Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
Feeling powerless? Try backup generator
In a big storm, more than a few people can find themselves without power. To avoid the inconvenience of an outage, a backup generator can ensure you are never without power.
There are a few items to consider when choosing a generator, since they can be dangerous if not installed or operated properly.
Generators range in size, type and price, so it is worthwhile to talk to distributors and your electrician to determine a unit that suits your needs.
Typically, the more power required, the more the cost. Smaller, portable generators are great for powering essentials like the refrigerator and microwave, while a permanent standby system can power everything in your home.
Typically, the lower-power and portable units use gasoline, while larger units, especially permanent installations, likely use propane or natural gas.
A major consideration is choosing gasoline, propane or natural gas. Each has pros and cons, but the decision will depend on what a home has installed.
If you are in an area where natural gas is available, this would be the best for you. For homes without natural gas, propane is a good alternative. Both natural gas and propane tend to last longer and burn cleaner than gasoline.
Gasoline generators are the most common since gasoline is readily available and relatively inexpensive compared to propane, but gas generators usually require frequent maintenance and the storage of gasoline, which has a relatively short shelf life.
Hire an electrician
Installing a generator is a job for experts. Portable or fixed generators must be connected to the residential grid using a proper CSA-approved transfer switch installed by a registered certified electrician.
An electrical permit is required for the installation. Never connect a backup power system without a transfer switch that disconnects your home from the municipal power supply. This is to protect electric-utility field crews from being electrocuted by your home power system when working on municipal lines.
What size do you need?
Determine the amount of power you require during a power outage; that depends on how many appliances you need to run. This will determine the size or wattage of generator you will require.
Portable versus permanent
Portable generators can replace part of a household load during an electrical outage and are the simplest and least expensive backup system. When the power goes out, you have to start up a gas-powered generator and plug in your appliance using an extension cord.
The down side is the number of appliances you can run at any one time is limited. They are also noisy, hard to move and you have to start up and maintain the unit. They require fuel, so consider how long a tank of fuel will last. This can range from a few hours to as long as 10 hours.
When the power goes out, keep the generator away from your house, especially doors, windows and enclosed areas. It's important to follow the manufacturer's directions.
Never try to attach a generator directly to the home's wiring system yourself. To use a portable generator without running extension cords, you have to hire an electrician to install a manual transfer switch off your main circuit panel and install a dedicated inlet to power the subpanel.
Permanent generators
Standby generators are powered by natural gas or propane and wired into the home's circuit panel, so they can start automatically during a power outage.
They are more powerful and quieter than portables. When power resumes, the system flips back to the house circuit and powers down the generator. There is enough to power a large home. You don't have to worry about storing gas and running cords, but the drawback is cost, and they must be installed by licensed electricians.
Protect against CO poisoning
The primary hazard to avoid is carbon monoxide poisoning. NEVER use a generator inside homes, garages, crawl spaces, sheds or similar areas, even when using fans or opening doors and windows for ventilation. Be sure the generator isn't positioned outside an open window, which can allow fumes into the home.
Install battery-operated (or with battery backup) CO alarms in your home, according to the manufacturer's instructions. CO alarms should be certified to the requirements of the latest safety standards (UL 2034, IAS 6-96, or CSA 6.19.01). Before you buy, check with local officials, since your municipality may have restrictions on the noise caused by your generator.
For more home improvement information or to send Shell an email, go to www.AskShell.com
-- Postmedia News
Renovation & Design
ASK THE INSPECTOR: Slope source of frustration for homeowners
QUESTION: I have a question about our house, which is about 25 years old. We purchased it and moved in five years ago. It is in North Kildonan near the Bunn's Creek area.
We were not made aware and did not notice at the time of purchase that the house has a slope to it. It tilts towards the front street. After we moved in and realized this, we contacted the sellers and were told that their agent said everyone who looked at this house should have been made aware of it, which unfortunately was not the case.
We really like the location and the layout, but have found the slope to be a source of frustration. We are just curious as to what, if anything, can be done about this. It would appear to us that anything to fix this would be extensive and expensive, but we really have no idea at all what the cause of this might be.
