Security gate at Little Lever retirement home fixed after six months out of action

9:52am Thursday 8th May 2014 in News By Neil Robertson, reporter

RESIDENTS at a retirement home will sleep easy in their beds now the gate to their property has been fixed.

The electronic main gate into Lever Gardens, a single-storey development consisting of flats and bungalows in Dearden Street, Little Lever, had been broken for about six months.

Bolton at Home engineers visited the property to resurface the asphalt around the gate and install underground wiring, which detects vehicles entering and leaving the premises.

And now the main gate opens and closes, meaning visitors have to either buzz themselves in or use a key fob to enter the building.

Last month, Lever Gardens residents and local activist Eric Hyde handed in a petition to Bolton at Home asking for greater security, following claims strangers and salesmen had got into the property.

Bolton at Home has now repaired the gate.

Resident, 56-year-old William Leckie, whose insurance premium on his sports car and motorbike went up when the gate was broken, said: The insurance on my Mazda MX5 and BMW sports bike went up because Lever Gardens was no longer a locked compound.

Its great that this problem has been sorted and that we feel safer in our own homes.

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Security gate at Little Lever retirement home fixed after six months out of action

A few key fundamentals for would-be smart home first-timers.

ReadWriteHomeis an ongoing series exploring the implications of living in connected homes.

If you don't already live in a smart home, odds are good that you will before long.

When that day comes, your connected residence will be like a member of the familyor, more likely, a butler. Just like Carson on Downton Abbey, your home will know when youre home or away. It will respond to your commands, or kick into high gear at your mere presence. And it will manage your lights, locks, interior climate and more, just the way you want them, with little to no prompting from you.

According to Gartner, the number of connected devices installed will increase 30-foldby 2020, from 900 million in 2009 to 26 billion units by 2020. It's an eye-catching figure, made more so by the fact that it doesn't include our favorite connected gadgetssmartphones, tablets and computers. More than anything, this speaks to the momentum of the Internet of Things (IoT) and one of its primary sub-categories: the connected home.

With IoT, connected machines and devices talk to each other, allowing for heightened levels of control, monitoring and automation. This extends to environments both public (think city infrastructure, utilities and transportation) and private (like your house and the appliances in it). Its an exciting thought. But it can also be confusing and nervewrackingparticularly for folks delving into this topic for the first time.

So we've laid out some of the major considerations for the connected home below, to give you a leg up on this emerging trend before it lands on everyone's doorstep.

The terms connected home and smart home are basically new labels for an old concept. Home automation, control and security systems have been around for decades. What separates them from todays products is, among other things, price. In the past, only the wealthy could really afford to trick out their domiciles.

While there are still plenty of expensive systems available from architects and contractorsfor prices ranging froma few thousand dollars to millionsthey're no longer the only options.Advances in wireless technology and mobile devices, as well as falling component prices, have lead to more convenient and affordable connected products.Practically all of them offer smartphone control and,even better for renters, many dont require permanent fixtures or rewiring.

This intersection of innovation and economics has led to an explosion of new smart products. (Amazon's online store even carved out adedicated home automation section, as haveHome Depotandother retailers.) Recent estimates from Juniper Research predict the smart home market will double over the next few years, from $33 billion in 2013 to $71 billion by 2018.

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5 Things To Consider Before Wiring Up Your Smart Home

Photo by Jennifer Rios

Firefighters and and a fire investigator were at the scene of a blaze that destroyed a trailer home in Grape Creek on Saturday

Photo by Jennifer Rios

Grape Creek, Quail Valley and Carlsbad volunteer fire departments responded to a fire that destroyed a trailer house in Grape Creek on Saturday afternoon.

Photo by Jennifer Rios

Jennifer Rios/Standard-Times Grape Creek, Carlsbad and Quail Valley volunteer fire departments respond to a fire in the 8200 block of Mimosa Lane in Grape Creek that destroyed a trailer home and sent two people to the hospital.

A fire destroyed a trailer home in Grape Creek on Saturday afternoon.

No one was home at the time of the fire, said Tom Green County Sheriffs Deputy Rachelle Lacy, but a neighbor and a responding firefighter were taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke and heat issues.

The blaze was reported shortly after 3 p.m., and the house was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, Lacy said.

Grape Creek, Quail Valley and Carlsbad volunteer fire departments responded to the scene in the 8200 block of Mimosa Drive.

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2 sent to hospital as fire guts Grape Creek home

Kent PierceUpdated: Wednesday, April 30, 2014, 12:35 pmPublished: Wednesday, April 30, 2014, 9:49 am

EAST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) An early morning fire gutted a house at the corner of Minor Road and Beach Avenue in East Haven. No one was home because the house was still under construction.

