Thompson Secret Drain Cleaner Recipe: Unclog Your Drain With These Non-Toxic Products! Ingredients:
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Fall Maintenance Tips for Your Home Check all window and door locks for proper operation Check your home for water leaks Review your fire escape plan with your family Make sure there are working nightlights at the top and bottom of all stairs Have a heating professional check your heating system every year Protect your home from frozen pipes Replace your furnace filter Run all gas-powered lawn equipment until the fuel is gone Test your emergency generator Have a certified chimney sweep inspect and clean the flues and check your fireplace damper Remove bird nests from chimney flues and outdoor electrical fixtures Inspect and clean dust from the covers of your smoke and carbon monoxide alarms Make sure the caulking around doors and windows is adequate to reduce heat/cooling loss Make sure that the caulking around your bathroom fixtures is adequate to prevent water from seeping into the sub-flooring Other safety ideas for stairs: Tile and painted wood or concrete stairs can be slippery when wet or when a person's shoes are wet. Resurface the treads with slip-resistant strips near the stair nosing.
Avoid Costly Maintenance to Your HVAC System. How? By changing your furnace filter monthly. Most premature damage and failure to yours and my HVAC systems are caused by not changing your furnace filters regularly. Rule of thumb - when you pay your mortgage head downstairs and change your furnace filter. For those of you with 4-5" furnace filters. First off, congratulations to you for taking a positive step toward improving the quality of your indoor environment. Secondly, get yourself a 12" or so white board and stick it to the ducting near your furnace (magnets are fabulous for this). Write a date 3 months out from the day you install the new filter and check it then. If it still looks fairly clean, check it monthly up to 6 months total between changes. That's an easy trick from the Thompsons.
Here is the link to a clearing house of links for the government's resources for homeowners. http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Family/Homeowners.shtml
Care & Maintenance
| 11.17.09
Paneling is fungus food
...as you know, all you have to do is add water. This link to the EPA has their guidelines on how to handle your mold problem. This will help you determine whether your problem is small or large - one to DIY or have professional help. I would suggest removing the paneling down there after the water source & remediation is handled.
Love Where You Live
| 11.17.09
Dispose of Latex Paint
Do you have 20 cans of latex paint in your basement? Here's the proper way to dispose of latex paint in Kent County, MI. http://www.accesskent.com/YourGovernment/PublicWorks/Guide/Latex_Paint.htm
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Love Where You Live
| 11.16.09
Only Keep Clothes You Wear
Saturday was the first lazy day we've had around our house in the last 4 months. It was late afternoon and I had that restless feeling of wanting to actually accomplishing something. What came to mind was the painful experience of the last two times we went on a family trip and opening my bag to find two t-shirts and a pair of pants that I don't fit into. (Pause: As an absolute luxury, Kristin will sometimes throw together essentials for me before a trip. No spouse should be ever do this for a mate, and such a gesture should never be criticized because after all, why should I have clothes in my closet that I cannot wear.)
Love Where You Live
| 11.10.09
Take Off Your Shoes
Since the last time we connected through the blog and enewsletter I have been to the National Remodeling Show in Indianapolis and have become a Certified Renovator through the EPA's Lead Safety program. I have one mental picture that I'd like to share with you in response to these two experiences.
Love Where You Live
| 10.21.09
5 Ways to Go Universal
Right now we're 3 days into a 10 day universal bathroom retrofit. We finalized the agreement last Friday and then we started on Monday. It made me so happy to be so efficient in our design process and then to have the resources to get the job done immediately. If "universal" is a new word to you, it just means making a bathroom so easy to use literally ANYONE could use it. Here's how we're helping this particular client:
Love Where You Live
| 10.21.09
Stuff That Just Works
I'm sitting in our living room at home and it's dark in here. It's dark because the $125 low-voltage light fixture we had in here burned out 12 months ago. 10 months ago we replaced it with another $125 low-voltage light fixture and wouldn't you know it...2 weeks ago it stopped working. In hindsight, I should've just bought the $250 fixture from a specialty lighting store versus the "cheapy" fixtures I bought at a big box store.
Last week I was in a safety seminar that our staff attends annually and as we were moving through slides I grabbed my smartphone and posted these 10 Safety Tips on the ThompsonTrio FaceBook page. I have not posted the catastrophic photos that illustrate the importance of these tips as a courtesy. Here they for the benefit that heightened awareness will bring you. Safety Tip #1 - Ladder 4:1 Rule - means don't make your ladder angle more than 75 degrees. If your ladder is 10ft tall, make sure the base of the ladder is at least 2.5 ft from the house. Safety Tip #2 - Cut away from your body and hands so you don't stab yourself with a utility knife. Safety Tip #3 - Don't use a flat head screwdriver to pry stuff. Use a flatbar or prybar. Screwdrivers break. Safety Tip # 4 - Duct tape is not a suitable fix for cracked handles on a hammer or sledgehammer handle. Safety Tip # 5 - Spend $10 on safety glasses that are comfortable and may even look semi-cool. If they aren't comfortable...you won't wear them. Safety Tip #6 - Don't ever let your skin (fingers/body) come within 3" of a saw/power cutting blade. Use a push stick when using a table saw. Safety Tip #7 - Take off your rings and watches before doing ANY carpentry or home repair projects. Pay $30 to have your rings re-sized so you can easily remove them. Safety Tip #8 - Remove strings from your hooded sweatshirts that you work in. Make sure your work clothes are not loose or "holy." :-) Safety Tip #9 - Your children, grandkids, spouse, and friends want to be able to talk to you when you're 60 yrs old so wear good ear protection when u work or even mow the lawn (only $10). Safety Tip #10 - When you rent equipment please pay attention to the operation & safety instructions. It will speed up your learning curve, you'll get more work done, it will keep you safe! There you have it. Safety tips that are commonly avoided and very cheap personal insurance.
