NEWS AND SPECIAL OFFERS!                      

  

Here in our News Page we have included some useful information that you may want to consider:

 

Winter Has Arrived!

 

Winter has arrived without question this year, and it looks like its going to be a long snowy one. 

We will be here if you need us to plow or remove snow from your residential or commercial property to make the season as safe as possible for you and your customers.

Be sure to check out www.ready.gov and our Winter Home Safety tips below and call if you have any questions.

  And remember, we do insurance repair work and always give free estimates!

 

Click here for a great calendar from HolidaySmart.com

 

Is Your Water Too Hot? 

It’s a risk seldom thought about, but by simply turning your water heater temperature down you may prevent a serious injury.  In fact, about 3800 injuries and 34 deaths occur in the home due to scalding from excessively hot tap water each year.* 

The Home Safety Council recommends that you:

	Set your water heater at 120 degrees F or just below the Medium setting.
	Test the water before you or your children get in the shower or tub.

For more information, visit www.homesafetycouncil.org.

*U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

 

A Quick Guide To Better Fuel Economy 

If you want to travel further on each gasoline dollar follow these simple tips: 

	Keep your engine tuned up.  This can improve your gas mileage by about 4 percent.
	Keep your tires inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure and use the recommended grade of motor oil to help improve fuel economy by up to 5 percent.
	Plan one multi-purpose trip with a warmed up engine rather than several short trips with a cold engine.
	Avoid rapid acceleration and hard braking.  This lowers your gas mileage by as much as 33 percent at highway speeds and 5 percent around town.
	Observe the speed limit.  Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph can reduce your fuel economy by 10 percent.
	Avoid idling.  Idling gets 0 miles per gallon!

Source: 2008 Fuel Economy Guide at www.fueleconomy.gov

Home Safety Tips

Every home should have a year-round disaster supplies kit: a battery-operated radio, flashlight, matches, extra batteries and an extra set of house and car keys. Have an ample supply of wood for the fireplace and plenty of nonperishable foods that can be eaten without heating. Keep bottled water and juices on hand in case your power and water supplies are interrupted.

Other items to consider including in the kit are extra prescription medication and items for babies or family members with special needs. Consider storing an ample supply of necessary items to sustain every member in the home for at least three days, in case you’re snowed or iced in and cannot leave the house.

In preparing your property for winter you should remove dead tree branches close to your house and utility lines. Ice and snow, combined with winter winds, can cause limbs to snap and break and could do damage to your home.

Clean your gutters before the really cold weather comes. Snow and ice can build up quickly, especially if your gutters are clogged with debris. When thawing begins, water from melting ice has nowhere to drain and can back up under your roof and eaves, causing water damage to walls and ceilings, or even weigh the gutters down enough to cause them to fall off the house. Consider buying screens to help keep your gutters debris free.

Check your homeowner’s insurance policy to make sure coverage is adequate for the type of winter weather in your area. Learn what is excluded from the policy.

Make sure your furnace, auxiliary heaters and fireplaces are adequately maintained and serviced. Many fires related to auxiliary heating sources are preventable through simple maintenance. Before installing a wood-burning stove, check with local fire officials as to codes and proper installation techniques. Do not store kerosene in a non-approved container or in your home and be sure to keep alternative heat sources from flammable materials (walls, curtains, etc.).

During the winter, drain pipes if your power goes off and is expected to be off for a long time, or if you plan an extended stay away from home. To drain, turn off the water heater and main water supply, open all faucets in the house and drain the system by keeping the valves open. Drain all toilets by holding the lever down until the tank empties.  To keep drain traps from freezing you can add a 50/50 mixture of environmentally friendly automotive anti-freeze until they are full.  If well water is used, the pump’s electric switch should be shut off and the pressure tank and system should be drained. 

 

Winter Home Safety

 

Portable Space Heaters 

Purchase electric space heaters that bear the mark of an independent testing

laboratory, such as UL, ETL, CSA, etc.

Place space heaters at least three feet away from anything that can burn -

including furniture, people, pets and window treatments.

Turn off space heaters before leaving a room or going to sleep.

 

Supervise children and pets at all times when a portable space heater is in use.

 

Use kerosene heaters only where permitted by law. Use the recommended

grade kerosene and never use an alternative fuel. Kerosene heaters must be fueled outside.

Never use space heaters to dry clothing or blankets.

 

Fireplaces and Wood Stoves  

Burn only seasoned hardwood - not trash, cardboard boxes, or Christmas

trees because these items burn unevenly, may contain toxins, and

 increase the risk of uncontrolled fires.

