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Thursday, February 17, 2011
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Some timely information on keeping yourselves and your families safe over the Christmas and New Year's season...
Seasonal Fire Safety Tips From Kingston Fire & Rescue
Kingston Fire & Rescue offers the following fire safety guidelines for a fire safe holiday season. While many seasonal risks increase during cold weather, most fires can be prevented.
* In the last week in Ontario, cooking related fires claimed the lives of three persons and seriously injured two more. For the entire month of December last year, ten people died in fires in the province. This December, there have already been 11 fatalities.
Unattended cooking is the number one cause of home fires. Keep combustibles clear of the stove and have a proper fitting lid nearby.
If a pot catches fire, slide the lid over the pot and turn off the stove.
* There is a direct relationship between alcohol use and fires involving smokers' materials and cooking. The message is to celebrate wisely!
Candle fires increase during the holiday season. Use sturdy candle holders located away from combustibles, such as decorations, Christmas trees, wreaths, and curtains. Never leave burning candles in a room unattended.
* Christmas trees should not be located near heat sources such as heaters, televisions, fireplaces, heating ducts or sunny windows. It is essential to refill the water supply every day for live Christmas trees. If you use an artificial tree, make sure that it is flame retardant.
Christmas trees and decorations should never obstruct exit doors.
* Always use the proper decorative light sets - use indoor sets inside, and outdoor sets outside. Discard any damaged cords and light sets. Do not coil an extension cord when in use and never cover it with a carpet or rug. Turn off all tree and display lights before going to bed or leaving the house.
* Professionally inspect and clean all wood heat systems before use.
Place ashes in a metal container stored outside of the house and garage.Wrapping paper, boxes, and Christmas trees should never be burned in appliances or fireplaces, due to the intensity at which they burn.
* Fire safety gift ideas include additional smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, ABC multi-purpose fire extinguishers, and flashlights with batteries. Practicing fire safety and escape planning greatly increases your chances of survival in the event of a fire. Fire and Rescue staff are available to answer your questions each and every day!
Seasonal Fire Safety Tips From Kingston Fire & Rescue
Kingston Fire & Rescue offers the following fire safety guidelines for a fire safe holiday season. While many seasonal risks increase during cold weather, most fires can be prevented.
* In the last week in Ontario, cooking related fires claimed the lives of three persons and seriously injured two more. For the entire month of December last year, ten people died in fires in the province. This December, there have already been 11 fatalities.
Unattended cooking is the number one cause of home fires. Keep combustibles clear of the stove and have a proper fitting lid nearby.
If a pot catches fire, slide the lid over the pot and turn off the stove.
* There is a direct relationship between alcohol use and fires involving smokers' materials and cooking. The message is to celebrate wisely!
Candle fires increase during the holiday season. Use sturdy candle holders located away from combustibles, such as decorations, Christmas trees, wreaths, and curtains. Never leave burning candles in a room unattended.
* Christmas trees should not be located near heat sources such as heaters, televisions, fireplaces, heating ducts or sunny windows. It is essential to refill the water supply every day for live Christmas trees. If you use an artificial tree, make sure that it is flame retardant.
Christmas trees and decorations should never obstruct exit doors.
* Always use the proper decorative light sets - use indoor sets inside, and outdoor sets outside. Discard any damaged cords and light sets. Do not coil an extension cord when in use and never cover it with a carpet or rug. Turn off all tree and display lights before going to bed or leaving the house.
* Professionally inspect and clean all wood heat systems before use.
Place ashes in a metal container stored outside of the house and garage.Wrapping paper, boxes, and Christmas trees should never be burned in appliances or fireplaces, due to the intensity at which they burn.
* Fire safety gift ideas include additional smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, ABC multi-purpose fire extinguishers, and flashlights with batteries. Practicing fire safety and escape planning greatly increases your chances of survival in the event of a fire. Fire and Rescue staff are available to answer your questions each and every day!
Is Your House "Winter-Ready"?
From the people at "Carson Dunlop" a well-respected home inspection company:
One of the burdens of living in Canada is the extreme conditions we ask ourselves and our houses to live through. That burden can be lighter for both you and your house with regular maintenance. As good cooking and great paint jobs can attest, success lies in the prep work. Now is the time to get moving to ready your house for a cold winter and a wet spring. Here are our suggestions for a simple pre-winter tune-up.
