5 Things You Must Do to Prevent Carpet Beetles from Coming Back

Have you started to notice bald patches on your carpet’s surface? The culprit might be the tiny insects that feed on its fibers. Get rid of them and stop future infestations by doing these simple tricks:

Keep your pet’s area clean

Furry pets are the first choice of carpet beetles. They feed on the dead skin of your pets and use their body as their hiding place. If you spot any carpet beetles on your pet’s bedding, clean and wash it in hot water to kill larvae or eggs. Don’t forget to give your pet a shampoo bath.

Don’t store fabrics or cloths for extended period

You must regularly clean and wash cloths, fabrics, rugs and carpets in hot water or dry clean them. This is particularly applicable for cloths and fabrics which were not used for some time. Source: DoItYourself

Watch out for dead bugs

Constantly be on the lookout for dead insects in the cracks of the walls and flooring of your home. Try removing dead bugs by vacuuming over them or picking them up with a paper towel. Cracks are one of the more subtle living spaces that carpet beetles can thrive within.

Go synthetic

Choose synthetic materials over organic fabrics when possible. Get products made of synthetic fibers instead of natural ones as often as you can. Carpet beetles don’t feed on synthetic fabric. Keep this in mind when purchasing furniture, rugs, and carpets. Source: WikiHow

Sprinkle boric acid

Boric acid, which acts as a poison on insect metabolism, is only hazardous to humans if ingested or inhaled in large quantities. Find it at pharmacies and sprinkle it in powder form lightly and evenly on carpet, then use a broom or brush to distribute it into the fibers. Wait several hours and vacuum thoroughly. You may also prepare a larvae-killing spray by adding one tablespoon of boric acid to two cups of hot water and stirring until the powder dissolves. Fill a plastic spray bottle with the solution and mist curtains, upholstery, baseboards, and dark nooks and crannies where carpet beetle larvae hang out. Source: BobVila

Let us help you repair those ugly spots on the carpet so you won’t have to look at them anymore. Call us anytime to get a free estimate!

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Improving painting skills – training never stops

We believe you never stop learning, which means our training never stops.

Recently our Growth & Training manager, Nestor, put 2 skilled foremen, 8 employees, and one older house together to give valuable training. We specialize in managed properties, so work on this single family home was an exception for training purposes. Nestor S and Jordan provided key skills training for proper surface preparation, priming, and painting. The challenges of COVID-19 and work scheduling delayed this training opportunity until fall.

Jordan brought his focus on details to the training, showing how small improvements like properly holding a brush helps create a clean line between soffits and siding, what’s known as ‘cutting in’. Painting paneled entry doors is a unique skill that takes patience and learning the right order to paint each component.

Using our know-show-do training method each employee had a chance to hear how to use a sprayer safely, see Nestor S spray a section, and then try their hand at spraying the siding of the house. With Nestor’s feedback, each one gained confidence and the first level of competence.

As an added bonus, we were able to provide the work at no charge, with valuable donations from Cloverdale Paint and Dulux Paints. And a shout out to Tony Orantes for many hours of hard work to help make this happen.

A big thanks to all of those involved for giving their time and effort. One small way we can give back to the communities in which we work, serving others and bringing beauty and renewal.

 

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Replacing Your Carpet? Here Are 4 Ways to Reuse the Old One

Installing new carpet does not necessarily mean that you’re ditching the old one straight to the recycling facility. If you want other eco-friendlier ideas that you could use at home, here are some tips to consider:

Single-use beds for your fur baby

We sure do love them, but those furry friends at home can make quite a mess in their living space. While buying new beds and mats can become pricey over time, a quick and easy, money-saving solution is to cut up a few squares of your old carpet to change in and out of their pens or bedding.

