Show Notes: Being Safe and Thankful – On the House
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Show Notes: Being Safe and Thankful

By on November 23, 2019
thankful

Thanksgiving is around the corner so let’s be safe and be thankful!

There’s much to be done to prepare your home to be both ready for Thanksgiving preparations and for the safety of the many guests you can expect.

Read on to how to prepare your yard, your home, your kitchen, even your real estate strategy and your Thanksgiving strategy to keep your home and it’s inhabitants safe.

 Missed our live show? Don’t worry! Because we have a podcast of the show. It’s the same thing we aired on the radio, but ready for you whenever and wherever you are! Check it out here. 

Things Your Neighbors Never Want To See in Your Yard 

 Do you like your neighbors? Do they like you or avoid you because your front yard is the eyesore of the neighborhood? 

 The easy solution? Experts recommend keeping these five things out of your yard to keep it looking oh-so-appealing: 

 

Project equipment 

It can be tempting to leave that shovel or other supplies leaning against the house when you’re mid-summer gardening project, but this is a big no-no: 

People are going to drive by your home so it’s important to keep things in shape.  

Lots of everyday clutter 

On that note, you can probably guess that toys and bikes strewn on the yard can also turn off your neighbors. You should consider pulling some of those purposefully-placed lawn decorations like yard ornaments, decorative flags, or excessive hangings into the garage as well.  

Trash cans 

While you may not like your trash to stink up your garage, leaving them in a visible space in your yard and they could kill the grass beneath them. If you still don’t want to wheel them into any enclosed spaces (let alone near your cars), try tucking them behind the house rather than on the side. 

 Dead plants 

Have a dearly departed tree or shrub that you’ve been meaning to get removed? It’s time to get a hustle on that. 

Dead plants, and more specifically dead trees, are not only off-putting, but they’re a liability to the safety of your property. While it may be costly to have them removed, it could save you money if someone gets hurt on your property. 

 Cars 

While you and your family may have more cars than room in a garage or on the driveway, refrain from using your lawn as additional parking space.  

 

3 Main Paint Ingredients You Should Know About  

 What’s even in that paint you’re putting on your walls? You should know about the ingredients! 

 Because if paint is in all of our homes, in nearly all of our rooms, we should know what ingredients are in that paint! 

 We agree that paint is a good preservative and that painting needs to be a part of every home dweller’s maintenance program. 

 First and foremost because it looks good — and that improves value. But more importantly, paint protects the wood parts of a house better than anything else we know about.  

 Paints vary in quality and price, and where paint materials [and labor costs] may seem moderately priced to some folks, others might not agree that an $8000 paint job every five to ten years is a “moderate” investment in maintaining the exterior of one’s home. 

 Even with the best preparation, some paint jobs fall apart in no time — you know, cracking, peeling, chipping, etc. 

 As we have always said, “80 percent of a good paint job is in the preparation”. But good quality paint is important as well. And, knowing what makes good paint good can improve the chance that the job will be a good one. 

 Here are the three main paint ingredients you should know about: 

  • pigment 
  • binder 
  • solvent 

Are You Having Trouble Staying Comfortable? 

The worst way to start the holidays is with a high electric bill and an uncomfortable home. Airflow may not be something you’ve though about, but it is a critical component of home comfort. In fact, your whole heating and cooling system depends on your equipment’s ability to access and condition the air in your home – trouble with airflow = trouble with comfort. 

Here are some issues that poor airflow can cause: 

  1. Lower efficiency 
  1. Weaker air stream (a.k.a. it takes longer for your home to reach the temperature you’ve set). 
  1. Poor indoor air quality 
  1. Higher bills 
  1. Emergency repairs 

Here are some things that cause poor airflow 

  1. Closing registers and vents 
  1. Loose, collapsed or disconnected ductwork 
  1. Planting too close to your outdoor equipment 
  1. Dirt and debris on your outdoor condenser 
  1. Dirty furnace filter 

So, what can you do? These are the things you can do to make sure your equipment is receiving proper airflow. 

