Make setting priorities your first step
in home improvement
by Roger Faris
Most home improvement investments have to pass some kind of cost and benefit test. My house painting project required that I buy a lot of paint, and spend rare summer days on a ladder when I really wanted to be hiking on a mountain trail. The potential benefits were compelling. Our siding and trim needed protection from the elements. Further delays would lead to difficult and expensive repairs. Also, our neighborhood needed relief from the color and general appearance of our old place. Unfortunately, my failure to pay enough attention to careful ladder placement introduced an additional cost. While applying the last trim paint above a second story window I fell to the garage roof, breaking my ankle. Mountain hikes were delayed for a much longer time.
The ladder incident happened years ago, but it really got my attention. I'll never forget the lesson: Safety deserves the highest priority. This applies to any home project. An accident can easily overwhelm any calculation of benefit. Safety issues should also be part of setting home improvement priorities. Insurance statistics indicate that we are wise to choose fire safety and stairway improvement projects above all others.
Building inspectors, fire fighters, and other experts agree that investments in residential fire prevention and detection can provide a payback that is beyond economics. Fire safety improvements save lives.
Fire prevention requires that we take a close look at our electrical systems. Loose connections or faulty wiring need to be located and repaired without delay. An evaluation by a licensed electrician can be a great bargain. Overloaded circuits are also a source of danger. The old knob and tube wiring should be asked to serve only limited loads, and must be protected by 15 amp fuses or circuit breakers. This is especially important now that most of our attics are piled high with insulation. A Seattle Electrical Inspector recommends that we connect no more than 800 watts of total load to old circuits which pass through insulation material. That is less than half of the load limit provided by the fuse or circuit breaker. Such caution requires mapping our electrical systems and paying attention to what were are plugging in. A good resource for understanding old residential wiring is the book by H. P. Richter, Wiring Simplified. That's the green paperback with the hole through it. You can hang it on a nail right by the service panel!
Fire safety also involves correct installation and maintenance of woodstoves, furnaces, and gas appliances. If these are installed with the required permits and inspections there is a better chance that there are proper clearances from combustibles. If there is any doubt about proper installation, it is important to get an expert evaluation. All heating devices need regular maintenance. This includes checking safety systems and ensuring that the exhaust flue is free of blockages or serious deterioration. It also makes sense to secure your gas hot water heater so that it won't topple over during an earthquake. A broken gas line can cause an impressive fire.
A fire extinguisher is an essential investment, especially for the kitchen area. Our fire department recommends that we all own and know how to operate a U.L. listed dry chemical (type 2 A 10-BC) extinguisher.
Perhaps the most important fire safety improvement is installation of a reliable warning system. Building officials now require that 115 volt smoke detectors be installed during new residential construction or any major remodel project. They must be located in hallways serving bedrooms, in each bedroom, and on each level of the home. These detectors must also be inter-wired so that when one is activated, they all sound the alarm. This, as you can imagine, is a loud noise.
The other major safety priority in and around your home often involves stairway improvements. Serious accidents result from stairway hazards. The fatal flaw might be a slope that is too steep, or a variation in riser height or tread width. The Uniform Building Code sets strict standards for stair design. Code requirements also specify the details of handrails and guardrails. It makes sense to study the modern code and compare these rules with your existing stairways. Then work toward eliminating any discrepancies.
Exterior wooden structures are often weakened by hidden deterioration of stair carriages, treads, or railing parts. Rebuilding with pressure treated lumber is usually part of the long term solution. Two of my neighbors suffered devastating consequences from a single rotten stair incident. One of them experienced a lot of pain and a long disability, while the other went through a financial nightmare. Repair or replacement can be a big job, but the costs of ignoring the problems can be huge.
What are the other health and safety priorities which deserve our attention? Earthquake retrofitting is in this category. It deserves a full discussion in another column. Installation of bathtub or grab bars is certainly worthwhile. Installing GFI (ground fault interrupter) electrical outlets in wet areas also makes sense. We'll discuss these and other projects in the near future.
Many home safety issues involve careful practices in tool use and home improvement activities. I promised myself that I would never again take a long fall to a hard surface, as I did during that ill-fated painting job. When our home needed a new roof, I was careful to gather the right equipment. It included scaffolding, roof jacks, safety ropes, and a new attitude. Let me tell you all about it...(in Roofing Project).
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