Spring Maintenance Tips for Your Home

Spring Tips


•Replace your furnace filter

•Clean the kitchen exhaust hood and air filter

•Check your electrical system

•Always have a multi-purpose fire extinguisher accessible.

•Make sure the light bulbs in all your fixtures are the correct wattage

•Review your fire escape plan with your family

•Consider installing a lightning protection system on your home

•Protect all your electrical appliances from power surges and lightning

•Have a professional air conditioning contractor inspect and maintain your system as recommended by the manufacturer

•Check for damage to your roof

•Run through a severe-weather drill with your family

•Repair all cracked, broken or uneven driveways and walks to help provide a level walking surface

•Protect your home from sewer or drain back-up losses

•Check all the fascia and trim for deterioration

•Check your water heater

•Check the shutoff valve at each plumbing fixture to make sure they function

•Clean clothes dryer exhaust duct, damper, and space under the dryer

•Replace all extension cords that have become brittle, worn or damaged

•Inspect and clean dust from the covers of your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

http://www.statefarm.com/learning/be_safe/home/seasonal/spring.asp

10 Uses for Aluminum Foil

  

It's been capping casseroles and wrapping brownies for nearly 100 years. Check out these other clever uses for foil.

 

1. Get Rid Of Rust

Crumple a piece of foil, and use it to rub rust spots off car bumpers and shower-curtain rods.



2. Make A Funnel

Curl a section of foil into a cone shape, secure it with tape, and start pouring.

3. Fix A Loose Connection
Fold a 1-square-inch piece of foil several times and insert it between a battery and a loose spring to hold it in place and complete the circuit

4. Glue Down Loose Vinyl Tile


Place a sheet of foil over a loose self-stick vinyl tile, and press a hot iron over the foil until the adhesive backing melts and sticks to the subfloor. 
5. Sharpen Scissors


Fold a sheet of foil several times and cut through it with a pair of dull scissors to sharpen the blades.

6. Radiate Heat


Wrap a piece of plywood in foil and tuck it behind a radiator to reflect heat into the room.

7. Guard Against Drips.


Wrap door handles, knobs, and drawer pulls with foil for quick paint-job protection.

8. Decrust Your Grill

Ball up a square of foil, and use it to scrub off black bits.

9. Save Your Steel Wool

Set your scrubber on a piece of foil to keep rust away.

10. Make Silver Shine

Line a glass pan with foil, add several spoonfuls of baking soda, fill the pan with boiling water, and drop in tarnished silverware for a quick cleaning.

By: Jennifer Stimpson, This Old House magazine

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20225533,00.html



Workshop Safety for Kids

1. Keep dangerous tools off limits.

Other than lightweight drills and scrollsaws, most power tools are too heavy and dangerous for young kids to use by themselves. Putting locks on power plugs prevents them from being used when you're not around. Also, keep sharp-edged hand tools like utility knives and chisels locked up in tool chests.

2. Make eye protection a habit.
Like seatbelts in a car, eye protection should be mandatory for any child picking up a tool. Set a good example by wearing safety glasses yourself.

3. Dress right.

Roll up long sleeves, tuck in shirt tails, and button up shirt fronts so clothing doesn’t get caught in the work. Tie back long hair for maximum visibility and safety. Wear protective closed-toe shoes or boots when working in the shop.

4. Supervise tool use.
Until you’re sure a child has good control over a tool and knows the correct safety routines, keep an eye on him or her whenever a tool is being used. And if an accident does happen, have a fully stocked first aid kit in the shop with you. (You might need it as well.)

5. Show how to carry tools correctly.
Like scissors, tools should be carried with bits or blades pointing down and away from the body. Teach children to put down tools when it is not in use, and never to run in the workshop with a tool in hand.

6. Minimize distractions.
Ipods, pets, and siblings draw attention away from the task at hand and increase the chance of a mishap. A messy shop is also a distraction, and a hazard if tools can be knocked off benches or walls. Sweep up sawdust to avoid slips.

7. Use soft woods.
Hard woods such as oak, maple, and ash can be tough for kids to cut, drill, sand, and shape by themselves. They’ll have an easier time working with pine, poplar, and cedar, to name only a few.

8. Cushion hammer blows.
Hammering nails is something kids seem to enjoy innately. A child will have better control over a lightweight (10 ounces or less) hammer than with a small "kid's hammer". A magnetic nail holder like the Thumbsaver keeps fingers safe from misplaced blows, and a tennis ball stuck on the claw end of the hammer prevents painful collisions with the child's head on the backswing.

9. Clamp the workpiece.
Holding the work and a tool is too hard for small hands. Steady the work in a vise or with clamps so that both hands can be on the tool. (This also keeps saw teeth away from fingers; see next tip.)

10. Start with a small handsaw
If you allow your child to use a handsaw, make sure it's short, sharp, and fine-toothed. Japanese, pull-type saws with more than 12 teeth per inch are easier to start and less likely to snag. Caution children to always work with two hands on the handle, which provides better control and keeps fingers away from the teeth, so make sure the saw’s handle is big enough handle for a doubled-up grip.

11. Lower the work table
Kids need a working surface that's positioned at a comfortable height so they have better control of their tools and can easily see what they're doing.

12. Keep cleanup in mind.
Choose water-based paints, stains, and glues. They’re a lot easier to clean up than solvent-based materials (as long as you wash them off before they dry). And they’re safer, too.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,20167210,00.html
By: Chrystle Fiedler, This Old House online

The Teen Bedroom

 Surfboards. Shag carpeting. Tacky wallpaper 

Could anything be more fun?

The installation was set up by the Fandango Project in cahoots with Quicksilver, in celebration of skateboarder Tony Hawk’s show coming to France. The exhibit aimed to "tell the 40 year history of Quiksilver through the eyes of a teenager, nostalgia and time travel."


