Sewer Gases

Sewer Gases : (Oct 2015) If you smell a nasty smell in your basement it could be coming from the floor drain. many new homes feed water to the drain U Bend (P trap) every time a close toilet flushes. Older homes do not and the trap may dry out releasing the odours from the drains to enter your home. Refill the trap with water and then add a small amount of cooking oil ( maybe a cups worth ) to float on top of the water and create a seal to prevent further evaporation

Touchless Faucets Recalled

Glacier Bay and Schӧn kitchen faucets

 

Hazard: The battery box used to power the faucet’s sensor can short circuit, overheat and/or melt, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers.

 

Remedy: Repair

Consumers should immediately unplug and remove batteries from the faucet’s battery box and contact Lota USA for a replacement battery box for the faucet.

 

Consumer Contact: Lota USA/Parts Helper toll-free at 877-580-5682 Monday through Friday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET, on Saturdays between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET, or online at www.lotausa.com and click on “Recall” or at www.homedepot.com and click on “Product Recalls” at the bottom of the page for more information

Asbestos in Your Home?

Asbestos: (August 2015)

The Harms of Asbestos Exposure:

• There is no assigned safe level of exposure to asbestos fibers.  In other words, no exposure is too little.
• Utmost safety precautions must be observed when working with asbestos or during asbestos removal, otherwise you risk asbestos exposure for yourself and your family to long-term often times, irreversible detrimental health risks.
• If asbestos, especially friable asbestos is disturbed, it can release dangerous minute particles into the air.
• Airborne asbestos particles can be so small and may not be easily be seen by the unaided eye.  Never assume that friable asbestos will not be airborne once disturbed.
• Asbestos exposure by inhalation from friable asbestos fibers can cause mesothelioma asbestosis, and lung cancer.
• Mesothelioma is a cancer which most often afflicts the lining of the lungs. There is no known cure for mesothelioma.
• The rates, incidences of the incurable cancer malignant mesothelioma are expected to rise from 2012 to 2020.
• The risk of contracting asbestos-related diseases increase with the number of fibers inhaled by the length of time that you inhaled asbestos fibers (number of years of asbestos exposure).
• Smoking greatly increases the risk of lung cancer coupled with asbestos exposure.
• Diseases from asbestos exposure do not usually exhibit symptoms until after 20 to 30 years after asbestos exposure.
• Mesothelioma symptoms exhibit after an average time of 45 years after asbestos exposure

  Commercial Product Asbestos Exposure

  Personnel who have used end products made from or made with asbestos are at risk of asbestos exposure, from heat resistant gloves, to fire retarding clothing, the use of these commercial products have exposed personnel in different industries to the long-term adverse effects of asbestos exposure.
  Aside from those who worked in the construction industry, DIY enthusiasts who worked with popular building and construction products are also at risk of asbestos exposure. Many commercially available products through the late 1970’s were made with asbestos, including those that are commonly used for home repair and construction such as insulation, roofing materials, siding, tiles, joint compound and flooring. These products when cut, sanded or filed release asbestos fibers into the air.
  

  Second Hand Asbestos Exposure

  Second hand asbestos exposure are those people who were not directly exposed to asbestos.  These include family members who live with personnel who have worked in the mines, establishments and installations that use asbestos on a regular basis, whatever industry they may have been in. When workers from these establishments and installations return home after a day of work, they bring home with them, unbeknownst to them, the dangerous asbestos fibers sticking in their hair, hands, skin and in their clothes.  Simple and innocent interactions with asbestos workers like hugging, kissing and holding hands exposes the family members to asbestos.  Even sharing a laundry load with the work clothes of the asbestos workers and wearing these clothes afterwards exposes the family members to asbestos.  Remember, asbestos does not dissolve in water, though some may be remove during laundry, the ability of the asbestos fibers to cling to fabric and their insolubility in water makes them difficult to be removed from clothing.  Some of these fibers that cling to clothing eventually becomes airborne, and that’s when the danger starts
  1-out-of 3 Australian houses are built using asbestos.  With older houses built before 1970, asbestos exposure becomes a risk when home renovations are carried out.  Asbestos exposure is prevalent with renovations carried out in the fibro sheeting widely used in the construction of the homes.  Research results from the Medical Journal of Australia reported that a survey conducted in 2008 out of 1597 participants who renovated their homes DIY, 527 reported asbestos exposure during the renovation.  337 (39.3%) reported that their partner was subject to asbestos exposure during the renovation.  196 (22.8%) reported that their children were subject to asbestos exposure.  From the survey, 20% reported that they will carry out renovations in the next 5 years.
  Asbestos exposure due to DIY home renovation is real, but nonetheless, manageable.  The safest approach to conduct home renovations is to assume that asbestos was used during the construction.
  Employing a professional removalist or occupational hygienist is the best approach to manage asbestos exposure when planning a home renovation.
• How to Avoid Asbestos Exposure
• The best way to avoid asbestos exposure is to not handle it and stay away from it.  You should not, in anyway, handle any removal of already installed asbestos or asbestos containing materials by yourself.
  Asbestos Exposure becomes viable only when friable asbestos becomes airborne due to damage or due to wear and tear, they may also become airborne during the course of repair.  The use of asbestos has been banned since 2003 and is no longer allowed to be used in new constructions or building repairs.
  Asbestos Exposure nowadays is limited to industrial, marine (ships and shipyards) and residential and commercial building occupants where asbestos was used during construction.
  There are laws in Canada that deal with the disposal of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials.  They should in no way be disposed of in the trash to avoid asbestos exposure. (Reproduced with permission by Aware Marketing)

