Thoughts From Kaufman Homes

I personally had an experience at my home a few years ago with a small fire that could have been disastrous. A candle up on a pedestal was not extinguished before going to bed and the candle in the glass container burned to just liquid and broke the glass spilling the hot candle fluid on top of the table cloth starting a big fire.  Luckily our fire alarm worked very quickly and let us know where the fire was.  I grabbed the fire extinguisher in the bedroom and ran out with the flames shooting to the ceiling.  I snuffed the fire out quickly by covering it with a nice tablecloth (cheaper than a new home) my backup was the extinguisher. The only damage we had was a little suet on the ceiling.  My dry natural Christmas tree was only a few feet away from the fire.  This was a very good lesson to put out all candles, make sure the natural Christmas tree is kept moist and last but not least we have for the most part changed to battery operated candles.

Below is a list of items that I feel are really important and hope you find this useful.

We get various questions from homeowners regarding the maintenance of their granite countertops. Granite is perceived to be durable and maintenance free, and in most cases that applies to most stone counters, but not all granite is the same. Although granite is extremely hard, some of the minerals in it may be very soft, depending on the type of granite.  The type of finish may affect how often the countertop should be cleaned and sealed. A polished finish is more desirable in the kitchen because it is easier to keep clean. Other finishes, such as, honed, flamed, sand blasted and brushed are available but will require more attention to the maintenance of the countertop. Knowing how and when to clean and seal your granite countertops will ensure they will maintain their beauty well beyond the life of your home.

The easiest way to keep your stone looking great is to avoid bad habits that may damage it. Granite, marble, travertine, limestone, soapstone, quartz and solid surface are similar in many ways, but their differences require varying degrees of maintenance.

Going away for a period of time means you are either leaving your home for a vacation or going on extended stay. Either way we all go with concerns for what may happen to our home while we are gone, what services have we forgotten to cancel and how secure is our home while gone. Hopefully the following list will help prepare your home and yourselves for vacation and give you more piece of mind and avert potential problems or disasters. Kaufman Homes can do many of these items for you or do a consultation on the proper ways to do preparation.

Regular Vacations:

• Have newspaper and mail stopped or regularly picked up by a designated person
• Have bottled water service stopped.
• Turn off gas to water heater or turn down temperature to conserve energy.
• Let your trusted yard service company know that you will be gone and to keep their eyes open and give them your cell # or a trusted persons #.
• Ask a designated person to check periodically on your home.
• Make sure a designated person knows where the water main shut-off is located in the event of a broken pipe.
• Set timers on interior lights to deter burglars
• Unplug TV, computer and appliances susceptible to lightning and power surges.  Or install a whole house surge protection system.
• Advise your alarm company and local police if you will be gone for an extended vacation.  In  case of an alarm who will they call?
• Turn off water valves to your washing machine, ice maker and dishwasher
• Take jewelry and valuable papers to a safe deposit box or a personal fireproof safe.
• Call your credit card company and inform them where you will be going so when they see an unusual spending pattern that they don’t cancel or suspend your credit card.
• Turn off your waterfalls or water feature or have a designated person check periodically to see that it is working properly or to feed the fish if necessary.
• Always give phone numbers of where you can be reached on vacation to trusted relatives, neighbors or friends.
• Be willing to reciprocate to those who have helped you while you were on vacation.
• Inform trusted yard Maintenance Company that you will be gone and who to call if have a problem or observe a problem.

Extended Vacations:

• When going on an extended vacation, especially during the winter months, turn off water meter on the street side to keep water meter from potentially freezing.  If an extended cold period happens while you are gone, and there is no daily water running through the meter, the stagnant water in the meter and water line gets colder each day and as the cold weather continues it may freeze the meter solid and when it thaws the bottom of the meter is designed to break but water will run on the ground until someone turns the meter off on the street side.  If you have an indoor fire sprinkler system do not turn off water meter, but instead insulate the meter by putting insulation on and around the meter.
• Some people suggest leaving an outside faucet dripping but that wastes a lot of water and also freezing weather will cause the dripping water on the ground to build up unnecessary ice.
• Open cabinet doors to allow heat to reach non insulated pipes under sinks and where appliances are near exterior walls.  This is especially important with older homes which may not have much or any wall insulation.
• Turn off gas to water heater if gone for extended period of time.

So there is the list and the various ways that you could prepare your home for vacation. It is pretty long and we know that people are busy and because of that we are excited to annouce that our Home Repair Services division can easily take on any of these tasks and take more off your plate.

Every season our Home Repair and Maintenance Team is sent out on calls during the Fall. This is the time of year to prepare our homes for the coming variety of inclement winter weather that we can or will have in Oregon and the Salem area. During the fall we can be lulled into putting off doing these things especially if we have an Indian summer, but this good weather makes outdoor winterizing much easier. Once this inclement weather hits, and rest assured it will, then we are scrambling to do after the fact and by then it may be too late or the weather may make it more difficult or dangerous to do.

Preparation ahead of time sets the soul at ease and does a better job of protecting our family and now you and the family can spend more quality time together.