Buying a Home

Related Links

Schneider Real Estate

Meet Grant's Team:

Keep your home and family safe during the holiday season

December 5th, 2011

Flickering candles. Tiny twinkling lights. The fragrance of fresh-cut pine. A crackling fire in the fireplace. Our senses are alive with the aromas of the holiday season. Most likely you will begin your Christmas decorating soon. We are looking forward to this time of family and friends too, but we also want you to be safe and avoid a fire-related tragedy during this festive time.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has some excellent holiday safety tips we’d like to pass along.

  • Holiday decorations should be flame retardant and non-flammable. That means modern that meets current safety standards. Holiday decoration fires are most likely to happen in the living room, family room or den because they are placed too close to a heat source.
  • Light your way. Replace any string of lights with worn or broken cords. LED lights. While they are an up-front investment they are cooler and a long-term investment. We were rummaging in the basement for our lights and found an antique string of bubble lights. Remember them? As much as we’d like to recreate our childhood memories for our children, the bubble lights will stay in the box.
  • The Christmas tree is always the centerpiece. Select a tree that has a sticky trunk, green needles and branches that are hard to pull back. Ask for a fresh cut and when you bring the tree home, immerse it in water immediately. It will be very thirsty and needs continual watering throughout the holiday season. Keep your tree at least three feet away from heat sources.
  • Ahh, the glow of candlelight. So romantic and cozy. However, according to the NFPA, unattended candles cause more than half of home fires during the holiday season. Place lit candles on stable surfaces, away from flammables, children and pets. Don’t leave your candles unattended, even if you place candles in the fireplace instead of firewood. Extinguish ALL candles before you turn in for the night.
  • Fireplaces are the center piece of a room. They are also a potential fire hazard. We recommend hiring a chimney sweep to check it out every autumn. Clean chimneys don’t start fires. Use only seasoned wood; don’t burn wrapping paper, cardboard boxes or pine branches. The Chimney Safety Institute of America also cautions that, while a chimney helps your home to breathe, it requires special care and maintenance to avoid carbon monoxide fumes and fires behind the lining.

This holiday season is also a great time to check your smoke alarms and review your home escape plan in case of an emergency. With a few precautions, we’ll all have a safe and happy holiday.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized

Be prepared and stock up your disaster kit to stay safe

August 30th, 2011

Here we are in the Midwest, the sun is shining, the sky is blue and we’re planning an outdoor barbeque tonight. Thousands of miles away, folks on the Eastern Seaboard are dodging Hurricane Irene’s wrath of flooding, high winds and property destruction. That has nothing to do with us.

Do we have such short memories? Remember the tornadoes in April and May of this year? Joplin is still in the recovery phase and will be for a long time; concourse C at Lambert Airport is still closed following tornado damage with no opening in sight. St. Charles County and St. Louis County sustained an untold amount of property damage.

Yes, we do have something in common with the Easterners. We experience storms of a different type, but just as damaging. The question is–are you prepared? After all the excitement sometimes we slip into our old ways.

That’s why now is a good time to re-visit your disaster preparedness plan. You should do this periodically anyway, but talk to your insurance agent about your homeowner’s insurance policy to make sure you have the proper coverage for your area. Keep all important papers in two places¬–the originals offsite and copies with you. Should you need them for a claim, this will save you immeasurable time and hassle. Stash some cash too. If the power goes down, credit cards will be useless.

FEMA has some good ideas to help you put together a disaster preparedness kit. The kit includes water–about a gallon per person per day–and non-perishable food that your family likes to eat for three days. Throw in a can opener too. Nothing like sitting in your basement with a can of food you can’t open!

Other suggestions include personal care items, a selection of tools, medication and cell phones with chargers. However, the power most likely will be off, so if you are one of those people who haven’t ditched the landline, you are in luck.

If you don’t have one already, purchase a battery operated radio and a fan too. Stock up on all sizes of batteries that you might need to operate equipment.

Prepare to entertain the kids (and pets too) with special toys, books and games.

While no disaster seems in sight here, be prepared to protect you and your family.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized

Pets know when something is up. Make their moving experience as easy as possible.

June 28th, 2011

When you arrive at your new home, set up a special, secure area for pets with their blankets, toys and beds, plus water and food. Check on them often as the furniture is brought in. You will alleviate many of your pet’s fears by being there with a hug, a pat and a pull toy.

Introduce your pets to their new home little by little. Cats can have a tendency to disappear in new situations (or whenever they feel like it). It’s no fun finding kitty at 2 a.m. stuck in the basement rafters. And for cats, make sure the litter box is readily available.

Dogs shouldn’t have the run of their new house either. Take them around, room by room, and allow plenty of time for sniffing. Watch for signs that it’s time to go outside for a while. Always walk your dog on a leash. Using a leash will help avoid territorial issues and provide the opportunity to meet the new neighbors.

Even though it may be a bit of a challenge, keep to your normal routine as much as possible. This will help re-establish life as it was, but in a new place.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized

Lightning and thunderstorms can put you, your family and property at risk

May 17th, 2010
Learn how to use common sense tips to avoid tragedy

With the advent of summer, thunderstorms and lightning are sure to follow. Unstable weather in the St. Louis area has almost become commonplace this year and during the latest round of thunderstorms, lightning was suspected to start a hotel fire in O’Fallon, Illinois.

May is designated National Electrical Safety month by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and gives us the opportunity to offer suggestions to keep you, your family and home safer this season. When a storm approaches…


  • Unplug all appliances and electrical devices, including computers, and turn off the air conditioning. The fewer electrical connections active can mean less damage should your home be struck. And, you can avert harming your computer system.
  • Don’t talk on a corded phone while a storm is in process. That small electrical current running through the phone line puts you in contact with a potential strike zone.
  • During a storm is not the time to wash dishes, decided to take a shower or do laundry. Water is an excellent electrical conductor and again puts you and your family at risk.
  • Stay away from windows and doors to avoid potential flying glass.

The NFPA estimates that lightning fires in the United States caused more than $213 million in direct property damage during the past seven years, more than half of that in residential homes. Since a single lightning bolt can register 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the likelihood of fire is high.

Don’t underestimate the power of lightning–the National Weather Service School For Weather notes that lightning kills more people each year in the United States than tornadoes or hurricanes. Only floods claim more lives. To learn more about how to keep you and your family safe from lightning, check out these tips and enjoy a more carefree summer.

Written by Myra Vandersall

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized

Google Plus Badge