Jumping Jack Frost - A Winter Tune-up Treatise
One of the great joys of living in Canada is the change of seasons. Autumn’s colors and crispness will soon be making way for winter’s exciting first snowfall. Of course, one of the great burdens of living in Canada is the extreme conditions we ask ourselves and our houses to live through.
That burden can be lighter for both you and your house with regular maintenance. As good cooking and great paint jobs can attest, success lies in the prep work. Now is the time to get moving to ready your house for a cold winter and a wet spring. Here are our suggestions for a simple pre-winter tune-up.
Tools You May Need
• Ladder
• Paintbrush
• Shovel
• Vacuum
• Telephone
• Sharpened eyeball
Outside
The brunt of the weather abuse is borne by the roof and the exterior skin of the house. Roof
Get a ladder, a pair of binoculars, or a trusted roofer, and check the roof. If you have a sloped roof, look for shingles that are cracked, curled, loose, damaged, or missing. Repair where needed. Pay attention to the junctions between the roof and chimneys, pipes, and walls, for example - the metal flashings often need re-securing or re-caulking. If you have a flat roof, clean off leaves and branches, and cut back overhanging tree limbs. On the roof membrane, look for bulges, worn spots, or split seams. Flashings are important here also.
While you are up there, you should have a look at the chimney, if there is one. Brick chimneys may have missing mortar or loose bricks, and should have a screen to keep animals out. Metal chimneys should be free from rust.
Eavestroughs and Downspouts
While at roof level, be sure to clean and re-secure the eavestroughs. We cannot overstate the importance of having free flowing and leak free gutters and downspouts on the overall health of the house, especially the basement. If your eavestroughs can’t control the rain or melting snow, the ground will get soaked. Soaked ground means much higher risk of a leaky basement. Keep your basement in mind while you are dangling from the edge of the roof!
Follow the downspouts to ground level to double check where they dump the water. Above ground spouts should be well connected at the elbow, and discharge at least six feet away from the nearest wall, or at a point where run-off will be carried away from the house. For any house older than about 40 years, downspouts draining below ground should be considered for disconnecting from the below grade pipe system, and extending to drain above ground. This is an easy and surprisingly effective basement leakage cure in many older houses.
Grading
Speaking of the basement again, take a tour around the house to check how the ground directs traffic. Any and all surfaces next to the walls should be sloped to shed water away. Bad grading is another common and preventable cause of basement leakage. This is exponentially more important on warm winter days – melting snow runs quickly across the surface of still frozen ground. If the grading is bad, it will flow right to the house, and possibly right into the basement. Now is the time to grab the shovel and re-slope the grass, or call a paving contractor or handy person to correct a negatively sloping driveway or walkway.
Windows
During the exterior walkabout, check the windows and doors for any wood in need of paint, and any joints that need re-caulking. Check also the caulking at pipes, vents, and other wall penetrations.
Inside
Inside the house, we are going to need heat. Lots of it.
Furnace
The most important pre-winter activity can be done by anybody no matter what their skill level, for usually low cost, in about 2 minutes: pick-up the phone, and schedule a heating system maintenance call. Even a new unit needs this check. The technician will clean the burners and fan, lubricate the moving parts, change the filter and check the operation of the important safety mechanisms. If the service is to be done later in the heating season, you can start on the right foot by replacing or cleaning the furnace air filter. If you have a humidifier you should clean it out as well.
Once we have heat, let’s do what we can to keep it in the house.
Weather Stripping
If you live in a new house, odds are good your windows and doors are well sealed. Old windows and doors, and even some newer ones, may need sealing to keep heat in and cold out. One approach would be to replace them. Luckily, great improvements can be made with simple weather stripping kits available at any hardware store. Due to the tremendous variation in shapes and sizes, we could write a novel about how to do this, but all you really need to do is to find the pre-packaged material that has a picture of your window or door, or something close to it, and follow the instructions.
Final Notes
The previous suggestions are the most important winter tune-up steps. Other good ideas include cleaning the heating grates, especially on the big cold air returns, cleaning and lubricating exhaust fans, and cleaning out the dryer vent and cover. If you have electric baseboard heaters, vacuum the dust off the interior fins, and make sure drapes and curtains are several inches above their hot surfaces.
One of the burdens of living in Canada is the extreme conditions we ask ourselves and our houses to live through. That burden can be lighter for both you and your house with regular maintenance. As good cooking and great paint jobs can attest, success lies in the prep work. Now is the time to get moving to ready your house for a cold winter and a wet spring. Here are our suggestions for a simple pre-winter tune-up.
