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kaikhaos · 6 years

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The Hurricane Sandy Saga: Feb 2019 Edition

So here’s the story of my life since October 28, 2012 and all the chaos that has come with it. This is not a happy story, so far, but I’m hoping you guys can help make it one, or at least help prevent a bad end. This is a story of corrupt banks, government bullsh*t, and a 25 year old disabled trans queer who just wants to go home. Over the next five thousand words, I hope you realize the extent of how life has repeatedly NOPED at any sense of logic. At the end of my story, I’m going to ask you to help me out if you can and to spread the word either way.

The tl;dr version is that my family is facing homelessness for the fourth time in eighteen months and I really need you guys’ help to get us back into a stable situation so this never happens again. The mortgage company has screwed us yet again and is holding on to $250,000 that is supposed to be ours. So while we own one house and one newly demolished lot, we have nowhere to live. If you can at all help out, please do. My paypal link is at the big PLEASE HELP button at the top of my page on desktop as well as pinned to both of my twitters (MihaelKai & HedonistInk) and I’ll also be regularly reblogging a version of this post here WITH the link.

My name is Aleks. This is my story.

First, let’s get one thing out of the way: I’m disabled. I have been legally recognized as disabled since I was 18. I have a combination of mental health issues and physical health issues that make it so my capacity on any given day varies greatly from “I made it through a day at a con thanks to lots of painkillers!” to “I brushed my teeth today and didn’t cry doing it!” But I try. Anxiety, depression, C-PTSD, & ADD are just a few of the things I’ve been diagnosed with by my therapist and psychiatrist, paired with diagnoses from my doctors of migraines, fibromyalgia, and a degenerative connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos that all combine to leave me in fairly constant pain basically everywhere. My brain and my body attack me constantly but I still try to do what I can. Unfortunately, it means I can’t just go out and get a 9-5 or retail job to help fix my situation. I can only do what I can do and I have to know my limits.

I live with my mother and my QPP Luca who are both also disabled.

You may know in 2012 we were hit by Hurricane Sandy. If you don’t know that, you’re about to find out. We had six feet of water in our house and my grandfather’s house next door (AKA: my inheritance) floated off of its foundation and was straight up condemned. Ever since then, life has been, in a word, chaos. It’s gotten to be a theme in our house that if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. Even my therapist has given up on making any kind of treatment plan and is basically just focusing on damage control. And honestly, at this point, I just wanna go home.

But Aleks, it’s been seven years, why aren’t you home yet? Oh boy, I am SO glad you asked. Let’s get into this history.

First, a prequel. I’m not rich, my family isn’t rich, but we get by. Our house wasn’t big, but it was beautiful. In 2006, my mother bought two tiny houses next door to each other from an old man who wanted to sell them to a family the way he’d grown up in the smaller house while his parents lived in the other house. The one house was a six hundred square foot bungalow that would become my grandfather’s and its neighbor was a seven hundred square foot house that would become mine and my mother’s.

Our house was gorgeous and cute. Built in the early 1900s by a tinsmith with scraps from all of his jobs, all of the walls were tin instead of sheetrock or plaster, the floors were gorgeous hardwood, and the three bedrooms were each under a hundred square feet. It was tiny but it was ours.

On August 28th, 2011, that house was hit by Tropical Storm Irene. Our house was flooded by two feet of water on the first floor. The Atlantic Ocean took out our floors, cabinets, appliances, electrical outlets, the bathroom tile, and the furniture, not to mention rusting the heck out of the bottom of the tin walls. It took six months to get the final eighty thousand dollar settlement out of the insurance company.

The check was deposited by the mortgage company who said they would hold onto it and dole it out as we hired contractors or finished repairs. But here’s the thing: The settlement barely covered enough for the supplies, so we maxed out credit cards and depleted personal savings and finished our repairs a few months later with the help of very few contractors and a lot of DIY.

We installed our kitchen appliances as the last step and called the mortgage company that day to ask them to come and inspect and verify the repairs were done so they could release the other seventy thousand dollars that they were holding onto. They said they were backed up and that they would come and inspect in a month.

Our new stove was 22 days old when Hurricane Sandy hit us.

Where Irene was manageable, Sandy was devastating. My grandfather’s house floated on the storm surge and landed three feet away from its foundation. The legs of our lawn table were bent and sticking out from under the house like the damn wicked witch or something. Our house on the other hand shifted by an inch. Not much, you’d think, but enough to break every pipe in the house and damage the entire structural stability of the house.

The town building department condemned my grandfather’s house and wrote ours up as “more than 50% damaged”.

Needless to say, both houses were left completely and totally uninhabitable.

The mortgage company inspector came and said because everything was wet and ruined that they “couldn’t certify the repairs were completed” even when we were standing there with a stack of receipts and before and after pictures, clearly proving everything had been replaced since most of the materials had been changed. So they decided they wouldn’t release the $70,000 they were holding onto from Irene until the new SANDY repairs were done. Even though we’d already spent that money on repairs and run up debt because of it, they decided they were just going to hold onto it for longer.

And honestly? Fuck those guys. They are the root of some of the most evil parts of this, as you’ll see.

So back to the Sandy damages. First, the insurance company offered us a FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLAR damage assessment. Fifteen thousand bucks when we had six feet of water in our house. For perspective, fourteen months before Hurricane Sandy, Tropical Storm Irene sent 24 inches of water into our house and the insurance company gave us eighty thousand dollars to make those repairs. So yeah, fifteen thousand wasn’t gonna do it. The construction estimates for the repairs were coming in around two hundred and fifty thousand.

So, of course, we appealed. Our engineer said parts of the house were outright dangerous from the damage and had to be torn down and replaced. We told the insurance company this and they told us they would send their own engineer. And… well… they sent SOMEBODY. Was that guy a licensed engineer? Nope. Did they tell us he was? Yup.

So then we appealed to FEMA. The judge from FEMA told them outright to send a LICENSED engineer in his decision and left it at that. So then they did. This guy now said he thought fifty thousand was gonna do it. The insurance company looked at his report and went “mmm… so how about thirty thousand?”

So… no. So then we had to hire a lawyer and took them to court. We weren’t the only ones, thousands of people had to file these lawsuits. The lawyer told us not to let the mortgage company cash the $30,000 of checks we’d been given for the storm so far because it could be argued to be us agreeing to that number. He said we just had to WAIT. So the checks got too old to cash.

The Visiting Nurse Service started sending a therapist to our house once a week for each of the three of us to help with “Hurricane-Related PTSD”. Yup. Cool. On top of my regular C-PTSD. Awesome. But the guy was nice and having therapists to talk to twice a week (my regular one and this guy) was helpful. And he gave me some worksheets that helped me kind of have more of a tool kit. Everything still sucked but hey, we all trudged on.

Pretty sure this was around when the first roofing shingles started falling off of our rental house. We told the landlord that this was a problem and that the property was going to start getting leaks in the roof. We pointed out that it said in our lease that he was supposed to fix this little ‘issue’.

