Lebanon When Dana Seguin bought 4 South Park St., he wasnt sure what he was going to do with the 5,500-square-foot, historic 19th century home facing Colburn Park in the citys center, but he was clear that it should be lived in, he said.

Now, a year and a half after Seguin took ownership, Lebanons Zoning Board of Adjustment is considering his 41-page application for a zoning variance that would allow him to convert the single family home, office and nearby carriage house into eight apartments. The house is located in a zoning district where multi-family homes are not allowed.

It needs a ton of work, but its sound, said Seguin during a tour of his mostly unheated historic home on Sunday. For whatever reason, it called me.

He said he plans to keep the homes four fireplaces as decorative, not functional, touches and that he hopes to retain most of the buildings hardwood floors. In addition, the structures slate roofs will likely stay as they are relatively new, having been replaced following a 1988 chimney fire.

In order to transform the homes large living spaces into 700 or 750-square-foot apartments, Seguin will need to move walls and reorient stairs, he said.

The renovation, if approved, will likely include replacement of all the single-paned windows, and upgrades to the plumbing, wiring and heating.

Residential use is an idea supported by the homes previous owner Lois Wood widow of Lebanon legend Dr. Myric Wood Jr. who died in 2006 at the age of 79 from prostate cancer.

Im very pleased with Danas plans for the house, said Mrs. Wood in a phone interview from her home in Hampden, Maine. I want the next chapter to be a good one.

The Woods lived and worked in the South Park Street house for approximately 50 years from 1962 to 2008.

They raised four children in the main house, while Dr. Wood, famous in part for delivering 2,500 Upper Valley babies, operated a medical practice from an office, a laboratory and two exam rooms located in an ell-shaped adjoining structure in the rear.

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New Plan for Old Home: Proposal Would Change Lebanon House Into Apartments

Woodland firefighters take a breather while fighting a blaze that struck the second-story of a two-story home on Garfield Court in the southeast part of the city Sunday Afternoon. (Jim Smith/Democrat)

The home, located on Woodland's southeast side, at 1459 Garfield Court, was unoccupied. There were no injuries in the blaze, although firefighters were quickly overheated by the work.

Officials at the scene reported the blaze was called around 2:25 p.m. by a passing motorist on Hwy. 113. The highway lies immediately to the east of the home with only a retaining wall separating it and traffic.

That first notification was almost immediately followed by neighbors on the normally quiet cul-de-sac, who spotted the thick black smoke coming from the second story of the structure.

Woodland firefighters get their oxygen bottles refilled while fighting a blaze that struck the second-story of a two-story home on Garfield Court in the southeast part of the city Sunday Afternoon. (Jim Smith/Democrat)

Officials at the scene indicated the home appeared to have been a foreclosure. It was vacant with no furnishing or people inside on their arrival. Nearby residents said it had been occupied for some months.

While it was still too early to determine what caused the fire, guesses ranged from faulty wiring which may have shorted out when an air conditioner activated to the bright sun shining through a window and causing some object to burst into flame.

A number of engine companies responded to the blaze, including UC Davis and Davis fire departments and Willow Oak Fire Department.

The fire itself was knocked down within minutes by a coordinated action of water being poured onto the second story from the backyard and firefighters going inside the structure and tearing down the ceiling as well as venting the roof.

Firefighters remained on scene until at least 4 p.m. - although some engine companies were dismissed earlier - to conclude mop-up operations as well as arrange for sealing off the structure to prevent vandalism.

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2-story home catches fire Sunday in Woodland

(PRWEB) March 21, 2014

With the beginning of spring, some of the country is finally thawing out and starting to see the first signs of the season. While the warmer temperatures and flowers are welcomed, one part of spring that no one looks forward to is flooding. While flooding can occur at any time of year, the spring is a particularly troublesome time of year as snow and ice melts and seasonal rains begin. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, flooding causes more damage than any other weather-related event, averaging eight billion dollars in losses and 89 fatalities annually.

As part of this weeks National Flood Safety Awareness Week hosted by NOAA, the Insurance Institute for Building & Home Safety (IBHS) suggests several improvement projects, and last-minute actions (with two accompanying infographics), for homeowners to help protect their property against flood damage this season. IBHS has additional flooding property protection resources on its website at: http://www.DisasterSafety.org/Flood.

