Helpful Home Tips
Home Safety Tips Tips
Fireplace and Chimney Maintenance
Fireplace and Chimney Maintenance
When cold weather arrives or temperatures decrease, our minds turn to warmth; and, what better way to feel that warmth along with the emotional relaxation you crave than to light a fire in your fireplace and lounge before it with a good book or a glass of wine. While, this is a romantic thought, you do need to contemplate the dangers involved in having an indoor fire and make sure your fireplace and chimney are in top-notch shape.
For example, soft woods like maple, elm, or sycamore may not be your best choices for an indoor fire as they burn somewhat brighter, but also faster than hardwoods do. To ensure that you have a slow, hot fire, use hardwoods in your indoor fireplace. Hardwoods that are appropriate for indoor burning include woods like oak, hickory, ash, hard maple and locust.
Make sure your wood is seasoned before you actually burn it. Seasoned wood, a drying process, takes about nine months from the time of the wood’s cutting to be suitable for indoor fireplace use. However, if you split green wood immediately, the time for drying is lessened by about five to six months. Also, check your seasoned wood before you carry it into your home to make sure you aren’t bringing in bug-infested wood.
Another consideration to think about before using your fireplace each season is the condition of your chimney. Call a professional chimney sweep to clean your chimney yearly and check for cracks or a build-up of creosote. You can check this for yourself by using a high-powered flashlight and a mirror. If you can see red or pink brick, your chimney is probably free from creosote; however, if you see black furry debris clinging to the walls of the chimney, you’ll definitely want to have your chimney cleaned before using it.
Other good fireplace practices to follow include:
• Keep your chimney clean and in good repair.
• Use glass doors or a fire screen to contain sparks.
• Make sure you open the damper before building a fire.
• Don’t have furniture, books, or other burnable materials near your fireplace.
• Don’t go to bed or leave while you have a fire burning in your home.
• Don’t leave children unattended in a room where a fire is burning in the fireplace.
• Remove cooled ashes and store them in a metal container.
• Use cured hardwoods, not soft woods.
A crackling fire adds a certain warmth and ambiance to your home. Make sure you use your fireplace wisely and keep it in tip-top shape so you can safely enjoy it’s warmth for years to come.
Many people also have outdoor fireplaces and firepits in their backyards. While the maintenance required for an outdoor fireplace or firepit is less than the maintenance for an indoor fireplace you still need to ensure that your outdoor fireplace or firepit is free of debris and in good working order before you start enjoying fires outdoors.
Well-Water Testing
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, private well water should be tested yearly, and in some cases more often than that. A report by the Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), states that annual, well-testing is essential, especially for nitrate and microorganisms such as coliform bacteria, which may indicate that sewage has contaminated your well. These recommendations point out certain circumstances when additional testing should be done, including testing when a new infant is living in your house or if your well is subjected to structural damage.
Doctors and pediatricians warn that children are especially vulnerable to waterborne illnesses that may come from contaminated wells. Consequently, since well owners are primarily responsible for their own wells, are not subject to federal regulations, and only minimally regulated by states, it is imperative that well owners keep close checks on the healthiness of the well water that flows into their homes. With proper care, well water is very safe; however, wells that become contaminated by chemicals or pathogenic organisms are hazardous to a household’s well-being.
The most common contaminant in wells is nitrate, which comes from sewage or fertilizer. The presence of nitrates in water can be a problem for infants under three months of age in particular because they cannot metabolize nitrate. Water with a nitrate concentration of more than ten milligrams per liter should not be used to prepare infant formula or given to a child younger than one year old. Using bottled water for infants when nitrate contamination is detected, or when the source of drinking water is not known is your best bet for keeping your child free from nitrate poisoning.
Statistics show that water contamination is inherently local, and that families with wells need to keep in contact with state and local health experts to determine what should be tested in their community. For instance, some parts of the country have arsenic, radon, salt intrusion or agricultural runoff that may get into the water supply. In these communities, you should be very conscientious about testing your well water. There are some kits for well water testing, but to insure that yours is safe, contact a qualified licensed plumber to test your well water for toxins and contaminants.
