Hiring a contractor to build your house might be some tricky business, especially since there are so many factors involved, but it does not have to be a nightmare if you do your research and know what to look for.
First of all, the contractor that you choose needs to be a licensed one. After you discover that they are licensed, find out if there have been any lawsuits or claims filed against that license. They should also have the appropriate levels of insurance so if anyone is injured while they are on your property, you are not liable for their medical bills.
Second of all, you need to talk to each contractor you are considering in person and make sure that you can get along with this person. You both need to be able to get along so you can concentrate on the process of building the home instead of arguing about this or that. This person will be in your life for at least a few months, so hiring someone that you can tolerate is important.
Next, you need to get references from each contractor that you talk to and talk to those references at length and make sure that the contractor does good work. Ask if they have had any mold or water damage issues since their home was constructed or since their remodeling work was finished. Mold may be the most important issue to look for, since this gets built into new homes more often than most people think due to materials being stored directly on the ground or because they have been rained on.
You should also consider what your contract with this person is going to have in it. You should schedule a date for when the project will start and an approximate date that you want it to have been completed by. If you are expecting a baby or any other major event that will require you to have the home completed, take this into account when hiring your contractor. Find out when they can start on the project and if you do not have any room to be flexible (this is rare), consider hiring someone else.
The contract also needs to contain exactly what materials you want your home to be built from, from the kitchen counter material to the type of finish you want on all the hardware. Be very specific and do not give room for any substitutions, since some contractors will substitute lower grade materials without you noticing if they can get away with it.
Showing posts with label fire safety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fire safety. Show all posts
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Space Heater Fire Prevention
While a large number of people use space heaters in their home during the winter to avoid having to pay the gas bill during that time, most people are not completely aware of just how much damage these little conveniences can do to their home if they are left unattended or used incorrectly.
Any homeowner with children should be wary of using space heaters, depending on how old the child is. Small children tend to touch things they are unfamiliar with or things that look “cool” and this can be a really big hazard. It is a bad idea to use a space heater in a child’s room at night, especially since smaller children tend to have stuffed animals and toys all over the room that could easily get too close and start a fire.
Something else that you should know about space heaters is using extension cords with them is a very bad idea if you do not have access to a heavy duty one. The smaller extension cords that are used for lamps or other electronics simply cannot stand up to the high amount of electrical current needed to power a space heater and they will eventually melt. You may or may not realize it, either, since sometimes you will be able to smell the melting plastic, but other times you might not. Use an extension cord that is marked as being at least a 14 gauge or higher cord. This should be able to handle most space heaters.
A great number of fires concerning space heaters happen at night when people are sleeping. If you can help it, try to leave space heaters off at night. Cover yourself with more blankets or anything else you have to do in order to stay warm, since a space heater may catch on fire and end up causing you and everyone else in the house to be much, much warmer than you intended.
Space heaters should never be used as dryers for any kind of wet clothing, even though some people have done this by setting something they want to make warm on top of it. Do not do this even for a few seconds and even if you are right there watching it. It is a bad practice to get into and once you become confident that nothing will happen, you will let your guard down and a fire will eventually happen. It may not happen the first, second, or third time, but fires are unpredictable and you never know when one may start.
Keep at least one smoke detector in your home and have one located on each floor, whether you use space heaters in your home during the winter or not. Fires can break out no matter what kind of heating system you may use.
Any homeowner with children should be wary of using space heaters, depending on how old the child is. Small children tend to touch things they are unfamiliar with or things that look “cool” and this can be a really big hazard. It is a bad idea to use a space heater in a child’s room at night, especially since smaller children tend to have stuffed animals and toys all over the room that could easily get too close and start a fire.
Something else that you should know about space heaters is using extension cords with them is a very bad idea if you do not have access to a heavy duty one. The smaller extension cords that are used for lamps or other electronics simply cannot stand up to the high amount of electrical current needed to power a space heater and they will eventually melt. You may or may not realize it, either, since sometimes you will be able to smell the melting plastic, but other times you might not. Use an extension cord that is marked as being at least a 14 gauge or higher cord. This should be able to handle most space heaters.