Home Improvement Projects

Last-Minute Preparedness In addition, when a flood is forecast for your area, IBHS recommends homeowners take these last-minute actions to protect their property against flood damage:

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About The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) IBHS is an independent, nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization supported by the property insurance industry. The organization works to reduce the social and economic effects of natural disasters and other risks on residential and commercial property by conducting building science research and advocating improved construction, maintenance and preparedness practices.

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IBHS Recommends Home Improvement Projects to Reduce Flood Damage (with accompanying infographic)

Kippilaw in Goulburn. Photo: Supplied

A creatively designed standout home in Hackett is expected to sell for more than $1.1 million when it goes under the hammer next month.

The home at 4 Selwyn Street attracted more than 50 groups of people though in the first week of the marketing campaign and plenty of interest is expected come auction day.

The five-bedroom home features a central atrium that presents a tropical garden scene, in among living space and bedrooms.

The flowing design and eclectic mix of wallpaper, including designs by Ralph Lauren, Osbourne and Little and Cole and Son impress, as does the feature mosaic tiling, polished hardwood floors and custom light fittings.

The home also has a heated indoor pool and gym, and a lofted rumpus room with a balcony.

The residence has been the home of optometrist Ross Hiew and public servant Zoe Leonard, and their children since 2008.

The couple bought the house because of its great potential and its central location, being at the foothills of Mount Majura Nature Reserve.

They have loved living in the house but have decided to sell up to move closer to the children's schools.

Leonard says she will miss watching the gardens change through the different seasons, while Hiew has enjoyed the gym, being close to the reserve and having a good track for running with the dogs.

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Capital Gains

Ross and Meg Rushing were entertaining a friend at their brand-new home in Lubbock, Texas, on Aug. 24, 2012, when a clap of thunder appeared to set off their burglar alarm.

Unable to turn it off, Ross Rushing and his friend, Brennen Teel, went to the garage to get a ladder so they could disable the system.

Thats when the explosion happened, Rushing recalled. Honestly, I thought I was dead immediately.

Rushing was able to climb out from under the buckled garage door, but couldnt locate Teel in the thick black smoke that was now pouring from the home.

Firefighters later found his body at the rear of the garage. Investigators believe he opened the drop-down attic staircase, not realizing the attic was ablaze. Oxygen rushed in, causing a back-draft explosion that killed the 31-year-old Teel, a resident of Heath, Texas, they said.

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What eats away at Teels family is not just the seeming randomness of his death. It is the fire marshals determination that the fire that triggered the explosion started when a bolt of lightning sent electricity coursing into the home, burning tiny holes in the yellow corrugated stainless steel pipes supplying natural gas to appliances and heaters in the rest of the house. And it is the fact that, as they later learned, some fire experts have been warning for years that the piping poses a hazard when lightning strikes nearby.

I would not wish this on anybody anybody, said Teels father, Ken, who with his wife, Becky, is suing the manufacturer of the pipe. Its been a nightmare.

Meg and Ross Rushing escaped the fire that destroyed their home in Lubbock, Texas. But their friend, Brennen Teel, above, who had been visiting for the night did not. He died in the couple's garage in a fire and explosion allegedly caused by the failure of flexible piping carrying natural gas following a lightning strike.

Teels death highlights an ongoing debate over the safety of the piping known as corrugated stainless steel tubing, or CSST which has been installed in as many as 10 million U.S. homes since the 1990s, according to some manufacturers estimates. Its use is approved in building codes around the nation, though no longer in Lubbock, where the city issued a moratorium on its use in the wake of Teels death.

Continued here:
Are gas pipes in your home safe in storm?

EAST POINT, Ga.

A mother of six says she is being forced out of her rental home due to electrical issues.

Alicia Cooper told Channel 2s Amy Napier Viteri that electrical problems caused a fire last week. I feel like its a burden, its a bit much right now, Cooper said.

Cooper is moving out of her home on Ben Hill Road in East Point, but said she is not sure where she is going. Cooper said East Point Power came to her home after the fire and decided to cut off power.

Before he even touched the meter good, it was sparking fire and flame from it, Cooper said.

Cooper said an electrician estimated the cost of repairs to be around $10,000. They told (the landlord) hes going to have to remove all this, go through the wall, go up into the attic and remove all the wiring, Cooper said.

