It is impossible to imagine sleeping comfortably on beds or walking about one’s home without floors and foundations. Failing to repair damages in the floor or foundation of a structure can result in problems like water seepage, framing issues, and deep wall cracks. Thus, one must repair such damages through tried-and-tested methods to avoid further deterioration and ensure habitable conditions. Here are some common and effective floor and foundation repair services and methods:
Steel pressed piling
In this process, steel piles are inserted into the ground through a hydraulic ram, which is a cylindrical water pump powered by hydropower. In some cases, hollow steel piles are filled with concrete to provide additional support to the piles and alleviate the risks posed by erosion. Steel-pressed piling is simple, hassle-free, and effective and is typically not time-consuming.
Slab jacking
Slab jacking refers to elevating one side of a concrete slab from below. This process results in re-leveling of the slab and typically takes some hours to complete. Nowadays, polyurethane foam, as opposed to mud or concrete, is the preferred substance used to raise concrete in the slab-jacking process. Slab jacking requires specialized equipment and should be undertaken only by professionals with considerable experience in the activity.
Crack sealing
Sealing cracks is a temporary solution to the foundation and floor damage. Adhesive sealants are typically used to fill up the cracks on the pavement surface. However, crack sealing should not be a permanent resort; it is an effective method to prevent further damage until other permanent procedures like steel-pressed piling are employed.
Soil modification
Soil modification is a process in which gaps in soil layers are filled with chemical substances to facilitate soil stability and stiffness. The process is similar to slab jacking; however, it requires considerable expertise and should be carried out only by trained professionals. Moreover, it is more expensive than other foundation-repair methods and requires high maintenance.
Resin insertion
This is a type of grouting used for repairing underground pipes or tunnels. This process is used to repair cracked concrete surfaces, particularly those caused by water leakage. However, the cost involved in this process is considerably high; therefore, it is usually not employed to fix shallow or pattern cracks. As a temporary solution, crack sealing is a more economical method to fill up cracks.
Gravity filling method
This technique is among the most basic crack-filling methods, wherein gravity-filling machines fill gaps in floor surfaces. These machines have basic designs and are easy to use, contributing to the popularity of this technique. Furthermore, gravity fillers do not employ a recirculating mechanism and do not require expertise.
Concrete pressed piling
In this process, deep holes are drilled into the structure to be repaired, then filled with concrete, reinforcement, and, sometimes, precast concrete piles. This procedure involves low costs and does not require heavy equipment. However, avoiding this procedure as a long-term solution for cracked floors and foundations is advisable.
Steel piers
While installing steel piers is an excellent long-term solution, it is relatively expensive and is avoided by individuals with strict budget limits. The procedure involves inserting galvanized steel posts deep into the earth, allowing it to penetrate the foundation and reach the bedrock. The procedure may be carried out in any soil condition and is durable.
Poured concrete piers
Here, a deep hole is dug underneath the foundation and filled up with wet concrete. These concrete piers may be used in different soil conditions and are bell-bottom-shaped for additional support.
Shimming
Shimming involves shims, or small pieces of steel or other material, stacked until the stack attains the desired height. Shimming is a common process used to fill gaps in foundations and floors. These shims are durable and provide considerable support to foundations; hence, they effectively facilitate long-term foundation repair.
Micro-topping treatments
These toppings are made of thin layers of polymer-modified concrete containing sand. They are applied to brushes or trowels and typically dry quickly; thus, this technique is time-saving and popular for foundation repair. However, the resulting texture of the surface depends on the expertise with which the micro-topping is applied to the floor. Typically, one can begin walking on the treated surface after about 42 hours from the time of application.
Stamped concrete surface treatments
This procedure is commonly employed to treat external as well as internal floor surfaces. A thin layer of stamped concrete is applied to an existing slab, and a stamping tool is then used to texture the stamped concrete layer, ensuring that the layer resembles brick or tiled surface. A coat of concrete sealer is applied as the final step.
Dry packing
Dry packing involves manually placing a mortar with low water content, followed by ramming the mortar into place. The low water content ensures that the surface is durable and prevents shrinkage.
