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There Are DJs Everywhere

What are the reasons why you want to learn DJing?

When you’ve perfected your skills, it’s time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour. The following are reasons why being a DJ is so cool:

It’s a fun job

If you think about it, DJing is a job where you are paid to play your favourite music for other people. You don’t have to waste the best years of your life sitting behind a desk from 9 to 5 waiting for retirement to come. DJing gives you the freedom to set your own schedule, make great music whenever you wish and just live life to the fullest.

Fame

Being a DJ is one of the ways you can become famous; if you are good at it. Fame boosts your ego, confidence, and generally makes you feel better about yourself as a person.

Industry Friends

When you are a DJ, you get a chance to meet a lot of successful people, including some that you may have idolised before. For instance, you get to meet a lot of famous artists, industry professionals, or other people that maybe want to work with you or book you.

Money

DJing can be a gratifying career if you play your cards right. There are so many ways you can make money as a DJ; playing at weddings, nightclubs, corporate events, parties, making music, among many other ways. Some of the biggest names in the DJing world make six figures for just a single night’s work. Even the regular DJs can make more than what the average 9-5 worker makes.

Free Drinks

Who doesn’t love free stuff? The answer is nobody. As a DJ, you will never have to pay for a drink when playing at a club or event. Most clubs buy you enough drinks to get you through the night and even if they don’t, a drunken fan will save you from having to pay $500 for a $50 bottle of vodka in a Manhattan club.

It gives you joy

There is no better feeling for a DJ than seeing people enjoy and dance to the music you are playing for them. It shows you are fulfilling your purpose, which is to entertain. It is the same feeling as receiving compliments from friends when playing your music for them in the car but on a much larger scale.

How to Craft a Good DJ Set

A good DJ set is like a story with ups and downs and twists and turns. Here are a few tips to help you create an engaging set and nail it.

What are the reasons why you want to learn DJing?

When you’ve perfected your skills, it’s time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labour. The following are reasons why being a DJ is so cool:

It’s a fun job

If you think about it, DJing is a job where you are paid to play your favourite music for other people. You don’t have to waste the best years of your life sitting behind a desk from 9 to 5 waiting for retirement to come. DJing gives you the freedom to set your own schedule, make great music whenever you wish and just live life to the fullest.

Fame

Being a DJ is one of the ways you can become famous; if you are good at it. Fame boosts your ego, confidence, and generally makes you feel better about yourself as a person.

Industry Friends

When you are a DJ, you get a chance to meet a lot of successful people, including some that you may have idolised before. For instance, you get to meet a lot of famous artists, industry professionals, or other people that maybe want to work with you or book you.

Money

DJing can be a gratifying career if you play your cards right. There are so many ways you can make money as a DJ; playing at weddings, nightclubs, corporate events, parties, making music, among many other ways. Some of the biggest names in the DJing world make six figures for just a single night’s work. Even the regular DJs can make more than what the average 9-5 worker makes.

Free Drinks

Who doesn’t love free stuff? The answer is nobody. As a DJ, you will never have to pay for a drink when playing at a club or event. Most clubs buy you enough drinks to get you through the night and even if they don’t, a drunken fan will save you from having to pay $500 for a $50 bottle of vodka in a Manhattan club.

It gives you joy

There is no better feeling for a DJ than seeing people enjoy and dance to the music you are playing for them. It shows you are fulfilling your purpose, which is to entertain. It is the same feeling as receiving compliments from friends when playing your music for them in the car but on a much larger scale.

How to Craft a Good DJ Set

A good DJ set is like a story with ups and downs and twists and turns. Here are a few tips to help you create an engaging set and nail it. So, you’ve got the basics of DJing down and are looking to record a set. You want to do this to promote yourself and get gigs, or you’re about to play your first show. There are no absolute rights or wrongs with DJ sets. They will differ depending on what genre or kind of event you are playing. A good DJ set is like a story. It has ups and downs and twists and turns, all while taking the listener on a journey. Here are a few tips to help you create an engaging set and nail it.

Starting with a Clear Concept

You might be playing a club set within a certain genre. Maybe you’re doing a set for a wedding, birthday, or awards night. Either way, think about who will be listening to the set. What kind of vibe will the gig have?

This will help you to narrow your track choices to a selection that creates the right atmosphere. Part of creating this vision is knowing your audience. If you’re playing at a club, think about your time slot. Where will the audience be in their journey at that time of night?

