There are many household projects that involve the use of extension ladders and step ladders. For instance you may be planning to re-caulk the windows, clean the eves trough, or even make the attempt to re-shingle your own roof. Whatever the project may be, many unforeseen accidents occur just from lack of safety consideration. Safety is not just a factor that must be considered at a construction site, but even within the confines of our own homes, safety must be practiced.

Here are a few examples of ways to ensure safe completion of any home project includes the use of a couple of common tools.

Extension Ladders

When using an extension ladder, there have been many instances where the ladder is either set up to steep or much too shallow. Extension ladders should be set up in a way that the angle is at a ratio of 4:1. For every 4 ft. of height that the ladder extends, the bottom of the ladder should be a distance of 1 ft. away from the wall. So if the ladder is extended 12 feet in height, then the foot of the ladder should be away from the wall 4 ft. This distance will ensure proper balance and stability when in use.

Once the ladder is set up properly another safety practice is to make sure that the top sides of the ladder extend at least 3 ft past the access and egress point. Also the top of the ladder should be tied or secured in a way that will prevent the ladder from toppling.

The third safety measure that we should use is to tie the bottom rung of the ladder to a point in front of the bottom rung as to prevent the bottom from sliding out from under t, rope or even tie wire is sufficient.

Use of Circular Saw

Before even attempting to use the circular a short inspection will help prevent any unforeseen accident. Check the plug and cord for slices or fraying, any evidence of shorting such as black scorching around the plug should prompt replacement of the cord or plug. Any missing connectors on the plug will indicate replacement. Check blade condition. Any teeth missing or carbides missing should also indicate replacement. Such blades will promote rough cutting and running of the saw, which leads to binding, kick backs and accidents.

When replacing blades or doing any work on a circular saw or any power tool always be sure to disconnect power before commencing repairs or replacements. Always use a circular saw in a power source that is equipped with a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter)and always use a heavy duty extension cord. Once all is well and inspection passes, always remember to wear safety classes with side shields when using a circular saw.

Some overall home safety tips

Always keep a first aid kit near any place that work may be done, i.e. basement tool shop,
garage, garden shed.

Keep emergency numbers close at hand, police, ambulance, poison control, etc.

Any fire extinguisher should be of proper class and category for where ever it is to be installed,
local fire departments would have this information at hand when considering to install one.

Keep all poisonous and chemical solvents stored out of the reach of children.

When using power tool or machines such as lawn mowers, tractor mower, be sure not to wear loose ragged clothing or jewelry that may have a chance of being caught in the mechanisms.
Dispose of oily rags or gas filled rags and never use gasoline to clean tools or hands.

Do not store gasoline indoors, use a specified area in the garage or out door shed.

Read all instruction on solvents containers and chemical products before use.

This is just a short look at some safety factors we should consider in an around the house hold.

Follow these safety tips and any others that you are familiar with when using the house hold tools mentioned above and practice the overall safety tips with any home construction project, and enjoy a safe family lifestyle.

Some of the best advice I’ve given people who are interested in becoming better at anything is education. If you’re looking for an incredible home building education, you will need to start reading books and gathering as much information as possible from other successful people who work in the construction industry.

Your education starts with gathering knowledge about anything that you’re interested in and construction is no different. If you want to learn how to build a new home or remodeled an old one and you don’t know where to start… what do you do?

Like anything in life, we need to start somewhere and home building is no different. If you don’t have anyone available that can teach you how to build a home, your next best bet is going to be to gather information from books, videos and even articles like these available to you at no charge on the Internet.

Now the next problem would be to find books that you can gather useful information from. This could be a totally different story and often creates big problems for people who don’t understand the basics of home construction.

The best advice I can share with anyone about finding reliable books, would be to start reading a few of them and comparing information. If one of the books is telling you to build the home one way and another book is telling you to build it a completely different way or by using similar methods, get some more books.

I don’t have a sure fire way to teach anyone how to build a house, but I’m working on it. Find some good home building books, watch some great home building videos and start to assimilate the information, and it won’t be long before you have developed some type of home building education for yourself.

Your next few months constructing your new home could prove to be a time consuming and daunting task. You must recognize that it is difficult, if not impossible to have everything go smoothly. When buying a home while it is under construction you must have some key notes available. First, the contract of purchase and sale must be clear and very detailed to outline your expectations. It must describe the specifics including the details of the labor and materials used to satisfy your buying agreement. These stand from of construction contracts are available and these forms of agreement are designed to provide an enforceable agreement between the seller (builder) and the buyer.

If your developer asks for a deposit (which he will) make sure that it will be deposited into a trust account. If the agreement should default, the deposit should always be returned back to yourself. If the developer wishes to hold your deposit as a stake holder, the return of your deposit may be more difficult. In addition to the standard contract of purchase and sale, you should include a specifications sheet and the plans for the house. Building contracts are long, complex documents. Both parties (builder/seller and buyer) should obtain legal advice prior to entering into a building contract.

Do the walk though! Insist that prior to possession date, both parties conduct a walk-through of the property prior to possession date. Make sure that all the work is completed and agreed upon. At this time, both the seller and the buyer should sign and date the list. Copies should be given to both parties, realtor’s and lawyers involved. The crown has developed a program in 1998 called the Home Owners Protection Office. Essentially it is designed to protect the quality of construction in a new home development. This office licenses residential builders and building envelope renovators, monitor’s the provisions of mandatory third-party home warranty insurance

and researches/educates the residential construction industry and consumers.

If you are the owner of a leaky home, the HPO will administer no-interest repair loan programs and PST relief grants for owners. They’re set up to ensure that no one has to lose their home due to the cost of repairing a leaky home. The reconstruction loan program provides no interest loans to homeowners and housing co-op’s who are unable to pay for the cost of repairs.

Your warranty includes a minimum of two years on labor and materials. Five years on the building envelope which includes water penetration. And ten years on the structure. In order to minimize confusion about warranties, the HPO created this 2, 5, 10 year home warranty insurance logo. It’s now used in the marketing campaigns of your local realtors and builders in the Residential real estate market of British Columbia homes. This should take place when you first occupy the home. You could always find more information on this topic by visiting www.hop.bc.ca

Finally make sure that your realtor inserts a clause clearly stating that the occupancy certificate must be obtained on or before completion date. However, landscaping and other outside work can still be in the process of completion. Your occupancy permit merely allows you to move into your new home! We hope this article helped you think of some things that you might not normally know. Please do not rely on this article as a guide or legal advice as you should always consult your lawyer or local realtor for advice, they are the expert.