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Lettuce rafts (Deep Water Culture) are perhaps the simplest most economical way to grow small herbs and plants in an aquarium or water container that is at least one foot deep. Essentially small plants such as herbs, spinach, basil, cilantro are placed in the lettuce raft and placed on top of the water source. You can grow your seedlings in a growing medium. One example would be the Hydroton balls. They are placed around the seedling to help support them in the lettuce raft.  The water source is nutrient filled to feed the floating plants. Some examples of nutrients is, GH Flora Series. It consists of Flora Grow, Flora Micro and Flora Bloom. It's important that the roots of the plants are long enough to reach the water right after you plant them in your lettuce raft. You will also want to keep the pH of the water in the proper range which is 5.5 to 6.5. Of course, 6.0 if ideal!  The reason the pH is so important is because the plants cannot assimilate the nutrients well if the pH is off. 

The water must be aeriated so that the nutrients and the water itself do not become stagnant. One option for an aeriator is called an Air Stone. This stone is hooked up to a small single-outlet air pump which is outside the reservoir. Some people like to place the air pump higher than the reservoir so that the nutrients don't back up into it.

If you are excited to see plants grow right away, consider choosing plants that have a short growing cycle.  Lettuce and other leafy greens are great for a start.  For your kitchen you may want to have herbs at your fingertips! Just place your lettuce raft system in a sunny window. Some types of plants may require an additional light source such as a T5 compact fluorescent grow light.  Other fun plants to consider growing are hot peppers, endives, watercress, basil and dill.  What you don't want to grow are heavy bulky plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, or sweet peppers.

A little hint for success is to cover any glass aquarium sides with thick paper or cardboard. This will block out the light and help prevent algae. When you want to show off the roots to your visitors, simply remove the paper for all to see.

Most of all have fun and happy growing!

Designing a haunted house is achievable in almost any location in your home. In case you would like to break from Trick or Treating, why not develop a haunted house at your house? With the help of some fire retardant black plastic sheeting, you can build multiple rooms that are creepy, dark and scary! Of course those lucky folks who have a basements to work with- all the better!  Use illumination and music to manufacture a terrifying surroundings.

Many different house hold accessories can be put to good use to make a spooky design. These things can work with nearly any budget. Old articles of clothes as well as materials, or perhaps previous bottles as well as canisters may be recycled as well as employed to create a spooky home-crafted interest. Continue scouring magazines and get ideas to help make your own haunted household.

Fire retardant black plastic sheeting plus a garage or carport, can transform that space into a wonderful haunted room. Just give it a creepy name, and have a blast! Positioning Halloween props, creepy sound effects, and giant spiders crawling up the wall will have the little ones screaming. Put up fake tombstones as well as a great inflatable haunted household entrance for the wow factor!

Most likely you will need something to hold up your black fire retardant plastic sheeting.  This is where fire retardant tape comes in.  It is so important to use a many fire retardant items in your haunted house, just in case it should come in contact with an open flame.  Fire retardant plastic will not add to the fire. It will melt or extinquish when the flame hits it.

If you want to suspend some creepy things from the ceiling, consider using fire retardant red stripe strapping.  It's much stronger than most twine, and will not be a fuel source should a fire break out.  We know it's unlikely that your haunted house will have a fire- but it's better to be safe than sorry.  If you are building a haunted house for the general public- say at a school, church, or a warehouse- check with your local fire marshal.  They may require fire retardant plastic sheeting, along with the documentation to prove it meets the fire codes.  Click here if you would like to view fire retardant plastic sheeting and tape for use in your haunted house adventure!

What does flexible plastic sheeting and wine have in common?  If you are a vineyard trying to conserve water, plastic sheeting can play a big role in your effort.  One of our customers, Pahlmeyer Waters Ranch Vineyard came up with the brilliant idea to take our scrim reinforced plastic sheeting and place the tarps between the rows and connected them under the vines, insuring there weren't any gaps.  When the rains came, the water ran down the plastic right into their silt pond as planned.  This plan worked like a charm saving water while allowing the vines to grow.

• How heavy is the FR strapping?  The coil weighs 1/4 the weight of the streel strap coils.
• How is is disposed of?  Unlike streel banding, disposal is as simple as tossing rope into the garbage. Just gather it up, and toss it out. 
• Can it be re-used?  Absolutely! If the piece is long enough, and nothing has been spilled on it, to compromise the FR additive, it can be reused. Just re-tension the strap and use it again!
• Forget workman's comp claims...this strapping cannot cut you like steel can!