Its always a sad sight of a beautiful home ravaged by fire. The one on the beach in East Haven caught fire early Wednesday morning.

Nobody was home and firefighters forced their way in.

They opened that door and it was charged with smoke right down to the bottom. Top to bottom. Pretty good fire load on the inside, said Chief Doug Jackson, East Haven Fire Dept.

What makes the sight particularly sad is, weve seen this house before. Or at least part of it.

Last October, on the one year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, News 8 was there as the first poles were put in the ground. We came here on that anniversary because the house that had been on that spot was washed away by Sandy.

Actually picked the house up, twisted it sideways, set it back down, knocking all the pilings over and essentially twisted it, said Patrick Rowland, in October, 2013.

Patrick Rowland is the owner. He had to demolish that first house and hes spent the past six months building the new one. All the while fighting with the state and FEMA over insurance and disaster relief money. He was looking to move in in about a month.

The rest is here:
Home rebuilt after Sandy catches fire

Jim and Nancy Unruh closed on a new house just before Christmas vacation.

Both teachers at Carthage Middle School, they spent much of their Christmas holidays removing carpet, tearing into walls and starting remodeling projects.

Last week, during spring break, they finished moving and had Easter dinner Saturday with their family in the new house.

The Unruhs raised their family in a large, two-story house on west Main Street in Carthage. They moved across town to a one story brick home on Madison. The home was solid, but had not been lived in for several years and needed to be updated.

Major changes were made with the kitchen and surrounding area, and with bathrooms.

I knew I wanted the open concept kitchen and family area, Nancy said. Walls that formed the kitchen, dining room and a sitting room were knocked down and the area is left open for TV, dining and cooking.

We always congregate in the kitchen. I like having a window in the kitchen, she said. Im really excited about the kitchen. I love to cook and entertain.

The open area allows for windows on both sides of the space, a large picture window by the dining area, and sliding doors to the patio on the opposite side.

Nancy kept the same cabinets in the kitchen, but repainted them white.

They were good cabinets, I just didnt like the color, Nancy said. She added a new base cabinet and a large floor to ceiling pantry cupboard that matched her updated cabinets. She chose stainless steel appliances and a gas stove.

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Putting their touch on a new home, with help from friends

Bill OConnor was the guy who installed his own car stereo in high school and the kid whom teachers asked to set up the sound system.

Today, he gets to tinker, patch, design and install gadgets for a living, but the technology is more high-end as his employees at Constellation Home Electronics design, install and manage smart-home technology, from a $7,000 TV and streaming router to a whole-house system that can surpass $100,000.

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Constellation Home Electronics specializes in the high-tech home

Your home, sweet home, might be trying to kill you. Here are four silent killers that could be lurking in your home.

Poison Gases

Its a problem that affects nearly 1 in 15 homes in the U.S. and is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Potentially deadly radon is a colorless, orderless gas that seeps up from the soil through cracks in the foundation when naturally occurring uranium decays. Modern homes are well insulated from the elements, which allows the gas to build up to potentially toxic levels. A radon alarm, which costs as little as $15, should be installed in the home, particularly in basements where radon is more likely to pool. Elevated radon levels are a pretty easy fix. Contact a contractor to seal up cracks in the foundation and install a ventilation system to prevent the gas from building up.

Radon isnt the only potentially deadly gas you need to worry about. Carbon monoxide occurs when burning fossil fuels, which means a CO leak can be caused by a malfunctioning heating system, a poorly ventilated barbecue or a gas-powered generator. Carbon monoxide causes more than 400 deaths each year in the U.S., and is responsible for 20,000 emergency room visits. As with radon, a simple alarm can warn you when dangerous levels of carbon monoxide start to build up in the home, and many states have started requiring these alarms to be installed alongside smoke detectors. If you alarm sounds, dont panic. Open your windows to provide ventilation, leave the home and call 911.

Garden Plants

A garden can be an idyllic green space, but it can also contain hidden dangers, particularly for curious pets and children. Unbeknownst to many gardeners, many common garden plants can be extremely toxic and even downright deadly. Castor bean plants are a common favorite with gardeners, but the plants bean contain enough of the toxin ricin to kill a small child. Water hemlock one of the most deadly plants around is a very common weed, which can easily be mistaken for edible plants such as wild carrots or water cress. Curious cats love to attack plants, but a few bites of a common lily can be enough to kill your beloved pet. If you have pets or children, double-check before planting to make sure youre not growing anything thats potentially harmful.

Old Wiring

Old home have their charms but they also harbor many dangers behind their antique walls. Knob-and-tube wiring was a common electrical setup in the late 19th and early 20th century that featured rubber and cloth insulation around the wiring. Over the years, the insulation becomes dry and brittle, exposing the bare wires a problem that is commonly seen in crawl spaces, basements or other places where the wires are out in the open. If your home was built before the 1940s, you might consider getting it checked for this old style of wiring. While an upgrade will be expensive, its a lot better than losing your house to an electrical fire.

