Prepare in Times of Disaster

The hurricane and storm on the east coast offers us in the midwest no comfort except thankfulness that it did not happen here. It does remind us what we could experience here in the form of natural disasters, flooding, tornadoes and blizzards. Preparing for an evacuation should be done prior to the emergency so when it comes the family can continue to thrive after the emergency.

Ready in 10 Minutes Kit.

If a disaster was eminent, such as flooding, a chemical leak or a tornado bearing down on your community and you only had 10 minutes to evacuate, what would you do? It is vitally important to have a plan and an evacuation kit that is ready to go at any moment.
Ready in 10 evacuation plan must include a way to instantly locate and safeguard the vital information, documents and keepsakes that you’ll need to have access to after the emergency has passed. To start the plan you need to know:

• Who will be going with you, of course your immediate family and pets but others may be considered.
• Where you will go for the different disasters that may take place
• Where you will stay for both short term and long term stays. It may be a while before you can return or you may not have a home to return to.
• How will each of you get there?

The ready in 10 plan should also include a checklist of vital items to escape with:

• Medical records and medications for each person
• Insurance and deed information
• Wallet, purse, cell phone, chargers, keys, contact information for others
• Vital information documents, birth certificates, marriage license etc.
• Toiletries and a change of clothes for a couple of days
• Food and water necessities for the trip out
• Battery powered radio, flashlight.
• Keepsakes or treasured items
• Financial documents

A person or family can never fully prepare for a disaster but being able to pick up their lives after the emergency is the second most important task behind surviving it in the first place. Taking time to prepare your evacuation plan prior to any emergency situation may save your life and make it much easier as a survivor.

Fall Maintenance Tasks

Fall Maintenance tasks

October is usually the start of chilly weather and it appears to be 3 weeks early. Here are some general maintenance tasks that should be accomplished in and around the home this month.

Clean and maintain major appliances
Clean the drip pans of your electric stove, clean behind the stove, dishwasher and washer & dryer. Pull out the refrigerator and clean the coils and drip pan underneath. Wipe down the furnace, water heater and water softener. Clean around the dishwasher strainer and look for debris in the washing arm (spins and squirts water during the wash/rinse cycle)

Keep gutters clean from leaves & debris Once the leaves fall, keep the gutters clean. Water damage is very costly and can make your home very uncomfortable with mold and mildew, not to mention repair headaches. Some folks prefer to use a powered blower to blast debris out of the gutters.

Clean your garbage disposal
Clean and deodorize your in-sink garbage disposal by packing it with ice cubes and 1/2 cup of baking soda; then turn it on. After the grinding noise stops, pour a kettle full of boiling water into the sink.

Change furnace filter
Some furnace filters are washable. Have two on hand. One in use, one cleaned and ready to install. Remove the dirty one and install the clean one. Wash and dry the dirty one for use next month.

Check operation of your sump-pump
Take the top off the sump and remove any debris that may have collected in there. Pour at least 5 gallons of water into the sump, slowly, to ensure pump is operational. Some people like to run a hose into the sump area, turn the water on to a slow rate and allow the pump to operate for about 1/2 an hour or so. Do not leave it unattended though.

Touch-up woodwork Use "Old English Scratch Remover" or matching stain to cover dents and scratches on your woodwork. Keeping up on this task at least once a year will help preserve a well maintained look to the inside of your home. It only takes a few minutes in each room to accomplish.

Turn on your Whole-House humidifier Many homes are blessed with a whole-house humidifier. If you are lucky enough to have one you should turn on the water supply and usually a manual switch near the humidifier. It is usually at the furnace. Change the water pad (filter-looking device) when there are a lot of white crusty mineral deposits on it.
If you do not have a whole-house humidifier you can hang a large towel or sheet in the shower and keep it wet. The water will evaporate and get into the air. Change out the towel or sheet often (maybe once per week) and make sure it does not get moldy.

Cover outside hose bibs (water spigots) Most new homes have the freeze-proof spigots but they can still freeze if the hose is not removed for the wintertime. This time of year ALWAYS remove the hose after each use. If you do not know if your spigots are freeze proof it won’t hurt to cover them. The foam covers only cost a few dollars to purchase and a few minutes to install. Installing one could save you thousands in repair costs and insurance claims.

Cool Evenings Invite Unwanted Guests

Fall will soon be upon us. The cooler nights provide incentive for critters such as mice and other rodents to seek your nice warm living space for their comfort. Mice are equal opportunity intruders. They don’t care if your home is a 20-room mansion or a one-room shack, they’ll move right on in. In the fall, all a mouse is looking for is some food and warmth -- and to a mouse any house is better than freezing outside. If you think mice might be targeting your home, here are some ideas for seeing if they are already inside, how to get rid of them, and how you can keep them from getting in. Oh, and one little reminder....where there is one there may be dozens!