Generally, people aren’t ready to go to full energy as soon as they walk into the club. Also, think about who you’re playing before and after. What is their style? How can you provide a complement to the headliner?

Plan Your Opening

It’s good to have your first five tracks set out. This helps to set up the vibe that you’re looking to set with the listeners. At a live event, you may change from your original plans based on crowd reactions. You might also get into the flow and deviate in the moment. Regardless, it’s good to establish the vision for your set right at the start.

Be Prepared

Set up your crates or playlists for the set. You want to be able to access what you need in the moment, without having to scroll through your entire library. Try creating sub crates with particular sub-genres or changes.

It’s often a good idea to include a few throwback tracks in your mix. These give your set a more personal touch, as well as giving your crowd that “nostalgic high.” Or, have a few tracks that are half or double your main BPM. Always group these into sub crates for quick access and make sure they don’t clutter up your core playlist.

Before you perform, listen to every track in your crate. Get to know the breakpoints. These are moments with a transition, breakdown, or shift in direction. Get to know the intros and outros for each song and set up some hot cues to give you quick access to these during your DJ set.

Phrasing

Phrasing is a term used to describe the act of lining up two phrases in a mix. Most western music uses 16 or 32 beat phrases. These are key to a smooth transition, where one track finishes its phrase as the new one starts. It’s a common mistake to have BPMs matched but drop the new track too early or too late. This can create a lull in the mix where nothing is happening. Or, if the new track drops too early it will be messy and you might have overlapping vocals.

Structure

Listen to your tracks in advance. Then, you’ll know the structure and phrasing for each song and be able to line them up. Software such as Serato DJ is perfect for this, as you can see the waveform laid out. The darker parts will show where there is less going on. The different colors will display the pitches of each part of the track.

The Ramp

This is where the DJ slowly increases the energy throughout your set. You can do this by with energy levels in songs and by increasing BPMs. This is great if you are playing before a headliner and want to build to the peak of the night. But it might not work so well at four in the morning.

The Wave

Here, the DJ creates peaks and troughs to give the crowd ups and downs throughout the mix. This keeps your audience interested and is a great technique for making mixtapes. By allowing the energy to drop, you have space to bring in a higher energy track. You can snap the listeners’ attention back to the mix without ever getting too extreme.

Study Some Basic DJing Skills

You can learn some basic DJing skills on your own, thanks to the wonders of the internet. A few key points that may serve as a good launchpad include the following:

  • Beatmatching. The basic idea of beatmatching is to line up two tracks playing at the same tempo and phase.
  • Phrasing. Phrasing refers to mixing your tracks together at points that make sense to you.
  • Gain Control. This factor revolves around various aspects of volume adjustment.
  • EQing. With EQing, you are cutting or boosting frequencies to allow multiple audio tracks to blend seamlessly.

What Equipment Do You Need As A Beginner Dj?

Before we go further, here’s a basic overview of the main pieces of equipment in a DJ setup, whether it’s in the home or a nightclub:

  • Decks: The things you play music on. Two or more are connected to a mixer.
  • Mixer: The unit that enables you to play music from two or more decks so your audience can hear it all at the same time.
  • Monitor speakers: It’s important to have these so you can hear what your audience is hearing.
  • DJ headphones: You’ll need these to listen to the next track you want to cue up without playing it through the speakers.

What Makes Dj Headphones Different?

Often when people get into DJing, they’ll use any pair of headphones they happen to own already. But if possible, it’s well worth buying a good pair designed specifically for mixing – even for your first setup. DJ headphones have a number of characteristics that make them more comfortable and can even help you improve your performances.

  • Durability: DJ headphones are built to withstand the heavy wear and tear that comes from constant travel and performing long sets in dark, chaotic clubs. A good pair will last for years if you look after them.
  • Sound insulation: Effective sound insulation blocks out the ambient noise around you so you can focus on the details of your mix.
  • Functionality: Most DJ headphones include a number of features that enable you to transport them easily and wear them comfortably for long periods. With a flexible headband and earcups that swivel, you can wear your headphones in various ways. For example, you might keep them on your head or drape them around your neck, sometimes with one earcup on the ear and the other one off, so you can hear the next track as you mix it in via your headphones while also listening to the track the audience can hear through the speakers.
  • Sound quality: DJ headphones offer rich sound so you can pick out all the details in your music and know exactly what the audience will hear when you play your next track. Being able to clearly hear the bass and kick drum, or monitor the frequencies that you’ve isolated from the rest of the track via the mixer, will help you to mix with precision.
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Tips For Loading Services And Unloading Your Truck

Guide to packing & loading

Loading your moving truck can seem like a daunting task, but by making use of every nook and cranny available, you can avoid making multiple trips and help prevent delicate items from shifting during transit. Follow our helpful tips for optimising space, and be surprised at just how stress-free moving can be.

