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Where to donate possessions
Salvation Army
(416) 425-2111 for location of a drop off centre or thrift store
near you.
Gently used
clothing, household goods, kitchen goods, furniture and working
clean appliances accepted.
Goodwill
Industries (416) 362-4711
Hospitals in
Toronto St.
Michael’s volunteer department (416) 864-6082 too see which items
they can use. ( accepts wool, material, clothing especially warm
winter clothing, practical shoes, blankets and towels.
REGULAR
HOME MAINTENANCE
A healthy
home is a happy home. If it is regularly checked and maintained,
the chances of problems arising are less. With proper
maintenance, if and when problems do occur, there is less chance
that they will blossom into major problems. Items to check:
Exterior
Roof: Visually check shingles from ground. Watch for missing
shingles or broken pieces.
Gutters and
downspouts: Check and remove any debris to assure unobstructed
water flow away from foundation.
Veneer or
siding: With brick, watch for deteriorating bricks or masonry.
For siding, watch for warping or rot.
Check all
painted surfaces.
Windows and
doors: Check caulking around doors and windows, glazing around
windowpanes.
Lawn and
garden: Watch for accumulation of tree limbs, branches, debris
that can attract wood eating insects.
Asphalt
Driveways: Check for cracks or deterioration. Reseal if necessary.
Heating and
cooling: Make sure outside unit is unobstructed. Clean unit with
garden hose.
Interior
Attic: Examine for evidence of any leaks.
Baths: Check
for evidence of any leaks, especially around toilets and under
sinks (vinyl tile will usually discolor if water is getting
underneath it). Check grout on any ceramic tile.
Kitchen: Check
for leaks under sink and around dishwasher. Check burner operation
on stove. Check grout on any ceramic tile. Clean dust from
refrigerator condenser (rear of unit).
Heating
System: Change filter, check coils for buildup
Water Heater:
Check for signs of leaks. Drain to remove any sediment. In areas
with hard water, drain every 3 months.
Smoke
Detectors: Check operation. Change batteries.
Basement or
crawl space: Check for cracks or any sign of dampness or leaks.
Check for any evidence of termites or wood eating insects.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT
HEATER FOR YOUR HOME
Making the right
choice in water heaters is very important. But which one is
right for you? Natural gas fuels more than half of all water
heaters; electricity heats most of the remainder. A small
percentage of water heaters burn propane, oil, or kerosene. And
some use wood heat or solar collectors to heat water.
Your best option would be to choose a gas-fueled water heater,
given that it is available to you. Electricity is the fuel of
choice only where it is the only option--or where it is
impossible to run a flue out the roof to carry the water
heater's combustion emissions. Gas is both cheaper and much
faster at heating a tank full of water. So are propane, kerosene,
and oil, but they're less convenient because they must be
delivered (not piped) to a house.
In rating residential energy sources by the average dollar cost
per million BTUs of heat they produce, natural gas was found to
be the least expensive fuel followed by heating oil, propane and
electricity came in at the most expensive. Obviously, these
amounts vary with local energy prices and do change over time,
but in the relative world of energy, natural gas is by far the
cheapest, most convenient fuel for water heaters.
If you have an electric water heater and want to take advantage
of the economy of natural gas or propane, check out how your
system can be converted. With some innovative systems, the
electric heating element is removed from the existing water
heater, turning the heater into a storage tank. A new gas-fired
heating unit is mounted on an outside wall, where it doesn't
require a vent, and it's linked to the existing tank with two
3/4-inch water lines. Gas is piped directly to the new heating
unit. The new system has three times the heating capacity of a
standard electric water heater.
ALARMS
Let's
face it - the majority burglars are lazy: They like to get into a
house the same way you do-by walking through a door. And that's
the easiest way for them to get items out, too. If a door doesn't
prove to be an easy mark, then a window is likely the next target.
That's why if you do nothing else to improve the security of your
home, beefing up defenses at entry doors and windows deserves to
be at the top of your list.
The mere sight
of a sturdy door outfitted with a dead-bolt lock may be enough to
make an intruder walk away in search of an easier target. And
that's precisely the impression you want to make with all of your
home's entry doors-not just the front door, but service doors from
the garage, French doors, old cellar and coal-chute doors, and
doors to three-season porches as well. Just as important as the
door and its lock are an entry's other components-the doorframe,
nearby windows, and the surrounding walls. One weak spot may be
all a thief needs to gain entry.
There should
be a light fixture outside every door on a house to enable a scan
of the area to be accomplished safely from inside. Consideration
should be given to use of globes on such fixtures, which are
vandal-resistant. It is possible to wire such fixtures to a
photo-cell or timer so that they automatically come on at dusk and
turn off at dawn; this arrangement ensures the exterior of your
home is illuminated during hours of darkness and makes it more
difficult for an observer to tell when you are gone.
QUICK
FIX FOR SCREEN DOORS
With
warmer weather on the way it may be time to take a look at your
screens. If some are in need of repair, here are three quick
fixes.
1.
Repair a very small tear in metal or fiberglass
screening with epoxy or acetone-type glue. Layer the glue on
until the tear is filled.
2.
Repair a small hole by weaving or darning strands of screening
into the tear. Weave the strands into sound fabric to close
the hole.
3. For
a large tear, cut a patch larger than the tear. Unravel each
side, bend end wires,
and push them
through to hold the patch.
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