Home and Living Daily Tips

Archive for July, 2009

You can help avoid electrical shock, burns and fires by beginning your year-round electrical safety awareness efforts now. This is the word being put out by the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI).

“Despite the fact that improved product safety engineering, standards and electrical codes have reduced electrical hazards, thousands suffer from electrical shock and fires each year,” said ESFI President Brett Brenner.

To increase electrical safety awareness and protect those at home and in the workplace, ESFI has developed an electrical safety tool kit that includes statistics on electrical hazards and recommendations to avoid electrical shock, burns and fires.

An average of 400 people are electrocuted each year and thousands more are injured because of electrical hazards. To curb the leading cause of electrocutions each year, note locations of power lines at home and on the job. Power line contact with construction equipment and items such as ladders and gardening tools are among the leading causes of electrocutions.

Greater use of ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), which protect both those in your home and workplace against lethal electrical currents, can further reduce the number of electrocutions.
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In December 2004, a fire destroyed three townhouses and damaged a fourth in Lorton, Va., just south of the nation’s capital. Investigators later determined that faulty wiring had sparked the blaze.

Raul Castillo, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, said that fire marshals digging through the rubble uncovered an anomaly in the internal wiring at the back of one of the townhouses. This launched the fire, which spread to the adjacent townhouses.

Two firefighters were hurt, one burned, while navigating the smoky townhouses in the pre-dawn darkness. Seven adults were left homeless by the fire, which marshals estimate caused at least $800,000 in damage.

To avoid such a disaster, the National Concrete Masonry Association advises that you evaluate a building’s fire safety when you rent or buy a home in a multi-family dwelling, or if you are planning to lodge somewhere overnight or house your loved ones in college dormitories or nursing facilities. Buildings should contain these three components of a balanced fire-safety design: smoke detectors, sprinkler systems and concrete masonry walls between housing units. These elements, working in concert, provide the highest levels of safety and property protection.
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Burglar alarms are not the be-all and end-all of home security. There are plenty of other things you can install in your home that will help to stop a burglar from gaining entry – and many of them are very simple and inexpensive.

The key is to secure the possible points of entry. This means that doors should be made of strong, solid material (definitely not plastic or glass), be properly secured to their hinges and have tamper-resistant locks. Ideally, you should have an extra deadbolt that you put on at night, made from very strong metal.

Windows should be made from toughened glass, preferably double-glazed, so that they are almost impossible to break. Although window locks are relatively uncommon, they help greatly with security, and you should consider installing them. If your house has windows in a position where they can be easily and discreetly accessed from the street, such as basement windows, you should consider putting metal bars on them.
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When you have small children and teenagers, a hidden camera or two about the house can be very useful. When children are small, it helps to ensure that they are protected from babysitters and nannies that might try to abuse them. As your children grow into teenagers, the hidden camera takes on a new mission: to make sure that they are obeying the rules, even when you are away from home.

Many sitters and nannies feel that it is okay to abuse children to get them to behave. Others simply ignore small children, taking your money but not really taking care of the children. Both of these scenarios are unacceptable. But how can you determine what goes on in your home while you are out? The simple solution is to have a hidden camera (or two or three) secreted about the house. Then you can see how the sitter treats your children. If it is bad, the hidden camera can serve as evidence if you wish to press charges or recover damages.
Other parents worry about leaving their teenagers home by themselves. Will they have parties? Get into the liquor cabinet? Again, a hidden camera can help you keep tabs on what your kids do when you leave home. If you let them know that you do have cameras in the house, but do not tell them where, it is likely that they will be on better behavior while you are gone.
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Remember what your brand new carpet looked like when you first had it installed? Frustrated that only a short time later it looks like it needs to be replaced again?

Keeping your carpet clean and looking new is no longer an easy job.

To get the most wear out of your carpet, use the following do-it-yourself carpet cleaning tips.

Regular upkeep is vital to the life of your carpet. By vacuuming your carpet weekly and not allowing shoes to be worn in your house, you can extend the life of your carpet by five years or more. Vacuuming regularly keeps dirt and grime from becoming ground in to the carpet fibers. Allowing only socks or slippers on your carpet keeps it from becoming soiled by hard to remove stains such as mud and oils.

If your carpet does become stained or overly dirty, there are numerous homemade products and easy carpet cleaning tips that you can use to make it look new again.

When cleaning the entire carpeted area, always use a warm water solution. The warm water allows the grime and oils to be broken down more quickly and completely. For the cleaning solution you can use any of the numerous commercial products available but a simple mix of water and vinegar works just as well. The white vinegar will pull residue from the fibers making your carpet softer and cleaner.

For stains, there are numerous treatments. Club soda works great on red wine stains. Brake cleaner works great on tough food stains and WD40 works great on oil or grease spots.

To use brake cleaner, simply apply the cleaner to a cloth and then blot the stain. Once the stain is removed rinse the area with a vinegar and water solution.
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