Large appliances and whitegoods

The first items to go on board will be your large appliances and whitegoods. These large items will form a foundation for you to pack your belongings around, and are shaped perfectly and sturdy enough for boxes to go on top.

Be sure to completely defrost your refrigerator and drain your washing machine to avoid any unwanted water damage. Once your appliances are loaded onto your truck, carefully wrap them in moving pads and strap them in nice and tight to avoid any movement whatsoever.

Packing boxes

Packing boxes are not only great for keeping your belongings secure, they’re also perfect for getting the most space out of your truck rental. After you’ve loaded your heavy appliances onto the truck, we recommend stacking your packing boxes evenly from the floor to the ceiling, starting with the heaviest boxes first and using your appliances as a base where necessary.

Large and heavy furniture

Once you have your packing boxes stacked evenly, it’s time to start loading your heavy furniture on board. To avoid wasting space, it’s important to carefully prepare these items for transport with the use of moving pads and packing straps.

Guide to Moving During a Pandemic

know the struggle of packing up basically your entire life in boxes and moving (all while wearing a mask that can get pretty toasty). If you’re moving soon, fear not, as this guide will help you navigate the beginnings of your new life in a new borough — or a new street if you’re just moving a few blocks over.

Be WiFi-enabled on day 1

Since a lot of people are working from home these days, the last thing you want is to have to wait until the day after you’ve moved in to have access to the Internet. Make sure you schedule your WiFi installation in advance, preferably on the day of your move so you’ll be able to relax with Netflix after you procrastinate on unpacking.  

Measure the doors and spaces of your new apartment

With the pandemic still around, a lot of realtor companies aren’t allowing in-person showings before you move in, so it’s likely that you had to rely on photos, virtual tours, and awkward video tours to decide on where your next place of residence would be. A pesky side effect of this, however, is that you won’t really know the measurements and dimensions of the space until you get there.

Purge your apartment of everything you haven’t used in the last six months

It’s time to be discerning. You probably don’t need the cumbersome armchair in the corner that no one sits on… ever. And you definitely don’t need that record player that looks like a suitcase that you got at Urban Outfitters. Instead of throwing them away, donate them, sell them on an app, or put up flyers in your building and have a good old-fashioned, socially distanced stoop sale. The less stuff you have to move, the cheaper and less time-consuming moving day will be.

Secure packing supplies…

For reliably sturdy and new boxes, City Moving Boxes sells boxes and rents reusable ones with free same-day delivery. With Bin It, a mini-storage system, a set of stackable plastic bins will be dropped off at your place, and picked up at your new pad after your move two-to-four weeks later. also sells cardboard moving kits/boxes by the piece.

How to load and drive a moving truck

First, ensure there is parking available for the truck, as close as possible to the premises. recommends using a walk-up ramp if possible. “A walk-up ramp allows you to walk in and out of the truck each time. A tail lifter is often slow and inefficient,” she says.

“It’s best if the most commonly-used boxes for moving are used and that the boxes are packed professionally, so they’re not too heavy and are easy to move,” she says. Big wardrobes go in the truck first, says. “Place a soft tie around the entire wardrobe, to stop the door from coming open. I load from the front of the truck, on the right-hand side, facing the doors to the wall, then covering the doors with a furniture pad to completely protect it,”

Try to keep the height, from right to left, even. “The next obvious (thing to load) would be a lounge. I wrap it in a plastic before it leaves the house, then stand it beside and behind the back of the wardrobe. Place it on a blanket on the floor and then wrap another one around it.”