Repeatedly.

Including in writing and by sending him photos of the slowly growing stack of shingles that were not on the roof anymore and the leaky window.

And he still did diddly squat about it.

For five years.

Meanwhile during this whole… process, New York State started the New York Rising program to help rebuild the houses who were tied up in lawsuits like ours or who didn’t have insurance like my grandfather’s. We applied right away. It seemed like an answer!

…So then uh… New York Rising LOST our file.

…Uh… Twice.

And when they finally DID decide to properly process our application, they gave us a grand total of $88,000 and put us in the ‘Build a whole new house’ category. Our house is, as I said, under 900 square feet in size. You literally cannot build a house in our area for that price at that size. Especially when it’s a property that needs 14 foot deep helical pilings and a nine foot high foundation to comply with current code. The foundation alone is $50,000. The lowest estimate we found from any construction company after no less than TEN bids was $180,000 NOT counting the architect who’s another $15,000. NY Rising expected us to be able to rebuild for a fraction of that. So we started looking into finding other financing possibilities while waiting on the lawsuit to continue going through.

We decided to hire our neighbour’s architect because he was something resembling almost affordable. We gave him a deposit. …A few weeks later, he had a heart attack while leaving the building department’s office. …A few weeks after that, he started being investigated for embezzling money from his clients.

At this point, we’d been out of our house for years. And more and more shingles kept falling off of the roof of the rental. Then a siding tile fell off too because the landlord’s son’s landscaping company crashed a lawnmower into it.

We started looking at houses to buy so that at least we would own something.

Then my grandfather (who had been a major contributor to our household finances) had a severe stroke. Six months later, he died. Suddenly we were $3,000 tighter per month. The possibility of buying a house went out the window. But we made do as best as we could.

FEMA was paying for the rental house we were living in while going through all of the appeal and lawsuit procedures and, when we hit their funding cap, New York Rising’s IMA program stepped in to pay “whichever is less, your rent or mortgage”. It still meant higher costs as the rent around here is more than our mortgage, but it made it so we could get by.

The one silver lining was that once my grandfather was out of the picture (since he’d been living with us in a shared rental since Sandy), I was able to start on testosterone injections. January 28, 2015, I was able to start my injections and officially begin the medical side of my transition.

Then New York Rising hit a cap on IMA funding. Which… sucked pretty fucking hard because then there was a few thousand a month more money we had to find to shell out. But then the program was extended and that was awesome.

Then our cat, Pickles, developed severe kidney problems. She was my best friend since the day she showed up on our doorstep a week after we bought our house in 2006 and wandered into the kitchen demanding petting. She moved into our lives and never left. I couldn’t give her up without a fight. So I spent all of my savings on her medical bills and started giving her saline injections twice a day every day to help her kidneys flush the toxins they couldn’t handle themselves.

Then the IMA ran out again. So back to the land of suck. They told us we would be eligible for a little more funding. But only if we demolished the existing house.

In order to legally demolish the house, we had to pay for a construction company to do it under their license. New York Rising expected us to be able to demo the house for $5,000. The lowest bid we received was for $9,000. When we told them this, their reaction was essentially “yeah, yeah, we know, just make it work”. Make it work is a cool and funny phrase when spoken by an aging fashion consultant on television. It’s not so cool or funny when it’s being told to you by the people who are supposed to help you fix your house. It is stressful as hell.

Then Pickles got sicker. And sicker. And her at-home dialysis wasn’t enough to keep her going anymore. Pickles passed in May 2016.

In 2017, we finally won our lawsuit. The judge ruled the insurance company had to release a full payment to the policy maximum of $250,000! Those jerks tried giving us $15,000 and the judge was like “Uh… no, this is $250,000 of damage”. Victory! But we were still out our legal fees because, unlike homeowner’s insurance where the insurance company pays the fees, flood insurance is federally underwritten so you’re not allowed to get the legal fees paid for. Some flood insurance companies realized they’d fucked up and as a result agreed to pay for the legal fees. Our flood insurance company… wasn’t so generous. But a check was still generated by the flood insurance company thanks to the judge. Huzzah, light at the end of the tunnel!

…Then the lawyer refused to sign the check.

Apparently our lawyer has had dealings with our mortgage company before and run into the same problem as we had with their “we’ll release your funding at the end” theory. Except for him that meant “we won’t pay out your legal fees until the house is finished” and he didn’t like that. So they wanted him to sign the check over to them and he wanted them to sign the check over to him. They spent years arguing over a piece of paper with some dollar signs on it while we got needlessly further into debt.

Then one of my ferrets, Wasabi, my emotional support animal, got really sick really suddenly.

By the time the vet scrambled to find out what was wrong, it was too late and he was gone. It turned out that he had a rare autoimmune condition caused by heavy metal exposure from the water. His sister survived, but now Lemon was alone and she and I were both devastated. Watching the way she would get excited and then sad any time we brought out a toy with Wasabi’s scent on it broke my heart so I replaced her toys.

A month later, people came knocking on our door offering free water filters if they would let us track the toxic plume of decades old industrial chemicals and waste spreading unhindered through the groundwater supply that had apparently reached us and was contaminating our pipes.

Eventually, during all this, New York Rising started to realize that their $160 per square foot amount just wasn’t enough when it came to houses like ours. So they started a program called the Recon 100 program. The goal of this program was supposed to be that New York Rising would take over the build process, they would hire contractors and architects in bulk, essentially hiring them for ‘bundles’ of 10 or 20 properties at a time to get them to accept a lower profit per house because they would be guaranteed months of solid work. We were signed up into the program.

Now, as a condition of this program, we had to stop doing any work on our own, we’d have to return whatever hadn’t been spent on repairs already, and we’d have to give them any insurance checks. But New York Rising was bragging about how they had programs that would allow you to repay the funding over several years because they knew everyone was using a little bit here or there to make ends meet. And that was all well and dandy because once the repairs were done, the mortgage company would release what they were holding one way or another. They would have to. …Right?

Meanwhile, our rental assistance hit the next cap. New York Rising told us not to worry because once this paperwork was approved, we’d be eligible for a higher cap of extended rental assistance. It was just a matter of waiting for the paperwork to get approved, they said.

Then our caseworker at New York Rising decided she was going to deny our receipts for the funds already spent. And that she wasn’t going to file the appeals to that denial that we explicitly asked her in writing to file.

Then on top of that, we discovered that at some point our NYR caseworker had decided to NOT sign us up for the extended timeline repayment thing because… fuck knows why, honestly? And that now she wasn’t going to apply us for it because “oh it’s full now”. So NY Rising decided that, before they’d do anything, they wanted us to give THEM the money that was still sitting in those pre-lawsuit paper checks that went old immediately. The government decided that we either had to magic the money of an un-cashed check out of thin air or else it was up to us to: 1, get them reissued, 2, get them deposited by the mortgage company, and 3, somehow get the mortgage company to issue that money to New York Rising.

