CLINTON Clinton's senior citizens will not have a new place to call home, even when the work is done on their senior center later this year.

Rather, the town's senior citizens will have a majestic, 132-year-old building, one filled with history and originally built by local merchant John R. Foster in 1882 before becoming The Clinton Home for the Aged in 1900.

With a projected project cost of $1.9 million, the old mansion will become a new senior center, outfitted with upgrades like state of the art kitchen and new wiring.

"Now it's becoming a reality for us," Council on Aging Chairman William Grady Sr. said as workers from M. O'Connor Contracting worked heavy equipment handling drainage and parking lot work and wielded hammers driving nails to renovate interior space.

The path to a new senior center has, however, been long. For several years the issue was whether the town should build a new center or renovate an older building.

The Clinton Home had originally been transferred to the Clinton Home Foundation to be used to benefit seniors, and it operated as a rest home for years. Finally, it was closed as health regulations made it more difficult to operate, and the building was offered to the town.

Transferring it to the town for use as a senior center fulfilled the intent of the use, and as a bonus came at the right cost: free. But significant renovations would be needed.

Voters had approved $1.4 million for the project at a town meeting, but the town had already spent $475,000 of that to buy the American Legion property on Chestnut Street, a site on which a new building has been planned before the town opted to go in another direction.

A $763,000 Community Development Block gGrant added to the kitty, along with other funds from the town's economic development office. In addition, the Clinton Home Foundation offered up funds $300,000 for a trust fund, the interest to be used for future maintenance, plus $50,000 a year for five years toward costs.

Voters added another $100,000 at the recent town meeting.

Read the original here:
Mansion being retrofitted for Clinton senior center

Steve Thomas, Emmy Award-winning television personality and former host of the home improvement shows, This Old House and Renovation Nation speaks during a Habitat for Humanity luncheon at the Bethlehem Center in Alton Park to promote a home building blitz in the Southside where builders will renovate three homes.

Some 1.6 billion people in the world live in slum housing without running water, with leaking sewers or faulty wiring.

Others live in tents, and its not just somewhere else. It happens in America, said Steve Thomas.

You cant run a world this way. Its going to blow up. So you have got to do something, said Thomas.

The Emmy Award-winning television personality and former host of the home improvement shows This Old House and Renovation Nation was the star of Habitat for Humanitys Home Builders Blitz 2014 celebration Wednesday at the Bethlehem Center.

Thomas said he got involved with Habitat after traveling the world and seeing people live in substandard housing.

Nearly 200 people including contractors, professional home builders and developers met at the Bethlehem Center to share a barbecue lunch and celebrate their combined efforts to build two homes and renovate another in Chattanoogas Southside neighborhood.

Some donated time, while others gave gutters, building material, money or T-shirts.

They are a part of Habitat for Humanitys home builders blitz, a nationwide effort to build more than 250 homes in five days this week.

Thank you for making dreams come true, said Tom Gipson, who founded Habitat for Humanitys Home Builders Blitz.

See the original post:
Habitat for Humanity sets housing goal

With so many devices, such as smartphones and tablets, entering the home, the need for Wi-Fi becomes more and more necessary. While many Internet service providers now conveniently provide Wi-Fi routers with the boxes that provide our Internet service inside the home, they are often of limited range. Also, where these services enter our home isn't always the most convenient, depending on your situation and layout. There are some options to make things better, however so let's take a look at a few of them.

First, Wi-Fi signals are best placed as high up in the home as possible. Unfortunately, if you are receiving your Internet signal through cable or telephone lines it is likely that the lines run in through your basement. While there might be some options for lines on a main floor, many of us (myself included) have our Wi-Fi routers located on the lower floor. This means that your signal will get weaker the further you get from the router. If you are located in an older home or have a lot cabling in the wall, the signal gets weaker and weaker. With the good weather finally here, it would also be nice to enjoy Internet access outside on the patio but for some it's just not possible.

Fortunately, NetGear makes a Wi-Fi extender, formally called the NetGear AC1200 Wi-Fi Range Extender EX6200-100NAS. What this device does is take your existing Wi-Fi signal and boosts it to extend the coverage. It keeps your existing security in place and is a breeze to setup. I recently put one in my home, so I'll discuss my situation.