We don't know how to proceed, or if we should just leave it and when the time comes that we want to sell it, just hope for the best. Any thoughts or insights into this would be appreciated. Sheri Ward
ANSWER: I will certainly provide my thoughts on your issue, but I will warn you that you may not like my response. As you have stated, it is unfortunate that you did not notice the slope in the home before making your offer, as you are now forced to live with it. You are correct that repairs may be undertaken at considerable cost to lessen the slope, but there may also be some less-costly remediation you can do to minimize the problem.
It still never ceases to amaze me, with all the information available in countless forms, that many homebuyers are unaware of the potential pitfalls of what is likely the largest purchase of their lives.
Once you sign on the dotted line of an Offer to Purchase of a home, you are bound to the terms of that contract if the seller accepts your offer. If you have some specific conditions in that offer that have to be satisfied by either the seller or yourself, then there may be some wiggle room to change your mind if these conditions cannot be met.
One of these conditions should certainly be a home inspection completed to your satisfaction by a CAHPI Manitoba-accredited home inspector. Without the condition to have the home checked out for visible defects by an experienced home inspector, you are only relying on your own observations in the very brief time you looked at the home. Often that time is less than an hour, where you are primarily looking at suitability of the home for your lifestyle. Your brief look will likely focus on the kitchen, bathrooms and other amenities, but not necessarily the structure or mechanical components.
The slope that you discovered after moving into your new home would have been identified at the time of a standard home inspection and you could have decided then if it would have been enough of a deterrent to prevent you from completing the purchase. You may still have made the decision to buy the house, but at least you would have been aware of the sloping floor as well as the other amenities in the home. That would have allowed you to weigh the positive and negative features of the home and make an informed rather than hurried decision.
Now that my short lecture is concluded, we can address the sloping floor of your home. It is a little unusual to have a very noticeable slope in a home of that age, but not uncommon due to our soil conditions. The location of your home in an area with creeks and lots of mature trees, some of which would have been cut down to allow the construction of your home, makes movement more likely.
With many houses that have settled in one direction, there may be little concern other than the noticeably sloping floors. As long as portions of the house have not moved at different rates, known as differential settlement, then the slope may only be an inconvenience. Yes, it may cause some doors to rub on their jambs and furniture and appliances to sit awkwardly, but hundreds of older homes have these issues.
It is very common in older areas to see homes that have settled several centimetres, often to the front street, that are otherwise in good condition. Neighbourhoods like yours that are close to rivers and streams have lots of well-built homes in the same condition.
The one thing you may be able to do, without major structural repairs to the home, is to adjust the teleposts holding up the main beam or beams in the basement. As homes settle, these adjustable metal columns can create significant bumps in the middle of the floors. This may be due not only to the settlement at the perimeter foundation but also some heaving of the footings under these posts.
When this occurs, it can often make the sloping of the floors appear to be more dramatic due to the unevenness caused by the upward forces of the posts and beams.
The solution is to call an experienced general contractor or foundation specialist to slowly and carefully lower these teleposts as needed. This can be a relatively easy task if your home has a simple design with a single beam, or can be very difficult if you have a finished basement with multiple posts and beams. Ensure that anyone you hire has several years of experience in this area and does proper measurements and calculations to determine which posts need to be adjusted and by how much.
For the most part, pointing out a floor slope in a home more than a few years old is not the responsibility of a vendor or a Realtor unless you specifically request this information.
As long as nothing was deliberately done to cover up this condition, it is your job to inspect the property as thoroughly as you want before you make an offer to purchase. Without the assistance of a CAHPI home inspector or professional structural engineer, you are relying on your own very limited expertise and time to make this evaluation.
As you have stated, you can now only "hope for the best" and perhaps make some necessary telepost adjustment to minimize the sloping of the floors in your home.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors - Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca
trainedeye@iname.com
Renovation & Design
SOLUTIONS: Freshening up your black clothes to dye for
QUESTION: A recent question in your column was where to buy black dye to freshen black clothes. The writer wanted to use it in her washer. A couple of friends also read it and had the same concerns as me, so I have volunteered to contact you with our questions.