Jumping Jack Frost - A Winter Tune-up Treatise
One of the great joys of living in Canada is the change of seasons. Autumn’s colors and crispness will soon be making way for winter’s exciting first snowfall. Of course, one of the great burdens of living in Canada is the extreme conditions we ask ourselves and our houses to live through.
That burden can be lighter for both you and your house with regular maintenance. As good cooking and great paint jobs can attest, success lies in the prep work. Now is the time to get moving to ready your house for a cold winter and a wet spring. Here are our suggestions for a simple pre-winter tune-up.
Tools You May Need
• Ladder
• Paintbrush
• Shovel
• Vacuum
• Telephone
• Sharpened eyeball
Outside
The brunt of the weather abuse is borne by the roof and the exterior skin of the house. Roof
Get a ladder, a pair of binoculars, or a trusted roofer, and check the roof. If you have a sloped roof, look for shingles that are cracked, curled, loose, damaged, or missing. Repair where needed. Pay attention to the junctions between the roof and chimneys, pipes, and walls, for example - the metal flashings often need re-securing or re-caulking. If you have a flat roof, clean off leaves and branches, and cut back overhanging tree limbs. On the roof membrane, look for bulges, worn spots, or split seams. Flashings are important here also.
While you are up there, you should have a look at the chimney, if there is one. Brick chimneys may have missing mortar or loose bricks, and should have a screen to keep animals out. Metal chimneys should be free from rust.
Eavestroughs and Downspouts
While at roof level, be sure to clean and re-secure the eavestroughs. We cannot overstate the importance of having free flowing and leak free gutters and downspouts on the overall health of the house, especially the basement. If your eavestroughs can’t control the rain or melting snow, the ground will get soaked. Soaked ground means much higher risk of a leaky basement. Keep your basement in mind while you are dangling from the edge of the roof!
Follow the downspouts to ground level to double check where they dump the water. Above ground spouts should be well connected at the elbow, and discharge at least six feet away from the nearest wall, or at a point where run-off will be carried away from the house. For any house older than about 40 years, downspouts draining below ground should be considered for disconnecting from the below grade pipe system, and extending to drain above ground. This is an easy and surprisingly effective basement leakage cure in many older houses.
Grading
Speaking of the basement again, take a tour around the house to check how the ground directs traffic. Any and all surfaces next to the walls should be sloped to shed water away. Bad grading is another common and preventable cause of basement leakage. This is exponentially more important on warm winter days – melting snow runs quickly across the surface of still frozen ground. If the grading is bad, it will flow right to the house, and possibly right into the basement. Now is the time to grab the shovel and re-slope the grass, or call a paving contractor or handy person to correct a negatively sloping driveway or walkway.
Windows
During the exterior walkabout, check the windows and doors for any wood in need of paint, and any joints that need re-caulking. Check also the caulking at pipes, vents, and other wall penetrations.
Inside
Inside the house, we are going to need heat. Lots of it.
Furnace
The most important pre-winter activity can be done by anybody no matter what their skill level, for usually low cost, in about 2 minutes: pick-up the phone, and schedule a heating system maintenance call. Even a new unit needs this check. The technician will clean the burners and fan, lubricate the moving parts, change the filter and check the operation of the important safety mechanisms. If the service is to be done later in the heating season, you can start on the right foot by replacing or cleaning the furnace air filter. If you have a humidifier you should clean it out as well.
Once we have heat, let’s do what we can to keep it in the house.
Weather Stripping
If you live in a new house, odds are good your windows and doors are well sealed. Old windows and doors, and even some newer ones, may need sealing to keep heat in and cold out. One approach would be to replace them. Luckily, great improvements can be made with simple weather stripping kits available at any hardware store. Due to the tremendous variation in shapes and sizes, we could write a novel about how to do this, but all you really need to do is to find the pre-packaged material that has a picture of your window or door, or something close to it, and follow the instructions.
Final Notes
The previous suggestions are the most important winter tune-up steps. Other good ideas include cleaning the heating grates, especially on the big cold air returns, cleaning and lubricating exhaust fans, and cleaning out the dryer vent and cover. If you have electric baseboard heaters, vacuum the dust off the interior fins, and make sure drapes and curtains are several inches above their hot surfaces.
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