A great number of fires concerning space heaters happen at night when people are sleeping. If you can help it, try to leave space heaters off at night. Cover yourself with more blankets or anything else you have to do in order to stay warm, since a space heater may catch on fire and end up causing you and everyone else in the house to be much, much warmer than you intended.
Space heaters should never be used as dryers for any kind of wet clothing, even though some people have done this by setting something they want to make warm on top of it. Do not do this even for a few seconds and even if you are right there watching it. It is a bad practice to get into and once you become confident that nothing will happen, you will let your guard down and a fire will eventually happen. It may not happen the first, second, or third time, but fires are unpredictable and you never know when one may start.
Keep at least one smoke detector in your home and have one located on each floor, whether you use space heaters in your home during the winter or not. Fires can break out no matter what kind of heating system you may use.
Mistakes Made With Fire
Almost everyone has let the bathtub or the kitchen sink overflow at least once, but what most people do not realize is that not paying attention to what you are doing when you are working with heat and water is that these can cause much more damage to their home than they may think. Since fires tend to do much more immediate and devastating damage, they are what will be covered here.
One of the biggest mistakes that you could ever make in your home is leaving something unattended in the kitchen on the stove. We all know what devastating damage a fire can do to a home, but the number of people that put items on the stove and leave the room are staggering. Almost all of us do this on a day to day basis because we get preoccupied with other chores or have to answer the phone or tend to other matters in the household. If you can put any of these things off until later and focus on cooking, please focus on cooking and try to leave the kitchen as little as possible. A fire can start in an instant and this is especially true when you are cooking with grease. At least one person that I know has burned her entire house down and everything in it by putting a pan of grease on the stove, sitting down to watch television, and falling asleep. She lost everything. So, if you are cooking with grease or a deep fryer, forget everything else and just focus on the food. If you absolutely must multitask and watch TV in the kitchen, adding a small television on the counter or under the cabinet may be the way to go.
Another mistake that people make when dealing with electricity and possible fire concerns the space heaters that some people use to get by during the winter. These are notorious for starting house fires, but you do not have to be a victim as long as you know how to use these safely.
The first thing you should know about space heaters is that you should NEVER use an extension cord with them. Simple extension cords simply cannot handle the amount of current necessary to run these items and they will melt fairly quickly. If you must use an extension cord, it needs to be a heavy duty cord marked as being at least a 14 gauge.
You should also be careful with where you place space heaters. If possible, they need to be on a non-carpeted surface, but you can put them on carpet if you are careful. Heaters with more space between the heat source and the floor are safer to use on carpeted areas than ones with shorter legs. Try to avoid space heaters with short legs if you can, since these tend to start more fires than any other kind.
One of the biggest mistakes that you could ever make in your home is leaving something unattended in the kitchen on the stove. We all know what devastating damage a fire can do to a home, but the number of people that put items on the stove and leave the room are staggering. Almost all of us do this on a day to day basis because we get preoccupied with other chores or have to answer the phone or tend to other matters in the household. If you can put any of these things off until later and focus on cooking, please focus on cooking and try to leave the kitchen as little as possible. A fire can start in an instant and this is especially true when you are cooking with grease. At least one person that I know has burned her entire house down and everything in it by putting a pan of grease on the stove, sitting down to watch television, and falling asleep. She lost everything. So, if you are cooking with grease or a deep fryer, forget everything else and just focus on the food. If you absolutely must multitask and watch TV in the kitchen, adding a small television on the counter or under the cabinet may be the way to go.
Another mistake that people make when dealing with electricity and possible fire concerns the space heaters that some people use to get by during the winter. These are notorious for starting house fires, but you do not have to be a victim as long as you know how to use these safely.
The first thing you should know about space heaters is that you should NEVER use an extension cord with them. Simple extension cords simply cannot handle the amount of current necessary to run these items and they will melt fairly quickly. If you must use an extension cord, it needs to be a heavy duty cord marked as being at least a 14 gauge.
You should also be careful with where you place space heaters. If possible, they need to be on a non-carpeted surface, but you can put them on carpet if you are careful. Heaters with more space between the heat source and the floor are safer to use on carpeted areas than ones with shorter legs. Try to avoid space heaters with short legs if you can, since these tend to start more fires than any other kind.
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