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One of the scariest experiences I went through growing up was a household fire. It was just one week before Christmas, a howling wind was blowing, and suddenly a neighbor’s teenager came crashing through our front door to tell us that our home was ablaze. Within minutes everyone was out of the house, the fire department on the scene, but it took more than two hours to get the blaze under control. Heavy smoke and water damage rendered the home inhabitable for six months; we were forced to rent another home until the renovation could be completed.

Our story is not too different from what thousands of homeowners experience each month — a house catches on fire, but could it have been prevented? In our case, sparks from a neighbor’s chimney were to blame as they shot up and landed on our roof and wooden gutters. Flamed by the wind, the fire quickly spread and gutted the third story of our frame house.

Though we could not personally have prevented our fire from happening, a lot of home fires are preventable. Carelessness can lead to injury, even death, at the very least lead to a damaged home and destroyed possessions.

Fires are caused or could be prevented by doing the following:

A supplemental heating source — kerosene heaters, electric space heaters, and the like contribute to about one-quarter of all household fires. Left on high and left unattended, these units can quickly catch on fire and spread to nearby curtains, bedding, or other flammable material. Always turn your supplemental heater off when not in the home and keep it away from anything that could catch fire.

Check your home’s wiring — rodents and other pests love to take shelter in homes to avoid nature’s wrath as well as to propagate. They also will chew on insulation, wood, and wiring. Have a professional inspect your wiring to ensure that it isn’t frayed or broken.

Inspect your breaker box — circuit breakers, fuse boxes, or electrical panels which have overloaded can be a problem. Inspect the breakers or fuses to see if any of the connections are “piggy-backed” on them. Although these types of connections are rated for single circuit protection, they can be outdated or used in panel boxes which are too small. Sometimes, homeowners will use 2 or more wires in the terminal of a single breaker or fuse, a fire hazard that can be avoided.

Check your heating system — inspect your home’s heating system (natural gas, oil, LP, etc.) Check for fittings which are loose, valves that may be leaking, pilot lights which could be faulty, and remove any build up of flammable debris in the vicinity of your heating system. Consider similar maintenance precautions with your central air-conditioning unit and major appliances.

Maintain your fireplace – check the hearth for cracks, replace damaged sheet metal inserts, and always use glass fire doors or a wire mesh spark screen to hot embers from popping out of the fireplace. Have your chimney inspected and cleaned annually; avoid burning cedar as this type of wood pops considerably.

Miscellany — there are many other ways you can prevent a fire including: keeping flammable sources away from open flames; get rid of your Christmas tree once it has dried up; take care when using candles, open flame decorations, or oil lamps; make sure that all lamp and other connecting chords are not frayed; and keep the batteries in your smoke alarm fresh. Consider a carbon monoxide unit too — in some jurisdictions they are required by law.

You can prevent most household fires, reducing the chances that someone will be injured or killed as a result. If you have young children in your home, develop an exit plan and never encourage youngsters to light matches, play with candles, or perform any task involving an ignitable source without adult supervision.

If you are planning to move, then you understand that you have a big task in front of you. If you are moving from one house to another house, you’ll need to arrange for moving services and prepare well in advance to ensure that your move goes off as smoothly as possible. Making any kind of move is stressful; moving when you aren’t prepared is downright nerve racking!

There are four stages to prepare for a successful move and we’ve provided some details which can help take the pressure off of you:

3-4 Months Prior To Your Moving Date — Certainly, if you need to move quickly, you can. However, if you need to sell one house and purchase another one, then allowing several months to accomplish this task is the best approach. Use this time to search for your new abode, checking out neighborhoods, and estimating/budgeting your moving costs.

Up To 2 Months Before You Move — Select your moving options (moving company, U-Haul, moving pods, etc.) and set up the moving date. Inventory everything to be moved, sell off or donate unneeded items, and arrange for storage, if needed. At this point your housing arrangements on the other end should be done.

About 1 Month Before Moving — Complete the change of address forms for magazines and other subscriptions, notify your utilities (gas, electric, phone, internet, cable, cell phone, etc.) of your pending move, and obtain copies of your financial, dental, medical, and pet records. If you are moving far and will need to fly to your new home, then make your airline reservations at least 21 days in advance for the best prices.

Around The Moving Date — The time around your moving date will be when you are the busiest, therefore having the other steps completed will reduce your stress. However, stress will come! Make sure that your personal vehicles are ready to move (oil change, tune up, coolant, etc.) and that you have adequate room at your home for the moving van to pick up and transport your belongings. Settle all of your outstanding bills with local merchants and be prepared to leave your home as soon as the movers have completed their work.  Travel to your new home, unpack, and enjoy!

Of course if you are moving to college or moving internationally, the steps you take will be quite different, so please adjust accordingly. Finally, for your free moving guides, please visit SayRelocate to obtain the information you need to help you prepare for an important transition. Have a safe move!

Many homes are built with unfinished basements as this is the one area of the home least used by homeowners throughout the course of the day. Even the lowly garage, if not used to house vehicles, is often the place where stuff is stored. Basements are rarely considered to be an area where homeowners plan to spend much of their time.

Basements do have a purpose that some people fail to consider — if finished off, this room can add value to a home perhaps far more value than it would have had it remained unfinished. A finished basement can be used as a recreation room, as a play room for children, even used as a den. What a finished basement does do is add equity to a home.

Most home improvement projects can be get quite complicated, even expensive, but with a basement finishing project, the amount of work that needs to be done isn’t always that involved. Certainly, if you desire walls or partitioned areas then that will add to the cost of the project. Some basements aren’t tall enough to put in dropped ceilings, but for those which have the room, this isn’t an expensive job.

If your basement has some problems with water, you’ll want to coat the walls with water resistant paint. While you’re at it, head to the outside to make sure that the soil slopes away from the house and that the drainage is good. You may have to add in drain pipe extenders to help move water away from the house.

Heading back inside, consider using tiling for the flooring. Most kitchen style tiles will do, but if you elect to go with a raised floor, you’ll pay quite a bit more money. Add in wall to wall carpeting and your small project has mushroomed into a full-fledged home improvement job.

Likely, all of your electrical and plumbing hook ups are already in place, but be prepared to run some lines or piping in the event you need to heat, cool, or light a certain area. You want the room to remain as dry as possible so consider having a dehumidifier on stand by, ready to kick in as needed.

Once you have your plans established, you can tackle this job over several weekends or take a week off from work to get everything done. When completed you’ll have a room that everyone will love and that finished basement will add to the value of your home.

Resources

Home Equity Lending

Managing Bank Equity