Childproofing your home is an important step of parenting and let’s face it, nothing is more important than your children. Here is a great info-graphic to help you to make sure that everything in your home is child friendly!
Infographic on Childproofing 101: Baby Proofing Your Home for Safety – An infographic by the team at MrHandyman.com
Did you know that most structure fires, fire deaths and fire injuries occur in the home? According to the National Fire Protection Association, an average of 357,000 reported home structure fires caused 2,470 civilian deaths per year. During the five-year period of 2009-2013, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 357,000 home structure fires per year. These fires caused an annual average of 2,470 civilian deaths, 12,890 civilian fire injuries, and $6.9 billion in direct property damage.
Home fire deaths occur more often in winter and between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. In 2009-2013, 28% of home structure fires and one-third of home structure fire deaths occurred in the winter months of December, January and February. Of these fires, heating equipment was the second leading cause of home fires, home fire deaths, and home fire injuries during this period. Chimney fires were the most common type of heating fire!
I’m not saying all this to scare you. I am, however, trying to warn you. We all think it’s not going to happen to us. Well, why not make sure of it? The number one way to prevent a chimney fire is by cleaning your chimney EVERY year BEFORE you use it! I know it’s dirty work but isn’t it worth it? Below is a video on how to do it yourself. It’s really not that hard. Give it a try. It could save your life!
As with anything, if you are not comfortable handling it yourself, hire a professional. Whatever route you choose, just do it!
Last year was one of the worst winters for ice damage to homes. It seems almost everyone I talked with had some form of damage. Whether it was damage to the roof itself, the gutters, the inside of the home, or a complete roof collapse, it was disheartening to see so many home owners suffer!
It doesn’t have to be that way. There are things you can do to try and prevent this from happening. Here are just a few…
1, Make sure your gutters are cleaned out. Leaves and debris can cause the gutters to back up and ice to form on your roof. Winter storms build up snow on the roof. Heat from the building (through insulation, chimneys, and roof vents) and from the sun (solar gain) causes roof snow-melt. Melted snow runs down roof lines to valleys and eaves. The melted snow refreezes at the base of the valleys and at the roof eaves. As day/night time temperatures cycle up and down, the ice dams and icicles continue to grow and cause damage to your home.
2, Make sure you remove excess snow from your roof throughout the winter. This cuts down on the amount of snow melting and as a result, less water in your gutter to freeze and build up. The best way to do this is with a roof rake. Scrape as much as you can off for the best results. You may want to get a roof rake now. Once the snowstorms start, they are next to impossible to find!
3, Install an Ice Melt System. Here at Newhouse & Sun, we offer state-of-the-art Roof Ice Melt Systems. For more information, visit our Ice Melt information page HERE or call us at (978) 657-7274
Newhouse & Sun Construction 
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