Cooper said her landlord told her via email that he would refund two weeks of rent for March and the balance of her security deposit after repairs were made to the property.

Cooper said she should get all of Marchs rent back and the full deposit. She said she lost hundreds of dollars in groceries when she lost power and she was forced to pay for a hotel room in the meantime.

I had to make sure I was able to provide, you know, heat, water and shelter for them, Cooper said.

Cooper said she now also understands her high electrical bills, including one for more than $700.

Continue reading here:
Electrical fire forces mom of 6 out of East Point home

Ross and Meg Rushing were entertaining a friend at their brand-new home in Lubbock, Texas, on Aug. 24, 2012, when a clap of thunder appeared to set off their burglar alarm.

Unable to turn it off, Ross Rushing and his friend, Brennen Teel, went to the garage to get a ladder so they could disable the system.

Thats when the explosion happened, Rushing recalled. Honestly, I thought I was dead immediately.

Rushing was able to climb out from under the buckled garage door, but couldnt locate Teel in the thick black smoke that was now pouring from the home.

Firefighters later found his body at the rear of the garage. Investigators believe he opened the drop-down attic staircase, not realizing the attic was ablaze. Oxygen rushed in, causing a back-draft explosion that killed the 31-year-old Teel, a resident of Heath, Texas, they said.

It has come to our attention that the browser you are using is either not running javascript or out of date. Please enable javascript and/or update your browser if possible.

What eats away at Teels family is not just the seeming randomness of his death. It is the fire marshals determination that the fire that triggered the explosion started when a bolt of lightning sent electricity coursing into the home, burning tiny holes in the yellow corrugated stainless steel pipes supplying natural gas to appliances and heaters in the rest of the house. And it is the fact that, as they later learned, some fire experts have been warning for years that the piping poses a hazard when lightning strikes nearby.

I would not wish this on anybody anybody, said Teels father, Ken, who with his wife, Becky, is suing the manufacturer of the pipe. Its been a nightmare.

Meg and Ross Rushing escaped the fire that destroyed their home in Lubbock, Texas. But their friend, Brennen Teel, above, who had been visiting for the night did not. He died in the couple's garage in a fire and explosion allegedly caused by the failure of flexible piping carrying natural gas following a lightning strike.

Teels death highlights an ongoing debate over the safety of the piping known as corrugated stainless steel tubing, or CSST which has been installed in as many as 10 million U.S. homes since the 1990s, according to some manufacturers estimates. Its use is approved in building codes around the nation, though no longer in Lubbock, where the city issued a moratorium on its use in the wake of Teels death.

See more here:
Lightning Strike Fires Reignite Debate Over Gas Pipe Safety

Ross and Meg Rushing were entertaining a friend at their brand-new home in Lubbock, Texas, on Aug. 24, 2012, when a clap of thunder appeared to set off their burglar alarm.

Unable to turn it off, Ross Rushing and his friend, Brennen Teel, went to the garage to get a ladder so they could disable the system.

Thats when the explosion happened, Rushing recalled. Honestly, I thought I was dead immediately.

Rushing was able to climb out from under the buckled garage door, but couldnt locate Teel in the thick black smoke that was now pouring from the home.

Firefighters later found his body at the rear of the garage. Investigators believe he opened the drop-down attic staircase, not realizing the attic was ablaze. Oxygen rushed in, causing a back-draft explosion that killed the 31-year-old Teel, a resident of Heath, Texas, they said.

It has come to our attention that the browser you are using is either not running javascript or out of date. Please enable javascript and/or update your browser if possible.

What eats away at Teels family is not just the seeming randomness of his death. It is the fire marshals determination that the fire that triggered the explosion started when a bolt of lightning sent electricity coursing into the home, burning tiny holes in the yellow corrugated stainless steel pipes supplying natural gas to appliances and heaters in the rest of the house. And it is the fact that, as they later learned, some fire experts have been warning for years that the piping poses a hazard when lightning strikes nearby.

I would not wish this on anybody anybody, said Teels father, Ken, who with his wife, Becky, is suing the manufacturer of the pipe. Its been a nightmare.