And they wanted all this done in less than a week because they decided this in the last phase of our approval process and there were other deadlines really close. …Needless to say, the mortgage company was like “lol um nah” even to the theoretical idea of giving the money to NY Rising for the repairs, nevermind the hassle of getting the checks reissued by the flood insurance company with an active lawsuit ongoing.

New York Rising only said “too bad, figure it out yourself and PS because you’re not in this program anymore, we won’t give you the continued rental assistance, why aren’t you done rebuilding your house yet?” Meanwhile, we were waiting on them for months because they told us it was just waiting for the paperwork to go through.

Meanwhile, we had a new jerk of a builder/flipper neighbour. He’d bought the house next door to us when the family with the new baby decided it wasn’t worth waiting so many years to have their own house fixed. Let’s call him Fish Head. He decided to have his building supplies delivered to our neighbour’s yard WITHOUT her permission because there wasn’t enough room on his property. Straight up, he had a whole pallet of building supplies just dumped on her yard. She complained, obviously, and her husband threatened to call the cops. So he moved his shit to to OUR yard because we happened to not be there that day. It took WEEKS to get him to move the shit, even WITH calling the cops.

Turns out, cops don’t give a shit if someone puts hundreds of pounds of building materials on your yard. They’ll tell you you’re well within your rights to move it yourself but if you don’t have a forklift or a whole team of burly humans to assist you in the move then too bad so sad.

Thanks, Fish Head.

But back to the housing. We were months overdue on the rent because we were “just waiting for the paperwork to finish processing”. They told us we’d get all the back stuff in one lump payment. They lied and now we were up shit’s creek.

Our scummy landlord finally sent a notice saying “I’ve waited long enough, get out”. So that was… cool. We were able to keep him from coming after the back rent by pointing out that he was a slum lord and that we’d notified him in writing about being a slumlord, but it still meant we had to move out immediately and in a rush. Thankfully, it was May.

So on June 1st 2018, we moved into our RV parked at a local campsite. Three adults, a cat, and a ferret, crammed into an RV that was anything but recreational.

We installed cameras on our house around this point because Fish Head kept having his workers trample all over our property and they kept breaking things and leaving garbage everywhere.

Then the engineer said he thought he could figure out a way to save the main body of our house and raise it, that we’d only have to demolish off the back room and possibly the bathroom in order to raise it. It was another light at the end of a repeatedly lengthening tunnel. So we changed tracks completely and had him start drafting stuff up for us to raise the existing house, rebuilding only the porch.

Now, here’s the thing about the local campsites, we don’t have many of them and they sell out pretty quickly. Especially for the height of the summer. So they didn’t have any of their ‘full hook-up’ sites, AKA the ones that get you electricity and everything, but we had water and a bathroom and a shower facility and the barbecue to cook food, and it was… survivable. Not exactly comfortable but survivable.

We started doing the work to repair the house instead of following the line of thinking of rebuilding it. We cashed in everything we could and scraped together every scrap of money we possibly could, we sold things, we asked for help where we could, we got a very understanding contractor to give us the lowest prices we could. We managed to get the mortgage company to pay out some of the Tropical Storm Irene money directly to the contractors. Remember that guy, wayyyy back in 2011? And the mortgage inspector who missed a pre-Sandy inspection by a week? Yeah. They still had that money. So even though it was technically Sandy damages as we’d already done the work from Irene, we managed to get them to pay that out. But WHATEVER. It got it paid.

We had a looming deadline from New York Rising that they wanted the house raised by December 31st. Or at least that they wanted it lifted and pending the new foundation. They call this ‘cribbing’ and it basically means your house goes up on Jenga Towers and that you can’t live in it for a while until the foundation is done and it goes back down. So we had to somehow make that happen. But first things first, the campground was closing for the season and we had to have a place to live.

On November 1st 2018, we were able to move back into our house.

Temporarily, at least, while permits and construction drawings and everything went through for getting the house raised.

So we applied to the mortgage company to get the remaining $40,000 that they had from Tropical Storm Irene, the full final payout. And, amazingly, we got it. In it came and went right back out it went to the contractors who were supposed to be working on raising the house because that December 31st deadline was still looming.

Then Fish Head who we keep running into issues with, FINALLY got a stop work order on his house for not having the right permits. Serves you right, Fish Head. But, in retaliation, he decided to lie to the building department that we were living there without utilities? Somehow? When we literally had all our utilities? And had gotten the “90% complete” inspection from our mortgage company? So THAT was a whole mess to try to straighten out. When we met with the head of the building department, he literally turned to the guy next to him and said “See, remember I told you about this guy? This is the retaliation I was telling you about” because he was the guy who had personally signed the stop work order on Fish Head.

So the next big concern was that December 31st deadline. Everyone kept debating whether or not New York Rising would extend it at the last minute again (as they’d done that once before), and we started scrambling to try to find somewhere to live while the house was raised. Ideally, we were looking for somewhere that WASN’T the cold tiny RV in the middle of a New York winter. We applied to a few apartments but because we were paying the mortgage and everything our debt to income ratio didn’t qualify.

On December 24th, 2018, we got the $250,000 check from the flood insurance company with our name and the mortgage company’s name. It seemed like a Christmas Miracle. So we immediately sent it over to the mortgage company so they could cash it and we could apply to have those funds released, remember, our house was FINISHED and HABITABLE, except for needing to be raised per the new flood zoning stuff. At the very least, we had the 90% inspection, and on our next inspection we got a 99%.

So we immediately started applying for the final permits for getting the house raised and my grandfather’s house demolished. The lady at the building department is… nice but not very organized. So we had to deal with the town jerking us around with the permits taking forever to get done, well past the time estimates they tell you on the phone when you call and ask about time estimates.

We rushed to have our disconnects done. Water, electric, sewer. The house was all wrapped up in a pretty bow ready to be raised. We moved into a hotel. All we needed was the final elevation permit and the money from the mortgage company.

So back to the mortgage company and that $250,000. The mortgage company denied the payout 3 times saying, “Oh we don’t have… this paper or that paper” for papers we had confirmation they had. The guy on the phone one time when we were like “….We submitted that one on x date while speaking to Z employee”, he tried saying, “Oh this fax isn’t legible…” and we were just like “…FAX… you mean the scanned in PDF we submitted via your web upload?” And he was like “…Oh. hold please…” and suddenly he could read the form. Magic. So basically they were just LYING to us. Why? Fuck knows.

Then it was, “Everything is fine and it’ll be issued in 3 days” on the 23rd. And we got the elevation permit! And the demo permit on my grandfather’s house! Everything was rolling along and it was all going to be fine! Right?

Not so fast.

On the 31st we still had no check. We called and it was, “Oh it has to go to this other department because it’s over $70,000, but everything is approved and they’ll issue the check in 5 to 7 days, HONEST”.