Have a professional chimney sweep inspect chimneys annually for cracks,

blockages and leaks and have them cleaned and repaired as needed.

Keep all persons, pets and flammable objects, including kindling, bedding,

clothing, at least three feet away from fireplaces and wood stoves.

Open flues before fireplaces are used.

 

Use sturdy screens or doors to keep embers inside fireplaces.

 

Install at least one smoke alarm on every level of your home and inside

or near sleeping areas.

Keep young children away from working wood stoves and heaters to

avoid contact burn injuries.

 

Carbon Monoxide (CO) Poisoning Precautions:  

Carbon monoxide is commonly known as “the silent killer”.  Because it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, none of your senses can detect it. CO claims the lives of nearly 300 people in their homes each year according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

 

CO is a potentially deadly gas that is produced by fuel-burning heating equipment, such as furnaces, wood stoves, fireplaces, and kerosene heaters. Follow these guidelines to help keep your family safer:

Install at least one CO alarm near sleeping areas.

 

Have a trained professional inspect, clean and tune-up your home’s central

heating system and repair leaks or other problems; fireplaces and

 woodstoves should also be inspected each year and cleaned or repaired

 as needed.

Keep gas appliances properly adjusted and serviced.

 

Never use an oven or range to heat your home.

 

Never use a gas or charcoal grill inside your home or in a closed garage.

 

Portable electric generators must be used outside only.

Never use them indoors, in a garage or in any confined area that can

 allow CO to collect. Follow usage directions closely.

 

Power Outage Precautions: Lighting Sources and Perishable Food   

Stock up on batteries, flashlights, portable radios, canned foods, manual

can openers, bottled water and blankets.

Use flashlights instead of candles to avoid a possible fire hazard.

 

Run water at a trickle to help prevent pipes from freezing and bursting

if outside temperatures stay below freezing for an extended period of

time and your home has no heat.

Store perishable food outside in the snow or in an unheated outside

building if power goes out.

 

Remember,  if you think there may be a CO problem in your home because you feel weak or dizzy for no reason or unusually tired and sleepy go outside and call your local fire department to have them check your home. 

They will bring their CO detector and measure the amount of this otherwise undetectable gas in your house.  If needed they can ventilate your house until the amount of CO goes down to acceptable limits, usually about 5 parts per million.  They can help locate the source of this deadly gas and recommend ways to eliminate it.

Carbon monoxide, like alcohol, has an effect on judgment so it is recommended that you have a working CO detector on every level of your home. 

A CO detector and smoke detector will help save your life during a fire emergency.

 

 

Snow Loads

Last winters' snow storms have reminded us that we need to pay some special attention to the snow building up on our roofs.  That huge amount of ice that builds up on the edge of your roof may cause water to back up under your shingles and leak into your home.  The damage this water causes can run into the thousands of dollars in ceiling and wall repairs.  The extra heavy ice and snow load on the roofs of even properly built structures can cause them to collapse.

If you think you had an unusually large amount of ice and snow on your roof last winter, or are experiencing a water leak of any kind call Josephs Landscaping.  Call us out to look at your situation and get our experienced recommendation.  It's true that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", but only if the ounce is applied before the damage happens. 

And don't forget "Our Friends" who are always there to help repair, weatherproof and spruce up the inside as well as the outside of your home too!  We also do insurance repairs and make sure your home is fixed properly.

 

 

PAINTING, PAINTING, PAINTING!

Need a room painted? 

Water damage?

We do lots of indoor work too!

 

 

We Always Give

  Free Estimates for all our services!

   

 

Check out our "For Sale" page!

There's always a deal here!

 

Also...

Attics, Cellars and Basements Cleaned

Junk Hauled Away

Abandoned Houses Cleaned Out

Commercial Storage Bins Emptied

Building Demolition Services

 

 

 Here is a great idea!

You probably carry around a personal security alarm system that is portable and requires no installation.  

It works like this.  Start keeping your car keys next to your bed on the night stand. If you think someone is trying to get into your home, or if you hear a noise outside your house, press the panic alarm on your car key chain.  

If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar, or other intruder, won't stick around.  After a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their window to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that. 

Test it! It will go off from almost everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob.  

It works if you park in your driveway or garage!  Tell all your neighbors.

Try yours to make sure it works before you rely on it. Just know that you must press the alarm button again to turn it off.

And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot.  The alarm can work for you the same way there.

This is an important idea that should really be shared with everyone, man and woman alike. It could save you from being robbed or assaulted.

 

 

Have a suggestion or something you think we should add? 

Just email us at: Josephs Landscaping.

 

Thanks for visiting!  Come back again soon!