Blog post provided by: Roswell, Ga Sewer System Experts
Helpful Tips to Avoid Pests In Your Home
The first thing that often comes to mind when you think about store brand Pest Control products are pest control sprays and mouse traps. The best way to get rid of pests such as ants, spiders, roaches or mice is to contact a reliable pest control company. Hiring a pest control company is well worth the investment.
Even after getting your home professionally fumigated, you should get in the habit of practicing good housekeeping.
Pest-free House Keeping Tips!
First and foremost, make sure you keep a very clean house. It’s understandable that it can be a challenge to keep a clean house, especially when you have kids and you work a full-time job. Keep in mind; however, pests are attracted to messy homes and messy garages.
If you have carpeting throughout your home, make sure that you vacuum regularly. You will also want to clean out your refrigerator and ensure that your shelves are clean and any food containers are sealed properly. Make sure that everything in your pantry is also sealed properly and that your pantry is clean and free from any food particles that may be on the ground.
It may seem obvious but, keep your counter tops clean and free from debris. Avoid leaving dirty dishes in the sink and never leave food hanging out over night. On a regular basis, make sure you clean your kitchen counter tops and floors with a disinfectant spray.
Another area that can quickly attract pests is the area around your trash can. Make sure you always keep the area around the garbage can clean and that you take out the garbage regularly. If you keep your trash in a large cabinet drawer on under the sink, you need to be especially diligent to keep the area around your trash can clean.
Lastly, keep your attic and basement free from clutter. It is a good idea to store items in the basement and attic in sealed plastic containers. The cleaner you keep your home, the less likely you will find unwanted pests in your home.
Post provided by – Pest Control Service Brandon FL.
Home Security: Is Your Home A Target for Criminals?
So, you haven’t heard of any major crimes in your neighborhood. So, you ease up a little when it comes to home security. Especially during the summer months, you tend to become a little more lenient when it comes to security – you leave a window or two open. You leave your garage door open once in a while. You even leave the house for a few hours without setting the alarm. In reality, you’re only making a criminal’s job a lot easier.
What is on the mind of a robber prior to breaking into a home? In many cases, criminals choose their targets carefully. Criminals usually do not use a lot of force in order to break into a house. Remember, most criminals are well skilled in their craft.
Whether you live in a low crime area or not, make sure your home’s security is top priority 24-7. The first thing you need to do in order to protect you and your family is to strengthen your home security by making your home look “highly secured”.
A home that is well maintained and secured will become less of a target for robbers. One way to discourage criminals from breaking into your home is to make sure your property is well lit at night. A home that has proper lighting is more of a threat to thieves and most well lit homes will be passed over for an easy target.
If you are a stay at home mom, don’t leave the garage door open as you take a little one for a walk during the day. Just take your garage door opener with you. You never know who is watching you leave your home.
Also, make sure that your property is well landscaped and your shrubs are well pruned. If you have dense or tall shrubs around windows, you are giving a thief a perfect place to hide while they work their way in through a window.
Hopefully, these tips will help you make your home less of a target and provide a more secure home for both you and your family to live in.
Post provided by – Security Guards Columbus & Atlanta GA.
Determining Hail Damage on Your Roof
When determining hail damage, the key is to know the difference between typical hail damage vs. wear and tear. This is especially important when filing an insurance claim. Insurance companies require their adjusters to identify specific damage caused by a hail storm vs. normal wear and tear.
Hail damage usually contains markings or bruises on one side of a roof and the damage is normally in the direction of the wind. The damage is normally a shade darker than the shingles of the roof.
If lighter markings appear on your roof, this generally means that lichen or algae have been knocked off the roof. Therefore, the shingles haven’t been damaged.
Additionally, improper roof installation techniques like nails pushing upward and even manufacturing flaws in shingles are usually misconstrued for hail damage.
With hail damage, you can usually wait a few weeks prior to getting it repaired only if your roof isn’t leaking. If your roof is leaking, don’t hold off getting it repaired, get it repaired immediately.
The surefire way of determining if your roof has been damaged due to a hail storm is to hire an experienced roof contractor. A experienced roof contractor will thoroughly inspect your roof and determine whether or not your roof has hail damage. A good roofing contractor will also work directly with your insurance adjuster to make sure the adjuster sees all of the damage and collateral damage to things like your gutters, you deck and any other possible places that have been hit by hail.
Post provided by – Roofing Hail Damage Claims Alpharetta GA.