Education Archives - Page 4 of 6

Air Quality Awareness Week

This week is Air Quality Awareness Week. Everyone is trying to take good care of themselves…eat right, exercise, maintain healthy relationships. What about monitoring the air that you breathe? Seems very important, right? Why aren’t we paying more attention to it then? Start this week!

Let’s start with your indoor air quality. Check to see if you or someone you live with is at a higher risk of having complications with poor air quality.

Do you need your air ducts cleaned to provide a healthier environment inside your home? Find out the facts.

Even if it is not necessary for you to clean the air ducts, changing the filter at least every 6 months is absolutely necessary. It is also important to make sure you are using a HEPA filter vacuum along with an air purifier if you have individuals in your household that are sensitive to air quality.

When going outside there are many air pollutants. The most common are ozone and particle pollution. If you or ones you know are in a higher risk category for sensitivity to poor air quality, then you should be mindful of the Air Quality Index (AQI) daily, especially in the summer months. Here is an explanation of what the AQI is and how to know if you should stay indoors or alter your plans:

Take these steps to insure that you are taking care of yourself and others around you. Stay healthy!

Distracted Driving

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. We all try to multi-task, especially while driving…one of the worst places to do it! On your way home from work, rushing to think of dinner plans, you decide ordering take-out is easiest. While driving you are searching your phone for the number or asking Siri to find it for you, not fully paying attention to the road. A car stops short in front of you and you end up rear-ending them. If you are lucky and everyone is ok, this is still an at fault accident that will give you a surcharge on your car insurance, just because you were trying to multi-task. Don’t. One call/text could ruin everything while driving. The statistics are there: you are 4x more likely to get in a car crash while using a cell phone or hand held device. Don’t assume that since you have a hand held device it is risk free.

1. Hands-free features in dashboards actually increase mental distraction

2. Using voice-to-text is more distracting than typing texts while driving

3. Drivers who text with their hands or voice (using speech-to-text systems) keep their eyes on the road less often and have reaction times twice as slow

The truth is using your cell phone in any form, is making you a distracted driver. Please don’t make a statistic out of yourself and take the focused driver challenge. There are many ways we can be distracted while driving, but using a cell phone is the number one distraction. So if you try to limit your phone use to while you are stopped or when you get to your destination, you will be a lot safer and so will the other people on the road.

* statistics from The National Safety Council

Spring Cleaning: The Oprah Experiment

Over the next few weeks of spring we will give some excellent spring cleaning tips. Spring is a time to start anew! Why not give your house a new life? A favorite spring cleaning task is the Oprah Closet Experiment. Oprah didn’t invent it, but she made it famous.

Here are the steps to take to clean out your closet and get rid of the clothes you don’t wear:

Turn all your hangers around backwards
Every time you wear an item, turn the hanger around
Do this over a period of 6 months or so (long enough to go through seasons)
Everything that is still on a backwards facing hanger, donate
This closet cleaning technique does not render immediate results, but spring is a good time to start. Your closet will become uncluttered and look more organized. Happy Spring Cleaning!

How to Prevent Slip and Fall Homeowners Claims

We often think of slip and fall insurance claims coming from businesses, but many claims are through homeowners policies. There are people almost every day coming on to your property: friends, relatives, neighbors, FedEx employees, plumber, etc. It is important that you keep your house as safe as possible, for both your family and visitors (invited or not).

Here are a few simple steps to help prevent slip and fall accidents:

Install railings on you stairs (with most insurance companies this is a must or you will not be covered)
Properly shovel and use a non-slip ice melt after storms
Use non-slip pads under all of your area rugs
Clean up spills immediately…kids are pretty tricky with where they drop things, so be mindful of all the places they are
Keep cords close to the wall out of the way
Properly light outside walkways
Fix all broken steps: outside and inside (make sure stair rugs are properly secured)
Use doormats both inside and outside of your house
Use non-slip mats both inside and outside the bath/shower

It is always a good idea to have an umbrella policy also. Our motto: You don’t need to be a millionaire to be sued for a million dollars! A $1M umbrella policy is an inexpensive way to give you that extra protection in case you have a slip and fall accident on your property and are sued. Call us for details www.mancuso-nowak.com

New MA Headlight Law

There will be a new Massachusetts state law that you must put on your headlights if you are using your windshield wipers. This law will be in effect starting April 7, 2015. This is a smart law that will help avoid accidents on darkly lit streets while it is raining.

