The Invisible Crisis: When Water Seeps Through the Floors of Singapore’s Homes

Posted on by Korba Helmi

Toilet Waterproofing

Toilet waterproofing failures haunt the lives of thousands of Singaporeans living in both public housing flats and luxury condominiums, creating a hidden epidemic of property damage that disproportionately impacts the elderly and working-class families without resources for prompt remediation. Mdm Lim, a 72-year-old retiree living alone in a 40-year-old HDB flat in Toa Payoh, discovered this harsh reality when brownish water began seeping through her bathroom floor tiles, eventually spreading to her bedroom and triggering a respiratory infection that landed her in hospital for eight days.

When the Waters Rise: The Human Cost of Waterproofing Failure

For Singaporeans like Mdm Lim, failing waterproofing represents more than a maintenance inconvenience—it becomes a devastating financial and health crisis that exposes the vulnerability of those living on fixed incomes in ageing housing stock.

“The first sign was just a small dark patch near the toilet base,” Mdm Lim explains, sitting on a plastic chair in her sparsely furnished living room, the smell of …

The Importance Of Asbestos Awareness Training

Posted on by Will Turner

You may have never heard of asbestos awareness training, but it can save lives. It provides homeowners and workers a primary knowledge of how one can identify its presence, where it’s normally found in buildings, and how one can avoid exposure. Knowing where it’s found can help workers avoid exposure to this deadly mineral.

What is asbestos?

Asbestos is a bunch of minerals seen almost everywhere in nature and is a fibrous substance. They’re found in fireproofing and noise reduction materials, electrical insulation, cement, construction supplies, roof shingles, ceiling plaster, chemical filters, and other types of manufacturing materials. Small asbestos particles can become airborne (float in the air), especially throughout the manufacturing of materials that have asbestos. These airborne particles can be breathed in, causing mesothelioma, cancer, and other asbestos-associated ailments.

Asbestos awareness training is vital because asbestos is found in a large number of buildings in addition to houses and schools. Within the workplace or home asbestos will mostly …

Black Marks Between The Carpet And The Skirting Boards

Posted on by Will Turner

Black marks between the carpet and the skirting boards are just nasty. But they can be dealt with effectively with some sealant, some carpet cleaners and elbow grease.

Light coloured carpets make a room nice and cosy. Some people go for stark elegance in a room, so they choose a pristine white carpet to achieve this look. But no matter what kind of look you are trying to get into a room, you would not be successful if you end up having black marks between your carpet and the skirting boards of your room. These black marks under the skirting boards and on light-coloured carpet are just nasty.

What causes these black marks on carpets right under the skirting boards? The culprit that you are looking for is air. Air is everywhere; we all know that. And in houses, air under the flooring can escape through gaps and leave behind it a trail of dirt and dust. Thus, when black …

Stonewood Outlet Brings Extensive Tile Flooring Program To New 82nd Street Location In South East Portland

Posted on by Will Turner

Stonewood Outlet, a Portland, Oregon based hard surface and decking outlet store, recently opened its second location just off of Cascade Highway and SE Otty Road in Happy Valley, Portland, Oregon. Stonewood is one of Portland’s largest hard surface and decking outlet stores, featuring factory direct priced products sold directly to the public. The store carries a diverse product line, from hardwood flooring to stone, tile, laminate, counter tops, and decking.

Stonewood Outlet’s tile flooring program is one of its biggest sellers. The store has recently acquired a large amount of premium tile at a discounted rate. As a result, they will be selling their tile to the public at a highly discounted rate, while supplies last.

Tile flooring is a popular flooring cover and surface material for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is its popular beauty. It is valued for its lustrous and polished appearance, which lends room a clean look as well as an …

Best Way to Clean Laminate Flooring

Posted on by Will Turner

Laminate flooring was first invented by a Swedish company called Pergo AB in the year 1977. Pergo AB is part of a larger company named Perstop AB which is responsible for the invention of laminate tabletops. Even though the laminate flooring was invented in 1977, it didn’t become available in the United States until the year 1994. In just a little less than a decade and a half since it’s entrance to the United States, laminate flooring has become one of the most popular forms of flooring in the country, and as one of the most popular forms of flooring many people are concerned with how easy cleaning laminate flooring is. This is an article about the best way to clean laminate flooring.