My Internet access comes in through the basement and I have a room with a computer, router, and network switch. It is the heart of my network as it were, but the Wi-Fi signal starts to get weak when you are upstairs and becomes unusable in the backyard. By placing the EX6200 on the main level, centrally, I now have coverage throughout the entire house and well into the backyard as well. The only requirement you have during the setup is a plug and access to your existing Wi-Fi network.

Using a smartphone, tablet or a computer you simply enter your existing credentials into the new hot spot that appears. After answering a couple of quick questions, you are ready to go. You will now have an additional hot spot to connect to and you can even call it the same as your existing one and your device will automatically pick the best one as you move throughout your house.

The EX6200 works well and also provides some additional benefits. First, you can connect a USB key (or hard drive) to the external port and have access to the files on it through the network. So if you have photos or music you can access them through the wireless network.

Secondly, it provides additional wired ports so if you have a device that connects the internet only via ethernet, you can place the EX6200 close to that device and then connect it to the network with a wire. It gets around the problem of trying to run wires through the walls, floors, and ceilings with ease.

Thirdly, you can connect a USB printer to it and now you can print from any device that can connect to the wireless network (appropriate drivers permitting of course). It is truly a multifunctional device that performs its main function very well.

If you just need a wired solution to perhaps go from location A to location B (and it's very inconvenient to get there) you might also want to consider ethernet over power lines. The technology has got better over the years. Products, such as the D-Link PowerLive AV500, allow you to use the power lines in your home as wiring. It's hard to believe that data can run alongside power but it absolutely works. You can even plug this into another router if you need more than one plug at the other end.

As our need for connectivity increases, problems can arise and fortunately, technology is here to solve those too! Stay cool and stay connected.

Read the original here:
Extending your Internet range

The Midway Fire Department has deemed this mobile home on Norman Shoaf Road to be a total loss after a late Tuesday night fire. The cause was a nearby lightning strike.

Fire investigators have determined a fire that destroyed a mobile home was due to a lightning strike from a storm that rolled through the county Tuesday night. Nearly 500 people between two power companies were without power Wednesday night as a second storm made its way through Davidson County.

Firefighters with the Midway Fire Department responded to a single-wide mobile home fire in the 1500 block of Norman Shoaf Road at 11:20 p.m. Tuesday. Midway Chief Mike Craft said his firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the residence. They quickly found a fire, but two adult sisters who live at the home escaped without injury. One of the sisters was visiting her sister who owned the mobile home, and the visiting sister safely got her sister out.

Craft said the mobile home is a total loss. The chief and fire investigators from the Davidson County Fire Marshals Office determined Wednesday that a lightning strike happened near the house and spread to wiring around a dryer in the mobile home, causing the residence to catch fire. Craft identified the homeowner as Nancy Hutchins.

Craft said one of the sisters owned the mobile home. The Greater High Point-Davidson Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting them. All of their belongings were lost in the fire, but they had homeowners insurance.

The mobile home was over 40 years old. The fire completely destroyed a bedroom and bathroom, and heat and smoke damage was reported throughout the house. Midway firefighters were assisted on the scene by the Gumtree and Wallburg fire departments.

A.J. and Melissa Briceno live across the street from the mobile home that caught fire. They said they also heard a loud pop about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Craft said Tuesday nights storm brought heavy lightning and rain to the Midway area.

Power was restored throughout the day, but a Wednesday night storm brought more outages. Crews with EnergyUnited and Duke Energy had dropped the number of outages to single-digit numbers earlier in the evening. However, at 9:11 p.m., EnergyUnited was reporting 481 power outages and Duke Energy had eight outages.

Duke Energy had 1,213 of its 33,095 customers in Davidson County without power Wednesday morning. The companys first power outage was reported at 10:13 p.m. Tuesday.

See the original post:
Lightning from storm destroys Midway mobile home

Powerline technology is the great unknown wonder of the digital home. Powerline technology allows you to create a network using the existing mains electrical wiring in your home or office. Its more efficient than laying down metres of ethernet cable round the house and faster and more reliable than wi-fi. Heres our review of the Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ powerline starter kit, and also advice on what speed powerline adaptor you need.

