evaporates.  The issue, however, has already begun as cracking within the concrete has already started.  The next time moisture enters the brick or concrete, it will cause an even larger crack until eventually it ends up structurally useless and crumbles to pieces.  At that point, your only option will be to call a concrete contractor or mason to replace the material.

As is true in most cases, maintaining something in good working order is less costly than waiting until it’s too late and having to make large repairs or replacing it.  Below are a few tips to keep your concrete in good shape and prevent spalling.

Patch or Repair

This one might seem a bit obvious, but most people are intimidated by concrete work so it never gets done.  Before you know it, it’s too late.  The best way to keep concrete from cracking too deep is to catch it when you first see it.  Your big box store has simple products such as Quikrete’s Polyurethane Concrete Crack Sealant that is extremely easy and quick to apply.  This flexible sealant adheres extremely well to concrete and will expand and contract with your concrete to always maintain that seamless look.

For slabs of concrete that are showing cracks larger than a quarter inch, its best that you call a professional concrete repair company to inspect what you have going on.  Allow them to advise you of next steps, and if you’re feeling adventurous, take on a new concrete challenge.

A Spalling Solution

Once you’ve addressed all the small cracks and pits that need to be addressed, take the next layer of prevention by applying a surface spalling compound to the affected area.  This gets applied on a much larger area, but before you do anything, you’ll need to make sure that the flooring is completely clean of dirt, grime and other debris. 

The easiest way to do this is with a power washer.  The spalling solution binds and adheres directly onto the concrete and creates a seamless looking layer that flexibly expands and contracts with the concrete itself.  This product is excellent to use on sidewalks, stairs, driveways, patios and any other concrete surfaces around the house. 

Sealer

By now you’ve applied a couple of extra layers of protection to your concrete, but there is one more critical layer … Read More...