  1. Change your filter frequently 
  1. Have your ductwork inspected once a year 
  1. Have your cooling equipment maintained in the spring and your gas furnace maintained during the fall. 

 

Carrier Recalls Carrier and Bryant-Branded Heat Pumps Due to Fire Hazard  

The Carrier- and Bryant-branded 1.5-ton multi-zone, 4-ton multi-zone and 4-ton single-zone ductless heat pumps have been recalled because the fan motor on the heat pumps can fail, causing the units to overheat, posing a fire hazard. 

Remedy:  

Consumers should immediately contact their installing servicer, dealer or contractor to arrange for a free repair. While awaiting repair, consumers should monitor affected units while they are being operated and keep foliage and other flammable items at least 24 inches away from the recalled units. 

Incidents/Injuries:  

Carrier has received six reports of the heat pumps catching fire (one occurred in the United States and five in Canada). No injuries have been reported. 

Sold At: 

Distributors, independent dealers and contractors nationwide from March 2015 through April 2019 for between about $600 and about $4,000. 

Importer(s):  

Carrier Corporation, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. 

Manufactured In:  

China 

 

Be Safe… and Thankful  

It may seem trivial to think about safety during a time of celebration and being thankful, but at a time when so much is going on with lots of people around, safety has to be on the minds. Don’t just take it from me. The American Red Cross offers these facts about Thanksgiving Day accidents: 

Cooking is the leading cause of home fires on Thanksgiving Day. 

Cooking fires nearly double on Thanksgiving Day, occurring more than twice as often than on any other day. 

10 Thanksgiving Day Safety Tips: 

1. Establish a kid-free zone 

Kids love to play, run, jump, pull, grab, and be free, which undoubtedly leads to them tripping, falling, crashing, bouncing, breaking, and smashing anything in there way. So before the crowd starts to wander in, establish a kid-free zone that sets boundaries around cooking and preparation areas. This keeps the kids safe and your dinner preparations running smoothly, without having to stop and help a wounded child or worse. 

2. Keep someone in the kitchen at all times when cooking

 Pots are boiling over, timers are going off, smoke is barreling out the oven, sound familiar. Cooking always requires attention, especially on a day when you’re cooking enough for a small army to devour, and have leftovers. To avoid any catastrophes (or at least minimize them as they happen), keep someone in the kitchen at all times until the cooking is done, all ovens and stovetops are off, and the last bit of food is out on the table. 

  3. Make sure all smoke detectors are working 

 Smoke detectors are a lifesaver. Take the time to check them out prior to the big day and replace them or the batteries as needed. The cost of a nine-volt battery or new smoke detectors is far cheaper than the damage an unattended house fire can cause. 

4.For those that love to deep fry….. 

Deep frying is nothing new, but for some reason, it continues to be a leading cause of fires and injuries on Thanksgiving. For starters, make sure you’re doing it outside and far enough away from your home that if something does go wrong, it’s out of harm’s way. Also, it doesn’t take Breaking Bad chemistry lesson to understand that hot oil and water don’t mix. Unless you’re trying to make a hot liquid bomb, make sure the turkey is completely defrosted and dry before dropping it (and by dropping it, I mean lowering it extremely slow) into the hot oil. Thinking ahead and reading/following your user manual prior to firing up the deep fryer this season is a sure way to keep your deep frying experience safe and delicious. 

 5.Clean as you go 

A messy or cluttered kitchen is a dangerous kitchen. Keep your counters clean and your floors clear of debris. The cleaner you keep your kitchen, the safer your cookout will go. Waiting until you’re done cooking to clean is not safe, nor sanitary. Cleaning as you go will keep you safe and reduce the amount of cleaning you have to do at the end of the day. 