If a room has a spare power socket you can simply plug in a small powerline adaptor and from there connect whatever device you have (laptop, PC, smart TV, Sky+ box, Tivo, printer, games console, etc) to your internet connection via ethernet. It makes fancy features such as catch-up TV as simple as channel hopping.

iPlayer downloads taking too long or breaking up over wi-fi? Connect your player or set-top box via ethernet powerline and its like plugging it straight into your router.

The real joy is the simplicity of the whole thing. A starter kit like the 130 Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ includes two HomePlug adaptors. You connect one via ethernet to your router and plug in to a nearby power socket. You take the other one to the room you require a fast internet connection in, and plug that into another power socket. You can then link that adaptor to your nearby device (TV, etc) by ethernet cable or wi-fi.

Bingo. Job done. Thats it.

You can buy additional compatible adaptors (around 85) and add one in every room if you want. Garden shed connected to the same power lines as your home? Get fast broadband speeds there, too.

The Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ adaptor features three ethernet LAN ports so you can connect TV, set-top box and games console, for example, via just the one unit. It works with Macs and Windows PCs.

Devolo gets extra points for including an integrated electrical socket in the adaptor so you can still use the host socket for other power connections. You could even connect a power strip to it.

The Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ comes with management and monitoring software on a CD but none of it is required to get going straight away. It's pretty much a case of take it out of the box and plug it in for immediate gratification.

Original post:
Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ Starter Kit review

Article posted: 6/6/2014 4:22 PM

Q. We are in the process of trying to sell our home and are concerned about the various improvements we have done over the years without obtaining building permits. For example, last year we hired a handyman to install a new furnace, before that we installed new kitchen cabinets, and seven years ago we removed the bathroom window so that we could install a new shower. Will these be an issue when we sell the home?

A. When you sell your home, you will need to disclose the lack of permits to the buyers. Some buyers may accept these conditions as-is. Others may insist that you obtain as-built permits as a condition of the sale. And some may be unwilling to buy a home that has had unpermitted work. One option is to obtain as-built permits before selling your home. This will enable you to eliminate issues that require disclosure. Here is how that approach would apply to the three issues that you listed.

Hiring an unlicensed person to install your furnace was not a good idea. There are too many ways to install a furnace incorrectly, and some of these could jeopardize the fire safety of your home or could allow combustion exhaust to vent into the building. Furnaces should always be installed by qualified professionals, and permits should be obtained so that the building inspector can verify proper installation.

Kitchen cabinets are usually not subject to permit requirements, unless the work involves alterations to the plumbing or electrical wiring.

Installation of a new shower definitely requires a permit because it involves plumbing work. Additionally, if the bathroom window was eliminated, a mechanical exhaust fan should have been installed to provide ventilation to the exterior.

A good way to approach this situation is to hire a home inspector to determine whether the work that was done is acceptable or if repairs and upgrades are warranted. The home inspection report can also be used to supplement your disclosure statement to the people who buy your home.

Q. In one of your columns, you advised that a drain pan be installed under a water heater, with a drainpipe to the exterior of the building. This was to prevent water damage inside the building, in the event of leakage. In our condo complex, all of the water heaters are installed inside the building, at a location where a drain pipe would have to extend upward to get to the exterior. What can we do in this situation to comply with your recommendation?

A. Ordinarily, the discharge pipe from a water heater relief valve is run horizontally or downhill, which enables drainage to the exterior. In your building, a mechanical drain pump will be needed to enable proper drainage. This is a simple device that can be placed in the drain pan that is under the water heater. Water in the drain pan will lift the float that activates the drain pump. A discharge hose from this pump can be routed to the exterior or to a drainpipe somewhere inside the building.

To write to Barry Stone, visit him on the web at http://www.housedetective.com, or write AMG, 1776 Jami Lee Court, Suite 218, San Luis Obispo, CA 94301.

