​With everything going the way it has this year, people are in a more desperate state of mind than ever before. This kind of thing causes people to make bad decisions, perhaps even resorting to crime to solve their problems. Of course, we don’t want to alarm you needlessly, and hopefully, this will never happen to you. However, there are plenty of things that a homeowner can do to protect themselves from the threat of burglaries.

Good lighting around and inside your home is a major crime deterrent. Unless you live far away from civilization, the brighter your property is at night, the less chance there is that a robber would want to risk breaking into your home.

Also, give some thought to how your home and activity look from the outside. Does it look occupied? Do you have someone stay there while you’re away for a long time? What does your social networking account say about where you are right now?

​How do you feel when you see a snake in your backyard? Even though there aren’t that many dangerous snakes here in the US, many have an issue with any type of snake, especially so if it is close to their home. So, what can you do to discourage snakes from being in your yard? It comes down to removing the things that they want – food and shelter.

Many types of snakes live off of rodents, so if you have a lot of rodents in your yard, you’re also likely to have snakes there hunting them. Get rid of the rodents and you will most likely get rid of the snakes. There are traps and pesticides that you can use, the choice is really up to you, just be aware that rodents can be very good at figuring out how to overcome your traps, so you need to be smarter than them.

When it comes to shelter, keeping your lawn cut short will deny the snakes a good hiding place, and that can discourage them from getting into your yard. They also enjoy the heat from the sun in rocky areas, so if you can remove piles of rocks near your home, you will deny them an ideal place to live.

​You should think about upgrading your thermostat! Why? Well, over time, older thermostats lose their effectiveness and accuracy. Additionally, there are a lot of advantages to having a properly-functioning, modern thermostat. They can be more energy-efficient, which saves you money, they can be password-protected, which saves you from family disputes, and much more.

There are a lot of relatively new features available in modern thermostats, as well. One of the biggest things in thermostat technology could perhaps be the fact that they can connect to your home’s WiFi network. This opens up a world of possibilities, including attaching them to your home’s smart devices, making it possible to control them by voice, or adjusting the thermostat while you’re thousands of miles away from your home. Additionally, most thermostats these days are also capable of learning and predicting the behavior of the occupants in a home. This sounds scary at first, but it can lead to pinpoint efficiency in your home’s heating system.

​Have you ever found yourself in a spot where you would like to clean your hands but with no access to running water? If so, you would probably have been thankful for some hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer is the best tool for killing bacteria and viruses on your hands when you are in a situation like that, but does that mean that you should be using hand sanitizer all the time?

No, while hand sanitizer is fairly effective in killing viruses and bacteria, it is by no means a good substitute for washing your hands.

The reason why washing with soap and hot water is more effective is because of the way that it functions. Soap attacks viruses in 2 ways. It prevents them from attaching to your hands as well as killing them. This proves much safer than simply hand sanitizing. Because of this, whenever you have the option to do so, wash your hands with soap and hot water.

​While you might feel like there will always be water available to you whenever you turn on the tap, this might not be as much of a guarantee as you think. There are those that predict that water supply might be a big problem for mankind in the future as pollution and other issues start having an effect on freshwater sources.

If this is the case, practicing water conservation now could help you be better prepared for the future.

The amount of water being used in your home is greatly affected by how old your bathroom fixtures are. For example, older toilets can use as much as 5 times the amount of water that a modern toilet does, and still not be as effective.

Replacing old toilets and installing aerators on your faucets can make a huge difference in your water consumption. If you also get into the good habit of not leaving the water running unnecessarily when showering or using the faucet, you will notice a significant drop in your water usage.

​In cities across America, restaurants are required by law to have a proper grease trap, or grease interceptor, installed in their kitchens. The reason for this is that as hot, liquid grease is poured down a drain, all seems well and good. However, as it goes through the plumbing system, it meets up with cooler water, causing the liquid grease to congeal and solidify. This can cause serious issues in a city’s wastewater system. In fact, some cities have found “fatbergs” that have weighed more than four humpback whales.

Why do we tell you this horror story? Well, even though your home is not going to be producing a whale’s weight in grease, the fact remains that there is no amount of grease that is acceptable for pouring down a drain. Even if poured down a drain with hot water, the grease will eventually solidify and cause issues. Instead, wait until it cools, and throw it in the trash.

​Public restrooms often have touchless fixtures for soap, water, paper towel, hand sanitizer, and other things. This is a fact we typically take for granted unless we happen to be in a pandemic. But have you ever stopped to think about why touchless fixtures are so commonplace? If you do, you might consider the idea of having them installed in your home or business.

For one thing, they’re a lot more sanitary than ordinary fixtures. Even beyond protecting you from invisible germs that could get you very sick, you’ve undoubtedly been in a position where you’re trying to turn on the faucet with hands covered in food or grease, but you have to do some sort of contortionist maneuver to turn on the water with your wrist or upper arm.

Also, they can save you money in the long run. While they may be slightly more expensive or cost more to install, the fact that they can reduce wasted resources may cut down your expenses overall.

​It never fails, I could perform 100’s of 1,000’s of home inspections, and eventually (and regularly) I will find a pointed screw in an electric panel. That is bad news, as those screws are supposed to be machine screws for very important safety reasons.

It seems like such a simple thing though. Your electric panel needs a screw and you have a screw. You put the screw in and yu are all set – panel cover fixed. But unfortunately that is not how it works. Putting a screw with a point on it into and electric panel is very dangerous.

First of all, it is very obvious that it can puncture a wire. Then, on top of that, they are usually longer than the typical panel screw and can reach wires farther back in the panel.

So if you have an electric panel cover without the proper panel screws, then be sure to have them replaced with the proper machined screws.

​We have all experienced that annoying burst of hot or cold water in the shower when someone else in the house turns on a faucet or flushes a toilet. While for many of us, it simply requires a quick maneuver out of the way of the flowing water, for others, such as the elderly or very young, it could result in scalding or shock from the sudden change in temperature.

An answer to this could be installing an anti-scald valve. Anti-scald valves work by keeping water at a safe temperature, even when water pressure fluctuates in the pipes. An advantage to this also, is that hot water drains slower from the hot water tank, so you won’t run out of hot water as quickly.

Anti-Scald valves are usually simple to install and not too expensive. To protect the whole house, they can be installed at the hot water heater, or if you only want to regulate certain areas they can also be installed in specific places.

After installation, the temperature you set the anti-scald valve at may need to be adjusted to compensate for pipes that aren’t insulated or defects in the valve.

Please contact us for more information on anti-scald valves

Water that has a high mineral content is often called hard water. This is something that many homeowners have to deal with, and it usually comes from a water source that runs through limestone layers. The minerals in question are mainly calcium and magnesium, and they can have many different effects on your water.
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​Soap doesn’t lather well when you have hard water, and you might find that there is a film left behind after you wash and do laundry. In some cases, you will find that there is white buildup forming on your faucets and showerheads, and this buildup can also form inside your pipes and appliances, leading to costly repairs.

Since you are unlikely to be able to find a different source for your water, you might need to install a water softener that will treat your water and remove a large percentage of the minerals from your water to make it easier to deal with.