1. Will the washer be left with any black dye that would transfer onto the next load of laundry?
2. Would running one hot bleach load (no clothes) get rid of the chance of this happening?
3. Do you have any further advice or any suggestions that will actually give us the nerve to try this?
This sounds like such a good idea, as our blacks do get a bit faded long before they wear out, but we do not want to destroy any other clothing or the washers. Eileen, Winnipeg
ANSWER: I love that you volunteered to submit these fabulous questions, Eileen! If you refer back to the article that you read regarding black dye, you will notice that a reader had offered this tip as a remedy for darkening her black fabrics. She said it worked!
Personally, I would opt to use black dye to darken clothing using the old-fashioned method of water and an old stainless steel pot or bathtub and only dye garments that are not extra-special. In most cases, the machine does not becomes stained, but it's important to wipe it out with bleach after using it for dyeing purposes.
Thirdly, Rit dye will only dye one garment at a time; you may have to purchase a stronger dye than Rit. Fibre-reactive dyes are designed for dyeing cellulose fabrics such as cotton, linen, hemp and rayon. Acid dyes work well for animal fibres, nylon and wool.
Another risk with dyeing clothes black is that some garments are made up of more than one textile, and dye colour can therefore become inconsistent. Or you may run into a situation where fabrics were treated by the manufacturer with stain-resistant coating and will not accept dye.
QUESTION: Do you have an easy recipe for making my own taco seasoning without me having to buy weird spices that I won't be able to find and will never use again? Lloyd, Treherne, MB
ANSWER: Stir together one tbsp. chili powder, half tsp. garlic powder, half tsp. dried oregano, half tsp. paprika, one-and-a-half tsp. ground cumin, one tsp. salt and one tsp. black pepper. Store in an airtight container.
QUESTION: We went away in the summer for two months. I left a bag of leftover food and a half-gallon of milk in the fridge for the person who was taking care of the house. They never took the milk. The milk went sour and exploded in the fridge. What a terrible smell. Cleaned the whole fridge out with vinegar, baking soda and water. I cannot get rid of the smell. Do you have any tips? Awaiting your reply. Charlette, Winnipeg
ANSWER: When you say that you cleaned out the fridge, did you allow the vinegar to seep into each corner of the fridge where the milk will have travelled? Any remaining milk will continue to cause an odour, so you may need to rewash.
The easiest way to zap fridge odours is to slice an orange in half and leave it in the fridge for a few days. The most effective long-term solution for getting rid of the smell: Unplug the fridge and stuff the entire unit with crumpled-up newspaper. Leave it for about one week. The more newspaper the better, because the ink in newspaper is great at absorbing odours. After removing the newspaper, leave an open container of coffee grounds in the fridge or activated charcoal to absorb remaining odours.
QUESTION: Some time ago, you gave a solution to get rid of the little flies that seem to take up residence in house plants. I believe it was 2 tbsp. per litre of water and either rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. All I can remember for sure is that it really did the trick! However, they seem to be back. I love your column; have used many of your tips. Thanks in advance. Judy, Winnipeg
ANSWER: In a one-gallon milk jug, combine 2 tbsp. dish soap, 1 tbsp. rubbing alcohol, dash of Tabasco sauce, 1 tbsp. canola oil and enough water to fill the jug. Pour mixture into spray bottle and apply as needed. Taken from Household Solutions 2 with Kitchen Secrets.
Fabulous tips of the week
-- Packing for a trip? Slide shoes into a clean pair of old socks before packing the shoes in your suitcase. Doing this prevents the shoes from coming in contact with other clothes.
-- Suitcases will hold more if clothes are rolled rather than folded. If you roll them in tissue paper, the clothes will get less wrinkled.
Reena Nerbas is the author of the national bestselling Household Solutions series. Her website is www.householdsolutions.org You can contact her at Box 429, Blumenort, Man., ROA 0C0.