Put cushions or light objects on top of the wardrobe and lounge, to fill the void to the roof. Next, the fridge, washing machine or dryer goes in, to maintain the height, then again put lighter items on top. “The next two layers deep, working from front to back, I start right to left again, and I may put two tea chests in height then two book cartons on top, this allows me to fill all the space evenly and give me a level platform for loading dining chairs on top,”

“Each chair is wrapped in a pad, then married inside to another, so they fit tight. The first one goes on its back, with legs to the right, then the next one inside and so on. This will fill the space level and tight to the roof. I keep working layers back, bigger and heavier items at the bottom and lighter items on top from right to left,” she says.

Tips for loading and unloading your truck

You are in the process of relocation. you have done all the research you can to locate the most suitable moving company and you have even followed professional instructions and have completed packing your goods like a pro. Now the moving day has arrived and even the truck has arrived at your front door. It is time to load.

Getting the shivers? Not when you go through these tips for loading and unloading your truck:

After you have completed packing, the first thing you need to do is to walk round the house and keep the similar sized boxes together. This makes loading faster.

Load the heaviest items first. Items like oven, cooking range, washing machine, refrigerator, dishwasher etc are loaded first. Basically, any item which takes two or more people to move are called ‘heavy’ here. These items should be kept at the wall furthest away, close to the cab. All items must be kept in the upright position.

The moving truck must be loaded with equal weight on either side.

Use furniture padding (available on rent) to protect furniture legs, corners and surfaces.

Your next items to load are the long and big items like headboards, mirrors, mattresses, etc. Sofas and table tops also fall in this category. These items should be loaded so that they stay upright against the longer walls of the truck. This will help you save some space.

Bed frames should be dissembled and taped together. This should be done for other long items like skis and poles

Tips For Packing

Carpets, rugs must be rolled and taped together. These can be placed at the center of the truck floor.

During loading place the heaviest boxes on top of the appliances. Then smaller boxes can be stacked one on top of the other.

Make sure that all empty spaces like beneath the tables, desks and cabinets must be properly filled with blankets, padding and linen. This will prevent your goods being tossed around during journey.

Amongst all the boxes which you stack, keep the lightest boxes on top. This will help you unload faster.

All fragile items and items with odd shapes must be loaded last.

The thumb rule of loading a truck is that you must load the ‘most essential’ boxes last. For instance, boxes containing your bed linen, your immediate change of clothes, bare minimum kitchen utensils and your bathroom contents need to be loaded last, as these are items which you should unload first. Remember, your first night at your new home, will demand use of these items.

During unloading, follow the same schedule as you did while loading. In fact, unloading becomes much simpler if you have loaded properly in the first place. For instance, if you have marked the bedroom moving boxes with blue sticker, children’s room with yellow stickers, when you unload, the individually sticker boxes can immediately be taken to the appropriate rooms.

Moving During Coronavirus? What to Expect and How to Protect Yourself

Roughly 80% of people who move every year do so between the months of April and September. That puts the coronavirus outbreak hitting the U.S. precisely before — you guessed it — peak moving season. While some people can delay or cancel their move, anyone who recently sold a home does not have the ability to change plans easily. Their move date is tied to their closing date, and one way or another, they need to find a way to be out on time.

Moving services are considered essential, but prepare for delays

People selling homes aren’t the only ones in this situation. It also applies to anyone who bought a house or has a strict lease. The Feds have deemed moving an essential service, and generally individual states and municipalities have followed suit. That means you can still rent a moving truck, hire professional movers, arrange for a shipping container, or line up any of the moving services you need.

However, moving — like everything else — looks a lot different than it did pre-coronavirus, and you could face backed-up mover schedules or unexpected delays. Fortunately, large moving companies remain open and are adapting to these new circumstances to help customers move as safely as possible.

Decide how you want to move

Off the bat, you’ll have to decide how you want to move. Some methods might prove more challenging than others when it comes to social distancing. Full-service moves are going to involve more contact with others than a DIY or shipping container move where you load up your furniture yourself. Your decision should be based on the traditional moving criteria: How much stuff you have, how far you’re moving, what your budget looks like. But now there’s another factor to consider: What’s the safest way for me

DIY your move

Movers on a budget facing a local move might opt to do the entire move on their own, using their own vehicle and manpower to save a bundle of cash. Just remember, in the time of social distancing, you won’t be able to call on friends or neighbors for assistance. This is a true do-it-yourself route that cuts out any interactions.