We called back on the 5th and THAT lie had turned into “Oh well… we sold your loan effective the 4th, you’ll have to ask the new guys”. The mortgage company SOLD OUR LOAN to another company WHILE our payout was “APPROVED AND SENT TO THE CHECK ISSUING DEPARTMENT”.

We called the new guys who told us, “Oh we don’t even have a ID NUMBER assigned for your loan yet, call back in a week to get your loan number and then it’s another week until we can even see your funds and start your payout claim oh and we probably need to schedule our own inspection.”

So it’ll be easily a month OR MORE before we get the money.

We are trying to expedite this whole process as best as we can. We managed to get the ID number in only 4 days. They seem to be arguing with themselves about whether or not they need a whole new inspection or not.

Meanwhile, we only really had the money for the hotel for the lift time but all the disconnects have been done (there is no heat, water, or electricity) so it’s not like we can just go BACK HOME during the delay either.

We have $250,000 on the way and we’re about to be homeless. Again. For the third time in 18 months.

If we can just get $5,000, we can pay to have the house RECONNECTED AGAIN to everything so we can wait these fuckers out and get the payout.

Every little bit helps.

Please.

The other option is living in the RV again just to have a roof over our heads. But unlike last time when it was warm, it is February and we are in NY. It snowed yesterday. RVs aren’t designed to keep warm when there’s snow out.

Please help me and my family stay in a house.

My paypal link can be found through the big PLEASE HELP button at the top of my page on desktop as well as will be pinned to both of my twitters (MihaelKai & HedonistInk) and I’ll also be regularly reblogging a version of this post here WITH the link.

I am also taking a limited number of 1000 word or less commissions! That’s about the limit of what I can handle right now! DM me for details!

(Mutuals: If you can’t donate but you can loan us some for two months or so, we can pay you back as soon as we get that check? Please let me know if it is a donation or if you would like to be paid back so I can keep a record.)

#trans crowd fund #please consider donating #donations #transcrowdfund #homelessness #please help #hurricane #hurricane sandy

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grace-journal-of-cl · 3 years

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A Revaluation of Computational Thinking in K–12 Education: Moving Toward Computational Literacies

Yasmin B. Kafai and Chris Proctor

First, this article introduces the background and the development of CS in K12 education system.

Why? maintain each country's economic competitiveness (Hsu et al., 2019) but also to develop a new cross-disciplinary literacy

Three framings of computational thinking:

(gradually become more comprehensive and inclusive)

1) cognitive framings: viewing learning as the acquisition of knowledge and skills and emphasizing preparation for future careers.

limitations: students learning outcomes are seen mostly in individualistic terms, paying little attention to how learning is embedded in social and cultural context (Lave & Wenger, 1991).

2) situated framings: viewing learning as identity formation through participation in disciplinary practices and emphasizing creative expression and social engagement in digital media.

Some researchers (e.g., Vakil, 2018) argue that situated computational thinking does not go far enough in confronting forces such as racism and sexism.

3) critical framings: viewing learning as developing an understanding of how realities are shaped and emphasizing strategies for resisting marginalization and oppression.

Moving Toward Computational Literacies (CL)

we define computational literacies as a set of practices situated in a sociocultural context which utilize external computational media to support cognition and communication.

WHOM? CS is for everyone?

While learning CS may benefit everyone, it may also become media to limit or marginalize others, just like standard English. Thus, we are interested in how youth from non-dominant communities employ digital tools to navigate these tensions and to develop agentic practices that in turn signify historical action.

WHAT?

defining literacies means defining who is literate and which practices (always bound up in cultures, places, and identities) are legitimate.

have many answers grounded in the computational literacy practices of diverse communities and cultures.

HOW?

tailoring instruction to make it relevant to diverse cultures and identities (as suggested by the metaphor of a “leaky pipeline” of STEM education) without also locating educational goals in those cultures and identities, and then asking how (or if ) computation might con-tribute.

Priorities for K–12 Inquiries

call for more research in understanding of how K–12 students engage with various computational concepts and practices and possible trajectories of how they deepen their understanding, keeping in mind alternate endpoints of what it means to be CL.

call for the development of transformative pedagogies to address political and ethical implications in teaching CS, as well as the inadequacy of simply adding an ethics module to the curriculum.

a necessity to make headway in assessing computational literacies at different scales.

tackle the key challenge of including computing education in teacher education programs (DeLyser et al., 2018) as part of the larger education system.

Implications:

This article discusses the meaning and necessity of applying CL into K12 education field. It also gave us clear instructions on whom, what and how. Generally speaking, there is no standard answer to these questions to prevent marginalizing some people, and the specific situation is analyzed on a case-by-case basis. Thus, it gives us a direction for future research and education, that is, to explore a specific method of CL pedagogy in our own specific cultural context.

#computationalthinking #computationalliteracies #k-12 #2021

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prosy-days · 5 years

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October 15, 2019 - Day 118

Looking forward to using these amazing soaps that I got at Leaky Con last weekend.