Originally posted here:
Sellers worried about lack of permits

GigaFast launches brand new HomePlug AV2 (gigabit-class) MIMO PLC series and introduces a new high definition PLC-based home monitoring system

Press release [Friday 6 June 2014]

GigaFast Ethernet, an OEM/ODM manufacturer of HomePlug powerline (PLC) technology equipment, has launched a series of HomePlug AV2 MIMO PLC Ethernet Bridges during Computex. HomePlug PLC technology is an innovative solution that turns the electrical outlets into wired network connections by simply plugging a pair of these bridges into sockets without pulling any extra cables. No extra wires means saving time and money on installation cost and cable material cost. The addition of MIMO technology to PLC utilizes the third ground wire to create multiple paths for data communication, providing an increase in home coverage.

The launch of GigaFast's HomePlug AV2 MIMO Ethernet Bridges is a major step forward in the next generation of multimedia networking. GigaFast's HomePlug AV2 MIMO Ethernet Bridges provide better performance, higher quality networking over existing home wiring, and additional coverage compared to their predecessors. At the same time, HomePlug AV2 MIMO Ethernet Bridges are completely interoperable with HomePlug AV, HomePlug Green PHY, and IEEE 1901 certified devices.

GigaFast's HomePlug AV2 MIMO Ethernet Bridges is designed to future proof PLC deployment for tomorrow's high demand for reliable and fast network performance needed in next generation digital entertainment and broadband access. GigaFast's HomePlug AV2 Ethernet Bridges provides gigabit-class speed to every electrical outlet, making each outlet ideal for HDTV, IPTV, multi-room HD DVR, online gaming, HD/3D video, HD audio, smart grid utilities management, home monitoring, and other home networking applications demanding ultra-fast network speed. GigaFast's HomePlug AV2 MIMO Ethernet Bridges can also stream multiple HD video and audio programs on the PLC network simultaneously and can be be connected anywhere throughout the home. Currently, GigaFast has 4 Homeplug AV2 Ethernet Bridges. The most notable one is the small AV2 Pass Through Bridge (PS959-EP65), which is the smallest and fastest bridge of its kind with a built-in noise filtering AC socket for another device needing power to be plugged into this socket without taking up another wall socket space. There will be many more GigaFast HomePlug AV2 MIMO devices being launched in the next couple of months.

Also showcasing at Computex is GigaFast's HomePlug HD AV Home Monitoring System: IP Camera with Night Vision (PC11). This home monitoring system is extremely easy to setup since this system is sending signal through existing home electrical wires, eliminating pulling long cables throughout the house. Users can monitor their home anytime from anywhere in the world with iOS/Android devices. Unlike most home monitoring systems, this system does not have website configuration or long serial numbers to enter. The entire setup takes only three easy steps: Simply plug in the camera, download the app for either iOS or Android devices, and scan the QR code for pairing. This system has a built-in microSD slot to save recorded videos and the recorded videos can be viewed anywhere with an iOS or Android device without any subscription fee. The camera has infrared night vision for little to no light environment and has email notification for motion detecting. This camera also has 2-way digital audio for listening from and speaking to the surrounding from the mobile device.

This camera system can be used as day to day home or small office security surveillance. Another usage for this camera system is for baby safety monitoring. Parents can monitor their baby sleeping inside the crib or monitor the nanny while the parents are away using their mobile devices.

GigaFast prides itself in designing and manufacturing the highest quality of HomePlug PLC products and being the first ones out with the newest PLC technology. That also goes the same when it comes to our casing designs. This camera system's casing is the smallest one of its kind on the market and the camera and the camera securing stand designs are unconventional to other home monitoring systems. It has a clean and streamline egg-shape design that is aesthetically pleasing when placed in different areas inside a home. The casing for the camera was inspired by the concept of an egg resting gently inside a nest. The egg nest functions as a camera stand that a securely hold the camera in place with the desired camera angle.

For more information on GigaFast PLC products, please visit http://www.gigafast.com or visit GigaFast's Computex booth at D0309a, Hall 1, 1F.

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GigaFast launches brand new HomePlug AV2 (gigabit-class) MIMO PLC series and introduces a new high definition PLC ...

Hey buddy, dont you know this is America?

If youre not sure, then hop in an American-made car and drive down to Brent Greers house in Bradenton, Florida.

