Knowing your way around your home will prove useful in times of urgent and stressful events. It’s important to have a game plan when unforeseen events occur like when the handle in your tub breaks off and you can’t shut off the water. Instead of flooding your home, you can easily minimize damages by shutting off the water in your home.
Tip #1: Know WHERE and HOW to shut off water in your home
The water valve can differ both in its location and appearance in the home. It can be found in your garage or outside your home near a facet. Since there’s no standardized location for your shut off water valve, you may need to do a quick search in your home to locate it. Once you’ve located your shut off water valve, turn it clockwise either by hand or your own choice of tools. Some water valves can look like shown in the image below, but it can also take the form of a cogwheel like shape. For more information, you can check out this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvE6n7rTGnM
Tip #2: Know WHERE and HOW to shut off breakers in your home
In case of electrical fire or emergencies, it would be helpful to know where your main breaker is instead of looking for it while there’s an electrical fire currently going on in your home. Breakers also don’t have a standardized location, so you may have to look for them in closets or outside in your home. They should be up on a wall generally at about eye-level and they’re generally grey or beige large boxes. There will be multiple switches on your breaker that coincides with different areas in your home. Usually, the switch at the top is your main breaker that turns off all of the electricity in your home, which includes your lights, so bring a flashlight so you’re not left in the dark. See the image below to have a better idea of what your breaker looks like.
For more information, check out this video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ3ky3VSGgQ
Tip #3: Know how to program your garage opener
When your garage remote suddenly stops working, here are a few tips to figure out what the issue is. First, check with your garage button usually located on your wall to see if the issue is with your garage remote or your actual garage. If it works, then the issue lies in your garage remote. Possible issues could be a bad battery or just normal wear and tear on your remote. If it’s the former, simply buy new batteries. However, if it’s the latter, you need to take a trip to a home improvement store like Home Depot or Lowes and purchase a relatively cheap universal garage remote. We can break down programming your remote in 3 easy steps:
Locate the learn button on your overhead garage unit and press it
Within 30 seconds of pressing the learn button, press and hold a button on your newly purchased garage remote.
Release your garage remote when the overhead garage unit’s lights blink or when you hear two clicks and your remote is all set!
Check this video out if you want to see a demonstration of programming your remote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwsVMJUYThU
Now you’ll be AND feel more prepared and less stressed to handle common home emergencies and issues at hand.
