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...
Dorian from Toronto, Ontario is looking for ways to hide wires that run along the kitchen wall.There are several products on the market, from vinyl to metal, that will encase surface wires, keeping them clean and safe. Most of them will accept any paint to help them blend into the wall. Unfortu...
My friend Keith the electrician from Accurate Electrical in Aurora, Ontario walked us through the installation of an outdoor outlet. Here are some interesting tips I picked up from him:On a brick wall, drill the wire hole and the screw anchor holes all on the face of one brick and not through...
As we so well know from the Walkerton experience, municipal and rural water supplies can become contaminated. Municipalities do have testing mechanisms in place. And although they were not applied in Walkerton, because of that experience we can probably feel even more confident that municip...
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...
Pierre from St. Lazar, Quebec writes: This morning on CJAD radio you mentioned an article about the environmental issues around Pressure treated wood and that it was on the CJAD web site and also that it was quite safe. I hear all kinds of conflicting info on this and need as much info as pos...
Robert from Winnipeg Manitoba asks about the safety of walking around in his attic.First let's be sure not to fall into the room below. If you were to remove all the insulation, you would see the drywall or plaster of the ceiling below, nothing more. It is held in place by the ceiling joists,...
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...