Who Knew There Was a WRONG Way to Stack Firewood?

Photo: worldforestindustries.com

Nothing celebrates the colder weather like the distinct scent and sound of a crackling log in the fireplace. A steady supply of firewood can help offset your heating costs and, unlike oil and coal, is a renewable resource that can be replanted for future fire-burning pleasure. It takes up to a year to properly season wood, but following these guidelines for proper stacking will help keep purchased logs dry and burnable
Related: Firewood Primer: Which Wood Burns Best?
The purpose of seasoning freshly cut wood is to remove the moisture for ease of burning. Allocate a dry, sunny spot of your yard for stacking. A well-built pile provides proper ventilation and keeps the wood from being prone to molds or fungus A haphazard heap, on the other hand, won’t dry, will soak up rainwater, and eventually it will turn into a smelly, rotting mess
Buy or quarter your hardwoods, such as hickory, White Oak, and White Ash (softwoods ignite faster but burn too quickly), remembering that it’s good to get a range of log sizes: Smaller ones catch faster, while the larger, thick pieces burn longer. The most traditional pile has rows of logs held by a support tower at each end

Photo: woodheat.org

To construct the towers, take two similarly shaped logs and turn them parallel to each other. Build the next layer with two parallel logs that are perpendicular from the first set. Continue until you have about a dozen levels, or as high as you can without letting it get unwieldy. The second tower should be even with but several feet away from the first. In between, lay the logs next to each other so that the cut ends face the direction of the prevailing wind (in the US, weather systems tend to move from west to east, so facing west is a good bet)
Related: 12 “Different” Ways to Store Firewood
Keep layering until the pile is the same height as the towers. Place the pieces bark side up to keep them from shedding moisture into the pile. Although it’s tempting to stack all your wood in neat towers, they aren’t as effective for seasoning purposes, as they don’t allow for enough air ventilation. Finally, use long sticks to help bolster the pile, leaning them against the woodpile and stabilizing them in the dirt
The Shaker woodpile, another popular shape, is a round formation in which the sticks touch at one end, but spiral out with bigger gaps. The first layer looks a little like spokes on a wheel, and it’s a good way to use up oddly shaped logs, adding a nice visual presence to the yard

Selling Soon?

With the spring home buying season rapidly approaching, home inspections are a must — for the seller. If you have maintained your home while living there it will be a smoother [buyer’s] inspection


It’s not a bad idea to do a home inspection before even listing your home. It may sound like a hassle but it could save you a lot of money and stress early on. It will pinpoint danger areas or red flags that could be a potential problem

Remember, you’re not buying a dump and you want the best $ you can get so don’t sell a dump either.

Having your home already inspected ultimately also gives the prospective buyers the comfort and confidence that the seller actually cared about their home in the first place. Just be sure to Inform the buyer and show proof of the home inspection you so kindly took care of. Doing so avoids any unnecessary and costly redundancies and hiccups during the transaction.

Below is a pre-listing home inspection checklist to keep things significantly less nerve-racking and not terribly costly before the buyer’s home inspector comes through. Get pricing on issues you have identified this will ease the negotiation process and prevent either side thinking the other side is trying to cloud the issue and adjust the purchase price unfairly

1. Clean your gutters out. This is a commonly overlooked detail that just ends up being a hassle later on. Don’t get docked for such a simple yard work chore.

2. If your furnace is over 15 years old, spend the $150 it typically costs to have it serviced and cleaned. Make a copy and put it in a ziplock bag and tape it to the furnace,

3. Check for positive drainage of the landscape around the house. You don’t want to flood the basement, so get some dirt and toss it into the wheelbarrow and level out the slopes.

4. Reinstall any handrails. Many people remove the handrails along their stairs, but when you move out you want to put them back. The home inspector will insist on it.

5. If it’s safe, check out the condition of your roof. You want things looking normal, or, otherwise you’ll have to get some maintenance help.

6. Check the auto reverse on the garage door opener. Make sure there’s a safety release. and that the over reverse and close functions stop when over stressed

7. Sounds funny, but check that all toilets are flushed properly. “You’d be surprised how many people forget about flushing the toilet in the other or, guest room,”  “You don’t want things to pop up.”

