Be Careful and Avoid These Common Fire Hazards in Your Home!

Every year, The Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia reports thousands of fire incidents that cause significant damage to homes, establishments as well as injure people dwelling in these buildings. Since fires spread so quickly, it’s important to take precautionary steps like getting home insurance and installing fire extinguishers.

Identifying and avoiding potential fire hazards are also a part of the precautions you’d need to take to prevent fires. Here are three common fire hazards to avoid so your home will remain safe and protected!

Worn out electrical wires

In a world that is getting more and more connected, we rely heavily on our electronic and electrical devices. These devices usually have cables and wires attached to it but they could also become potential fire hazards once the cable insulator is worn out. The inner copper wires could overheat and cause fires when they come to contact with materials like paper or fabric. 

Tip: Check your cables once in a while for any signs of wear and tear. Opt to replace or repair the cables to avoid any unwanted incidents to happen.

Unattended stoves and malfunctioning appliances 

The kitchen can start a fire even when you least expect it to. Walking away from your stove while you’re cooking could risk a fire from catching on to a nearby cookbook or dishrag. Besides that, continuously using a faulty kitchen appliance like a microwave or a toaster could lead to sparks and causing fire to a nearby flammable substance.

Tip: A good rule of thumb is to keep away flammable materials from fire, power sources and heating elements. This includes paper towels, cloth rags, oven mitts and even your sleeves!

Smoking carelessly

Not being wary and careful when you smoke cigarettes could do a lot of harm. Smoking in bed could cause the mattress to catch fire. Emptying an ashtray into a bin when it’s still hot could cause the plastic and trash to burn unknowingly. Be wary about the places that you smoke in and also never leave a burning cigarette or pipe unattended.

Tip: When you can, smoke outdoors! It is a lesser risk of hot ash landing on flammable materials. Don’t forget to stub it out properly before disposing the butt into a designated bin. 

Conclusion

Fire is an incident that is entirely preventable if you follow all these steps. While precautionary steps are important, it’s also crucial that you protect yourself, family members and your home against any accidents that could happen. To learn more about how you can do that, click here https://www.aig.my/personal/home-insurance/standard-home-insurance

Efflorescences are crystalline deposits of salts that occur when soluble salts and other water dispersible materials come to the surface of concrete, mortars and other building surfaces. It appears as a white or greyish powdery substance on floors and walls.

Low temperatures and moist conditions induce efflorescence. Error in building surface installations such as joint material failure and improper ground storage may also cause efflorescence.

The cause of efflorescence may be slightly different on various building materials. How? Continue reading to find out:

Cement

All kinds of cement are susceptible to efflorescence, but according to the Brick Industry Association (BIA), Portland cement contributes most to it in mortar and grout. Its high alkali content makes it more likely to efflorescence than other types of cement.

Sand

While they are not water-soluble, you can contaminate sand with materials that contribute to efflorescence. Make sure the sand in mortar and grout are clean and free from contamination to reduce the chance of efflorescence.

Brick

This type of building material may absorb soluble salts as it is porous. You can find out if there’s efflorescence in brick by immersing it in distilled water for seven days. White powdery substances will appear on the block if compared to a normal one.

Clay

The clay in building bricks and face bricks contain highly soluble salts, which may react to calcium sulfate that causes efflorescence.  Efflorescence caused by sulfates and hydroxides is more soluble than calcium, which makes them form more faster.

Lime

This building material has been known to improve the bond between brick and mortar. Lime also increases the water resistance of masonry materials. However, they are also soluble to water and can react with unbuffered hydrochloric acid to produce efflorescence.

Admixtures

It’s better to be cautious with admixtures as its bond and strength may increase the potential of efflorescences. You may want to avoid this solution if you’re unsure about admixture.

Conclusion

The best time to remove efflorescence is before it combines with carbon dioxide. You can rinse the efflorescences away by pressure washing or wet scrubbing them away. However, you must make sure there is no residue left on the building material, or new ones will appear.

Get professional help for removing efflorescence by visiting https://lafargeprosolutions.com/individuals/problems-solutions/efflorescence/.