Durable car floor covers

No matter what kind of vehicle you are driving these days, consider cutting up your floor covering to use as mats inside your car. Help protect your existing mat by placing a freshly cut square on top. Plus, during the worst of weather seasons, which are always just around the corner, your old carpet will take the beating, leaving your car flooring unscathed. Source: RecycleNation

Welcome mat

Old carpets make the perfect material to create a new door mat. Cut the carpet into the size and shape you desire for a door mat. Then, you can even paint the carpet with latex paint in order to give it a whole new look. Use stencils to personalize it as needed. These even make great gifts for friends and family members moving into a new home, or you can easily create a holiday themed door mat on the cheap this way. Source: DoItYourself

Garage wall cushion

If you’ve been known to park a little too close to the wall of your garage, attach a strip of carpet to the wall so that you don’t ding up your car door when you swing it open. A simple solution to what could have otherwise been an expensive car repair. Source: LittleThings

Are you thinking twice about replacing your old carpet? We can still probably make it look as good as new. Let us take a look! Give us a call today for a free estimate.

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Carpet Scams to Watch Out For

There are good and bad people in any industry or market. No matter how strict the regulations are, you have to be wary and cautious with every deal you’re signing so as to avoid getting ripped off. Keep your eyes peeled for the following scams when you’re buying carpet or having it installed.

Overpriced Quotations

You call a professional to give you a quote for your carpet installation. He starts measuring the surface that will be covered, while having a nice conversation with you.

After he’s done measuring, he will give you the quote: “let’s say a promotional $9/ square foot, for all your 200 coverable square feet. That means $1,800.”

You decide to be smart and think it is a good idea to shop around to see if there is a better best price, so after he leaves you start looking for another quote and find out the average price is $12/ square foot – so your man was the best!

What you haven’t realized is that your coverable space is only 100 square feet not $200, which means only $1,200 at the average price (the scammer is actually charging you $18/ square foot).

How to avoid:

Buy a tape measure and measure the length and breadth of the surface yourself (multiply them together to get the measurement in square feet). Then ask around for quotes for carpet installation for that measurement. Source: Scam-Detector

“Free” Installations

In this scam, carpet dealers advertise greatly reduced installation rates or even free installation. But the advertisements neglect to mention that this only apply to “basic” installations, which can mean as much – or as little work as dealers want. Any additional installation comes with hefty fees. Buyers should not sign anything until they know just what the basic installation entails – or the amount a dealer would impose for the rest of the installation process. Source: DoItYourself

The Private Label

It starts when you find a carpet sample you really like on a contractor’s board but think the price is just too high. You go looking for it elsewhere, but with no luck. He tells you the carpet is actually a “private label,” and no one else sells the exact same brand. In fact, he’s lying. The carpet is available at any retail or big-box store, just under another brand name. Because it’s been rebranded (sometimes by the suppliers themselves) finding a match becomes difficult.

Don’t believe any company that tells you they’re the only ones who can carry a specific color or type of carpet, unless you’re looking for something extremely specific and high-end. If you spot a bad rebrand, move on. Source: AngiesList

Have your carpet repaired or installed by someone who has a good track record and has been in the business for a long time. Give us a call to get a free and honest estimate of your carpet needs.

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Mid-Rise Tower (updated): Exterior Painting and Building Repairs in North Vancouver

North Vancouver Mid-Rise Tower (updated with After photos)

The Remdal team worked hard this summer helping this North Vancouver / Lonsdale area strata complete their building exterior refresh and repair. The previous post showed many of the photos from early in the project. Here we showcase several significant before and after photos.

It’s amazing how quickly the outside of a building can change. The owners can now enjoy their refreshed and repaired exterior completed by one of our longest serving Restoration crews. Great work by everyone involved: the strata owners & council; the property manager; the building engineering company; and of course, the on-site Remdal crew and project managers.

One of the other challenges faced by the strata council was balcony repair. The solution here was installing a raised tile system over top of the renewed balcony membrane. The water still finds its way off the balcony but the tiles provide a cleaner, higher end look for the owners.

The council also provided owners with various colour schemes to choose from. You can see below how much more bright and clean the alley way entrance and ground level parking looks afterwards.

From July to October, this building underwent a dramatic transition rejuvenating and refreshing this property for many years to come.

The scope of work included:

• Building envelope renewal
• Concrete repairs
• Balcony urethane membrane renewal
• Stucco repairs
• Sealant replacement
• Exterior painting
• Swing stage access

If you have a building with similar needs, please contact us for a proposal, info@remdal.com or 604.882.5155.

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