• ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- Better Judgements eZine Terria Judge, Realtor CRS, ABR, GRI, Broker Associate Better Judgements is a newsletter on home matters, from Terria Judge, your Garden City, KS real estate agent! Contact Terria Judge at 620-271-2129! Terria Judge Coldwell Banker, The Real Estate Shoppe, Inc. John P. Judge, Broker 1135 College Dr. Suite E Garden City, KS 67846 620-275-7421 x 223 http://terriajudge.com http://gardencityksrealestate.com http://gardencityrentals.com tjudge@gcnet.com Subscription Management at end of newsletter. Thanks for your subscription to Better Judgements, the newsletter from your Garden City Kansas Realtor, Terria Judge. ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- In this Issue ============= 1. New Listings 2. Article: High Energy Bills May Be Due To Commonly Overlooked Holes In Your Home 3. Article: Bunk bed shopping - 10 point safety checklist to protect your children ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- Happy New Year everyone! You will notice that we didn't have a newsletter over the last couple of months. We were re-grouping and re-designing the content we're delivering in our newsletter. From now on, our articles will deliver timely information on home safety, home health, and home money matters. This is the news you can use--the important stuff to make your life safer and happier. If you have your own home home health, wealth and safety tips, send them to mit@funkyfranks.com. We'll try to feature a reader's corner in every issue! Thanks! New Listings ================== 1. 705 Pennsylvania -- http://terriajudge.com/705pennsylvania.html -2 bedrooms -1 bath -1 Car Garage -New Roof -All Appliances stay This charming 2 bedroom 1 bath home will sell itself. Includes 1 car garage. All appliances stay including washer and dryer. This is a must see!! 2. 1205 Long Blvd -- http://terriajudge.com/1205long.html -One owner home with security system -Large 27'x22' double car garage, extra parking slab -Nice stone fireplace -4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath -Large kitchen with pantry & eating bar This great home has all the amenities you are searching for--and the space to go with it, all for a great price. From its large patio in the back, to its double car garage, your home life will be comfortable in this great home on Long Blvd. Call Terria today to see this "must see!" --See all of Terria's listings at http://gardencityksrealestate.com! ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- High Energy Bills May Be Due To Commonly Overlooked Holes In Your Home It's the unthinkable, leaving the door wide open in the chilling winter season. Yet surprisingly many homeowners are doing something very similar to that when they overlook the largest holes in their homes. The clothes dryer, attic stairway and fireplace may not typically come to mind as escape routes for air, but they can be exactly that, as well as a costly expense to your heating bill. "The clothes dryer exhaust duct goes right outside through a four-inch diameter exhaust pipe," say Mark Tyrol, Battic Door Attic, Stair Covers in Mansfield Massachusetts. Tyrol says the small metal trap door that opens and closes can get stuck open or blown open, "It's just like having an open window. You've got a four-inch diameter hole that's just letting all your heat out through the dryer and letting all the cold air in." That's why sometimes the coldest room in the house can be the laundry room. Tyrol discovered a product that his company now sells that prevents air leakage. The Clothes Dryer Vent Seal costs under $20 and helps keep out more than just cold air. "It will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape," Tyrol says. A second common culprit for heat loss is the attic stairway. "When attic stairs are installed, a large hole approximately 10-square feet is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood," explains Tyrol. Because attics are often ventilated directly to the outdoors, in the summer they are extremely hot and in the winter they can be freezing and if only a thin sheet of plywood separates the attic from the house, there's little protection from heat loss. Tyrol said that gaps around the door are often visible. "Try this yourself: at night, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door -- do you see any light coming through? These are gaps that add up to a large opening where your heated/cooled air leaks out 24 hours a day. This is like leaving a window open all year round," warns Tyrol. An easy, do-it-yourself installation product that costs $29.50 provides a seal and keeps the cold air out. Insulation can be added over the Attic Stair Cover to restore the insulation that was removed from the ceiling. The third significant area of heat loss is through the fireplace. A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces. "A