Time for an Attic Inspection?

When was the last time you took a close look at the insulation in your attic? It may be time to check things out because the Environmental Protection Agency has issued a warning on insulation that could cause lethal exposure to asbestos. The type raising concern is called Zonolite. John Gorman, President of Save Energy, a Diamond Certified company, says this insulation is made up of shiny, little rectangular cubes.

While poking his head into attics for more than 20 years in the Bay Area, Mr. Gorman has not found too much Zonolite. The government though believes that sizeable numbers of affected homes are in Northern California. If you suspect that you might have this type of hazardous insulation in your home, contact a local professional, because the EPA recommends not disturbing the insulation yourself.

Big Auto Repairs? Don't Despair.

My eleven year-old minivan has a transmission leak. Should I even think about investing more than $2000 when the old one goes? Is there a point when it's cheaper to replace a vehicle rather than repair it? Hans Art, owner of Hans Art Automotive, a Diamond Certified company, thinks not. Based on his 34 years of experience, from a strictly monetary standpoint, it almost always makes sense to repair an old car rather than buy a new one. If you keep up with maintenance and repairs, the average monthly expense over 5 to 7 years is one-fourth the cost of a buying a new car.

In my case, Mr. Art advises having a thorough inspection to see what else is likely to fail in the next couple of years, before making the investment. Some cars are worth holding onto longer than others, given the repair history. Mr. Art recommends keeping Hondas, Nissans, Toyotas, Subarus, and the BMW 3 series, which can last for 250,000-300,000 miles.

A Safety Inspection That Could Save You Thousands

When was the last time you had an electrician inspect and clean the electrical panel in your home? If you're like most people, you probably don't know that this kind of preventive maintenance could help you avoid a costly power failure. A Vice President of a Diamond Certified company, says most residential and commercial customers should have this type of service performed at least every other year.

It's just as important as having your chimney and furnace inspected regularly. The electrician will clean out the dust and debris that accumulates in the fuse box or electrical panel, and tighten loose connections. Those loose connections are a potential fire hazard and are caused by the wires heating up and cooling down under normal electrical loads. While you have the electrician in your home, don't forget to ask him to also check for pre-existing electrical code violations.

A Heads Up on Head Restraints

When I bought my last new car, I spent a lot of time investigating safety features, such as bumpers and airbags. I didn't give any thought at all to the head restraints, and yet they're key in preventing the most common injuries – neck injuries from rear-end collisions. Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, says many head restraints are too low to provide adequate protection from whiplash. The restraint should at least come to the top of your ears (your head's center of gravity), and in general, higher is better. The distance between the restraint and the back of your head should be no more than 4 inches.

Car manufacturers, such as Saab, General Motors, Nissan and Volvo, are coming out with new seatback designs which have safer head restraints. For safety ratings of all late model cars, go to the Institute's website at www.hwysafety.org.

The Connection Between Your Wallet and Back Pain

When a friend kept complaining about back pain, I encouraged him to go to his doctor. He had pain down his leg after sitting for three to four hours. After an exam and x-rays, nothing serious was identified, but his pain did not go away. Then one morning, his wife noticed his wallet bulging from the back of his pants. Once he stopped sitting on his wallet at work, he was pain free.

According to a Doctor at a Diamond Certified company, sitting on a big wallet raises one side of the pelvis. This can lead to an abnormal curve in the spine. The stress on muscles, ligaments and nerves may cause stiffness and pain. To avoid the problem, don't keep anything bulky in your back pocket, especially if you're sitting all day at work.

Use It or Lose It

Most of us start experiencing hearing loss after the age of forty. If you're like most people, you've been putting off having your hearing tested. However, procrastinating about a hearing problem is one of the worst things you can do, according to audiologist Mark Sanford, owner of CSG Better Hearing Center, a Diamond Certified company.

The longer your problem goes untreated, the worse it gets and the more difficult it is to treat. Mr. Sanford cites a study where people whose hearing loss was equal in both ears were fitted with a hearing aid in just one ear. The other ear was left untreated. Over a ten-year period, the loss in the ear with the hearing aid changed very little. In the unaided ear, however, speech understanding decreased 20 to 60%, which made adjusting to a hearing aid on that side much more difficult.

The Best Way to Preserve Priceless Memories

Remember the video you took of your child's kindergarten graduation years ago, and the amazing video of your younger brother's bachelor party? Your old tapes, like old photographs, can deteriorate and all those priceless memories will be lost. Rhys Ludlow, owner of Ludlow Media Services, a Diamond Certified company, tells me that videotapes can last anywhere from 10 to 30 years, depending on how they're stored and how often they're played. Deteriorating tapes don't playback well. Images become jumpy and snowy. The magnetic particles on the tapes become unglued and clog the heads of your tape player.