If you are pulled over for this infraction, you will receive a ticket. The ticket price is not the big issue. The larger picture is that the citation for violating the statute is one of the surchargeable traffic law violations. So it will affect your premium for your car insurance.

Massachusetts and several other states have this law. It is helpful to check out this list of headlight laws in other states if you plan on traveling.

Remember windshield wipers on…lights on!

Poison Prevention

This week is Poison Prevention Week. It is a perfect time to re-evaluate our homes to make sure they are a safe place for our children. Children are curious by nature. The world is new and amazing to them. They want to see, touch, and taste everything! With their budding curiosity it is important that parents keep the hazardous items out of their reach.

Here are a few things to review in your house to make sure it is not an accident waiting to happen:

Make sure all your medicine has child safety caps
Keep all your medicine (prescription and non-prescription) in high cabinets or cabinets that lock
Never buy poisonous plants to keep in the house, they are too tempting
If your house was built before 1979 make sure it has been tested for lead
All cleaning products should be safely locked away
Even if the cleaning products are in a locked cabinet, you should turn the spray function to ‘Off’
Have a carbon monoxide detector located on each of the floors in your house
Keep all pocketbooks out of sight. There are lots of items such as pills, lotions, antibacterial cleaners founds in pocketbooks.
Post the poison control number on the fridge and in your wallet: 1-800-222-1222
It is always important to remind children that they do not put anything in their mouths, unless it is food specifically given to them, without asking an adult.

Keep everyone safe with these tips!

Be Safe and Have Fun on Spring Break

Spring Break is a part of college life. Many kids like to take road trips with their friends during spring break. As a parent you want to make sure your child is safe and they take the necessary precautions to avoid accidents. Here are some items to go over with your children before they leave:

– Check the Auto Policy. Is it active? Have you/him/her paid the premium? Are your children listed as users on your policy if they are driving your car? Do you have sufficient limits of liability? We recommend a minimum of $100K/$300K for line items #3, #5 and #12 on the policy.

– Have a tune up done on the car at least a week prior to departure. A tune up should find any issues with the car and make sure all fluids are sufficient.

– Check the tires. Use a pressure gauge to check the pressure. The recommended tire pressure is different for each car so check on the front door panel when you open the door or the owner’s manual.

– Know the cell phone laws in each state that the child would be driving through. Some states require hands free devices such as CT while other states don’t have a restriction as MA.

– Have a windshield/dashboard GPS or a factory installed GPS, make sure the child is not using his/her cell phone GPS as it is not safe to try to read a small phone while driving.

– No texting while driving!

– When your child reaches his/her destination make sure he/she remembers to lock up all valuables. Hotels have safes, use them!

– No crazy Facebook/Twitter/Instagram posts. They will come back to haunt. Think before posting.

– Always have a designated driver or a reliable taxi service in the area to get everyone home safely.

Keeping safety in mind during spring break will benefit both college kids and parents. Everyone will have more fun!

Home Flooding Due to Snow Melting

All this snow on the ground has to go somewhere. It will melt (hopefully!) and this water will seep in to the ground. Normally when snow melts the ground does not have a difficult time absorbing it, since it usually does so over a period of time. However, with the feet of snow we have outside there may be issues of the groundwater level rising and flooding into your basement. If you have only lived in your house for a short period of time and do not know if the water table is an issue in your neighborhood, contact the town.

Now is the time to check your basement and do some preventative work. Seal all of the cracks in the foundation floor and walls. Using polyurethane masonry caulk to fix the cracks, should be sufficient. If the cracks are larger than 1/4 inch use hydraulic cement, since it expands as it dries. Also address the windows in the basement and make sure they are properly sealed, as water cold leak through these also. After sealing all the cracks make sure you do not have any items that could be destroyed by water located on the basement floor. Good solutions for storing items in your basement: buy large durable shelving units, buy large plastic storage bins. Keep all goods in waterproof containers. Do not keep rugs, paper supplies or mattresses in the basement, as they will need to be thrown out if flooding occurs. If your house is known to flood, it would be a good idea to have a sump pump installed.

