January is an excellent time of the year to look at some of those items within the house that you may not think about too often. This is the focus of our January Home Maintenance Checklist.

• Clean bathroom drains – This is never a fun job, but keeping your drains running free and clear of gunk and hair will prevent back-ups and also reduce the growth of mold and mildew within your pipes.
• Water filters – With Lancaster County’s hard water, many homes have at least one water filter, if not more. Now is the time to replace all of those filters – on your refrigerator, under the sink or the whole house – to keep your water tasting (and feeling) clean. Also, if you use a water pitcher filter, like Brita®, now is a good time to replace that, too.
• Organize the closets and other storage areas – Before you put away those holiday decorations, now is the ideal time to go through them. Purge what you won’t use by throwing out broken items and donating others. While you are at it, go through your closets and do the same with your clothes and linens. (Linens are often accepted at local animal shelters.) Make January the month that you de-clutter your home.
• Compile or update your home inventory – While this isn’t the most pleasant job, it is a necessary one. You’ll want a fairly detailed list of your belongings in case of a fire, theft or natural disaster. Use the video mode on your phone to document the rooms and outside of your home, and then the camera mode to take pictures of individual items. Focus on one room at a time, and you’ll get it done. Make sure you store your inventory in a safe deposit box, fireproof safe or on the “cloud” so you have it, if you need it. Make this an annual event.
• Monitor snow and ice to prevent furnace shutdowns – If you heat your home with a natural gas furnace, you probably have two pipes that lead to the outside of your house. One is an “intake” pipe that brings fresh air into your furnace, which is needed for combustion. The other is an “outtake pipe” that pushes warmer air outside. When the warm, moist air hits the cold air outside, it can freeze, and over time it could clog up your pipe – causing your furnace to shut down. Monitor the pipes and knock the ice chunks off regularly. This will allow air to flow in and out of your furnace, and is an easy fix to avoid a major catastrophe.

Get other home tips on our blog.

Planning for the holidays is a busy and joyful time. But all of the decorations, extra electrical cords and the parade of people going in and out of your home calls for more safety precautions to help you make this holiday season safe and happy for you and your family.

Here’s a checklist for home holiday safety:

• If you plan to spend the holidays away from home, ask a friend or neighbor to watch your house and take in your newspaper and mail. Throughout the home, put lights on timers to turn them on and off in your normal living pattern.

• If you display a live Christmas tree or live greenery, select the freshest possible. A moist tree is less likely to catch fire. Look for a trunk sticky with sap and for green needles that bend and are secure on the branches.

• Place trees a safe distance from stoves, radiators, vents, fireplaces and any other heat source that may dry the tree. Inspect the tree for dryness daily and water as needed.

• Inspect all holiday light wiring. Don’t take any chances with this: Defective, worn or frayed electrical wiring should be thrown away! Check the UL label on lights and also be sure to use fixtures specifically designed for outdoor use if you decorate your house, trees or yard.

• Use no more than three light sets on any one extension cord. Also, don’t run electrical cords under rugs. Be sure all lights are turned off before you go to bed or leave the house.

• Place candles and other open flames away from decorations. Never leave burning candles unattended and always supervise children when burning candles.

• Never burn wrapping paper in a fireplace or wood stove. Certain ink pigments react with heat and create airborne particulates that are dangerous to inhale. Also don’t burn evergreens; they could flare out of control and send flames and smoke into your house.

• Cooking is a leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries. When you cook, be sure to wear clothes that fit close to the body so they won’t be ignited by hot burners. Do not leave items cooking on the stove and be sure that pot handles are turned in.

The decorations around your house, lights, gifts, music and the presence of loved ones make the holiday season festive and fun, and with the proper precautions, safe. The team at Metzler Home Builders wishes you and your family an enjoyable holiday season!

The holidays are upon us, and with family, friends and fur-babies coming for visits, it is important that during this busy month, we keep an eye on a few things around the house, too.

• Check your flue. Fireplaces can create a comfortable atmosphere this time of year, but can also be a hazard. If you have a wood-burning stove, make sure the flue is cleaned out to minimize the risk of a flue fire. If you have a natural gas fireplace, check outside to make sue the vent isn’t blocked (sometimes bird build nests in there) and vacuum the dust and spider webs off the faux logs.

• Visually inspect your attic. If you are digging out your holiday decorations from the attic, take a look at your attic. Look for water damage and signs of insect or pests, such as wasp nests or rodent droppings.

• After the first snowfall, take note if the snow is melting from the roof rapidly. This may mean that heat is escaping through your roof. If this is the case, take a look at your attic insulation and make sure it is thick and evenly distributed.

• Don’t overload outlets. Tis the season for overuse of extension cords. Play it safe by limiting the plugs to no more than three per extension cord and only one extension cord per outlet.

• Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. There is usually a lot of baking happening in the kitchen – and accidents can happen. Make sure you top chef knows where the fire extinguisher is and how to operate it.

• Clean behind appliances. Gently push out your oven and refrigerator and clean behind them. You’d be surprised at what you’ll find!

The Metzler Home Builders team wishes you a safe, fun and festive holiday season!