#365 #15.10.2019 #Day 118 #soap #soaps #Leaky Con

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123designsrq · 5 years

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BEST AIR PURIFIER THAT HANGS ON YOUR WALL AND SHOWS THE TIME

When looking for the best air purifier for your home you usually stumble upon many that are either standalone or table top. But this one is different. The wall mounted Air Hole may be the only wall-mounted best air cleaner that's been made to live within the most compact of studio apartments! Space could be limited within inner-city accommodation, however this shouldn't restrict individuals from being able to access climate, particularly when the environment outdoors can contain toxins. The wall-mountable air cleaner demands little space inside the home, which makes it an appealing option to the ground standing variants we've become familiar with. Airhole also offers an extremely subtle secondary feature that's been integrated into the look to raise its functionality even more an electronic clock continues to be seamlessly built-into the face area from the unit! Breathe deeply-if you're able to. Most of the things we all do to help keep energy costs lower, for example fixing drafty doorways and leaky home windows, may also seal in annoying pollutants and irritants. Lots of people who buy home air cleaners achieve this hoping easing bronchial asthma or allergic reactions. But despite product claims, there’s little definitive medical evidence that home air cleaners assist in relieving respiratory system signs and symptoms. Improving indoor quality of air begins with minimizing pollutant sources for example tobacco smoke, dust, and pet dander. We test how good an area air cleaner removes dust and smoke from your enclosed space, the way it performs at everywhere speeds, and just how quiet it's. The most effective portable models we tested were good at washing the air of dust, smoke, and pollen in their greatest and cheapest speeds. The worst models weren’t terribly good at any speed. The Way We Test Home Air Cleaners At Consumer Reports, all of our air-quality tests are conducted inside a 12x18-feet sealed room isolated from the remainder of our labs. To check how good home air cleaners clean the environment, we put the air cleaner in the heart of the area and inject tobacco smoke and dirt in to the room via a tube. Then we make use of a machine that analyzes the particles in mid-air and appraise the change in mid-air particle concentration more than a 15-minute period at both air purifier’s everywhere speeds. To determine noise, we make use of a decibel meter at ear level 4 ft while watching air cleaner and record the noise level at everywhere speeds for every model. Annual price is a mix of filter substitute costs and also the energy needed to operate the purifier 24 hrs each day for a whole year. Breathe Simpler Before you decide to turn to buying an air cleaner, try some easy steps to lessen indoor air irritants, including: Vacuum frequently and completely utilizing a vacuum rich in-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration. Ban smoking inside. Keep your cooling and heating equipment, and alter hvac filters regularly. Minimize using candle lights and wood fires. Try using exhaust fans in kitchen, bath, and areas with laundry. Don’t store chemicals, solvents, glues, or pesticides near your living quarters. If pollen or related allergic reactions prevent you from opening home windows, run your ac or forced-air air conditioning having a climate filter. (See our test recent results for hvac filters.) Air Cleaner Ratings by Consumer Reports The Benefits and drawbacks Pros: They’re portable-most room home best air cleaners weigh from 10-20 pounds, possess a handle, and stand on the ground or on the table. Heavier models may have wheels. Many possess a Hepa filtration system, which could capture ultrafine particles. Bear in mind that many of these filters have to be replaced yearly, a cost that may approach the price of the air cleanser, however a couple of models are actually provided with cleanable HEPA filters. Cons: Portable mixers use either electrostatic precipitator or ionizer technology could produce some ozone, a lung irritant. Electrostatic precipitator and ionizer home air cleaners shouldn't be wrongly identified as dedicated ozone generators, which produce considerable amounts of ozone by design. Ozone generators ought to be used only by professionals to lessen odors, germs, and mold. Ozone is really a serious health concern, prompting the condition of California to ban the purchase of ozone generators (along with other home air cleaners that emit greater than 50 parts per billion of ozone) in the general market. Prices: $50 to greater than $1,000. Points to consider Operating Costs Many portable designs include annual operating costs of $150 to $200 for filter substitute and electricity (with nearly all that cost being for filters). Filter prices can generally vary from around $10 to around $100 (though many are priced well in to the hundreds). Some units make use of a prefilter to capture large airborne particles before they achieve the Hepa filtration system, possibly extending its existence. Based on usage, you normally have to switch the carbon filters every three several weeks and also the primary filter yearly. To chop costs, search for room mixers are Energy Star certified, meaning they're relatively energy-efficient in contrast to standard models. Some designs include washable filters that may be reused. Ensure That It Stays Clean Any air cleaner won’t work nicely when the filter is clogged and dusty, and when the filter is full, it might cease working entirely. Quietness Counts Noise level is essential, particularly if you run an air cleaner inside a room in which you sleep or work. With regard to efficiency (and quietness), we advise selecting a bigger unit and running it on the lower speed, instead of cranking up a little one. Getting a bigger unit may also accommodate individuals occasions when you really need to wash an area rapidly, for example when cooking odors escape your kitchen exhaust hood. Room Air Cleaner Features Fan: Most room air cleaners make use of a fan to suck in air for filtration. Individuals with no fan (the environment circulates naturally during your home) run more silently, but individuals we tested without fans labored poorly. Servicing indicator: A clogged vbest air cleanser works inefficiently. This selection informs you once the unit must be cleaned or even the filter replaced. Programmable timer: These controls permit you to set the purifier to operate a couple of hrs before you will be utilizing a room, in order to power it down instantly. Transporting handle: This will make it simple to move unit from area to area. Quantity of speeds: The system adjusts for your air-cleaning needs-lower when you're sleeping or working and want quiet, greater when it’s prime pollen time. Ionizer: If your unit comes with an ionizer (which pulls particles with an effect like static electricity), it’s essential that it-not produce ozone. It might say around the box or perhaps in a surgical procedure manual whether or not this produces ozone you may also check our ratings. Ozone is really a lung irritant. Handheld remote control: This enables you to easily adjust settings from over the room. Dirt sensor: In certain room models, the system instantly adjusts fan speed to the stage of dirt or dust in mid-air. Washable prefilter: A washable-and multiple-use-prefilter collects large particles it can benefit cut immediate and ongoing expenses. However, a number of our greater-rated models was without this method. air purifier reviews cnet air purifier best best air purifier 2019 best air purifier for allergies 2019 coway air purifier levoit air purifier best air purifier 2018 best air purifier for allergies 2018 Read the full article

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janicecpitts · 6 years

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Does Your Tub Or Shower Need A Remodel?

Contents

Bathroom design trends

Bathroom trends

Bohemian design inspirations

Tub shower combo

Latest bathroom design trends

5 Of The Best Home Remodeling Projects Of 2018 | Realtor.com® You’ll get your money’s worth and appeal to buyers with these remodeling projects. Mortgages. Compare Lenders. … 2018 in Real Estate. … The 10 best

Pros Know Best. A bath remodel is no small undertaking. So before you start tearing up the tiles and picking out the tub, get a little advice from the people who make bathroom makeovers their bread and butter. We polled contractors, designers, and other pros for their top tips and insider tricks for getting every detail right.

Painting Bathroom Tile? 6 Things To Know First bathroom design trends In 2019 – bathroom trends Recently, the Houzz 2018 Bathroom Trends study found that gray is the most on-trend color for bathrooms

Once you find your ideal shower curtain, you need to starting think about picking … Curtain with Ball Detail feature an elegant design that would look at home in any bathroom. Your shower curtain ho…

Your bathroom will look interesting in this design. Here are bohemian design inspirations you can try at home. White Bohemian Bathroom with Floral Curtains White Bohemian bathroom with floral curtains …

mosby tub shower combo. The re-sale value of a tub-less house is tricky to gauge because half of prospective buyers want one, the other half don’t care.

Mar 2, 2019 … Bathroom remodeling is all about plumbing, electrical, and tile … a leaky shower or cast iron plumbing stacks that have rusted to the point of crumbling. …. Refinishing your tub/shower yourself can produce acceptable results.

You know it’s the dead of winter when being constantly dehydrated is your new normal. We feel your pain—and so do your … into the bathroom while you shower.“ Our website, archdigest.com, offers cons…

If you are a do-it-yourselfer tackling your own tiled shower be sure to follow the steps outlined above for a long lasting shower. If you have some of the symptoms outlined above or have a bathroom remodel project on your “to do” list please call Keystone Remodeling at 770-777-4077.

When it comes to the bathroom, all you really need is a functioning space where you can get in, do your business, and get out. But come on—it can be so much more! The latest bathroom design trends … …

7 Bathroom Design Trends That Home Buyers Hate | Realtor.com® A new study by Joybird, a custom furniture company, revealed that Victorian is the interior design style that wins the popularity vote in more U.S. Popular Renovation Projects That Can Boost Your Resale Value Receive notifications of new listings that match your requirements : Be among the first to learn about new home projects : Connect with builders ×

Amazing Bathroom Renovations. Once you get a better idea of your remodeling plan, explore bathroom designs that suit your needs and lifestyle. Whether you’re remodeling a master bath into a spa retreat or punching up a powder room to impress guests, find inspiration in these common bathroom types:

#3 Don’t Build Around a Window. If your tub is just a tub, and it’s under a window, things might get a bit complicated if you want to do this the right way. Because you really should avoid having a window in your shower. Seriously. There are just too many opportunities for water to seep into your walls through the window casing.

