Homeowner’s Academy
This is your guide to interesting facts, tips and general homeowner information. We hope you find the information useful – and feel free to share with friends!

5 Surprisingly Dangerous Household Items for Your Pets

Spring cleaning often comes with a fresh coat of paint. Painting can be a great way to change the feel of a room or give your home some great curb appeal. Painting also plays a role in home repair by protecting the wood of your home against the elements, essential here in Florida.

If you decide to try your hand at painting this spring, People’s Trust has some tips that can keep the experience enjoyable and safe for everyone in your family.

Try Some Eco-friendly Paint

Spring conjures up the sniffles for many people in the great outdoors, but paint may do the same thing inside of your home. Household paints have previously contained up to 300 toxic chemicals, including the hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that release particles into the air for years after you paint.

Try a low-VOC paint, which tends to be water-based, for any home interior painting. These have taken off in recent years and come in every shade and finish imaginable. Some brands also create no-VOC paints by replacing chemicals with more natural ingredients. These no-VOC paints are often pet-safe, but always check the label and never leave your pet unattended in a room where paint cans are open.

Home Repair Supervision

If you have children, never let them be in a room with open paint cans by themselves. If children are under the age of 10, they should never be in a room with any open painting materials. Even eco-friendly paints are extremely dangerous if ingested. If you believe your child has ingested any paint, immediately call poison control at 1-800-222-1222.

Try Cloth Catchers for Indoor and Outdoor Painting

You can pick up plastic sheets to protect your floors and lawn, but these often move and tear as you walk around painting. Turn to cloth or canvas drop cloths that will stay in place easier and can be weighed down with objects without the risk of tearing.

For painting the outside of your home, try a tarp with tie-holes. These can be staked into the ground to provide a steadier surface for a ladder.

Ventilate: Make Room to Breathe

If you’re painting inside, open the doors and windows. If your room has a fan, turn it on. You want proper ventilation for any space you’re painting to help air out the room and not breathe in paint fumes. If you can’t ventilate where you’re working, get a respirator and only paint in short stints.

Ventilation is essential to most common home repair improvements.

Stick to the Shade

If painting outside, you know that you need to take a break in the shade, but what about your materials? Paint, paint thinner and lacquer all need to stay in the shade as much as possible when painting outdoors.

Not only can heat and sun alter some of these items when they’re sitting in the can, but heat can also be a big problem for these flammable items. The city of Las Vegas actually warns its citizens to be careful when painting their homes or canvases outside because paint thinner has been ignited by the sun and started home fires.

Clean Up after Home Repairs

When you finish painting for the day, clean up the entire space. This will prevent spills and any accidental exposure.

Latex paints can typically be cleaned from surfaces and your skin with soap and water. Oil-based paints will have specific cleaning instructions located on the paint can itself. Take a look at your can before you start painting and write down what it says, because paint often spills on the outside of the can during the painting process.

Gasoline was once used to clean paint off of brushes, but this should never be used. Gasoline is extremely dangerous and should never be used as a cleaner for any object.

It’s always a smart practice to clean up and watch your space clearly when doing any home repair project.

by PTI Marketing | Apr 06, 2018

Our pets are part of the family and that’s why it’s so important to help keep them safe! Your home can hold a lot of unrecognized dangers for your pets, and some items that are completely safe for humans are actually unsafe for your pet.

Pets can be curious and want to investigate anything and everything! It’s imperative that you’re aware of what substances can potentially make your pet ill, and keep them stored safely.

  1. Hazards in the Garage: Your cabinets or garage may contain chemicals and substances to feed the yard, poison bugs and rodents, and keep cars running in top form. Toxic liquids like antifreeze, for instance, taste sweet to dogs but can kill them. If your dog or pet spends time in the garage, make sure all such items are locked away out of reach, or pet-safe alternatives are used. Better yet, use pet barriers or baby gates to keep them in the pet-safe areas only.
  2. Harmful Foods in Your Home: Many pet owners like to feed their animals human food as treats or to show love, and sometimes even in their pet’s meal itself. There are several human foods that are toxic to your pet and should be kept in high cabinets or behind closed child-proofed cabinet doors. See the list below of harmful foods to your pets:
    • Sugarless products that contain xylitol (gum or other food products)
    • Chocolate
    • Foil wrappers
    • Coffee grounds, or any products with caffeine
    • Avocados
    • Fatty foods, such as fat from meat, many nuts
    • Pan drippings
    • Macadamia nuts
    • Grapes or raisins
    • Alcohol
    • Garlic
    • Onion
    • Raw meat
    • Dairy products
    • Baby food
    • Yeast dough
    • Unripe tomatoes
    • Spinach
    • Mushrooms
  3. Household Plants: There are many different plants commonly found in gardens all over that can make your pet ill. Some of the plants are highly poisonous while others are mildly poisonous causing just an upset stomach. Plants also vary in their attractiveness to pets. You could have a plant for years that they aren’t interested in, and the next moment a pinecone falls and they’re running for it immediately. When getting new plants for your yard, you should keep the following plant types in mind when doing so:
    • Fungi
    • Spring Bulbs
    • Daffodils
    • Tulips
    • Spring crocus
    • Acorns
    • Certain types of lilies (especially Lilium and Hemerocallis)
    • Apple Seeds
    • Azaleas
    • Chrysanthemums
  4. Hazards in the Yard: Be aware of chemical treatments that are applied to your lawns. Be sure to keep your pets off the treated areas for the recommended time, if not, the chemicals can stick to their paws and fur allowing them to lick it off later, making it harder for you to identify the source.
  5. Household Cleaners: Many pet owners do not know the threat airborne toxins can have on their furry shadows. Inhalation of any toxin, like bleach vapors, secondhand smoke, or paint fumes not only have damaging health risks for people, but also for pets. A good rule of thumb is anything that is harmful for people is harmful for pets. To see the full list and explanations, please visit the American Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) website,

What should you do if an emergency happens?

If your pet has ingested anything you think might be harmful, stay calm, and call your veterinarian/emergency animal hospital in your area or ASPCA Pet Poison Hotline at 888-426-4435. When you call for help (and to make sure you get things moving as quickly as possible – when time is of the essence), make sure you have the following information readily available: your pet’s species, breed, weight, sex, and age; your pet’s symptoms; the name of the poisoning agent (if known), the amount consumed, and how long it’s been since exposure; the actual packaging for the poisoning agent, remnants of the poison consumed, even a picture of what it was, and where it happened is helpful to vets. Keeping/documenting what it was that your pet ingested helps professionals quickly diagnose them, allowing your pets to get appropriate treatment as quickly as possible.