Helical piers
Helical piers, also called screw piles or anchors, are installed to repair fragile foundations and support weak structures. These piers may be used to repair various types of damage, including cracks on interior plaster walls, uneven floors, leaning chimneys, and popping up of nails on the ceiling. They may also be used to repair industrial floors.
The symptoms of a brain tumor depend essentially on the location of the tumor in the body. To understand this, let’s take an example, if there is a tumor close to the brain, which controls limb movements or vision, then weakness in the limbs or hazy eyesight will be a symptom. The symptoms can be specific or general. Specific symptoms may show their presence when a specific part of the brain is not functioning well. On the contrary, general symptoms may be caused when the tumor makes its presence felt by applying pressure to the brain or the spinal cord. It must be noted that every cell in the brain can grow a tumor.
The brain is the command center of the body and when it comes to the brain tumor, early symptoms may cover almost everything. However, here is a list of certain symptoms which are more common than the others.
Apart from the above early symptoms, blurred vision, seeing floating images or aura, headaches, hormonal disorders, and gradual changes in one’s personality are some other indicators of a brain tumor.
There are several solar panels available for home installation you can choose from. Following are the types of solar system panels that can be used for powering up several home appliances.
Monocrystalline
The type that started it all, monocrystalline panels, originated in the 1950s. The cells are cut from silicon in a cylindrical fashion, each cell resembles the shape of wafer. A group of tens of wafers make up a monocrystalline panel. Monocrystalline panels are generally constructed from high-quality silicon, giving them the highest performance rates in the industry, usually up to 21 percent. Monocrystalline panels outperform thin film as they make wise use of space, offering a high-power yield per square foot.
Warranties often last for 25 years, as these panels perform better in low-light conditions than their polycrystalline counterparts. Since they are of a superior quality, these panels are also costly. The manufacturing process produces significant waste.
Polycrystalline
Unlike cutting silicon in the form of wafer shapes, manufacturers pour silicon into a mold to form polycrystalline panels. Polycrystalline types of panels are a good option for many residential solar panel systems. The manufacturing process produces little waste, and the technology allows for a cost-effective panel. Efficiency is lower, than its other counterparts. The panels require more space when installed to produce the same electrical output as a panel constructed from monocrystalline.
Thin film
Thin-film solar panels are manufactured by putting down multiple layers of a photo-voltaic element, such as amorphous silicon or organic photo-voltaic cells. Thin film solar panels are lightweight, and are not affected by factors like shading or obstructions. These panels are easy to mass manufacture, hence they are an affordable option. Most thin-film panels offer very low performance, swinging between 7 and 13 percent, they have an average operating efficiency of about 9 percent. These panels generally require a lot of space. As a result, they are not fit for commercial applications. For most residential installations, with strict space constraints, thin film solar panel systems don’t work well.
In most cases, thin-film panels don’t last long and quickly succumb to the effects of weather conditions. Hence typically a manufacturer may not offer a long warranty to go along with a thin-film panel.
There are a number of websites on the Internet that you can use to compare and buy a particular type of panel. Some of the popular websites include wholesalesolar.com, gogreensolar.com, etimates.solar etc.
Kidneys are essential organs of the human body formation as the kidneys do the vital task of filtering the blood of waste materials and excess water to make urine. Ideally, one kidney is enough for human survival as it has enough renal tissue to complete the various tasks needed. However, a complication might crop up if the functioning of the renal tissue diminishes or any of the kidneys is infected or damaged. Let us look at the most common risk that the kidneys usually face risk from bacterial infection. If any of these parts get bacteria (most common culprit being E.coli) in it and if the bacterium travels up to the kidneys it can cause serious life threatening issues. Depending on the occurrence rates the renal infections are classified as follows.
Causes of a kidney infection
Let us look at the different ways in which the bacteria can reach the kidneys to infect it.
Apart from these any other conditions or blockage in the urinary tract or even the use of an external urinary catheter can cause kidney infections.