If your basement floods this spring, first do not walk through the water without making sure all the electricity to the area is shut off. When you have properly assessed the area, start getting the water out! A submergible surface pump can be used to get the water out and then use a wet vac to clean up the remaining water.

A homeowners policy does not cover flood damage, which is why it is in your best interest to try and prevent flooding. If you are in a flood zone or are prone to flooding, you may want to look into flood insurance. This is a separate policy you will have to buy. There is a 30 day waiting period for flood insurance to become active, so don’t try to get a policy right before a big storm or predicted heavy snow melting. There is an endorsement for your homeowners policy if you have a sump pump already installed at your house. This endorsement provides coverage for loss to property as a result of water which backs up or overflows from a sump pump.

Call us to find out more information on flood insurance or the Water Back-Up And Sump Pump Overflow Endorsement. www.mancuso-nowak.com.

Watch Out For Ice Dams!

With all the snow the region has been receiving many have snow accumulation on their home or building roof. This snow accumulation is dangerous for two reasons. The weight of the snow on any flat part of the roof could cause collapse and the other reason is ice dams.

Ice dams form when the heat from the attic melts the snow on the roof, but then stops melting when it reaches the eaves where there is no heat underneath. Consequently, this forms a solid barrier of ice on the edge of the roof. When there is an ice dam the melting snow on the roof above the ice dam on the roof allows water to find its way under the shingles on the roof. Water under the shingles can leak into your house and cause water damage inside. This could lead to numerous other issues such as mold and property damage. Another issue with ice dams is the formation of large icicles. Some of the icicles can get enormous and be a danger if they fall on a person or property below.

To prevent ice dams make sure the floor of the attic is properly insulated. This prevents the heat from the house getting up to the attic. Also, it is important to stay diligent to rake the snow off of your roof so there is no accumulation of ice from the melting snow. The best type of rake is made of aluminum and has wheels on it so it doesn’t damage your roof shingles. If you have ice dams and want to get rid of them, it is not a good idea to break up the ice with a hammer or other hard object, as you could damage your roof.

A trick from This Old House to melt ice dams (not recommended on a regular basis, as it could damage gutters because the chemicals are corrosives): take a pair of old nylon pantyhose and cut the legs off, fill with calcium chloride ice melter. Place the nylons on the roof of the house so the toe part hangs over the edge of the roof. This channels the melting ice water off of the roof.

If you do have ice dams and the water backup has caused damage inside your house, most of this is covered under your homeowners policy after your deductible is met. However, if your roof has not been maintained over the years and the leak is from poor upkeep of your property, the loss may not be covered. Please call us with specific questions on a loss to see if it is covered. The best way to avoid a loss is preventative action to insulate properly and remove snow from your roof! www.mancuso-nowak.com

What You Need To Know About Radon

January is Radon Action Month. The most important thing you can do to protect yourself and household against radon exposure is to test the radon levels in your house/condo. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers. There is a direct link between household radon exposure and lung cancer. “We know that radon is a carcinogen. This research confirms that breathing low levels of radon can lead to lung cancer.” The below map show the radon zones in Massachusetts. The red indicates the zone where radon is most prevalent, but radon has been found in all 3 zones.

Protect your home from this damaging radioactive element:

Get a radon test kit. You can buy one at Home Depot, Lowes or most local hardware stores
Mail in your results to the address indicated on your test kit
Contact a certified radon mitigation specialist, if your radon levels are high. Here is one we have used.
Have a radon mitigation system installed in your home/condo
Check radon levels periodically on your radon mitigation system to make sure the radon levels do not rise into the danger zone

More information for the state of Massachusetts on radon organizations.

Mancuso-Nowak wants our customers and potential customers to know these important facts on radon and what to do if you have radon. If you have any questions about the company we recommend, please contact us www.mancuso-nowak.com, ask for Joe or Melissa. Good luck and we hope your home is radon free!

* Picture from the EPA website

Mancuso Nowak

Category: Education