HOMES
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S a t u r d ay, O ct o b e r 3 , 2 0 1 5
MAKE IT RIGHT
AUTUMN HELP
Take proper steps to prevent a fire in your home
Turning over a new leaf
F5
KAREN TURNER OTTAWA CITIZEN There’s no escaping the annual avalanche of autumn leaves. But as pretty as they are, raking them into piles and stuffing them into bags is exhausting work. Here are seven handy gadgets to make it easier to get the job done.
BEAR CLAWS
Actually, these lightweight plastic hand rakes are called Leaf Paws, with a row of pointy teeth for scooping up fallen leaves and other lawn debris. $12.95 at Lee Valley Tools
MIKE HOLMES Make it Right
SPRING INTO ACTION
The Ryobi Collapsible Leaf Bag has a spring frame that folds flat for easy storage. The heavy-duty, reusable bag is puncture resistant and can hold up to 40 gallons (150 litres). $4.96 at Home Depot
CHRIS SCHWARZ/E RZ/ dmonton Journal RZ/E
Even with the whole family lending a hand, raking up fall leaves is a big chore.
ON THE MOVE
ALEX SCHULDTZ/ T The Holmes Group TZ/
Smoke alarms should be tested every month — no exceptions — and batteries should be changed every year, writes Mike Holmes. — this is a big, big no-no. In one case, a few days after a family disabled their alarms (because they kept going off) a fire broke out in the home and unfortunately, the couple lost their son who was only three years old. I’m sure that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Smoke alarms save lives. It’s that simple. In fact, they can cut the risk of dying in a house fire by about half — that’s huge! But when was the last time you had a licensed electrical contractor come and take a look at your home’s wiring? Electrical fires are more common than you think. And now with winter approaching, we’ll be using our heating systems and lighting more. You have to make sure your home’s electrical can safely handle the extra load, because it’s way too easy for bad wiring to cause an electrical fire. In fact, most home fires are caused by poorly maintained electrical and heating/cooling systems. So get them checked by the right pros! You should be getting your home’s electrical checked at least every four years, and
if you bought a house that’s 15 years old, or older, you should bring in a licensed electrical contractor as soon as possible, especially if the basement is finished. Too many homeowners think they can do their own electrical, and unfortunately, many of them do. How do you know if everything is up to code? If there’s knob and tube wiring? Or aluminum wiring mixed with copper? Or if the person who did the work knew what they were doing? Get a licensed electrical contractor to come in to do an audit of the entire house. They’ll make sure all the electrical work is up to code and that all the connections are tight. Fire prevention is not something that you can put off, or that you can get around to doing when you have the time. Because the truth is we don’t know when a fire can start in a home, and sometimes it’s too late. Keep safe, make it right and please, folks, make sure all of your smoke alarms are working … today! Watch Mike in his new series, Home Free on HGTV. For more information, visit makeitright.ca.
Leaf & Lawn Chute homedepot.com
PILE IT ON
For those who compost leaves and grass clippings, the Wheelbarrow Booster allows you to collect maximum loads. Made of strong reinforced tarp material with an elastic cuff, it fits snugly over the rim of the wheelbarrow. $24.50, Lee Valley Tools
BLOWING IN THE WIND
The Black & Decker 40V MAX Lithium Sweeper/ Vacuum packs a lot of power in its lightweight, cordless design without the noise and fumes of gas machines. Also switches easily from leaf blower to vacuum.