The Bradenton Herald has the back story: Greer painted his family home into a gigantic American flag in response to the city filing nine code enforcement violations, including the condition of the houses old coat of paint. What was especially galling to Greer was that the violations came on the heels of an anonymous complaint. The city threatened to fine Greer $250 per day until the violations were addressed.

From the Herald:

There you go: Whats the First Amendment for, if not to take this nations enduring symbol of freedom and use it for spite?

Of course, since you have free speech, too, you could call Greer out for getting the flags canton (star field) wrong, or not adding all 13 stripes. He may be the most American American today, but theres always room for improvement.

Original post:
Angry Guy Paints Gigantic American Flag on Home to Defend His Right to Faulty Wiring, Trash

Belkin CEO Chet Pipkin stands next to a WeMo cube at the 2014 Collision Conference in Las Vegas. Donna Tam/CNET

For Belkin founder Chet Pipkin, the company that began in his parents' Hawthorne, Calif., garage wants to go back home.

After building Belkin into a consumer-electronics brand with more than 1,200 employees and a product line that includes everything from Wi-Fi routers and iPad keyboard cases to power adapters over the past 31 years, Pipkin has seen the future. And his vision has him looking back to his humble garage roots as inspiration for the company's next big push: the smart home.

Pipkin, an easy-going, 53-year-old Southern California resident, has already wired his home. It tells the father of seven when his kids leave the house based on their Wi-Fi signal, lets his wife boil water for tea without getting out of bed in the morning, and tracks the use of all kinds of electronics, from an Xbox to lighting fixtures, through a smartphone app.

"I just love it," he said about the ability to open and close his garage door even when he's not home. "If there's a delivery person, I can see them through the camera and I can talk to them. I can open the garage door to let them in and then close the garage door after."

That's the kind of new thinking behind Belkin's home automation line WeMo, which is the company's biggest effort yet to tap into the rapidly burgeoning smart-home market. ABI Research estimates that the connected home market was worth $9.2 billion in 2013, and will grow to $15.1 billion in five years.

That market of opportunity has drawn tech titans including Google, which ponied up $3.2 billion for smart home thermometer maker Nest in January, and Apple, which earlier this week unveiled its HomeKit smart home platform baked into its iOS 8 mobile operating system for the iPhone and iPad.

C. West McDonald / CNET

Belkin already sells switches and motion sensors -- small devices that let people transform an appliance into a smart device -- and a high-definition, Wi-Fi-connected camera for monitoring and communicating. But new products are in the works. In January, the company showed off LED lights, a smart slow cooker and a do-it-yourself maker kit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Last month, Belkin demonstrated WeMo Echo Technology hardware for monitoring water and electricity usage homes.

Belkin expects to make the LED lightbulbs available in September, while the CrockPot and Maker may go on sale as early as August. The water and electricity products, though, may take another year or two.

Link:
Belkin goes all in on the home of the future

Answer: Employer policy and personal choice prevent me from becoming involved in readers' legal disputes.

But I can tell you many lenders and insurance companies do not look kindly on knob-and-tube, the first generation of electrical wiring installed in houses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Such wiring, and indoor plumbing, for that matter, was typically installed on the walls of existing homes. Later, and in new construction, it was moved behind the walls.

I once was told that knob-and-tube was not a problem if it hadn't been chewed by rodents, but it is inadequate to meet today's needs, is more likely not to have been maintained, and does not meet today's code.

Wiring from 1880 to 1930. That's 84 to 134 years old.

Let's look at the sellers' disclosure law in Pennsylvania. The standard form covers the structure, such as roof, basement, foundation, and walls.

It asks the seller to let buyers know whether the house has been treated for termites or has had water or sewage problems; if the house has been remodeled, and whether the plumbing, electrical, heating, and air-conditioning systems are in good, working order.

If there are hazards or environmental con-

taminants, the seller must disclose these, as well.

How much the seller really knows depends on his or her level of expertise, according to the law. My agent held me to the strictest disclosure standards when I sold my last house in 2001. But most sellers aren't me.

View original post here:
Your Place: Ask an electrician about that dated wiring