Meg and Ross Rushing escaped the fire that destroyed their home in Lubbock, Texas. But their friend, Brennen Teel, above, who had been visiting for the night did not. He died in the couple's garage in a fire and explosion allegedly caused by the failure of flexible piping carrying natural gas following a lightning strike.

Teels death highlights an ongoing debate over the safety of the piping known as corrugated stainless steel tubing, or CSST which has been installed in as many as 10 million U.S. homes since the 1990s, according to some manufacturers estimates. Its use is approved in building codes around the nation, though no longer in Lubbock, where the city issued a moratorium on its use in the wake of Teels death.

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Debate over gas pipes' safety

FIRE that levelled home destroys antique collected accumulated over a lifetime.

Mick Cokayne sorts through the remains of the Benalla home. Picture: PETER MERKESTEYN

The site of the home destroyed by fire.

The site of the home destroyed by fire.

The site of the home destroyed by fire.

The site of the home destroyed by fire.

The site of the home destroyed by fire.

The site of the home destroyed by fire.

A FIRE that yesterday levelled a Benalla home has destroyed a collection of antiques accumulated by the residents over their lifetimes.

The couple, aged in their 40s, had left their home at 4.45am to travel to a swap meet in Whittlesea before firefighters were called to their Mansfield Road home at 6am.

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Benalla fire destroys house, antique collection |PICTURES

The Actiontec Wireless Network Extender Plus Powerline Network Adapter 500 Kit (retail model PWR51WK01) is a sure, and easy way to extend your network, both wired and wireless. It's a good fit for a large home with concrete walls, or separate households in an apartment building that want to share a single Internet connection.

It's far from perfect, however. The kit uses slow Wi-Fi and Ethernet standards and hence provides connection speeds only fast enough for casual Internet sharing and mild file sharing. Additionally, the included adapters don't come with a pass-through power socket, and one of them is very bulky.

In all, if you're looking for a quick and effective way to extend your home network, at the current street price of around $90, the PWR51WK01 is a very good buy. For more choices on power-line products, check out this list.

The new Actiontec kit comes with a very large WPB3000 adapter which has a built-in Wi-Fi access point.

Bulky design, easy to setup The kit includes two power-line adapters of different models. One of them is the compact, adapter PWR500 model , and the other is a new WPB3000 model that's about five times its physical size. The former is a traditional adapter with a single LAN port; the latter has two LAN ports and a built-in Wi-Fi access point.

As is the kit's intention, you connect the PWR500 to your existing router using a network cable (one short cable is included with the kit), and place the WPB3000 at the far corner. When you plug both of them into their power socket, the two will connect to each other using the home's electrical wiring. Now you can add two wired clients, such as two desktop computers, to the network using the two LAN ports on the WPB3000. On top of that, you can also add many Wi-Fi clients to the network by connecting them to the WPB3000's built-in Wi-Fi network.

The above is also exactly how you set the kit up. Included in the box is a sticker with the default Wi-Fi network (network name and password) printed on it. With that information, there's nothing else you need to do to start using the kit. The fact that you can place the two adapters far away from each other, up to about 1,000 feet in terms of power wiring length, means the kit is a lot more effective than traditional Wi-Fi range extenders.

Note, however, that both adapters take the shape of a two-prong snap-on power adapter, and neither has a pass-though power socket. While this is OK for the PWR500 since it's very compact, for the other, this is a terribly bulky design. When used, it will for sure crowd the wall socket and block access to adjacent receptacles. And since that power-line adapters require to be plugged directly into the wall (and not on a power strip or protector) to work well, make sure you have multiple power sockets at the far corner where you intended to plug the WPB3000 in.

Also note that power-line adapters tend to come in a kit of two because you need at least two adapters to create the first power-line connection. After that you only need one adapter per additional connection. That said, you should buy the PWR51WK01 kit only if you don't already have any power-line adapters, otherwise, just the WPB3000, or alternatively the ZyXel PLA4231, is needed for the Wi-Fi extending purpose.

Both adapters come with a security button to create a secure connection between them (so nobody can tap in your network by using their own power-line adapter, a seniority that's very possible if you live in a multiple-unit housing complex), and the WPB3000 also support Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). WPS allows for quickly adding a Wi-Fi device to network by pressing a button, you don't even need to know the network's name and password.

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Actiontec's new power-line kit helps extend your home network