Improving your home safely
Easter is the time of year when many of us think about improving our homes. You may be thinking of using the extended bank holiday weekend to embark on some of the more ambitious projects you’ve been putting off, so it is especially important that you think about your safety.Here a B&Q adviser offers some practical advice on how to stay safe when improving your home.
Plan ahead
Before you tackle any home improvement job, think it through from start to finish. Read all the instructions and make sure you have understood them fully. Check you have all the necessary tools and materials to hand and consider whether or not you will have to deal with any heights or weights. Try to determine how long the job should take you and whether or not any part of your home will be dangerous while the job is taking place, especially if you have young children.
Your personal safety
Change into old clothes or cover up with a set of overalls, many of which come with useful pockets for small tools and sundries. Overalls are inexpensive and are easy to wash and dry. They should be reasonably close-fitting to reduce the risk of interfering with any tools.
If you are handling heavy equipment, you should wear boots with steel toe-cap reinforcement. Using a tool belt will ensure that all of your tools are kept close to hand, and most importantly keep them off the floor where they could create an accident.
Essential gear for specific tasks
If you are going to put down any quantity of flooring, buy a pair of good-quality knee pads. Without them, laying the floor can be a painful affair.
Always protect your hearing. Even if the noise is not loud enough to damage your ears you will find yourself becoming tired more quickly. Ear defenders will reduce the impact, but remember to be extra vigilant while wearing them.
Wear the right gloves for the task – if exposed to liquids, protect your skin with throwaway thin rubber gloves. When doing work or handling materials that might damage your hands, wear cotton and leather reinforced gloves.
Impact-resistant clear goggles will protect your eyes from dust and flying debris; another cheap but significant piece of safety gear.
If you find a hard hat a bit cumbersome, get a bump cap (this looks like an oversized baseball cap), which will give some protection from a knock.
Protect your lungs from dust as well as from invisible fumes. There are breathing masks designed to provide different degrees and types of protection, from a simple gauze to screen out fine particles to a full facial respirator to isolate the wearer from poisonous fumes. Match the mask to the task!
Working with ladders
Ladders are one of the biggest causes of accidents during home improvement activities. Remember the “one-in-four” rule – the foot should be one measure out from the wall for every four measures of wall height. A typical two-storey home will be approximately 5.2m in height. Therefore, the base of the ladder should be rested securely 1.3m from the base of the wall.
If your ladder is on an uneven patch of ground, you should bolt stabilisers to the bottom on both sides to stop the ladder rocking from side to side. Equally, it is very dangerous to rest a ladder against guttering. Instead, hook a stand-off to the top of the ladder to hold it away from the wall, so its full weight is not resting on the gutter.
Safety to others
If you are going to make a lot of noise and a mess, do take into account your family and pets. Keep them well clear of wet paint or cement until you are sure that it has dried. Seal off the work area if you can and make absolutely certain that all tools and materials are out of reach of children.
If you need additional advice before you begin work, you can ask one of B&Q’s staff at your local store. Alternatively visit the B&Q website: diy.com where you can get further information on gardening, home improvement projects and product information.
The information and home improvement advice written by B&Q for this column, was correct at the date stated at the top of this column.