Figuring out if you have mice

Mice aren’t smart enough to know not to attract attention to themselves, so mice will make noise and leave their marks around the house. If you listen at night, you can often hear them rustling around in your walls or ceilings.
You see small holes gnawed in bread bags or cereals and the inevitable mouse droppings left behind in drawers or even on counter tops.
If you’re not sure you have mice in your home, put some talcum powder or flour near where your think they might be and leave it for a few days (and nights). If you’ve got mice, you’ll see tiny mouse footprints tracking through the flour.

How do you get rid of your mice?

Start by getting rid of any potential food sources for mice, Clean up any spills or crumbs in cupboards and put your dry food in glass or metal containers.
Seal openings from the outside that might allow more mice to get in.
Your next step is putting out some traps to catch your uninvited guests. Old-fashioned spring traps work well and they’re inexpensive.
Place your traps along the walls where the mice move (since mice are almost blind they tend to stay close to walls). Some people suggest putting out your traps for a couple of days unset and without any bait in them, so the mice will get used to them.
Bait your traps with peanut butter or chocolate (cheese only works in the cartoons) and check them regularly.
Give the traps a couple of days and if they don’t capture any mice, relocate them to a different area.
If you just want to catch your mice to remove them, there are a number of different live traps available as well. Just remember if you do decide to use live traps, you need to check them often (at least daily), or the trapped mice will end up dying slowly in the traps. Also make sure you release your captured mice ¼ mile away from your home or they could be back inside before you are.

Keeping mice out of your house

Take a walk around the outside of your house and look for any openings from outside (no matter how small you think they are). Check electrical or gas pipe entrances, outdoor water taps and air conditioner connections. A mouse can get through an opening as small as a person’s baby fingernail, so even a tiny gap is an open invitation to a mouse.
Seal any openings you find with expanding foam insulation, caulking, metal screening or small piece of sheet metal cut to fit. Steel wool can also do a good job since mice don’t like to chew on metal, but it will rust and deteriorate and need to be replaced after a few years.
Make sure your soffits are tightly fastened. An opening in a soffit will allow mice to get into your attic and then right down into your home.
Locate compost or woodpiles well away from your house and build supports or use old pallets to get wood up off the ground. Mice could nest in them during the summer and move right on inside when the weather gets cold. It’s also a good idea to keep bird feeders well away for your house so seeds lying on the ground won’t attract mice.
Clean up any spilled grass or plant seeds in your garage and store your trash in a metal container.
Finally, clean up any pet food bowls so the mice won’t be attracted to a midnight buffet of pet food.

A couple of final thoughts

Mice are more than just an aggravation; they can actually be dangerous. They carry infectious diseases that can be harmful to humans, so if mice have gotten into food in your home, don’t take any chances, just throw it away.Stay safe by wearing gloves when handling mice or traps and always wash your hands after handling anything that might have had contact with mice.

Is Your A/C Working Overtime?

You want your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer, right? Is that so hard to ask? With these extremely hot, record temperatures this year our energy use will be extremely high as well. One of the biggest contributors to poor energy efficiency is leaky windows.

Windows show many signs of wear and tear that can help you decide if you’re in need of window installation or repair. Those signs are:

• Moisture on window panes (wintertime sign)

• Chipped/faded window exteriors

• Difficulty opening/closing windows

• Signs of soft, spongy wood

If you have wood windows it is very important to perform annual maintenance to keep them operating and sealing properly. They deteriorate quickly if not maintained well. Windows are very expensive to replace so keeping up on the maintenance will save your pocketbook over the life of your mortgage.

Cool air escaping through worn-out , missing or mal-aligned weather-stripping is possibly a potential source of a constantly-running A/C unit. Keep your energy bill lower by keeping up on the maintenance and upkeep. Weather-stripping is relatively inexpensive compared to the added monthly cost of cooling the outdoors through your windows.

If you have to replace your old worn-out windows remember cheaper is only cheaper up-front. The better quality windows will give you added energy savings over time which will be the best cost-effective option throughout the years. Replacing worn-out windows have shown to save anywhere from 7 to 15% on your energy bills. That’s both heating and cooling savings.  They may pay for themselves in energy savings over the years and will certainly make your home more comfortable while residing there.

Remember spend hundreds now in maintenance or thousands later in repairs.

