firewebdesigns.com
Fire can be a devastating and deadly event and in 2008 there were more than 403,000 residential fires costing upwards of $8 million in property damage and causing close to 3,000 deaths according to FEMA. There are some simple preventative measures you can take to hopefully reduce the risk of it happening to you.
- First and foremost are having smoke detectors on every floor of your home and near the bedrooms. Be sure to change the batteries twice a year and test them once a month. Remember smoke alarms are your first line of defense!
- You should also have your heating appliances, particularly the furnace, checked by a professional annually. This also includes having your chimney and fireplace hearth cleaned once a year.
- Clean up all clutter both indoors and out. Remember paper and dry brush is highly flammable. Keep your firewood 30 feet away from the house.
- Be sure to have multipurpose chemical fire extinguishers on each floor and near your furnace and water heater and that each family member knows how to use them. Check them for leaks monthly.
- When you have a fire in your fireplace NEVER leave it unattended and put it out completely before going to bed. Use a fireplace screen to avoid sparks escaping.
- Do not overload your outlets and keep power bars and extension cords at a minimum.
- Remember that lamps as well as candles are fire hazards and not to place combustible materials nearby and extinguish them upon leaving the room.
- DO NOT smoke in bed and if you must smoke in the house be sure the cigarette or cigar is completely out before leaving it in the ashtray. You should even consider splashing the ashtray with water to be sure there are no embers.
- Be sure to supervise all children and keep matches and fire-starters out of reach.
- If you are remodeling try to use fire-resistant materials such as asphalt-fiberglass and spark-guards.
These are 10 tips that should decrease your risk of a home fire. You should still be prepared for a disaster though. Take pictures of all of your things for insurance purposes and keep receipts of big purchases. Keep important papers in a fireproof safe. Consider creating an emergency bag with your essentials nearby so that you can grab that (and NOTHING else) on the way when your alarms go off. Have an evacuation plan with exit routes for each room and be sure every family member knows it.
While kitchens are supposed to be the sites of scrumptious smelling feasts, they are also the place of some of the worst odors in the home. Most of these offensive odors linger near kitchen accessories and appliances. Here are some ways to help keep your kitchen smelling sweet.
- Garbage Cans: Try using cans with lids and stick Simple Human Charcoal Filters under the lids. They cost about $4 for two and you can recharge them with sunlight.
- Refrigerator: Place a bowl of used coffee grounds or a cotton ball soaked in vanilla extract on your lowest open shelf. Replace when dry in a few days.
- Stove: Turn on your range hood before your burner. This will suck up some of the dried on grease particles that melt down into gasses when they heat up. Also change your range hood filter regularly.
- Garbage Disposal: Pour a glass of water down it to clean the blades and then grind up lemon or orange peels.
- Dishwasher: If you don’t fill up your dishwasher every day, don’t leave the half-full load to rot. Instead run the light rinse at least with no soap. The heat and steam will remove most of the food. If your dishwasher smells when it is empty, you may need to get in and clean out the filters and parts along the door or bottom.
These are all tips that work when your kitchen is already cleaned of course. Nothing eliminates odors like a good scrub down, so be sure and use products specific to the appliance you are cleaning and don’t be afraid to get down and dirty once in awhile!
When the real estate market’s bubble burst, the first to pay the steep costs were the working class. The trend spread to the middle and upper-middle class and now it seems to have even hit the upper-class. More than one in seven people with home loans exceeding $1 million are delinquent, while only one in 12 people with loans less than $1 million are delinquent according to CoreLogic. While original loans for mortgages less than $1 million have a delinquency rate of 10%, those over $1 million are at a whopping 23%. Of course these are quite possibly second homes or investment homes, but several are the residents of the rich and sometimes famous.
This may not be because they can’t pay, but rather that they don’t want to. Wealthy people are defaulting on mortgages in increasing numbers much of the time on purpose. They are just deciding to walk away from what has become a bad investment. These are called strategic defaults and are growing at alarming rates. Many of the upper-class are not worried about being sued or other consequences including government scare-tactics for doing so. Loan defaults and foreclosures can have devastating and lasting affects on both the economy and local communities. Some of these communities may never recover. This may not concern the wealthy as they have other options that most do not have. They will most likely not have any future ramifications for defaulting. This puts a lot of pressure on the average Joe to try to stay above water and carry the economy forward.
With the heat index rising across America this summer, people are striving to find ways to keep cool. Several cities in the country are already in triple digits and power companies are warning of black and brownouts looming. Many methods to stay cool are costly however. Here are ten tips to cool off and keep your electricity bill lower:
- Clean air filters! Dirty filters will slow air-flow. Individual and wall units should be cleaned monthly.
- Check all the seals around your house. Use weather-stripping and caulk to seal any leaks around doors and window frames that could be letting your cool air out.
- Hire a certified technician to inspect your HVAC. This should be done once a year to make sure your unit is at top-performance.
- Set your thermostat to allow higher temperatures during the day. Doing this can drastically lower your bill if you can stand a little more heat during the day.
- Use fans wisely. Fans can create a breeze and cool you off, but be sure to turn them off when you leave the room.
- Switch incandescent lightbulbs for florescent ones. Not only will this lower your energy bill, it will florescent bulbs generate less heat.
- Close your blinds. Blocking the sun will keep rooms cooler, making your air-conditioner have to work less.
- Limit the use of major appliances during peak heat times. Turning on the oven, dryer and dishwasher tend to make your air unit work harder to keep rooms cool. Also unplug smaller electronics when they are not in use. Even when they are not being used but are plugged in, they still generate heat and suck electricity.
- Shop around for your energy provider. If you live in a state where the electric industry is regulated you may not have a choice, but if you don’t be sure to compare prices between competitors.
- Have your bill fixed. Most utility companies have an option where you can fix your bill to pay the same amount every month to avoid spikes in cost during peak months. Many also offer time-of-use plans that charge less during off-peak hours than peak. Be sure to investigate these options fully to see which one (if any) will work for you.
Contractors are tradesmen with a lot of wiggle room in their prices and budgets. You have to remember when hiring one that almost nothing is set in stone and that although they are probably honest people, they are also trying to maximize their profit and in many cases limit hassles and more work. These are three of the most common lies or stretches of the truth a contractor may say to you, what it really means and what you can do about it.
- Small jobs don’t really need a permit and not getting one can save you money on property taxes. EVERY job requires a permit if it installs wiring, plumbing lines or walls. If you are not adding tons of square feet you most likely won’t see any change in your property taxes. What the contractor really means is that they don’t want the hassle associated with obtaining the permit. They may even ask you to obtain the permit yourself, but don’t do it as you will then be liable for its compliance. You should insist on the permit and expect to pay several hundred dollars extra for it.
- Prices are set-in-stone. Most of the time this is not the case. The contractor is trying to maximize his profit and if he thinks you will pay it, he will most likely ask. The best way to find out what the actual going rate is is to get several bids and let your contractor know you intend to do this.
- You need to pay for materials up front. Wrong again. Established contractors and tradesmen have up to 90 days to pay their suppliers. This most likely means that the contractor is behind on bills from a previous job or that he has had his credit revoked. You can offer to pay up to 10% or $1,000 (whichever is less) up front, but no more. If one of your parts for a job is special order, offer to pay the supplier directly.
Keep these things in mind when hiring a contractor for any job around your house. Be sure to also check them out with the Better Business Bureau and read any complaints that have been filed.