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Switches Installation Procedures To Maximize Performance

How to Install a Manual Transfer Switch for a Portable Generator

Steps:

Mount the manual transfer switch near the main electric panel.

Select up to 10 circuits to be powered by the generator (240 volt circuits require two spots on the transfer switch).

Turn off power to the house at the main electric shut off.

Remove the cover on the main electric panel (work inside the electric panel is only recommended for licensed electricians).

Locate an available knockout hole on the electric panel and remove the plug. Attach the armored cable from the transfer switch to the electric panel.

Connect the ground and neutral wires from the transfer switch to the appropriate bus bars on the main panel.

Locate the first circuit to be powered by the generator and remove the power wire on the existing circuit breaker. Replace that wire with the red wire from the transfer switch marked “A.” Splice the black wire marked “A” from the transfer switch to the removed power wire using a wire nut. Repeat this process for all 10 circuits, ensuring the red and black wires from the transfer switch are a matched pair.

Use 10-3 non-metallic wiring to connect the transfer switch to a power inlet outside.

Use the provided generator cord to connect the power inlet to the generator (or make your own cable if a longer one is desired using bulk wire and connectors).

Ensure the generator has unleaded fuel and oil inside, then start the generator.

To test the wiring connections, flip the switches on the transfer switch from “Line” to “Gen.” The generator should power the selected circuits.

Best Practices for Replacing Antique Light Switches

I’d recommend that you replace the original switches with new ones. Those switches were made with materials that may have become cracked, corroded, or fatigued in the last 100 years, and their design doesn’t meet today’s strict electrical-safety standards.

Fortunately, you don’t have to give up on the two-button look, or the satisfying snap that the buttons make when you push them in. Replacement switches and cover plates that look just like the antique versions, right down to the mother-of-pearl inlay on the buttons, are available from specialty retailers such as House of Antique Hardware.

Cost

Prices for a basic, single-pole, push-button switch begin around $14. You can also get an authentic-looking push-button dimmer switch, with one rotating button that functions as the dimmer.

Safety

The more important question to ask about a house of this age is: How safe is the wiring? I’ve seen electrical systems that have provided 100 years of service, or more, and l know what a high fire and electrical-shock hazard they pose. You’d be wise to take a close look and see what you’ve got.

SWITCHING GUIDE | DJT ELECTRICAL TRAINING

IMPORTANT: CORONAVIRUS

We are delighted to announce that DJT reopened for business from May,

with exceptional provisions in place to cater for the COVID19 requirements.

These provisions include:

Every surface has been deep-cleaned &/or repainted in full since the lockdown was implemented & is re-cleaned daily during courses

We have halved group sizes from a maximum of 24 to a maximum of 12 delegates at any one time to allow correct distances between the chairs & desks

We have developed a pre-course questionnaire which must be completed 48 hours prior to a course by anyone attending training

We will now run courses for groups as small as 6 delegates (whereas 10 used to be the minimum number)

We have purchased the FLIR E5 thermal-imaging camera for facial-temperature imaging, which we administer in seconds before training commences (pic attached)

We have non-contact LPOW HTD thermometer to take daily forehead-temperatures in seconds & record & display the results to the delegates

We have lowered the number of delegates taking their exams at any one sitting, in order for all delegates being examined to ensure the correct distancing between terminals

In electrical installations a switch is an electrical component that can break an electrical circuit, interrupting the current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most familiar form of switch is a manually operated electromechanical device with one or more sets of electrical contacts. Each set of contacts can be in one of two states: either ‘closed’ meaning the contacts are touching and electricity can flow between them, or ‘open’, meaning the contacts are separated.

A switch may be directly manipulated by a human as a control signal to a system, such as to control power flow in a circuit, as in a light switch, or to isolate a supply, such as a Firemans switch. Automatically-operated switches can be used to control the motions of machines, for example, to indicate that a garage door has reached its full open position or that a machine tool is in a position to accept another work piece. Switches may be operated by process variables such as pressure, temperature, flow, current, voltage, and force, acting as sensors in a process and used to automatically control a system. For example, a thermostat is a temperature-operated switch used to control a heating process.

N/O & N/C Switches

In a push-button type switch, in which the contacts remain in one state unless actuated, the contacts can either be normally open (abbreviated “n.o.” or “no”) until closed by operation of the switch, or normally closed (“n.c. or “nc”) and opened by the switch action. A switch with both types of contact is called a changeover switch. These may be “make-before-break” which momentarily connect both circuits, or may be “break-before-make” which interrupts one circuit before closing the other.