Teenagers bedrooms are indeed special places – exhibit-worthy you could say. They are expressions of who that teen is becoming, explorations of hobbies and passions, secret hideaways from The Parents and quiet refuges for friends and phone calls.

A teen's room needs this: Personalization. Privacy. Color. Stuff. (Lots and lots of stuff).
If you have a tween that’s heading toward full-blown teen, you might want to spend some time helping them achieve those four things. A teen with space to express themselves is a happy one.
The Quicksilver exhibit offers forty years of proof.

Teen Rooms from the Quicksilver exhibit

A few more contemporary options:

Need some style or storage advice for your teen's room? We recommend calling on the trusted designers  for a free estimate that's within your budget.



http://www.growersandnomads.com/article/The%20Teen%20Bedroom

5 Organizing Garage Tips

If your garage has become a domestic dumping ground, it’s time to shift gears. Here are some easy steps to getting a grip on your garage.

get in the zone
Situate your space and your stuff on paper before lugging it around on the concrete. Map out your garage and divide it by zones: indoor-outdoor transition, household overflow, large/long/long term, everyday yard gear; and hobbies. Let the map be your guide as you sort and assign your stuff.

 admit it’s an entryway
 Saddled with groceries, you stop in the garage and juggle keys, coffee, cell phone and more. For your kids, your spouse, and – let’s be honest – a handful of friends, this is the primary entry to your home. Ease the transition with surfaces for setting and hooks for hanging. Consider lockers or storage benches for backpacks, shoes and boots, and a rug or scraper to cut the dirt or snow tracked inside. If your garage is an extension of your kitchen, designate a spot for supplies like soda pop or paper towels. Use the space you’ve created in your garage to host a tag sale, donating anything of value that doesn’t sell. Proceeds can fund a favorite charity or a future family vacation. Enlist your kids to spread the word with neighbors who might like to hold their own sales on the same day.

find your station
Sports enthusiast? Garden grower? Grease monkey? If space allows, station a hobby center directly opposite the large garage door: Include a well-lit work surface so you can see what’s at hand. Keep it clear by storing small tools and supplies on the slatted walls that allow you to clip and endlessly rearrange an assortment of hooks, racks and baskets – whether you need to gather golf gloves, pressure gauges or pruning shears. above the rest The minute anything but your tires hits the garage floor; it’s the beginning of the end for your organization aspirations. You can mount heaps of things to the walls to spare your floor from pileups and make cleanup easy. Tug on wall systems to make sure they’re stable; If it’s not tight, it’s not right.

 layer by hazard and height
Store children’s items close to the ground, with things you’ll need to share at mid-level. Stow “adult” items – chemicals, breakables, or sharp tools – overhead and behind lockable cabinet doors if necessary.

take sides
Hook or hang awkward seasonal tools – snow shovels, leaf rakes, folding chairs – on the walls nearest the garage door to lessen the likelihood that you’ll ding your cars by dragging things along the length of your stalls. lighten up No one wants to spend time in a dim garage with hidden hazards. Shed a little (or a lot of) light on the issue. Install long-lasting, energy-efficient bulbs overhead and clip or hook mobile task lights in places where you’re most likely to need them. Multiply the effect by coating your ceiling with light, reflective paint

http://www.homerenovationguide.com/articles/5-organizing-garage-tips

How to Shutoff a Water Supply



Water Supply Labeled



When you need to shut the water supply off to the entire house or when a local plumbing fixture has no local shutoff valve, the place to go is your home's water meter.

•At the water meter you'll find a water supply line coming into the house from the outside.

•Between it and the water meter is a shutoff valve. On the other side of the water meter is another shutoff valve.

•To shut off the water to the house, turn off the valve located BEFORE the water meter, on the supply side.



Shutoff Locally at the Tub or Shower

Locating water shut off valves for tubs and showers are not as easy as sinks or toilets and are usually concealed.
•Look around the tub or shower for an access panel. It may be on the other side of the wall as the tub or shower.
•If it is not found in an access panel, then it is located under the floor in the basement or in a ceiling access panel in the floor below.
•Once located, turn off the appropriate valve.



Shutoff Locally at the Sink or Toilet

Many plumbing fixtures have a local shutoff for the cold and if required, the hot water line.

•To turn off the water supply to a plumbing fixture, locate its shutoff valve.

•The valve(s) is usually located directly under the fixture as in the case of a sink or a toilet.
•Once located, turn off the appropriate valve.

By Bob Formisano

http://homerepair.about.com/od/plumbingrepair/ss/water_shutoff_3.htm

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How to Maintain a Washer and Dryer

Left unattended, a burst washing-machine hose can spill hundreds of gallons of water an hour. Likewise, a dryer can erupt in flame if lint is allowed to build up inside the machine or its ducts. In 1999 (the most recent data available), dryers caused 14,600 fires, 20 deaths, and $86.8 million in property damage in the United States.


Preventing such mishaps is as easy as replacing a washer's old rubber hoses, ideally with steel-jacketed ones that can't split open. Or discarding the dryer's flimsy — and flammable — vinyl duct and putting a metal one in its place. (Regular lint-trap cleaning, while necessary, won't keep lint from collecting in the duct.)
Once you've made those two major upgrades, as shown on the following pages, get in the habit of checking hoses and cleaning ducts every six months or so. Hoses should be replaced every five years; tag them with the date you installed them so you won't forget. Your appliances will last longer, run better, and use less energy. Here, Richie Isaacson of Affordable Appliance, in Randolph, Massachusetts, shows how to keep a washer and dryer running safely and efficiently.

By: Scott H. Schilling, This Old House magazine

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,20052014,00.html