Diy Don’ts For Your Most Successful Home Renovation Projects Yet Jul 31, 2018 · DIY Don’ts For Your Most Successful Home Renovation Projects Yet. … professionals to help you complete any kind of home improvement project. Bathroom Design Trends In 2019 – Bathroom Trends Recently, the Houzz 2018 Bathroom Trends study found that gray is the most on-trend color for bathrooms as we head into 2019, with gray palettes

Dec 15, 2018 … Does Replacing a Bath With a Shower Decrease Your Home Value? … When it comes to bathroom remodeling, you’ll likely get a good return on … or if someone in the family has difficulty using a tub, sometimes need trumps …

Q: My guess is you’re not a gardener, but I do need … your home like a pro] Being a wet-behind-the-ears remodeler, I had no idea that the PVC pipes reacted violently to hot water. As soon as anyone …

Jan 28, 2019 … Homeowners who are remodeling or constructing a new bathroom get stuck on this question a lot. … If you’re going to sell your home, pulling the tubs will isolate … A walk-in shower may be the right choice if you have a small …

Jun 18, 2018 … Does your bathtub need a makeover? How to find the best … Bathtub renovations , bathroom renovations, bathtub remodel. Would you take a …

via Check This Out More Resources

#Does Your Tub Or Shower Need A Remodel?#Skill Trade Contractor

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hufflepufflin997 · 6 years

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A little bit about me!

Hi everyone! My name is Bre Nicole, I am a hufflepuff, and today I felt compelled to start a Harry Potter blog!

After attending Leakycon Dallas 2018 I was so inspired by the amazing and extremely dedicated fans.

I want to meet more of you and be able to meet more of you at the con next year!

This blog isn’t going to be all hufflepuff related but I had to make sure I represented my people!

More to come soon! Please follow and keep ask me stimulating questions about the books or movies!!

#harry potter convention #leaky con 2019 #leakycon2018 #leakycon2019 #leaky con 2018 #hufflepuff #ravenpuff #gryffindor #slytherin #hogwarts #harry+potter #harry potter #new blog

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libertyreads · 5 years

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Book Review #74 of 2019:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. Rating: 5.0 Stars.

Reread on August 13th and 14th.

This review will be short like all of my Harry Potter related reviews are. I’ve been reading these books for 20 years now so there’s not a ton of new information for me to provide in a review. I will say that I was originally going to wait until later in the month to read this one, but going to Leaky Con with my best friend and my husband made me put down the book I was reading at the time and pick this one up.

I love the illustrated editions so much because it’s getting a visual on the world I love without being messed up by inaccuracies like certain movies I watch very rarely. There were a couple of times I had wished for an illustration of a scene and it didn’t happen. Like Harry playing different parts for Lockhart during DADA class or when the paintings were caught of guard and taking curlers out of their hair. But I also know that adding that many illustrations would give me an impossibly long book to read. I still don’t know if I’d mind that though.

There’s a lot of the Hogwarts life we get to see now that we didn’t get to explore as much during first year. I like how Harry interacted with students outside of his own house and we got to meet some kids in his year. I also like the side story with Percy and his secret girlfriend. The thing I probably enjoyed the most this time around was seeing Harry and Ron having to rely on each other to solve this problem because Hermione was petrified (probably because I literally just sat in a panel this weekend about how great Ron is as a character).

The pages of this book kept teetering between dark and light. During the scenes in the Forbidden Forest and the Chamber of Secrets we got a good look at what the series is probably heading toward in terms of illustration and feeling. I really feel like the illustrations bring back a sense of the silliness and fun that the books had for me as a child while still introducing the darker elements at this point. It definitely makes me want to grab Prisoner of Azkaban right away, but I’m holding that off for September 1st.

IG: libertyreads789

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tom--22--felton · 5 years

Photo

Tom with fans at Leaky Con, Dallas, August 10-11, 2019

1) sarwarzz - Mischief Managed⚡️

2) magicalorlandoparks - Cheesing SO hard 🤩 . It happened and it was wonderful! 🐍 My pal, Charlotte, and I have been Pottering since childhood, so this Leaky Con was a dream come true. 😍 Before this photo, she found the most epic Sytherin goblet, so we thought it deserved to be in the photo too. You can't tell by his face, but we know he appreciated the extra. 😂 More fun can be found in my stories! . Big thanks to @fletcherinc_designs for my wizarding maternity shirt! It was a hit!

3) elizabeth_estes - my father definitely heard about this 🐍✨

4) tamara_atx -This Ravenclaw is hanging out with a Slytherin! It's bad boy Draco Malfoy. (aka Tom Felton)

5) jawtattoos - Draco Malfoy and The Chamber Secrets ✨ . We posed, we power clashed, and @t22felton apologized, saying “I’m just pointing at your crotch in the photo, sorry about that” . It’s cool Tom, we got a good story out of it

6) kelley.phillips - sorry to slytherin to your feed, but draco malfoy made me do it😉

7) stephenharris93 - Also met Tom Felton!

8) baylee_williamson - I’ve cried twice in my life: once when I came out of the womb and twice when I met Tom Felton💚

9-10) xxrene95 - Such an awesome experience meeting @t22felton @leakycon super down to earth/humble person. Thanks for taking your time out to do this!!

#Tom Felton

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ledenews · 5 years

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Home Sweet Home - Scammers Everywhere

