On the Wire - Fire Safety
According to the National Fire Prevention Association, cooking is the #1 cause of fire and fire injuries. Other common problems leading to fires are: failing to clean heating appliances, placing combustibles too close to heating sources, flaws in construction or design and improper fuel use, like when substituting gasoline for kerosene in a space heater, a foolish and very dangerous practice.
To stay safe in the event of a fire, here is what you need to know:
- MAKE A PLAN – Draw a floor plan of your home. Meet with everyone who lives in your home and talk about how you might get out if the fire was in different places. “Move” the fire around and plan alternate escape routes on the paper.
- MENTAL PREPARATION – Live and visualize the fire from every room in your home. Go to each room, close your eyes and find the exit, then find a second one in case the first is not available.
- PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE – Imagine what you would feel along the escape routes to determine if you were going the right direction to get out during a fire and couldn’t see. Smoke is deadly – and it not only makes it difficult to breathe but to see.
- IN CASE OF EMERGENCY – Remind everyone in the family that in case of fire, DO NOT stay in the house, get out of the house and call 9-1-1 from a neighbor’s home. Be sure that younger children know what to do in an emergency.
Remember it’s critical to stay low when escaping a fire. Standing up can be deadly as heat and toxic gasses fill a burning room from the top down. It’s also good habit to sleep with bedroom doors closed. This slows or prevents the spread of a fire as well as toxic gasses and smoke.
As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. Preparing, planning, and practicing for fires ahead of time can mean the difference between serious injury or death, and surviving one of life’s most common tragedies.
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Ask Tom & Leslie - Pass the Pickles!
This week’s question comes to us from Scott in Valley Center, California: “How do I get rid of a stain from a broken jar of pickles on my travertine marble floor?”
Scott, hard surface floors are great but glass jars don’t bounce very well when they hit them. And Travertine is very porous. But there is a product designed especially for them. It’s called Marbalex and it is available from Stone Care International, a company that specializes in stone cleaning. Once you get it clean, we recommend that you reseal the floor because the process of cleaning will take away any sealer that was there.
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Got A Question About Your Money Pit?
You can do-it-yourself but you don't have to do-it-alone. Getting in touch with us is as easy as 1 - 2 or 3!
- The toll-free studio hot line is 1-888-MONEY PIT. Find out when we broadcast in your area by checking out our website at www.moneypit.com. Each week we take dozens of calls, give great advice and offer callers a chance to win a terrific prize awarded to one random caller to every show.
- Call when it's convenient for you, 24 hours a day, same number: 1-888-MONEY PIT. A live person takes your call 24/7! So -- WHENEVER you have a home improvement question -- phone it in. Simply tell our phone screener your first name, and where you're calling from...and ask your question. We’ll get back to you with the answer – or even call you back during the show!
- Click here to email your question to us. We may read your email on the air and we also respond personally to many of the email questions we get.
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On the Air - Winterize Now
Winter is right around the corner, so don’t put it off another day. You just HAVE to get smart and take steps NOW to save energy and money before those big heating bills come in. Get ready to take notes, we have your checklist on the next Money Pit radio show. To find out where to tune us in, or to download our Podcast, visit www.moneypit.com.
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Dot Common Sense - Change a Light, Save Some Cash
Visit www.ENERGYSTAR.gov to learn how you can change A LOT just by changing your light bulbs. Lighting accounts for nearly 20 percent of the average home's electric bill. If every home replaced just one bulb, in one year it would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 800,000 cars.
ENERGY STAR qualified light bulbs and fixtures use 75 percent less energy, last up to 10 times longer, and produce about 75 percent less heat than traditional incandescent models. By changing the five most frequently used light bulbs in your home to ENERGY STAR qualified ones you can save about $35 each year in energy costs.
Every light changed is a step in the right direction to preserve energy resources and the quality of our environment for this generation and the next. If we changed a bulb for every child in America, each year we would save enough energy to light nearly 2 million homes, $380 million on energy bills, and the equivalent in greenhouse gases to the emissions from more than half a million cars.
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Fun Fact - Cozy Water Heater
Want to know a $10 home improvement tip that will take hundreds off your energy bills? Water heaters lose plenty of heat through their outside shells. For about 10 bucks, you can buy an insulating jacket that keeps heat from escaping. They’re easy to install, and can save hundreds of dollars on your energy bills over the life of the heater.
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The Scoop- Money Saving Membership
It’s tough out there for homeowners right now. But as always, we're on your side every step of the way to help you transform your house into the home you've always dreamed it could be. So we’ve partnered with the American Homeowners Association to bring you something you can really use: ways to save money. The Money Pit American Homeowners Association Membership has tons of benefits, including discounts on vision care, legal services, home and auto insurance… even your GROCERIES.
You will also have access to travel discounts and comparison shopping for millions of products at more than 4,000 stores like Sears, Wal-Mart and Target. Best of all, membership will open the door to the ONE source you need to save money and increase the value of your home – including an exclusive network of pre-screened, licensed and insured home remodeling professionals, with a $1,000 guarantee that the job will be done right.
The benefits of an AHA Membership are worth thousands of dollars. But through this special Money Pit offer - membership will cost you less than 35 cents a day – less than a newspaper or a cup of coffee. Better yet, try it absolutely FREE for 30 days. You read right! This is a no brainer folks. We are SO confident you will save money with this membership, we’ll let you try it FREE for 30 days. If you don’t save money, cancel and owe nothing.
To kick this exclusive deal off right, the first 1000 paid memberships come with a pair of high tech tools from Zircon. The Laser Ball 360 rotating laser level makes it fast and easy to get everything and anything straight, and the TriScanner One-STeP doesn’t just find studs, it locates the CENTER of the stud for super accurate nailing. What are you waiting for? Start saving today with a free trial. Call 1-866-REAL-HOME or visit www.moneypit.com.
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Short Cuts - Pumpkins and Plumbing Don't Mix
Every Halloween season, American plumbers get the call to repair garbage disposers and kitchen sink drains clogged with sticky pumpkin pulp and seeds. The goopy by-product of jack-o-lantern enthusiasts is, unfortunately, ideal for clogging household drains. The pulp dries and hardens inside pipes and disposers causing all sorts of problems. Never put pumpkin guts down the kitchen sink or worse, attempt to flush them down your toilet! To guard against Halloween drain disasters, carve pumpkins on a bed of newspapers, then wrap up the mess and throw all pumpkin-related materials into the garbage can.
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Copyright 2007 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.
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