To avoid losing your family's video collection, you may want to consider transferring your videos to DVD. DVDs have a 100+ year life expectancy and can be played thousands of times. On a DVD, you can mark where particular pictures/events are and make copies inexpensively. They're also easy to store and mail.

Car Accident Repairs: Know Your Rights

When you've had a car accident, one of the first calls you'll probably make is to your insurance company. Typically, if your car needs repairs, the insurance company will give you a list of approved shops, and most people assume they have to go to one of the companies on that list. According to a General Manager of Bay Area Diamond Certified company, that is not the case. You have the right to bring your vehicle to the body shop of your choice, even a dealership if that's whom you prefer.

You are also not required to get three estimates. One is enough. If the insurer thinks the estimate for bodywork is too high, then the final price is negotiated between the shop and the insurance company. And one final note, don't forget to report any accident involving $750 or more in damage to either party to the Department of Motor Vehicles. It's state law.

Dissecting Drips in Your Driveway

Anytime you find evidence of a leak on the driveway from under your car, it's a good idea to inspect further. According to a Customer Service Manager for a Diamond Certified company, fluids are your car's lifeblood. They cool, clean, lubricate and protect all the moving parts of your car. A visual inspection of the fluid will give you some clues. Pink fluid generally is leaking from the transmission, transfer case or power steering. A brown stain would indicate either an oil leak or a leak at the differential. And dripping green, blue or orange fluids are usually from the cooling system.

Share this information with your repair shop and ask for a leak inspection, which is not expensive. If you choose to ignore those drips, you could unknowingly be causing damage that will be much more costly to repair later.

Don't Try This at Home

Many people assume that their automatic garage door will immediately go into reverse if it comes into contact with someone or something. Unfortunately, many doors manufactured before 1993 do not have the infrared safety eyes now required in new systems. Any contact with the lights in the improved safety sensors tells the door to reverse. Mark Griffin, owner of Automatic Garage Door, a Diamond Certified company, does not recommend testing your old garage door yourself.

Some homeowners put a box or can under the door and think it's safe because it might hit the items and then go back up without crushing them. What is not readily apparent is that it takes nearly 40 pounds of pressure to trigger reverse, making it especially unsafe for pets, children and seniors who might get hit by a closing door. Even if it eventually reverses, they can still be seriously injured. A new system, complete with safety eyes, costs less than $500, a small investment for your peace of mind.

Much More About Mulch

Mulch is good for your garden because it adds organic matter, suppresses weed growth, helps conserve water and on top of that, it looks good. One President of a Diamond Certified company, says if you mulch properly, the covering will last anywhere from 2 to 4 years. The right way to do it is to vary your mulch, cover all the bare soil, except around the base of plants and trees. You need to keep those areas dry to prevent fungus from growing. The mulch itself should be 3 to 5 inches deep.

He suggests calling a local tree service for free tree clippings to use on the bottom and then dress it up with a thin layer of store-bought mulch. Mini Fir bark is his favorite. You can also save a lot of money by buying it in bulk, rather than by the bag.

Who Should Pay for the New Fence?

You would be amazed at how many people don't bother to talk to their neighbors when a fence needs to be replaced. One owner of a Diamond Certified fencing company, sees this all the time. He says only about 50% of the time is the cost of the job shared 50/50 as it should be. That's usually because one neighbor is more eager than the other to get the job done. Another common neighborhood dispute involves trees.

Sometimes branches hang over a fence, and in a big storm, they can break off and cause damage. The person responsible for tree trimming and the damage is the one who owns the property where the tree comes out of the ground. If you disagree about whose property the tree is on, because you're not sure where the exact property line is, you may need to get a copy of the site map recorded with the county and/or hire a surveyor.

Kids, Social Security Numbers and Identity Theft

When your 5-year-old starts getting pre-approved credit card offers in the mail, that's a clue that someone may be tampering with the child's social security number and credit file. According to Jay Foley, Co-Founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center, identity thieves are now targeting children. Once they get their hands on a young person's social security number, they create a new identity, open credit card accounts, and spend like mad. Kids are the perfect victims in that they won't be applying for credit anytime soon.

Mr. Foley doesn't suggest that everyone run credit checks on all their underage children. Unless you notice some red flags, such as minors receiving credit card offers, wait until the child reaches sixteen or so to see if credit agencies have anything listed. This will give you plenty of time to correct any errors before they apply for their own credit cards or college loans.