Deck Replacement? Many Options!

One of the first questions your professional handyman will ask as part of the deck-designing process is: What type of material do you want to use? Your first thought might be wood, but composite lumber also has its benefits. Never heard of composite lumber? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both decking materials to help you choose what will work best for your particular deck design.

Wood

Cedar and pressure-treated woods are your options in this area. Cedar, with its deep red, looks the most natural and proves rot resistant. It also doesn’t absorb moisture. The same holds true for pressure-treated woods, but they come in a wide range of grades. If you do opt for pressure-treated wood, choose the higher grades, which often are kiln-dried before and after being pressure treated.

Composite Lumber

This material most often features a composition of recycled plastic and bamboo fibers, wood chips or sawdust. It also resists rotting and warping due to moisture. Some common brands are AZEK, TimberTech and Trex.

Cost

Pressure-treated wood costs the least with cedar costing about 3 times more. Composite lumber costs the most.

Maintenance

Cedar requires pressure washing and resealing every one to two years, but no matter how well you maintain cedar, it will fade. It also requires somewhat delicate use, as cedar is a soft wood that gets easily dinged. Pressure-treated wood, on the other hand, cleans easily and holds up well to abuse. Again, opt for the higher-grade pressure-treated woods for the best results. Composite decking requires the least amount of maintenance, as it can be cleaned with a regular hose and sprayer.

Lifetime

A cedar deck will last 15 to 20 years, with decks built close to the ground or in the shade lasting on the lower side of that range. Certain pressure-treated decking products come with a limited lifetime warranty, and composite lumber decking products typically offer a limited 20-year warranty.

When choosing a decking material, keep in mind the upfront costs as well as the long-term maintenance costs. Overall, spending more upfront may be the best long-term investment.

One final thought, if you strive to use only eco-friendly products in your life, a composite lumber will best suit your style. Most composite materials are made from recycled products.

Water Your Foundation?

Most homeowners know that in extreme conditions of excessive moisture (usually in the form of rain) there may be some movement of their foundation, concrete sidewalks and driveways. The hydrolic pressure posed by expanding soils will easily move a house and all of its contents a few inches over time. The same holds true of extreme conditions of dryness, such as the current drought conditions throughout most of the country. The moisture in the soil receeds and causes the home to move in the opposite directions.

Ground movement due to the drought has caused concrete roadways to buckle and water-mains to burst.

A recent caller described her brick chimney as pulling away from the house but upon further analysis it was determined that her home was settling away from the well-supported chimney. Other homeowners are calling about doors not shutting properly, cracks in the drywall near their windows and doors and cracks in their foundations.

To help prevent the excessive movement of your home, water near the foundation in these extreme dry conditions. If you notice a 1/2 inch crack, or wider, in the dirt in or around your foundation, or between the dirt and the foundation, your house is subject to settling issues. With cracks that wide, too much watering at one time will lead to moisture in the basement so it must be done gradually over a period of a few days to a few weeks. One of the best methods is to use "soaker" hoses and keep them a foot or two away from the foundation while in use. Start out with watering about 1/2 hour a couple times a day to longer periods if a change in the width of the cracks is not noticable.

Foundation repairs are very costly. Repairs to the cracks in the walls, ceilings and adjustment of doors and windows can be costly as well. Spending some time and a few extra dollars on your water bill may be all it takes to keep your home from settling in these extreme weather conditions.

What? No Air-Conditioning?

If you do not have air-conditioning or if you lost yours due to failure here are a few tips to stay cool in your home.


1. Pare down the amount of clothing you wear in your home. Cottons, linens or nylons do not hold the heat.

2. Take a short 5-10 minute COLD shower whenever you feel too hot. Right before you crawl into bed is a great time to cool down. Make sure to get your hair wet.

3. Keep hydrated. Your bodys own temperature regulator is most efficient when fully hydrated. Water and tea are the best choices

4. Use fans. If the outside temperature is less than the inside, use a fan to move the cooler air inside. Run the fan all night. Open cabinet doors, crack the garage door etc. Cool down everything possible. Blow the fan on a frozen water bottle or milk jug if needed for direct cooling.

5. Keep the shades closed on the West and South sides of your home. Any direct sunlight that gets in is heating the surface it hits.

6. Turn off the lights. Replace incandescent bulbs with the compact flouresenct ones that run cooler.

7. Turn off heat producing appliances. Run the dishwasher, washer, dryer etc at night when it it cooler. Grill out.

8. Hide the therometer. Dwelling on the "number" may keep you miserable.

9. On the real hot days go to the pool or take in a movie.