 

So often new home buyers make the assumption that the brand new construction home they are buying protects them from radon. That assumption could be further from the truth.  Consider buying a home from a home builder that build radon-resistant new construction homes!

More and more home builders across the United States are building new homes that prevent radon from entering the home. Home builder's have come to realize that their customers need a safer, healthier, radon-resistant home.  The EPA has launched a campaign that promotes the concept that living green is also breathing clean, healthy indoor air. It is environmentally responsible to chose to protect familys' from lung cancer.

What's the big deal about radon? Radon is extremely dangerous because it is odorless and an invisible gas that ranks as the number one home hazards for American homes, according to a Harvard University study. While radon dissipates outside in an open air environment, it gets trapped inside homes and buildings. Hazardous radon levels are detected in one out of 15 American homes. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers.  The U.S. surgeon General has made January "Radon Action Month".

If you are buying an older home you can hire a radon professional to do an inspection. Find certified professionals with the National Environmental Health Association-National Radon Proficiency Program or the National Radon Safety Board.

Let's see how much you know about Radon! Answer these True or False questions.

1. Radon levels within a building often change on a day-to-day basis. (True or False)  True: Because of changes and air pressure through-out the building during different times of the year Radon levels in the home can increase or decrease
2. The highest indoor levels are often found during the winter when you are using heat to warm your home. (True or False) True: This is because during the winter months most homes windows and doors are closed with a thus creating for lack of air flow trapping Radon and other natural occurring gases inside the home.
3. Short term test kits are the quickest way to test your home for radon. (True or False) True: They will give you a quick reading, but reading over time are more reliable.
4. 24 hours is enough time to determine if your home has a radon problem.  (True or False)  False: You need at least 48 hours at a minimum.
5. There are long term tests that remain in your home for more than 90 days, and are more effective than short term tests. (True or False) True because radon levels vary depending on the weather, etc.
6. If a long-term test yield results of 4pCi/L or higher, the EPA recommends correcting the problem.  (True or False) True
7. The best place to test for radon is n the lowest part of the home. (True or False) True:  Because Radon is a natural occurring gas created by decomposing Uranium underground the highest amounts of Radon Gases enter your home would be coming from the lowest point.
8. It is smart to also test rooms that are regularly occupied such as a family room, den, etc.  (True or False) True- It's important to be safel in your whole house.

So you live in a state that has statewide Radon-Resistant New Construction- RRNC Codes? As of June, 2014, the EPA list the following states: Illinois | Maryland | Michigan | Minnesota | New Jersey | Oregon | Washington.

There are 18 states that DO NOT have statewide RRNC codes, but DO have local jurisdictions that have RRNC codes. They are:  Alabama | Colorado | Idaho | Iowa | Kansas | Missouri | Montana | Nebraska |  New Mexico | New York | Ohio | Oklahoma | Pennsylvania | South Carolina | Tennessee | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming

There are 24 states and 3 District/Territories that DO NOT have statewide or local jurisdictions that have RRNC codes. They are:  AK, AZ, AR, CA, CT, DE, DC, GA, GU, HI, IN, KY, LA, MA, MS, NV, NH, NC, ND, PR, SD, TX, UT and VT.

What are some of the things a builder should do to make a Radon-Resistant New Construction home?

1.  GRAVEL:  A layer of clean, coarse gravel below the foundation.

2.  Plastic Sheeting or Vapor Retarder: A heavy duty plastic sheeting or vapor retarder over the gravel to inhibit radon and other soil gases from entering the home. What is the best vapor barrrier that is specifically engineered to block radon, and has the tests to prove it? Raven Industries  VaporBlock 20+. This vapor retarder/barrier far exceeds any 6 mil polyethylene plastic.

3. A Vent Pipe:  A vent pipe installed vertically from the gravel layer through the house's conditioned space and roof.  This safely vents radon and other soil gases outside hte hosue.

4. Sealing and Calking: Sealed all openings, creacks and crevices in the concrete foundation and walls with polyurethane caulk to prevent radon and other soil gases from entering the home.

5. Junction Box:  Installed an electrical junction box (outlet) in the attic for use with a vent fan, should, after tesing for radon, an more robust system be needed.

Check out the EPA's website to learn more about controlling radon in your home.