 6. Easy on the decorations in the kitchen

Decorate the rest of the house with all your seasonal spirit, but go easy on the kitchen. Some dish towels and oven mitts are one thing, but keep it to that. Things move fast in the kitchen and the last thing you need is to be tripping over a fallen decoration or sitting a hot plate on your child’s clay decoration they made in school. 

7. Keep candles to a minimum

 Candles are a great way to welcome guests into your home. They smell good and are a great mood-setting device, but they also pose a threat. Keep your candles to a minimum and make sure they are put in a safe location, out of reach of small hands, or a table that could be bumped into. 

8. Use extra long oven mitts

Those extra-large pots that collect dust for 364 days a year can cause awkward and dangerous moments in the kitchen on Thanksgiving. Use large oven mitts to help avoid being burned, which could lead you to drop or spill your large pots and cause serious injuries or burns. 

9. Use hot pads

Hot pads are not a dish towel thrown onto a table. Because you are using more dishes than normal, you may run out of hot pads and want to use a dishtowel instead, but this is unsafe. Your best bet is to use heavy non-combustible hot pads to avoid any potential safety hazards and make sure you have enough on hand. 

10. Monitor alcohol intake

For some, it’s the only way to get through Thanksgiving, but you need to set limits. Consuming more food than you would in a week in a matter of hours, combined with large amounts of alcohol will make you drowsy and lethargic. This will slow your reaction times down and possibly create hazards for you and your loved ones. And always, always, always have a designated driver to get you home safely, otherwise, it’s Grandma’s couch for you! 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Yours From All of Us at On The House! 

via GIPHY

 

things to do around the bay

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair 2019 

 Visit London, at the historic Cow Palace Exhibition Halls. Enter the winding lanes of Victorian London and immerse yourself in a world of music halls, theatres, pubs, dance parties, and charming shops overflowing with hand-made holiday treasures. Enjoy enticing aromas of roasted chestnuts and hearty foods fill the air. 

Opens Saturday, November 23 and runs Saturdays and Sundays (plus the Friday after Thanksgiving) through December 22, 2019, 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM 

$32 Adults 

Fireman’s Toy Drive: Daly City Fire Department’s “Operation Santa Claus”
Bring an unwrapped NEW toy to the Fair box office and receive a $5 discount off one Adult ticket. Toys will be given to the Daly City Fire Department’s “Operation Santa Claus” toy drive, now in its 70th year of bringing holiday cheer to less fortunate families in the Daly City/Colma/Broadmoor area. 

 

We Spoke with Sumant Sridharan, COO of HomeLight!

HomeLight empowers people to make smarter decisions during one of life’s most important moments: buying or selling their home. 

Real estate must change. The process hasn’t changed in decades — so there’s a lot of complexity in it that adds unnecessary risk, uncertainty, and stress which can lead to to anxiety for which doctors now recommend the use of natural aids like the new and best CBD oil for anxiety. 

HomeLight is here to help. Their technology crunches the numbers to determine which real estate agent or which instant offer company will get you the most money for your home. 

They build products that put more power in your hands and make it easier to get the best outcome when you buy or sell a home. 

HomeLight conducts quarterly surveys with over 400 of America’s top real estate agents.  91% of survey respondents found that making repairs now in anticipation of a home sale can save money because contractors are busiest in spring and summer and building materials and labor are more affordable.  

Learn more about their offerings and services at their website: http://www.homelight.com/ 

 

Mentioned Links 

~ Thank you~ 

A very special thank you to all of our callers! And, remember, we live to answer your questions, so keep them coming! 

Thank you to our Technical Support: 

  • Danny Bringer – Chief Engineer  
  • Carol “Remodeling Babe” Carey – Executive Producer  
  • Sam Reed – Associate Producer  
  • Rico Figliolini – Digital Master 

 

Thank you for tuning in for safety and Thanksgiving tips! And check in next week for more cool tips! 

“Be Safe and Thankful” Show Notes for On The House with the Carey Brothers aired November 23, 2019. 

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