lot of fireplaces have dampers that you open and close and they're not designed to be airtight, so the chimney acts like a giant straw and it pulls the heat right out of the house," says Tyrol. But the use of an inflatable, non-flammable pillow that can be placed up inside the chimney can block air from escaping. "What it does is seal the fireplace airtight so that none of your heat an go out of the chimney and none of the cold air or toxins, such as the things that are inside the chimney, insects, sounds, any of that can come back in the house," says Tyrol. The fireplace draftstopper sells for $45 and is completely safe -- even if you were to accidentally light your fireplace with the pillow still in place. "First of all there's a bright reflective orange, I'll call it a warning label, it's really a reminder to deflate it and remove it. But if somehow that's overlooked, as soon as the fire heats it will just fall down on top of the fire and it's non-flammable so it will just smother the fire," explains Tyrol. For more information visit http://www.batticdoor.com>http://www.batticdoor.com. Courtesy of Phoebe Chongchua/Realty Times ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- Bunk bed shopping - 10 point safety checklist to protect your children by S.A. Smith Every year thousands of children are admitted to hospital emergency rooms due to incidents involving bunk beds involving improper use, manufacturing, or set up. If your follow our 10 point safety checklist, bunk beds can still be a great bedding solution for your children: Reputable manufacturer Look for manufacturers that are established, and have a long history of manufacturing bunk beds. A good manufacturer will also stand behind their product by providing a lifetime warranty. ASTM and CPSC guidelines Ask the retailer if it meets the voluntary safety guidelines of the American Standards of Testing and Materials and the minimum safety standards of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If it does, you'll know that the bed meets all current and reasonable safety standards. Strong frame construction Examine and test the durability and strength of the bunk bed frame. It should easily hold a parents weight - climb on it and wiggle the frame a bit. A good bunk bed with remain firmly grounded without movement or noise. Only rounded edges Check the entire bed construction for smoothness of materials and fasteners. There should be no sharp edges or protruding points anywhere in the construction. Measure the safety rails Safety rails should run on both sides of the top bunk, and the lower rail should be no higher than 3 1/2 inches above the top of the mattress height - any higher and your children could slip underneath it. Also make sure the top rail is at least 5 inches above the mattress top to prevent your child from rolling over the safety rails. Ensure proper mattress fit Strangulation deaths have occurred in the US when children fall through openings between the mattress and the frame during the night. Make sure the mattress opening snugly fits the mattress without a lot adjustment room. If the mattress has a gap greater than 3 inches from any side of the mattress to the bed frame, headboard or footboard - it does not fit properly. Sturdy ladder construction Make sure the ladder in well constructed and is firmly attached and bolted to the bed frame. Test it out with your own weight - if it moves around it is not safe. Sturdy mattress support A lot of injuries are caused by children in the lower bunks pushing up on the underside of the top bunk and dislodging the mattress or support frame. Ensure the top bunk has sturdy mattress supports that are secured to the bed frame with bolts or screws. You don't want a floating board support system, as these will move around and can possibly fall through the opening. Repair and maintenance Immediately replace or repair any loose or missing fasteners on the bed. Periodically check the tightness of fasteners holding the bed together, as well as the cross support rails holding the upper mattress. Safe use Teach your children not to push up on the underside of the bed, or to climb on it like a jungle gym. Proper safety is important at all times, and you may wish to also use a night light near the ladder so children can see the ladder steps in the dark. If you follow these basic tips then you should get years of safe enjoyment out of your new bunk bed. For more bunk bed resources and tips you can visit http://www.loft-beds-bunk-beds.com/bunk-beds.htm About the Author S.A. Smith is a freelance writer, contributor, and editor of the Loft Beds Bunk Beds resource site, and can be reached at http://www.loft-beds-bunk-beds.com ---------BETTER JUDGEMENTS--------- This newsletter is compiled and published by Mitone Griffith, http://funkyfranks.com

  January 5th, 2005 at 3:50 pm

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