Tilt Switch (SPST)

Tilt switches contain a conductive liquid and when tilted this bridges the contacts inside, closing the switch. They can be used as a sensor to detect the position of an object. Some tilt switches contain mercury which is poisonous.

Reed Switch (usually SPST)

The contacts of a reed switch are closed by bringing a small magnet near the switch. They are used in security circuits, for example to check that doors are closed. Standard reed switches are SPST (simple on-off) but SPDT (changeover) versions are also available.

Electrical Switch Overview

An electrical switch is a binary device, which means that a switch is either on (closed contacts) or off (open contacts). A switch can be any device that opens or closes an electrical circuit, and switches can range in from a simple on-off toggle switch to the large contactors, used to switch high power loads like electric motors, to more complex solid-state switches like a NPN or PNP bipolar transistor switch.

Though there are numerous switch designs, all provide the same basic function of opening and closing a circuit with a set of contacts. The following sections describe the basic components of mechanical switches, introduce important switch terms (e.g. normally-open and normally-closed contacts), and go over types of switches. The last section gives general information on how to select switches.

Basic Components in Electrical Switches

Actuator

A force must act on a switch in order to open or close the circuit, and the device that applies this operating force is called the actuator. Do not think actuating a switch means you are turning something on. Actuation just means changing the state of a switch’s contacts from either open to closed (making a connection) or closed to open (breaking a connection). Thus, a switch can be actuated to turn a device ON or OFF.

Armature

In mechanical switches the moving part of a switch that conducts the current between contacts is called the armature. Levers are commonly used as armatures.

Electrical Contacts

Wherever you have two pieces of conductive material separated by an insulated gap and connected to a circuit, you have electrical contacts. To be of any industrial value electrical contacts must be composed of metals that have a high resistance to corrosion and mechanical wear. There are only two possible states for any set of contacts:

Open / Break / Off – Contacts CANNOT conduct electricity (i.e. there is an insulated gap separating the contacts and preventing current flow)

Closed / Make / On — Contacts CAN conduct electricity (i.e. contacts are connected by some conductive material)

Accessories

Some switches come with attached cables, strain relief, and connectors, while other switches are sold where you just get the switch by itself. Browse our product guides for general information about the selection, function, and use of wires and cable, strain relief for flexible cables, and electrical connectors.

Rewired And Similar Installations

This section incorporates questions relating to:

New or rewired domestic and similar installations

Alterations and additions in domestic and similar premises

New installations (places of work)

You may notice that some numbers are missing from the Q&A. This is deliberate. The regulations are constantly updated and as questions become out of date, we remove them but do not renumber, as we are aware that visitors to the site will note specific numbers for future reference.

Q1.1. Do the Wiring Regulations require all 13 A socket-outlets to be RCD protected?

For new installations and rewires, all socket-outlets with a rated current not exceeding 32A need to have additional protection by RCD, except where other than for an installation in a dwelling, a documented risk assessment determines that the RCD protection is not necessary. It is the view of the forum that any decision to omit RCD protection should not be taken lightly

Q1.2. BS 7671 requires most if not all circuits in domestic premises to be RCD-protected. There have been a number of suggestions as to how the consumer unit may best be configured to comply with the Regulations, the most common being a main switch with RCBOs protecting each individual circuit. However, another suggestion favours a main switch with two RCDs protecting separate DIN rails. If careful consideration is given as to what each bar will control in the way of upstairs and downstairs lighting and power circuits, will this configuration comply?

Yes, as long as the division of final circuits between the RCDs is carefully considered so as to minimize the consequences of unwanted tripping. Separate RCD protection is not necessarily required for each circuit of an installation but, in order to minimize the likelihood and consequences of tripping, a single (‘front end’) RCD should not be used to protect all the circuits.

Q1.3. What electrical equipment and accessories can be installed in the area beyond zone 2 of a location containing a bath or shower basin?

Socket-outlets other than a SELV socket-outlet or a shaver supply unit are not permitted within 3 m horizontally from the boundary of zone 1.  In all other cases, only the general rules apply, in that equipment shall be of a design appropriate to the situation in which it is to be used or its mode of installation shall take account of the conditions likely to be encountered.