Open Water

Backyard pools are a wonderful way to spend a sun-baked summers day, but they are also a leading cause of death for small children. Parents with small children should install a child-proof fence and gate around the pool and children should never be allowed to use the pool unsupervised. Assuming that the shallow depths make them safe for unattended play, many parents overlook the danger posed by small wading pools. But any amount of water could prove deadly for children, particularly those under the age of five. If you have a portable pool, make sure you monitor the kids while it is in use and drain it when the kids are finished playing.

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4 deadly home dangers

They say theres no such thing as a free lunch. But on Marco Island, there might just be a free vacation home.

Thats what Jim and Lara Hicks are soon to discover after participating in a new show on cable network Home & Garden Television.

Vacation House for Free, which launched earlier this year, aims to help homeowners find and renovate a home that can then be used as their own vacation property and also to generate additional income as a rental, ideally enough to pay the mortgage on it.

The Hickses live in Ohio but had rented seasonally near Marco in the past. Jim Hicks said they wanted to visit the area again, but also wanted to find a home that complemented their lifestyle a place they could let friends use, and which would be a good fit for their family of four children.

They also wanted to act mindfully. Jim Hicks is the founder of a Thirst Relief International, a nonprofit that explores long-term, sustainable clean water solutions around the world. He and Lara also work with DoTerra essential oils. Jim Hicks describes himself and his wife as frugal people who are very conscious of the needs around the world.

It wasnt long before the Hickses found a home on Marco Island that would fit their needs, but was also in want of some updating.

We found this awesome place that needed a complete renovation, Jim Hicks recalled of his Island home.

While Jim and Lara dreamed about how to make the renovation a reality with their home-buying budget, their oldest son 12-year-old Ashton got online and started doing some research. Ashton found the HGTV Vacation House For Free online casting call and encouraged them to complete it.

At first, the Hickses dismissed it, but when they read the fine print, they realized the house they hoped to renovate was a great fit for the show. The concept of Vacation House for Free is to take a fixer-upper in a tropical United States destination and work with local renovation experts as well as the HGTV team to improve the property so it becomes not just a vacation home but also a income-generating rental.

We said, man, thats exactly how we want to do it, Jim Hicks said.

Read the rest here:
HGTV selects Island home for new remodeling show

BOSSIER CITY, LA (KSLA) -

A Bossier City family learned the hard way what it's like to deal with a bogus home rental after losing more than $1,000 in a property nightmare.

Husband and wife Jack and Wendy Harvill said a South Bossier City home they looked into renting ended up being a bogus deal.

"It was just nuts! You would have never figured in a million years it would have been a scam," said Jack Harvill.

It all started when the couple began a search to find a place to live for their 19-year-old son and his friend.

"Basically it was going to be hard to rent a home due to their age, so he was going to have to have mom and dad's help," Harvill said.

The couple turned to Craigslist, a classified ad website, and that's when they found what they thought was a perfect home in South Bossier City. The ad claimed rent was only $700 a month, utilities included.

"The home looked really nice, totally updated, recently remodeled," Harvill said.

The woman who claimed to be renting out the house wouldn't let them see the inside of it, but told them to look through the windows to check it out.

"It wasn't clicking to me that anything was wrong," Harvill said.

Original post:
Bossier City family falls victim to bogus Craigslist home rental ad

More than 30 firefighters battled a mobile home fire late Tuesday night attempting to keep the blazing inferno from setting adjacent structures on fire in the 500 block of Moffat Boulevard.

A man and woman living in the mobile home got out of the structure safely without any injuries. The mobile home was in a park located just south of the Manteca High School baseball diamond.

Manteca Fire Battalion Chief Kyle Shipherd said the first of multiple 911 calls came in at 9:45 p.m. He noted visibility was near zero at the fire scene with heavy black smoke and flames coming from the side of the structure. He said strong winds were fanning the blaze that threatened to jump to other nearby residences. The smoke was blown downward and stayed near the ground, he said.

The fire was knocked down and brought under control after some 30 minutes with the help of the mutual aid agencies, he added. Once the fire was out, crews remained on the scene for three hours performing salvage and overhaul operations, he said.

Shipherd estimated the loss to the structure at $80,000 with another $25,000 loss reflected in personal property contents of the mobile home. Preliminary reports as to the cause of the fire pointed to electrical wiring under the floor of the bathroom.

Manteca firefighters were aided by Ripon Consolidated Fire District, Lathrop-Manteca Fire District, Manteca District Ambulance and the Manteca Police Department.

Originally posted here:
Blaze destroys mobile home near MHS field