WOO HOO! It’s almost spring! It’s time to check the roof, the driveway, the yard, and the rest of the house to see what needs fixed. Ahhh! The joys of home ownership. If we are young and healthy, we may still want to do our own home repairs. (I probably don’t need to mention that getting on the roof when you’re 75 is NOTHING like getting on the roof when you’re 25!) The jobs that seemed easy not so long ago become much more intimidating as we age. Home repairs are expensive, and can cost thousands of dollars. People on fixed incomes may not have the resources to have repairs completed, and may be on the “lookout” for home repair deals. But – are they going to get a deal or are they going to get scammed? Some of the more common types of home repair scams involve duct cleaning, driveway sealant, leaky foundations, landscaping, furnace and roofing repair. We live in an area that has an above-average number of senior citizens. Many of those seniors don’t have family close by or perhaps they didn’t have children. Their friends are most likely older adults, too, and have many of the same issues. This lack of support puts a lot of people in a vulnerable position for getting conned! Don’t let that person be YOU! Be cautious as we come into the spring clean-up season. You may be approached by an unscrupulous contractor or the person may be con artist. Ask for identification.Beware of people who show up at your doorstep offering to fix something for a great price. (If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!) They may say they ‘were driving by and noticed a problem’. Busier contractors most often don’t have the time to drive around looking for customers.Some scammers will offer to get the supplies to fix the problem, but they need money up front. These people MAY come back, or you may never see them or your money again. Do NOT let people into your home. Sometimes one person will talk to the consumer while the other asks to use the bathroom. That person may be casing your house or stealing your money or possessions. What should you do? Make sure that you check credentials including the contractor’s license and number. Do not make a decision in haste. If the person must have a decision right now, you need to step back.Ask for references and check them - thoroughly.Don’t pay in cash. Use a credit card, check or consider financing. Do your own financing. Don’t let the contractor arrange this for you.Put it in writing. Have a contract for the work and read the fine print!Be proactive. Talk to friends who have had work done. Most states require residential contractor licensing but some do not. Check with your state’s Attorney General for requirements. As a family member, stay in touch with your family. Are they cognitively impaired? They are especially vulnerable. Look at the house. What needs fixed? Stay informed about their needs. Our older family members want to remain independent and in control of their lives, but sometimes they need some help. Respect their independence and make sure they contribute to the “solutions” but make sure they are aware that it can be a dangerous world out there. [Source: National Consumers League, The Top 10 Flags of Home Repair Scams, https://www.nclnet.org/top_10_red_flags_of_home_repair_scams, AARP, https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/home-improvement.html; National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Home Improvement Scams: Tools to Reduce Your Risk, https://www.n4a.org/Files/N4a-HI-Scams-brochure-access.pdf Ann Koegler, MA, LSW Altenheim Resource & Referral Services, Wheeling WV Read the full article

#ConsumerProtection #ElderAbuse #HomeSweetHome #Scams

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andylocksmithtipsntricks · 5 years

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Best Fire Extinguishers

Best for Reliability

Amerex B402

Read Review

Firefighter recommended

Steel casing

Easy to service

Firefighter recommended

Steel casing

Easy to service

View on Amazon

Read Review

Best for Budget

First Alert Standard Home Fire Extinguisher

Read Review

Under $30

Mounting bracket included

10-year warranty

Under $30

Mounting bracket included

10-year warranty

View on Amazon

Read Review

Best for Convenience

The Fireman Fire Extinguishing Spray

Read Review

Compact

Easy to use

Non-toxic

Compact

Easy to use

Non-toxic

View on Amazon

Read Review

Amerex Is a Firefighter’s Pick

When we started researching the best fire extinguishers, we knew we should start by asking a pro, so we talked to Henrico County firefighter Sarah Hill. Right away she recommended the Amerex brand. When asked why it was her top pick, she said, “Reliable. It’s what we use.”

The more we looked into Amerex, the more evidence we found to support her claim. It’s one of the most recommended fire extinguishers on the market, and its steel casing and aluminum valves make it durable enough to withstand a fire and be recharged for future use.

The Amerex B402 is a dry chemical fire extinguisher certified for class A, B, and C fires, and it discharges for 14 seconds. One Amazon reviewer said that a home Amerex extinguisher that was last inspected in 1998 successfully put out a fire in his house in 2019.1 While we don’t recommend letting your fire extinguishers go without maintenance for that long, it’s definitely proof that Amerex extinguishers are reliable.

List Price * Fire Class Rating Casing Construction Valve construction Fire Suppressant Type Price

Best for Reliability

Best for Budget

Best for Convenience

Portable Pick

Disposable Pick

Amerex B402 First Alert Standard Home Fire Extinguisher The Fireman Fire Extinguishing Spray First Alert Tundra Spray Kidde ABC Multipurpose Fire Extinguisher $54.49 $16.97 $34.99 $21.90 $36.25 A,B,C A,B,C A,B,C,K A,B,C,K A,B,C Steel Aluminum Unknown metal Unknown metal Aluminum Metal Metal Plastic Plastic Metal Dry chemical Dry chemical Wetting agent Dry chemical Dry chemical View on Amazon View on Amazon View on Amazon View on Amazon View on Amazon

Amazon.com prices as of 12/17/19 11:36 a.m. MST. See full disclaimer.

Top Fire Extinguishers of 2020

Amerex B402: Best for Reliability | Read Review

First Alert Standard Home Fire Extinguisher: Best for Budget | Read Review

The Fireman Fire Extinguishing Spray: Best for Convenience | Read Review

First Alert Tundra Spray: Portable Pick | Read Review

Kidde ABC Multipurpose Fire Extinguisher: Disposable Pick | Read Review

Reviews: Best Fire Extinguishers

Amerex B402: Best for Reliability

Best for Reliability

View on Amazon

If you want a heavy-duty, definitely-going-to-do-the-job fire extinguisher, then Amerex extinguishers are your best bet. The firefighter we talked to gave them top marks for reliability and effectiveness.

We chose the B402 for our recommendation because it’s a more manageable five-pound size, and the extinguisher’s solid steel casing brings its weight up to nearly 10 pounds. It releases a forceful dry chemical cloud to swallow fires fast, but testers say that the cloud is also enough to swallow the person spraying it, driving them from the room.2 The spray also leaves a substantial mess behind.

Amerex extinguishers are fully rechargeable, which is nice, since they’re the priciest fire extinguishers on our list. But we recommend double-checking the tamper seal and the pressure gauge if you buy your Amerex on Amazon, as Amazon customers report receiving recharged extinguishers with broken seals or without a full charge.

Pros

Firefighter recommended

Reliable

Rechargeable

Effective

Sturdy

Cons

Messy

Potentially uncharged to start with

First Alert Standard Home Fire Extinguisher: Best for Budget

Best for Budget

View on Amazon

A tight budget should never prevent you from keeping your family safe, which is why we wanted to include the affordable First Alert Standard Home Fire Extinguisher. It costs only around $25, so you can purchase one—or more than one—without breaking the bank.

Despite its low price, the First Alert Standard Home Fire Extinguisher is still rated to handle most home fires, including fabric, wood, paper, flammable liquids, and electrical fires. It’s rechargeable, but the cost of recharging is high enough and the cost of this extinguisher is low enough that it probably makes sense to just buy a new one after you use it.

With its aluminum casing, it’s not as sturdy as the Amerex, but it’s lighter. It’s a good choice if you have kids or older adults in your home who might not be able to lift a heavier extinguisher.

Pros

Mounting bracket included

Lightweight materials

Low price tag

10-year warranty

Cons

Low-grade materials

The Fireman Fire Extinguishing Spray: Best for Convenience

Best for Convenience

View on Amazon

As a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member, I had to take a training class on properly using a fire extinguisher. Unfortunately, most people don’t get that kind of training, which is why we included the Fireman Fire Extinguishing Spray on our list.

The Fireman is a portable aerosol can with a trigger nozzle, making it super easy to operate. (If you’re still unsure, it also has clear instructions on the back.) It sprays a non-toxic wetting agent that’s A, B, C, and K certified, and cleaning up the residue requires only soap and water.

