Choosing a Home for Safety – And Keeping it Safe!
In today’s San Jose Mercury News, I read about a home that was partially gutted by flames in Campbell. This fire is still under investigation and no cause has been yet reported. This is unfortunately an all too common story around the country, as fires claim many lives every year. Other household dangers also lurk – making it important to keep safety in mind when choosing a home for your family.
What are some of the factors to consider when buying a home? There are some obvious safety factors, such as staying in good neighborhoods with well-lit streets and making sure the home is firmly bolted to the foundation. However, there are also some subtle things to look for that could save your life and that of your family. One is to make sure that the dryer is vented to the outside. Many home fires are started by dryer vents that get clogged, and have no outside access. Be sure to have an electrician inspect the overall home wiring too - older aluminum wiring can be responsible for many fires as can shorts or inadequate wire gauge for the actual loading.
Dead trees too close to the home can also be ripe for fires, or window breakage if they fall. This is an easily remediable problem, but is costly.
Be sure that the furnace is functioning properly, and that there are no obstructions in any of the duct work.
If considering purchasing an older home – be sure to have it inspected for asbestos. Even if you don’t plan to tear any walls out personally, asbestos can be lethal if for ANY reason it enters your living space.
Also look for long window coverings that could possibly come into contact with any heated or warm space, such as a stove, oven, wall heater, or fireplace. If you choose to purchase the home, make sure that you remove them and install smaller, safer ones.
Make sure the stairways are well lit, and the stair pitch is to code. I once broke an ankle on a stairway with too steep of a pitch, so there is a reason the building codes specify this. There should be a light switch on both the top and bottom of the stairway to make sure it can be lit whether you are going up, or coming down.
Cat or dog doors present a security risk, and should be removed unless you are 100% certain your neighborhood is safe. All door locks should be fully functional, and double paned windows are both more energy efficient and harder to break. Side gates should also have locks that cannot be manipulated from the outside.
If you want to make sure that your current home is secure, ask your teen to see if he or she can get in without keys. If they can get in within 30 minutes by climbing on the roof or jimmying a window, then you have work to do.
There should be smoke alarms evenly spread throughout your home too, with batteries that are changed every several months. Make sure they are easily accessible so that changing the batteries is easy to do.
[Photo Credit: San Jose Mercury News]