DOWN THE CHUTE LEE EE V VALLEY
Leaf Paws, $12.95 from Lee V Valley Tools $199.99 at canadiantire.ca
GO WITH THE FLOW
Make quick work of shredding wet or dry leaves, pine needles and grass clippings with the Flowtron Electric Leaf Eater, Shredder and Mulcher. The hopper tilts for easy loading, turning 11 bags of yard waste into one bag of mulch. $218.90 at homedepot.ca
MLS
6 LEFT
te Immedia n io s Posses
HOME EH HARDWARE
View by appointment only • Luxury Finishes
Why Re can OW nt when you $489.15 N!! 5% down Bi-W 4 YR Fix eekly 2.49% ed fr RBC OA om C
• 909 sq.ft. or 1000 sq.ft. • All suites 2 bed 1 bath • Hardwood & Porcelain Tile • Quartz Countertops • Undermount Sinks • Clubhouse
with Saltwater pool and hot tub
• Billiards room, exercise room WI-FI Lounge • Trim and floating island • 2 Surface Parking Spots
FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER!
LIVE THE DREAM
Show Home
5 MINUTES EAST OF REGINA
2.2 KM NORTH OF EMERALD PARK • Sewer System • Treated Water from Emerald Park • All Utilities to Property Line • Concrete Roads • Street Lights • 5 spruce trees for each lot SPRUCE CREEK ESTATES SALES OFFICE SALES CONSULTANTS
306-216-0053
DENNIS SLATER SLA (306) 949-2006 Email: dennis@dshomes.ca OR Visit www.dshomes.ca www
Trademark owned by the Canadian Real Estate Association. Used Under License.
www.randalldyck.ca
randall.dyck@century21.ca
Each office Independently Owned and Operated REG00222904_1_1
202 SPRUCE CREEK STREET LOT 12, BLOCK 11, PLAN 102136216 • 3998 Squar Square Foot Walkout Bungalow • Sat, Sun & Holidays 1-5pm Mon-Thur 4-7pm
THE ONLY 1/2 ACRE TO 1 ACRE LOTS IN THE REGINA AREA
CALL:
RANDALL DYCK
Mark’s Choice Yard Waste W Clean-up bag and cart. $34.99; Home Hardware
Flowtron Leaf Eater Shredder and Mulcher. $218.90; homedepot.ca
First in Regina to have CONCRETE Interior Roads in our First Class Subdivision!
Select suites Fully Furnished
It always happens: You’re trying to dump an armload into a paper leaf bag and it folds in or falls over. But not with the Leaf and Lawn Chute from Leaf Easy. The tri-fold sheet of high-density plastic slides into the bag to hold it open and the chute makes it easy to rake the leaves right into the bag. $19.98 US at homedepot.com
NO GST
ALL PRICES FROM
236,849
$
1545 NEVILLE DR
Lugging hefty bags is hard on the back. Cruise from pile to pile with the Yard Waste Clean Up Bag and Cart by Mark’s Choice. The wheeled cart includes a pop-up bag with a reinforced canvas bottom and built-in rake and broom holders. $34.99 at Home Hardware
SINISA (306) 539-5877
DEVON KUPIEC (306) 201-5615
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It’s that time of year again — no, not fall or Thanksgiving. I’m talking about Fire Prevention Week, which runs Oct. 4-10. Every year, Fire Prevention Week falls on the week of Oct. 9 to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, which, unfortunately, took the lives of more than 250 people and left another 100,000 homeless. It’s a reminder to all of us that a house fire can happen to anyone, so we must take the proper steps to prevent it, and then keep our families safe in case it does. Proper homebuilding has a lot to do with fire prevention. For example, we have firewalls to help stop flames from spreading between semi-detached and townhouses; you can only have a certain amount of glass on either side of your house, depending on how close it is to the property line. Again, this is to help stop the spread of flames. We also have fire-resistant insulation (which I recommend installing on all your exterior walls) and fire-resistant intumescent paint that can be applied to sheathing and framing. Will it stop a fire from starting? Maybe not, but it will give you more time to escape with your life and minimize damage to your home. But as a homeowner, you have to keep on top of things, too. The No. 1 priority: You must have working smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. (About a quarter of all house fires start in the bedroom.) And test them! You should be testing your smoke alarms every month — no exceptions — and changing the batteries twice a year. I do it when we change our clocks because it’s easy to remember. I’ve heard of some people who actually remove the batteries from their smoke alarms or disconnect them
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