Crawl space vapor barriers that look like a roll of regular old plastic sheeting aren’t something that people don’t generally discuss at backyard barbecues! For most home owners, the thought of buying plastic sheeting only comes to mind when they about ready to start that long awaited home improvement project and they want to protect their floors, furniture, counter tops and other valuable things around the house.  One thing that never really comes to mind is buying plastic  sheeting also called, crawl space vapor barriers, to protect the most important thing in their home; their health.

True or False:  The Surgeon General has warned that smoking is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today.   (False- radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. today).

Every day tiny radioactive radon gas molecules migrate through many homes across the county. Depending on what part of the country you live in really makes a difference.  Unfortunately we can’t smell, taste or know that those stealth radon gas molecules can be causing long term health problems for us.  Radon is a cancer causing radioactive gas that naturally occurs from uranium deposits decomposing in the ground.  The Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States today. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/news/2005/01/sg01132005.html  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Surgeon General’s Office have estimated that as many as 20,000 lung cancer deaths are caused each year by radon.

True or false:  An elementary school student that spends 8 hours per day and 180 days per year in a classroom with 4 pCi/l of radon will receive nearly 10 times as much radiation as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows at the edge of a nuclear power plant.                         (true)

Most U.S. EPA lifetime safety standards for carcinogens are established based on a 1 in 100,000 risk of death.

True or False:  Most scientists agree that the risk of death for radon at 4 pCi/l is approximately 1 in 100.

(True)

So what can you do to protect your home from Radon gas? First of all you should test your home to see if you have high levels of radon.  The US EPA, Surgeon General, American Lung Association, American Medical Association, and National Safety Council recommend testing your home for radon because testing is the only way to know your home's radon levels. There are no immediate symptoms that will alert you to the presence of radon. It typically takes years of exposure before any problems surface.

Is there a crawl space vapor barrier that can combat deadly radon?

For many years homeowners and contractors alike have chosen to just use 6 mil plastic from the local hardware store with a radon mitigation system that blows the gas away from the home to lower radon levels.  However, what most people don’t know is that is not all crawl space vapor barriers  are equal and that the plastic sheeting liner they bought from the their local hardware store or that the contractor is not meant to block out any type of gases.  Over time the radon gas that is not being vented out will slowly build back up in your home.

Ask to see data sheet on the plastic.

Look for Radon Diffusion Coefficient test data on the data sheet. (If this is not listed then the product has not been tested to block out radon)

Also stand firm.  Don’t let anyone talk to you into something you know isn’t right.  Remember it does not matter how much experience a company says they have with mitigating Radon. You must insist on seeing the data sheet. When it comes to your health you must use the crawl space vapor barrier that is proven to block those hazardous gases.

If you are looking to have your aquaponics farm have an organic certification, what plastic liner should you use? 

Let's start by examining what it means to be, "Organically Certified".  Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers, etc.  The organic certification verifies that regardless of where your farm or handling facility is located in the WORLD, your operation complies with the USDA organic regulation.

If you plan on going for Organic Certification, you have a detailed road ahead of you.  Sometimes it takes trial and error, and this could be very costly in the scope of things.  When dealing with organic certification, it is our belief to ask for permission on the material you plan on using.  Yes it is important to do all of your homework and be prepared and educated on the process.  But sometimes things will fall in to “gray” areas,  in these cases, it is best to reach out to the organizations that certify and tell them exactly what you are doing.  Things to remember when you do this.

 Show the data sheets to your certifying body and tell them exactly what you wish to do.

• Get it in writing
• Have them sign off
• Make friends
• Ask about pitfalls and valleys that they may see coming

By being straightforward with them, they will soon realize that you are trying to comply with all and any regulation.  Truth and approval PRIOR to installation is the key.  If they know you are trying to be perfect they will be happy to help you.  It is there job to maintain the quality levels and they want to do a good job. Just ask them for help and they will almost always help you. 

NFPA 701-04 Test 1 versus Test 2...What's the difference?

We went to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Flame Popagation of Textiles and Films handbook to briefly explain the differences. To quote from their website (http://www.nfpa.org/)

Test Method 1 shall not apply to specimens having an areal density greater than 700 g/m2 (21 oz/yd2).

Test Method 2 (flat specimen configuration) shall be used for fabrics, including multilayered fabrics, films, and plastic blinds, with or without reinforcement or backing, with areal densities greater than 700 g/m2 (21 oz/yd2).

In other words, black fire retardant plastic sheeting in the 4 mil or 8 mil does not have enough density to qualify for this test.

NFPA is an international nonprofit organization that was established in 1896. It's mission is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other harzards by providing  in part codes and standards for fire prevention.