Melissa sent in an e-mail worrying about the fact that the paint on the wall behind her wood burning fireplace is so hot that it is bubbling.That is too hot. Check the manufacturer's instructions if you have them -- each appliance has specified distances from combustible surfaces. Yours is ...
Smoke is hot and rises -- so smoke detectors are placed on the ceiling or close to the ceiling. Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a gas that is about the same weight as regular air -- so it does not tend to either rise or fall significantly in the house. So CO detectors can be placed anywhere; in fac...
Ken Houseley from the Monster Cable company came into studio to educate me a bit on surge protectors, but mostly on how to clean up the electrical current within our house.We all buy bus bars with surge protection for our computers, maybe even our more expensive TV sets and sound systems. Some o...
Never use a propane tank where the protective shield around the valve has been bent up enough or broken in such a way that it no longer protects the valve from getting hit. When a tank is seriously rusting, change the tank. It small scratches have begun to rust, repaint with a rust proofing...
The famous outdoor second story steps in downtown Montreal, an area they call Balconville because of all the open balconies with stairways, presents a real safety problem in those icy Montreal winters. The most common anti-slip treatment is to install a jute runner, commonly called Tapis CoC...
I live in a basement suite and our lights and electrical outlets on one side of the suite blink and stutter a lot. We did have a flood thru the bathroom fan about 7 - 8 months ago and ever since that we have had the problem. The other thing we have noticed is when everything is blinking and s...
Several years ago Fine Woodworking Magazine did a study on safety in the workshop, interviewing people who had lived through a workshop accident and discovered that most people reported that they saw it happen just before it happened. How many times have you heard this or experienced it your...
For my TV show we took the cameras to Vince Way-Nee's shop where he told us his story about the demanding but satisfying hobby of turning burled wood.Take note of his dust protection system. He has a full face mask with a cotton skirt around it and a filtered air pump on his back. This feeds coo...
In this episode we collected a whole bunch of interesting electronic devices that will help you with safety and security around your home.Many people worry about the health effects of electromagnetic fields caused by wiring and appliances. A gauss meter is what scientists use to measure the s...
A bolt of lightning has 10,000 times the power of the electric chair. You don't want to get hit by lightning. For your house, its a numbers game. If there are a lot of houses around you, you probably won't get hit by lightning, especially if there are taller buildings and trees around that would ...
