Houses in rural areas are often connected to a cesspool or septic tank because there is no main drainage in the area. Cesspools A cesspool is simply a collecting pit for waste. Most are cylindrical and lined with brick or concrete. The pit needs pumping out regularly. This is done by a waste contractor or the local council. There is usually a charge for the work. The Building Regulations state that a cesspool must have a minimum capacity of 18 cubic metres (4,000 gallons). An old pit smaller than the recommended size may need weekly pumping. Septic tanks A septic tank is a brick-lined pit. Waste in a septic tank decomposes by natural bacterial action. Heavy sludge falls to the bottom of the brick-lined chamber. This leaves clear liquid on top. New waste is discharged into the tank below the clear liquid.

Baffles divide the tank into chambers so that sewage sinks down the tank gradually. This allows time for bacterial action to turn solid waste into sludge. If you have a septic tank, be sparing with lavatory cleaners and other products containing bleach as it can stop the bacterial action. The partly decomposed waste passes out of the tank through a dip-pipe into a filtration tank (usually another chamber filled with gravel or a similar material). From there, the waste filters away into clay drains which allow the liquid to seep slowly into the soil.

Septic tanks need both planning and Building Regulations permission, a site placed and built well away from the house and enough land for the network of drains which leads off from the tank. You cannot run these drains across someone else’s land without permission.

Each person appreciates home decorating ideas when planning to make improvements to their residence. You may have visions of your own about how your new home décor would look but it’s always nice to have an alternative preparation. There’s definitely home decorating ideas that you haven’t exposed. There are constantly changes being made regarding trends in home furnishings. Checking out new home decorating ideas may give birth to a new home decorating plan for your room.

Being able to find home decorating ideas is a treat but having access to free home decorating ideas is a real reward. There are free home decorating ideas available to you. Regularly when you pick up a magazine, perhaps while waiting at the doctor’s office, something in the home decorating section catches your attention. Relaying techniques and tips for home improvements, this magazine is offering you free home decorating thoughts. An extra great source of information regarding home decor and decorating is a catalog from major stores. Marketing their products, they use illustrations of fully decorated rooms. Glance through catalogs such as these you’ll find many free home decorating ideas.

Taking a trip to your local furniture store or department store is sure to provide free home decorating ideas. A lot of stores have displays which are regularly changes to share new and trendy home furnishings. The front window of a furniture store is a great place to catch a glimpse of beautifully arranged home decor. Window displays such as this can be considered free home decorating ideas.

Read more »

Burglars don’t take holidays. While we’re humming “summertime and the living is easy”, burglars are likely to be singing “summertime and the pickings are easy”! Christmas for burglars is a celebration of a different kind - delighting in how easy some people make it for them to gain access to their homes.

Making a house secure from burglars often has more to do with common sense than dollars and cents. The most staggering statistic is not the actual number of ‘break and enters’ that occur each year, significant though it is, but that in man-instances the crime was preventable.

However, the average burglar is an opportunist, on the look out for quick entries and fast exits, and the more barriers you place in their path the less likely the will be to attempt a break in. The 10 minutes it takes to pop out to the shops, or drop the kids at school, is long enough for a burglar to get in, grab a few valuables and take off - so always lock doors and windows, regardless of how long you think the house will be vacant.

LOCK BEFORE YOU LEAP

It isn’t always necessary, or advisable, to turn your house into Fort Knox. At the least, fit key locks to all windows and double-keyed deadlocks to all external doors (most insurance companies these days stipulate this as a minimum requirement for home contents insurance). Always select quality locks and window fittings which meet the relevant standard. Keep things simple by having one key for all window locks as this reduces the risk of people becoming lazy. Door locks are available in two types - mortise and rim lock. Mortise locks are set into the door frame, making them difficult to remove, whereas rim locks are surface-mounted. However, the most important thing is to use your deadlock if you have one, but not when the house is occupied. In December last year two people, in separate instances, were trapped in their blazing homes, unable to escape because the doors were deadlocked and the keys removed.

BAR NONE

Window and door grilles are a familiar feature in metropolitan areas. Good quality, well designed bars are increasingly regarded as an architectural feature in their own right. In terms of security, bars are a strong deterrent to any burglar. They can, however, also act as a barrier to those on the inside trying to get out. It is generally not necessary to fit bars on die upper levels of homes, but if you do, make sure that at least one of die windows can be opened. Similarly, at ground level, landlocked rooms (with only one exit) should be fitted with grilles which can open, with the key kept close by, but out of sight. If considering installing bars and security doors, again make sure they conform to the standard. It is recommended that each component (window and door) is installed within its own separate frame rather than secured to the surrounding masonry or existing hardware.

WIRED FOR SOUND

Home alarm systems are now an affordable option for many homeowners. Most alarm systems comprise a control box attached to an internal wall, alarm control module, key or coded on/off switch, and noise-makers.

Magnetic reed switches are another option. These are placed between an item and a door or window jamb; if the magnetic connection between the two is broken, the alarm is activated. Other security measures include movement detectors which activate the alarm when movement is detected (take care the detector is not overly-sensitive); and glass-break audio discriminators (which emit loud sounds when noises of a particular frequency are detected, such as breaking glass or wood splitting). This system ignores those normal background noises with frequencies below about 5 Khs as well as cumulative sounds, such as approaching traffic, aircraft, etc.

SAFE AS HOUSES

Home security isn’t just about keeping people out, it is also about making sure those within the house are safe. Install smoke detectors and keep a fire extinguisher close to hand. It’s also a good idea to make sure that everybody, particularly the young and disabled members of the household, are aware of exactly what they should do in the event of a fire or other emergency. And keep essential emergency telephone numbers clearly displayed next to the phone.