Home products are not usually at the center of conspiracy theories. I, however, cannot help but connect the dots on what is fast becoming the picture of a widespread plan to reduce our population by proliferating hazardous window blinds and shades into households across America.
This week, not one, not two, but three US Consumer Product Safety Commission product recalls saw hundreds of thousands of blinds and shades recalled due to high risk (and a few incidents) of strangulation and choking.
First was the recall for repair of the IKEA roller blinds. Over 500,000 units have been recalled due to a strangulation risk if a certain provided tension device was not properly installed and attached to the bead chain.
Then there were the faux suede roman shades by Whole Space, which are sold exclusively by Hanover Direct/Domestications. 90,000 of these units were called back, and this due to a 2-year-old boy from Delaware whose neck was entangled in the inner cords of the shades. Thankfully he escaped with only red marks.
Finally, another set of roman shades -- these by Louis Hornick & Co and sold exclusively at Bed Bath & Beyond -- were recalled, again due to strangulation concerns. 364,000 units have been taken back, with two reports of entangled children prompting this recall.
Thankfully there has been no loss of life due to any of these flawed products. It's definitely a victory in the consumers' -- and the US CPSC's -- war against these insidious trojan horses that lurk unsuspectingly around our homes' windows.
Did you have to send a set of shades or blinds back due to the recalls?
Be safe this Halloween by carrying a flashlight.
But not by carrying one of these from Target.
The firm has received eight reports of flashlights overheating and melting, including one report of burns to the hand.
This recall involves two types of Halloween-themed flashlights: the mini flashlights and flashlights sold with stencils.
Mini Flashlights: The mini flashlights have a key ring extending from the bottom and were sold in a pack of three colors: orange, green and black. The orange and purple packaging has “Mini Flashlights (3 Pack)” printed on the front and “DGI,” “Made in China” and “DPCI# 234-02-1813” printed on the back.
Standard Size Flashlights: Also included in the recall are standard sized flashlights with a black handle and an orange top. The flashlights were sold with six stencils in various colors and images: a pumpkin, ghost, spider, cat, witch and skull & cross-bones. “Flashlight with Stencil” is printed on the front and “Tien Hsing,” “Made in China” and ”234 02 1838” is printed on the back of the packaging.
With Halloween around the corner, make sure your home is prepared and safe for the coming wave of trick-or-treaters. According to premises liability expert attorney Jeffrey Kroll, homeowners should be wary of these points:
Entrance ways should be clear and lighted. Homeowners should not use candles. The open flame is a significant fire hazard.
Pets should be kept away even if they are normally friendly animals. Dog bites are the second leading cause of childhood injury, according to the American Medical Society.
Condo owners must remember safety and liability rest with the unit owners. If people are admitted into the common area, unit owners need to make sure those people are safe.
Make sure pathways are level and clear so visitors do not trip on anything.
Kids don't always use pathways to reach a home's front door. Make sure all holes in your property (trenches, swimming pools, etc.) are either covered or fenced in.
Your neighbors with children will appreciate your care. So, this Halloween, be a good neighbor (and give out the large candy bars too!).
It might be too late to spare China's embarrassment over the contaminated drywall mess, but apparently it isn't too late to right their wrong.
That's what Sabre Technical Services is doing, with their chlorine dioxide decontamination process which -- once injected into the tainted drywall -- renders the problematic reduced sulfur compounds inert.
The company claims that the process requires homeowners to vacate their home for less than a week and costs less than the "rip and rebuild" alternative, which doesn't sound like much fun at all.
What would you do: Hope this is a great fix or start from scratch with new drywall?
We've all had our share of bad home improvement situations, but few compare to the Norton, MA man who was attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets while installing an air conditioner.
The 60-year-old man suffered over 100 stings after he tore through a nest. He's okay now, but the bees were still stinging him under his shirt while in the ambulance!
Anyone else have a nightmare home improvement story out there?
The strangulation death of a four year old has prompted the recall of 32,600 window blinds largely sold in the Florida area. About 15,400 horizontal, 16,400 vertical and 800 Cellular Shades from Vertical Land Inc., of Panama City Beach, City and Pensacola, Fla. The blinds were sold at Vertical Land stores from January 1992 through December 2006 for between $60 and $200 (depending on the size of the blind). A sticker identification label can be found on the head rail of some of the window coverings which lists the company’s name, address and telephone number. Consumers should immediately stop using the window coverings and contact Vertical Land at (800) 423-8653 to receive a free retrofit kit.
Despite the pervasive “where did the summer go” question I hear at this time of the year, there’s still plenty of grilling yet to be done. If you’re lucky enough to live in more temperate areas -- or if a little snow and sub-zero temperatures don’t scare you -- you might be one of those grill owners who count the number of potential grilling days in the year at 365.
Whatever your grilling habits, here’s a piece of advice: Keep the grill away from the house. In a recent conversation with a local contractor I discovered that replacing melted vinyl siding was one of his most frequent jobs. Folks push their grill right up against the side of the house, where the 300+ temperatures do a warp-job on the heat-sensitive panels.
The Home Safety Council recommends placing the grill 10 feet away from other objects, including the house and bushes. While it might be tough for some homeowners to abide strictly by that rule, do yourself a favor and at least don’t push it flush with the side of the home. You’ll help keep your vinyl siding from looking like it belongs in a Van Gogh painting. So tell us: What's your worst grilling error?