Bonus: the can is only about 10 inches tall, so you can store it in a kitchen cabinet. But be careful storing it near food, as some customer reviews say the cans can spring a leak.3 For this reason, we recommend buying the two-pack, just in case one loses pressure.

Pros

Easy to use

Compact

Not messy

Grease-fire certified

Cons

3-year shelf life

Potentially leaky

More Fire Extinguishers That Are Worth a Look

We found a few more fire extinguishers that didn’t quite make the top three, but had enough good qualities that we think they’re worth considering as you shop around.

First Alert Tundra Fire Extinguishing Spray: Portable Pick

Like The Fireman, the First Alert Tundra Spray comes in a compact, portable aerosol can, but it got bumped down lower on our list because it doesn’t have the easy-to-use trigger nozzle. You have to press down pretty hard to get it to spray, but when it does, it covers a wider area than the Fireman.5

It’s also nontoxic, and it leaves a dry residue that you can wipe up easily. Like the Fireman, it’s rated for class A, B, C, and K fires, so it’s great to keep in the kitchen.

Kidde ABC Multipurpose Home Fire Extinguisher: Disposable Pick

While we found the Kidde ABC Multipurpose Home Fire Extinguisher among the easiest to use, our firefighting friend said it’s not always reliable.

It’s made of aluminum, like the First Alert Standard Home Fire Extinguisher, so it’s lightweight and portable, but unlike the First Alert, it’s considered disposable—no recharging. Still, at around $20, the Kidde Fire Extinguisher is one of the least expensive fire extinguishers on our list, so you can stock up.

Things to Consider Before You Buy

Types of Fires and Extinguisher Ratings

Before you purchase a fire extinguisher, it’s important to understand the different types of fires. Chemical fire extinguishers are filled with different fire suppressants, and choosing a type of extinguisher with the wrong contents could actually make a fire worse (like throwing water on a grease fire).

Household fires fall under three classifications, depending on the type of fuel burning. The most common fire extinguisher classifications are A, B, C, and K.

Class A: Solid combustible materials that are not metals, like wood, paper, cloth, plastics, and rubber.

Class B: Flammable liquids, like gasoline, oil, grease, and paints.

Class C: Electrical equipment, like appliances and outlets.

Class K: Cooking oils and greases, animal fats, and vegetable fats.

ABC fire extinguishers will handle most household fires, but just to be on the safe side, it’s smart to also have a K-rated fire extinguisher on hand for your kitchen.

Extinguisher Placement

Once you’ve selected the best fire extinguishers for your home, placement is important. You might want to store your extinguisher right next to your stove, but fire extinguishers shouldn’t be subjected to high temperatures. Also, if your stovetop bursts into flames, you won’t want to be near it.

Instead, place fire extinguishers in locations no closer than 5–8 feet from potential fire sources like deep fat fryers, fireplaces, or clothes dryers. This way you can access them quickly and safely in case of a fire. Make sure that there is always a fire extinguisher no farther than 40 feet away from any location in your home.

Practicing Extinguisher Use

After your fire extinguishers are in place, don’t just set them and forget them. Make sure everyone in your household knows where they are and how to use them.

Take the time to read their labels, and rehearse the steps you would need to take to operate them in an emergency.

Remember P.A.S.S.:

Pull the pin,

Aim the extinguisher at the base of the fire,

Squeeze the trigger

And Sweep the spray across the base of the fire.

Maintenance

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends installing a fire extinguisher on every floor of your home and having it inspected annually. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) takes that counsel even further, recommending that you install separate fire extinguishers in your kitchen, garage, basement, and car. Put them in plain view, within easy reach of adults—though out of reach of children—and near an escape route.

Follow these guidelines for regular maintenance on your fire extinguishers:

Check the pressure regularly. The pressure gauge needle should be in the green zone. Replace or recharge any extinguishers if the needle is in the red zone.

Monitor for damage. Make sure the pin and tamper seal are intact. Check for dents, leaks, rust, or other signs of wear.

Shake it. If you have a dry chemical extinguisher, many manufacturers recommend shaking it monthly so the powder does not settle.

Get it tested. Get your extinguisher pressure-tested every few years by a professional, as per the manufacturer’s recommendation.

Recharge. No matter how much (or how little) was used, if you discharged an extinguisher, it needs to be recharged. Your local fire department may offer this service, or you can find a professional recharging company in your area.

Discard. All disposable extinguishers must be discarded after use.

IMPORTANT

For your safety, never attempt to use a fire extinguisher to put out a fire that is larger than an office-sized trash can. Fires double in size every 30 seconds, and once a fire gets taller than the space between your feet and your knees, it can get out of hand much quicker than you might expect. Rather than trying to put it out, immediately exit the home or get a safe distance away from the fire and call 911.

Fire Extinguisher FAQs

Fire extinguishers seem complicated. Shouldn’t I just let the fire department handle a fire?

Remember, with flammable materials, fires can double in size every 30 seconds. A fire the size of a trash can becomes the size of a coffee table in a minute, the size of a sofa in 90 seconds, and flames as big as a full-size bed in two minutes. You and your fire extinguisher are your first line of defense. It may take firefighters five to 10 minutes or more to reach you, which is more than enough time to lose your home or a life.

How does a water mist extinguisher work?

Water mist extinguishers are best for class A fires (flammable materials like wood, fabric, and combustible plastic) especially when there’s a danger of electrical shock.

Unlike chemical fire extinguishers, water mist extinguishers use a clean agent with no residue so cleanup is easier, but they’re less effective on class B and C fires, and may even make them worse.

What’s most effective on class B and C fires?

Carbon dioxide extinguishers work best for class B and C fires (flammable liquids and electrical equipment) because they smother the fire and cool it very quickly with a cold discharge.

What else can I do to protect my family against fire and flood?

Security systems are a smart way to protect your home and family against fire, flood, carbon monoxide poisoning, and of course, intruders.

Professional safety monitoring gives you an extra set of eyes on your home to help you handle emergencies. Incorporating smart products into your security system can help your devices work together, like having your thermostat turn off your home’s air circulation system when smoke is detected.

How We Picked the Best Fire Extinguishers

To research the best fire extinguishers, we talked to a firefighter to learn from her experience which extinguishers were the most effective at putting out fires and which were most reliable long-term. We also watched videos of different fire extinguishers in action, read more than 100 reviews from customers about their successes and failures using each extinguisher, and visited manufacturer websites for more information. Our full methodology explains more about our methods for reviewing consumer products.

Sources:

Amazon, “Amerex B402 Customer Reviews”

Amazon, “The Fireman Customer Reviews“

YouTube: MyCupOfJoe, “Tundra Fire Extinguisher Review“

Related Pages on SafeWise

What Should I Do in the Event of a House Fire?

How Do Home Security Systems Protect Against Fire and Floods?

Best Home Security Systems

How Does Fire Response Work?

How to Properly Use a Fire Extinguisher

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