Protecting Your Home and Family ~ Guest Post

Moms are the beginning and the end when it comes to keeping our homes running smoothly. Not only do we take care of balancing the checkbooks, paying the bills, cleaning the house, and raising the kids, we also have to see that our home and family are protected. Protection comes in many different forms, from safety to pest control.

Pests

When you buy a new home, you have the obligatory inspection done. They test for everything from water damage, roof leaks and termites. When the report comes back, you decide if you really want the house or not. Ours came back clean, but in order to keep it that way we need regular maintenance by Terminix pest control or a professional pest control service of some kind. I don't want my dream home damaged by little bugs.

There are a few things that you can do for some extra prevention:
1. Make sure the soil slopes away from the house
2. Keep plants at least three feet from the house
3. Use plastic sheeting under the house to cover the dirt.
4. Point sprinklers away from the house

You should never have any standing water around the base of the home, as termites need water for survival. Get rid of any dead or dying trees and don't pile up firewood against the house. You shouldn't have those anywhere near it in fact. Make sure the base of the house shows about six inches of the concrete foundation all the way around it. Don't use a lot of mulch around the house, as it breeds termites.

Weather issues

Depending on your area and the regular weather you have there, you might want to make sure there are no large trees too close to the house either. They can be knocked over by storms and you don't want them to fall on the house. I know that they shade the house and help keep electricity bills down, but in areas with high straight line winds, those trees can be dangerous to your home and your family. Keep the trees well trimmed as well. This way you won't have to worry about dead branches falling from them.

Child Safety 
1. Check your house and move cleaning agents, medicines, vitamins, toiletries, mothballs, and other potentially harmful items out of reach. ( You would be surprised to learn how many children are able to get that Pinesol bottle open and drink it. )
2. Attach corner and edge guards to furniture that will become a hazard as child walks, climbs, and grows taller.
3. Keep heavy items like TV's on low stands so they won't tip
4. Cut off or tie up dangling cords on drapes and blinds.
5. Make sure you have the safety plugs for all of your outlets as well. ( We all know that children love to stick things into small holes and spaces. We buy them lots of toys teach them to do just that and need to make sure they can't do it in the wrong space. )

When you buy a home with a pool and you have small children, you should invest in a safety pool fence. Some of them are removable for those pool parties and such, but they are definitely worth the expense to keep your children safe. In addition to the safety fence, you can put latches or locks at the top of the doors to your home to keep the children from wandering outside. Kids have a tendency to do that the moment you turn your back or use the restroom.

Protecting your home and your family is not very difficult or even expensive if you take simple precautions. Most of it is common sense and easily done on your own without the help of professionals. If you do need a professional to help you, just do your research and you will be fine. I hope this helps you ladies. I know that a lot of it helped me when we first bought our home.