8. Check your sink and bathtub drains. You need a functional drain, not a slow drain. The home inspector will fill up your tub and watch for what happens. Get any hair out and add Drano when necessary.

9. Take care of any leaks if you can. Check under your sinks and vanities for leakage and tighten what you can on your own.

10. Check your windows. Open and close each hung window — especially the ones that go up and down so as to make sure the springs are in place and the windows won’t slam down.

11. Fix up any deteriorated paint jobs.

12. Test out the dishwasher and washing machine along with any other appliances that will be staying behind. You want everything functioning properly, so there are no surprises.

And as for the don’ts, Don't leave “any stuff out that you wouldn’t want your mother to see — if you catch my drift.” And on a more serious and less embarrassing note: “Don’t ever take off the electric panel. That’s one thing to leave to the inspector!”

Swimming Pool Care

A. Check pool chemistry 2-3 times per week during the summer and 1 per week in the winter.
B. Clean out skimmer basket(s) weekly, or as needed if conditions exist.
C. Clean hair and lint pot in the pump every 2 weeks or as needed. Turn off pump to do this.
D. Check and monitor water level at least once per month, adjust as needed. Water level should be at the center of the tile or skimmer.
E. Check Deck-Chlor/Inline Chlorinator once per week for proper adjustment. Check flow as needed while you check chlorine readings. Make sure chlorine tablets are in the Deck-Chlor or Inline Unit, adjust as necessary to maintain adequate chlorine levels.
F. Make sure light is on in the ozone unit, if you have one. Crack valve only slightly at the pump. Be careful not to break any of the connections -- they are fragile. Check flow-meter often to ensure adjustment is within range.
G. Add catalyst tabs if you have one as needed following instructions for the gallons of water in your pool. Keep them in a cool dry place or they will turn into block form.
H. Clean filters. This may be necessary after a heavy storm or once every few months depending on conditions in your pool. It would be best to clean them about every 4-6 months. Just remind yourself to do it each time you come back from the dentist, or each time you change the air filters in your home, which should be about the same frequency. If you have an extra set of elements it is a much easier and quicker job. Soak dirty filters in a 10% solution of muriatic acid or a solution of TSP (trisodium phosphate). Use a rubber trash can. Wear gloves and eye protection. Be careful! Always add acid to water, NOT water to acid. Rinse until clean and let them dry. Put your supplies away until your next swap-out.
I. As you are monitoring your pool, take note:
1. Are your returns very weak?
2. Is the in-floor cleaning system not working very well?
3. Is the water clarity starting to look bad?
If any of these conditions exist, it is likely time to clean the filters. Most pools should only need this done a couple of times a year. There are exceptions though based on pool usage.
J. Wipe/clean tile line weekly. This will reduce build-up.
K. If you have a salt water chlorine generator than you will need to check and clean the blades in the unit about every 30 days. If the red flow light or flow meter is on or reading less than normal, then the blades are likely calcified and producing little to zero chlorine. Turn the pump off, bleed off any pressure, undo the unions and clean the impellor per the manufacturer's instructions.
L. Always keep chemicals stored out of direct sunlight. Keep them in a cool dry place. Do NOT store acid and chlorine immediately next to each other.
M. Your pool should not need to be shocked on any regular basis if you have an ozone system. If you need to do it, do it at night. Use non-chorine based shock if you plan on swimming any time soon. Another way to shock your pool is to run your pump for 24 hours using your ozone system. This works well! If you are on 24 hour circulation (2-speed or variable speed pump) than you should be good.
N. If you start seeing any cracks around the perimeter of your pool between your deck and your tile, caulk it with a small bead of clear silicone. Do not allow the water to migrate from inside the pool in and under the deck through cracks at this location.
O. Keep vegetation, animals, and chemicals (like fertilizers and ironite) away from and out of the pool. Nitrates from bird droppings and waste from animals and people are food for algae. Don't feed the algae!

Recalls

More items being recalled

Giant and Best Water Heaters Manufactured 6985 recalled hot water heaters sold in Canada from April 1, 2014, to September 26, 2014. Contact 1 800 363 9354

Venmar Heat Exchangers Manufactured May 2002 to June 2008  , 207,000 units in Canada http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2015/Venmar-Ventilation-Expands-Recall-of-Air-Exchangers/ motor may overheat with possible fire hazard
                            
Daesung Celtic Tankless Water Heaters , 2200 units in Canada, www.challengersupply.com equipment may overheat
                             
Hearth & Home Technologies®, Heat-N-Glo®, Heatilator®, Outdoor Lifestyle® and Quadra Fire® natural or propane gas indoor and outdoor Gasfireplaces, Stoves and Inserts, 20,000 units www.hearthnhome.com may have gas valve leaks