Q1.4. Do ‘meter tails’ concealed in walls or partitions need to be protected in accordance with Regulations 522.6.202, 522.6.203 and/or 522.6.204?

Yes. Meter tails concealed in a wall or partition at a depth of less than 50 mm from a surface must be protected in accordance with Regulation 522.6.202. Also, irrespective of the depth from a surface, meter tails concealed in a wall or partition having internal metallic parts (except nails and screws, etc.) are subject to the requirements of Regulation 522.6.203.

Outlets and Switches Guide

Outlets and switches can be easily overlooked in your home, but these functional pieces of hardware let you light, ventilate and power your appliances. Technological advances are giving outlets and switches exciting new capabilities, so learn what they can offer before you buy.

Outlet Types

Outlets make power easily accessible. They can also prevent electrical fires, keep users from being shocked and be turned on and off remotely. Different outlets have different uses, so learn more before making your purchase.

Amperage: The ampere, or amp, is the base unit of electric current. Outlets are rated by how many amps can flow through them at once without overheating and are attached to fuses that will shut off automatically if your outlet is using too many amps. Most outlets in your home are rated for 15 amps and attached to a 15-amp fuse with a few other 15-amp outlets and switches from the same room. If the total amount of amps used in that room surpasses 15 amps, the fuse will shut off to keep the outlets and wiring from overheating. Some appliances, like freezers and gas dryers, require 20-amp outlets.

GFCI vs. AFCI Outlets: Ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlets have sensors that measure the amount of current going in and out of the socket. The current going in and out is usually in balance but if the outlet detects an imbalance, it immediately shuts off. GFCI outlets are important to have in areas where electricity could meet, like bathrooms, laundry rooms and kitchens. Arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) outlets contain electronic components to monitor a circuit for the presence of dangerous conditions that could cause a fire. This outlet can be triggered to turn a circuit off quickly if dangerous arcing is detected.

Smart Outlets: Smart outlets can be controlled from your mobile device using the home’s wireless internet. These devices allow users to program outlets to power on and off at certain times, as well as control from inside and away from the outlet.

Tamper-/Weather-Resistant: Tamper-resistant outlets have spring-loaded shutters that close off the contact openings where you insert plugs. In order for the shutters to open, both springs must be compressed at the same time, so they don’t open if a child attempts to insert an object into one of the contact openings. Thousands of children suffer shock and burns yearly by sticking items into contact openings in outlets. Weather-resistant outlets offer protection from precipitation, humidity and UV-protected components.

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Is Your Family Law Attorney Firm Making The Most Of Maps

Why it is important to have a family lawyer?

One should hire a family law attorney for the following reasons :

For Legal Protection

The knowledge that a family law attorney has will really help your case related to family law. Combining their knowledge with their past experience family law attorneys can get favorable results for you in your case. They know how to present evidence and arguments to the judge. If you do not have a family law attorney beside you but your opposing parties has then you are likely to lose the case even when you deserve to win the case.

To Save Money

In cases where you have to pay child support and alimony, a family law attorney can help you avoid paying too much. The differential between alimony and child support payment you are obliged to pay when you have a lawyer and when you do not have a lawyer is usually more than your lawyer’s fee. They will also be able to get you a higher amount of child support or alimony. You usually are denied child support or alimony when you do not have a lawyer.

To Avoid Threat

Without a family law attorney, your ex-spouse may threaten o take your children away from you. They can also threaten to take your property and make you poor. If you d not have a family law attorney, you may be forced to accept their demands. A family law attorney will make sure that you do not have to give in to unfair demands.

To be sure that the right documents are filed

Legal documents related to family law cases are not straightforward. you can make mistakes while filling the,. You may also file them at the wrong time. These things will really hurt your case. In many cases, the judge may reject your case altogether. If you have a family law attorney by your side then it will surely not happen.

Peace of Mind

Handling cases like divorce, child custody, e.t.c can be very stressful. Your emotions may trump your logic in such cases that involve people close to you. A family law attorney will make sure that you will not have to take stressful steps during the case.

To resolve the cases quickly

Many cases may become longer due to unfair demands made by your spouse. But, if you have a good family law attorney by your side, they will probably drop those demands knowing very well that they will not be fulfilled.

