The Property Detective Home Security

Saturday 06/10/23 - Lake Havasu City harsh water. It does not matter if you have a water softener or not, the minerals creep through. You should be treating your faucets and drains well. For bathroom sinks I say a 1/3 small box of baking soda chased by a 1/3 to 1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar. For kitchen sink drains and garbage disposals I say 1/2 box of baking soda and 1/2 cup of vinegar. It's also a fun little volcano for the kids & grandkids to watch. Faucet screens should be removed and soaked in either CLR or baking soda/vinegar and well brushed with dish soap. Once every 3 months should be good timing for this.

PD

I am going to attempt to post a house/property related suggestion every Saturday after my rounds. It is very difficult for me to keep up with this, but I will try. I do welcome anyone adding to my post with additional information OR correcting me if you find something I say that is amiss. Please be kind, it costs nothing.

If you are looking for a local service company or tradesman of any kind. Please ask. I will always try to provide you two names of people to choose from. This allows you to make your own decision based on your interaction. I work with very qualified, professional and responsible folks. Sometimes my referrals are not always the least expensive in town BUT they are the ones that have proven their reliability, integrity and craftsmanship to me.

Honesty is ALWAYS the best policy. . .

I am blessed to have a diverse active client base; successful individuals and couples, mostly self-employed in the trades. I have a security systems contractor, a painting contractor, a plumbing contactor to name a few. Then there are my retirees who come and go as winter visitors. They all bless me with their knowledge, patience and wisdom. Each of them have served to expand my knowledge in one way or another since I began this business full-time in 2008, after having a modest base in conjunction with the pet sitting service since 1991.

Count your blessings every day. . .

Most of what I post in here is primarily directed towards the people who own homes in our hot-dry climate of AZ, Lake Havasu City specifically. Many things will be common sense, no matter the state or climate where you reside. I have no objections to folks posting tips for cold weather and/or hot-humid climates. Let's have good & healthy conversations exchanging knowledge and growing through each other.

Be kind. . . if you can't do that be tolerant.

It is time for me to begin keeping up with this page. I hope my people will come here for unsolicited security and maintenance advice along with showing enthusiasm for all the useless information I may post.

I absolutely cannot believe that we are into the month of May already and summer is upon us. Do we all say something similar every year, year after year?

Generally speaking my work as a home security person goes well from my week to week inspections. However, something is bound to pop up every now and again; a termite or two (or more), a plumbing issue, an appliance issue, failed pool equipment, failed irrigation. Mostly these are annoying issues, but sometimes they are serious and costly. Avoiding insurance claims is very critical in this day and age, as claims are tracked not only by policy owner names, they are also tracked by property address. Multiple claims can result in premium increases BUT, they can also have an adverse effect on closing a real estate transaction and obtaining home insurance for a buyer or a seller in any transaction.

I AM the reason you need a human set of eyes & ears on your property. Security cameras and alarm monitoring systems serve a purpose, but they don't catch it all. They cannot see termite tubes. They cannot see or feel water on the floor. They cannot pick up the odor of rotting food left in a refrigerator that has failed or the odor of food left in a garbage disposal, when someone has forgotten to grind before departing. Can you smell rotting trash? Yup, sometimes in their haste people forget to take out the trash from under the sink or another inside container. YUCK! A broken or cracked underground water line for irrigation is only detected by seeing puddles of water and/or the water meter reading being outside it's normal usage.

The suggestions I make during an interview or subsequently after getting very familiar with an owner's property are simply suggestions based on experience. My suggestions are also based on living in Lake Havasu City and a desert climate, far different from other geography.

Here are just a few suggestions:

1. Install an inside water turn off. This protects against toilets, sinks, showers, clothes washers, dishwashers and lines going to water filtration systems like R/O (drinking water) and soft water systems. While this will not protect against a hard line failure, it does serve up some protection. Turning off the water main to a home is the only protection against hard line (inside the wall plumbing) failures. However this more than often effects irrigations systems. I always recommend the advice of a licensed plumber.

2. Unplug all small appliances, clocks, radios, televisions, lamps etc. That are not going to be in use for extended periods of time. Anything plugged into an electrical outlet draws some amount of voltage, constantly.

3. If you do have water filtration systems. . . they need to be serviced by a professional. In order to maintain the integrity of the systems this requires annual maintenance.

4. Change A/C filters regularly. Check them monthly, you will know when you need to clean or replace.

5. Don't run your clothes dryer, when not at home to monitor it's efficiency. Clothes dryer vents are notorious for starting fires.

6. Don't store grains (rice, flour, pasta, etc.) in cupboards or the pantry for extended periods. Keep these items tightly closed or in sealed containers. Best to store in the refrigerator and/or freezer.

7. Don't store valuable wine at room temperature unless you like those corks to pop and change the color or your walls.

8. Don't store carbonated drinks at room temperature. YES, they do explode.

That's it for now. . . next post I am going to talk about traditional septic systems and AZ recycling of trash in Lake Havasu.

Have a fabulous day. . . be blessed, be grateful, be kind.

Terri

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my client's past, present & future!

This year is going to see a lot of changes for me. First of all I am going to be making many more posts regarding home care, maintenance and security.

Standard of Practice and weekly visits will NOT change. I have homes I have cared for, for many years and look forward to continuing service.

Advertising dollars are more limited than ever, therefore I am open for suggestions on how to build this business further.

Hang in there. . . life is going to get better. I just feel it!

Thanks for your support!

I heard it again this last week. . ."Terri, you are the best person possible to care for homes, when the owners are away". It wasn't even an enthusiastic client who said it. It was a neighbor of a client who sees me come and go week after week. I love what I do and I believe I am pretty good at it. Caught another hard line water leak this week. Very limited damage and saved my clients literally thousands of dollars.

It is important to have smoke detectors in your home and not a bad decision to also have carbon monoxide units as well. You will need to keep a supply of batteries on hand. Generally they take a 9 Volt (square) in each detector. Newer homes have "hard wired" detector systems, as opposed to individual units that only work a specific room or a specific area. Here is some valuable information:

If Your Detector is Hard-Wired. ... These smoke detectors operate off the home's power. They also use a battery as a back-up in the event of a power outage. One of the most common causes of a hard-wired smoke detector beeping is that its battery backup is low or depleted.

A hard-wired smoke or carbon monoxide (CO) alarm is wired to a 120V household electrical circuit and is connected to other detectors throughout your home. Hard-wired smoke and carbon monoxide alarms sound simultaneously, on all levels of your home, when a single unit detects smoke or gas.

Changing batteries in the units is relatively easy, however, read the caution information posted on the units and avoid over-handling of the units.

Current golf course area property.