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fighting dampness economist suntribune october 8 1986 c3 try drying out for winter by nancy jhoskin after having had an unusually wet summer with flooded base ments and family rooms now is the time to get the excess mois ture out of your home before cold temperatures set in for the winter with many homes in this part of canada without air conditioners or dehumidifiers it is wise to use this time to go through those deep closets and drawers damp base ment storage areas and root out the forgotton boxes of books and clothes empty these areas to dry things out while you figure out what to do with the mold and mus ty smells mold or mildew is a living thing a fungus whose spores are every where fungus is a kind of plant that has no green color chlor ophyll and cannot make it with out the help of an organic host it colonizes matter which is alive or which has organic material in it fungus spores are so tiny that they are impossible to see without a microscope but they are out there floating in the air circling just waiting for warm moist places to land you cannot wipe out all the fun gus spores in the world but you can do something about the condi tions in which they thrive you can lower humidity in basements and crawl spaces you can isolate stored goods from dampness by covering walls or floors with four millimeters of polyethylene available in rolls at hardware and building supply stores do as much as you can to in crease the ventilation be sure ex isting vents remain unblocked and impossible keep a door or win dow open clean all washable surfaces in the area with a mold or mildew cleaner before putting your goods back in the newly cleaned and aired out storage space invest in some kind of insurance against future damp ness dehumidifiers are available at your local hardware store and are priced between 239 and 299 another form of insurance is also available for about 7 you can get a dehumidifier in a jar it is a plastic container with waterab- sorbing crystals a calcium chlor ide crystal that soaks up 15 times its own volumn in moisture when buying a new camera or suede boots for example you usually find a packet of these crystals doing the same job keep ing the moisture out these crys tals are available at hardware stores and home centers high efficiency as furnace quality installations with excellent prices m from this price even includes tax based on standard installation of a gas to gas change delivers over 95 efficiency 9 olsen ultramax keeprite ultimate iii clare megasave squeeze more out of your heating dollars up to 40 savings over an ordinary gas furnace up to 60 savings over an oil furnace call us today for more info also available electronic air cleaners humidifiers energysaving thermostats sheet metal keeprite air conditioners koolhre heat pumps b authorized consumers gas dealer check the jar every few months and pour out the accumulated moisture they can be placed in all areas the attract moisture bathrooms closets basements and garages but keep them out of the reach of young children each jar lasts approximately eight months there are other methods of ex tracting dampness and water out of rooms you can use a rug shampoo machine without adding the wa ter you normally would it will suck up excess moisture as will a shop vac which is a vacuumn to be used when cleaning up some thing wet or dry explained jackie sneek owner of mar- khams pro hardware another product mrs sneek re commended are nil odor drops which are available in either a spray or drop form and take the musty smell out of any room enhance the appearance value of your home with awnings by quality that shows door window patio awnings retractable stationary illuminated awnings residential commercial vinyl or fabric dralon a poly acrylic fibre usetested proven in europe for 20 yrs authorized dealer john bouwmeister cont ltd 2941798 see us at the home show booth 301302 markham cos building supplies ltd great fuel buys for grates cannelcoal nut coal firewood kindling 00 off 45 lb bag of cannelcoal with this ad ul we offer quality service on all makes of gas furnaces serving markham for over 30 years uthbertson 4714097 heating air conditioning 15 heritage road no 21 markham located across from markville dominion serving metro area for over 70 years sand gravel umestono silica sand fencing insulation cement piaster gyproclath drywal mela lath builders tools nails plumbing supplies plastic pipe sewer pipe roofing sidewalk slabs patio tile curbing concrete steps bricks blocks umfoek ice salt available at all locations north 319 merton street 4891126 east 2296 gerrard street e 6942118 8 station street unionville 4771732 west 1020 dup0nt street 5337961 5353161 head office 6912171