​We’ve all heard Smokey the Bear give his famous, sage advice: “Only you can prevent forest fires.”
 
While Smokey was right on the mark with his advice and, no doubt, saved millions of trees and countless lives with his message, the same applies to the affect you can have on your home and those you care about most: Your family.
 
How can you protect what means the most to you? By using quality smoke alarms and ensuring they are kept in good working order, maintained and tested regularly.
 
Here are some points to consider when choosing, installing and maintaining smoke alarms.
 
Choosing the best
 
When roaming the aisles at your favorite home improvement store or searching online, you quickly discover there are many options available and your initial thought of just buying one is dispelled.
 
The most important consideration is one that uses two types of detection: Ionization and photoelectric. Using a dual-sensor alarm system adds a layer of protection for your family. The ionization detector option sounds the alarm faster when a fire is a fast-flame type. Photoelectric detectors sound the alarm best when a fire is slow and smoldering.
 
Installing them properly
 
This isn’t about just buying one fire alarm and putting it in the living room or kitchen. No, you need one smoke alarm outside each bedroom and another one in the hallway or central area of each level in the home.
 
The alarms should be mounted on the ceiling, since heat and smoke rises. Keep them several inches from the wall, and away from both cold air return and fresh air supply vents.
 
Maintenance and testing
 
Most fire alarms come with a simple button for testing purposes. Once each month, safely climb up on a chair or ladder and push the button. A loud, very irritating screeching sound will emanate, indicating it is ready for action. Pushing the button again usually turns it off. While you are up there testing, use a blast of compressed air to clear away dust, cobwebs, and anything else that could interfere with the operation of the smoke alarm. Do this for all alarms in your home.
 
Don’t forget to change the batteries on an annual basis. Set a reminder on your electronic device, such as your phone or tablet, or pencil it in on a paper calendar.
 
And if the unthinkable happens, and a fire does occur in your home, don’t forget your disaster restoration professionals are ready for action. They can restore your home and belongings. After all, it pays to call a pro! 575-937-4385

​As you start reading this, do a quick exercise. Breathe in, really deep… go ahead, fill your lungs.
Feels good, right?
Taking a deep breath of air, especially outdoors after a thunderstorm or when the air is crisp and clean, smells and feels good. It’s refreshing.
But taking a deep breath of air inside, such as in a home or commercial building, can be a different matter altogether.
The air you breathe, you innocently assume, is clean and healthy. That may not always be the case, as reports of poor indoor air quality (IAQ) prove that not every indoor environment can be considered healthy.
When indoor air quality is poor, there can be issues for many people, especially those who suffer from allergies, asthma, respiratory illnesses, among others. The list can be quite extensive.
Poor indoor air quality doesn’t mean just “stuffy” air, the type that can build up in a home that doesn’t have sufficient air exchanges during the day. Although that can contribute to poor health for some individuals, what really causes health concerns is excessive dust, pet dander, pollen, mold, and other pollutants. While these pollutants are often indoors, they can also be outdoors, and you must recognize the affect they have on your health. For instance, you may decide to stay indoors when you hear of an outdoor poor air quality report on the news.
What you can control, though, at least to some degree, is the indoor air quality in your home.
What can you do? It’s simple. Keep things clean. Change your furnace and air conditioning filter on a regular basis, according to the manufacturer. Use a quality vacuum for your carpet and furniture and use it weekly, and more often if you have a busy household. Those hard floors? They need cleaned as well, as dust can easily build up and become airborne from those surfaces. When you dust surfaces, such as shelves or counter tops, use a soft cloth that will hold the dust instead of pushing it off onto the floor.
And, of course, have your carpet and furniture cleaned based on the recommendation of your favorite cleaning company. In fact, isn’t it time you had your carpet and furniture cleaned… right now?
Do the best thing, make the call today. After all, it pays to call a pro!  575-937-4385

​Carpet: It's Just Good for You

Everyone is concerned about better health. We shop for healthy foods. We take our vitamins. We visit our doctor on a regular basis. We drink filtered water. What we might not appreciate is the value of filtered air.

How do you effectively filter the air in your home? You are right… changing the filters in your furnace system on a regular, scheduled basis. If you wait too long, you know it because the filter is just so darned dirty. It makes a mess when you change it. So you vow to do it more often, and maybe you even put it on your wall calendar so you don’t forget. You might even pick up a better quality filter, such as one that uses HEPA standards.

  But what about the biggest filter in your home? Wonder what it is? Just look down… if you have carpet, that’s the filter that often gets ignored. If you don’t have much carpet, odds are you have area rugs covering those hard floors. Those area rugs are filters, too.

Carpet in a home is a protection for you, because it traps all kinds of allergens that can be the bane of asthma sufferers. Carpet is a filter and, like all filters, has to be either changed or cleaned. It’s not practical to change your carpet every year or so (heck, no one could afford that!) but you can — and should — have it cleaned.

Remember, allergens are very light and float in the air, and are respiratory concerns, especially for allergy and asthma sufferers. Carpet helps to keep those particulates to a minimum.

There are many documented studies about how homes and facilities, such as schools, are healthier because of carpet and regular cleaning schedules.

  So enjoy your carpet… and have it cleaned by your favorite carpet cleaning pro! 575-937-4385