The best part about laminate floors is that the best way to clean laminate flooring does not have to be very hard at all. In fact, cleaning laminate flooring is down right easy as the floors are …

Interesting Facts About Cork And Cork Flooring

Posted on by Will Turner

Cork flooring is a much discussed topic these days amongst homeowners and interior decorators. If youve heard about it and want to learn more about this popular material, this article is for you.

Cork, an all-natural product, is produced from the bark of the QuercusSuber tree, also known as the cork oak tree. It grows mainly in Portugal and Spain around the Mediterranean Basin. The bark is carefully harvested from the tree using hand tools. This is done in such a manner so that the tree is not damaged or injured. After the top layer of bark is stripped off, the tree then regenerates and grows a new bark. This process will take up to about nine years before the regenerated bark is ready for harvesting.

To maintain the integrity of cork oak trees and to prevent over-harvesting, a law was passed during the 1930s that stipulated that the bark could be stripped from a tree only once in nine …

Installing Bathroom Flooring

Posted on by Will Turner

Are you ready for a new bathroom floor? Perhaps your taste is willing to accept a new pattern or design to match recently painted or papered walls, but your wallet may be telling you to wait until the economy takes a turn for the better. If you have been successful in managing a few fixer-upper projects around your home in the past, you may be able to install new bathroom flooring for a fraction of the cost that you would have to pay professionals. All you need are a few simple guidelines and quality floor tile or linoleum.

First, decide what type of flooring you want for your bathroom. Tile works especially well, because any of the pieces that become rotted, mildewed, or damaged are easy to replace without taking up the entire floor. Just be sure to buy extra tiles when purchasing the initial batch so the replacement pieces will match their original counterparts. Linoleum may be cheaper, and …

Versatility From Dance Floor to Athletic Flooring

Posted on by Will Turner

If you operate a dance studio and are looking for addition revenue streams, you might consider opening your space for other purposes, such as aerobics, pilates, yoga and more. The latter two in particular are done on the floor, which requires some “give;” fitness flooring may be just the answer.

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It is true that many such exercises are done with the use of soft mats; however, sprung flooring such as specialty athletic flooring can add that extra bit of safety and comfort.

Like better dance flooring, athletic flooring has at least two hard layers with a soft, cushioning layer in between. This is known as a “sprung” floor; the middle layer offers a little “give” that is much easier on the joints when it comes to repetitive movements that involve stepping and jumping.

On the other hand, such specialty fitness flooring differs from dance floors in how slippery it is. While a ballroom dance floor should be slippery to …

Limestone Tiles & Natural Stone – Adding Charm to Your House Flooring

Posted on by Will Turner

When it comes to flooring there are a large number of options to choose from. You have a range of options such as green marble tiles, limestone tiles, natural slate flooring, sandstone tiles and granite to make an appropriate flooring choice. Limestone tiles have grown to be one of the most popular choices in flooring. Besides being economical it is quite tough and hard wearing. However it does need proper cares and can last for years if it is properly maintained.

There is an abundance of limestone deposits in places such as USA, Portugal, India, etc. Since the stone is very tough and durable they are used in various spectrum of construction arena. It is comparatively more prone to wear and tear than marble however if cared for properly they can serve you well. You can have an economical, durable material for your home decoration. Limestone is made of calcite and is a sedimentary rock. Most of the Limestone is …

How To Fit Laminate Wood Effect Flooring With Ease

Posted on by Will Turner

Laminate floors or wood effect floors are increasingly more popular these days as more and more people prefer a nice clean natural look in their living spaces. Apart from this there are the additional advantages that laminate or wood effect flooring is easy to manage and clean. If you spill a mug of coffee on a nice light coloured carpet then this could spell disaster as it may be difficult to remove any stains or damage that has been caused. However, should the same happen with laminate wood effect flooring, it is simply a case of getting the mop out and mopping it.

Preparing To Lay A Laminate Wooden Floor

Preparation is the key to laying a wooden floor successfully. Before you even consider laying the floor, you must totally prepare the surface that it is to be laid on ensuring it is as level as possible with any protrusions such as nails etc, being removed prior. Many people lay …