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!

Will you be traveling this holiday season?

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.

The holidays are a fun anticipated time to enjoy with friends and family. Many enjoy vacations or traveling this time of the year. Perhaps you’re going to head somewhere tropical, hit the slopes, or just head to your mother in law’s. Either way – while you’re away enjoying yourself – criminals also look forward to the holiday season and to helping themselves to your home. It means more homes are left unattended and a great opportunity for them to swoop in when you are out. People’s Trust Insurance wants you to enjoy your vacation, so follow these guidelines before you go for a less stressful time away.

Before traveling, contact your local law enforcement agency and ask to have your home placed on “vacation watch.” This is typically for when you will be away longer than 1 week. Not for an overnight or weeknight. Most municipalities offer this service. The nearest patrol officer will ride by your home for a safety check once during their shift. Be sure to notify authorities when you have returned. Note, please do not call 911 to discuss this service. A non-emergency number should be listed in your phone book.
Try to make your house look lived in while you are away. Place your lights on timers and have the lights come on when you are normally home. You can stagger the timers in the house so you have lights in the living room during the early hours in the evening and in the bedroom later in the evening.
Stop your mail and newspaper or ask a friend or neighbor to pick it up. Don’t forget to stop deliveries from UPS, FedEx, etc. as well. Not only are boxes by your door sure signs you are not home, they are also easily taken!
Do not Facebook, Twitter, and announce your vacation plans to everyone. You never know who might be taking note of your travel plans. Don’t mention your trip on Facebook or Twitter until you have returned. Ask kids not to discuss holiday travel plans at school. Don’t post your vacation photos while you are on vacation either- this is a tip-off that you are not home.
Silence the ringer on your home telephone and do NOT change your outgoing message to say you are out of town. One trick of the criminal trade is to stake out a house and call the phone number. If the phone rings and rings with no answer it is a safe bet no one is home. If the phone doesn’t ring at all, crooks may suspect they are dialing the wrong number, or someone is home and using the phone. Do not mention your travel plans on voicemail or answering machines, this is a sure tip-off for criminals.
Remove garage door openers from cars parked in the driveway. It is a good idea to leave a second car parked in the driveway, but be sure to remove the garage door opener. Burglars can easily bust out a window and open your garage with the click of a button. Make sure you don’t leave any valuables in your car.
Lock garage entry doors and all doors and windows in your home. If you live in a home with an attached garage, lock the door from the garage to the home when leaving for vacation. Garage doors have been known to malfunction, or be manually forced up, allowing access to your home.
Trim shrubbery and trees close to your home. Overgrown shrubs provide the perfect cover for a burglar working to pry open a window. Trees can also be used as cover to peer into windows.
Do not leave remnants of Christmas/Hanukkah morning by the curb. Large appliance boxes and containers are a sign Santa was really good to someone in the neighborhood! They are also a sign to thieves that the house just got a new plasma television for Christmas. Break down boxes and put them in cans or black garbage bags to conceal the products that were inside them.
Remove your spare key. While we don’t ever recommend hiding a spare key outside, if you have one that plastic rock isn’t fooling anyone. If a criminal figures out you’re away on vacation, it’s likely that he or she will check your porch for a spare key. So reach under the mat, into the mailbox, above the door frame or into the flower pot and remove your spare key before you leave on your vacation.

This Blog is sponsored by:
People’s Trust Insurance Company