Why You May Need a Family Law Attorney for Your Divorce

Child Custody

Things can quickly become complex when children are involved in a divorce. It’s natural for parents to want more time to themselves, but it’s only fair to the children to have relatively equal access to both parents. When you work with a family law attorney, you can rest assured your child’s best interests are considered so you can come to an agreement on how to handle matters of custody.

Property

Dividing property is also often an area of contention for many couples who are going through a divorce. However, this isn’t always as simple as deciding who gets the living room set and how gets the bedroom set. If the couple owns a home or other more significant properties, dividing it up may require the expertise of a family law attorney. They can help you decide whether the property should be sold or what the best course of action would be.

Significant Financials

Another problem often occurs when a couple has significant financial assets. This can further be complicated if one party received a large family inheritance or one individual had a large bank account prior to the marriage. A qualified family law attorney can provide guidance on the best way to split assets that takes all of these factors into consideration.

The Family Law Act

The Family Law Act came into force on March 18, 2013. It replaces the Family Relations Act.

The Family Law Act puts the safety and best interests of the child first when families decide not to live together anymore. The act also:

  • Encourages families to resolve their disputes out-of-court
  • Clarifies parental responsibilities and the division of assets when couples separate and divorce
  • Addresses family violence, and
  • Provides a framework to determine legal parentage

The Ministry of Attorney has prepared resources to support transition to the new act:

  • The Family Law Act Explained details the act section by section. It describes the intent of each section and notes where a section replaces, changes or carries-over a section of the Family Relations Act.
  • The Family Law Act Regulations Explained details the regulations section by section.
  • Answers to common questions about the act and the regulations.
  • The Table of Concordance lists corresponding section numbers between the Family Law Act and the Family Relations Act, and details which Family Relations Act sections the new Family Law Act sections carry forward, in full or in part.
  • Amendments to Court Rules gives information about amendments to the Supreme Court (Family) Rules and the Provincial Court (Family) Rules that reflect the Family Law Act.
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Reasons Property Owners Should Hire Certified Mold Remediation

GUIDELINES FOR HIRING A MOLD REMEDIATION CONTRACTOR

Hiring a Mold Remediation Contractor

recommends that consumers use the following minimum guidelines to qualify any contractors they hire:

Know your contractor (check references)

Check with the Better Business Bureau

Make sure the contractor is licensed, bonded and insured including professional liability

Obtain a copy of their license and insurance certificates. Make sure their liability/general liability covers mold.

Hire contractors certified by reputable trade organizations such as AEE, IAQA, IIRC, ASCR, AIHA, NADCA

Differentiate between a “Restoration contractor” and a “Remediation contractor.” Most restoration contractors are not  knowledgeable in environmental remediation techniques and protocols.

For mold/bacteria damaged buildings, request pre-remediation (baseline study) and post-remediation environmental testing be performed.

Request a post remedial environmental clearance study. This is essential to assure good indoor air quality (health and safety) and may be required when you sell your home.

Request that the laboratory used for mold testing is accredited by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) Environmental Microbiology Laboratory Accreditation Program (EMLAP)

Contractors must work according to established industry standards and guidelines, including but not limited to:

–  EPA Mold Remediation for Homeowners

–  Department of Health – Guidelines on Assessment and Remediation of Fungi in Indoor Environments

–  EPA Mold Remediation for Schools and Commercial Buildings

–  IICRC S500 Standard and Reference Guide for Water Damage Restoration, Guide for mold remediation

–  NADCA ACR 2005, Assessment, Cleaning and Restoration of HVAC Systems

Specific Tips for Homeowners Having Restoration or Environmental Remediation Work:

Compare the amount of the insurance check with the estimate by the restoration and remediation contractors. They aren’t always the same but should be close to each other for the covered part of the loss.

Pay a minimal deposit, 10% (if any)

Pay a portion of the cost at halfway, typically 40%

Confirm quality of materials installed with those specified, inspect and verify satisfactory completion of work before paying the final 50%

Request a clearance study before final payment

A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home

Mold Basics

The key to mold control is moisture control.

If mold is a problem in your home, you should clean up the mold promptly and fix the water problem.

It is important to dry water-damaged areas and items within 24-48 hours to prevent mold growth.

Why is mold growing in my home?

Molds are part of the natural environment. Outdoors, molds play a part in nature by breaking down dead organic matter such as fallen leaves and dead trees, but indoors, mold growth should be avoided. Molds reproduce by means of tiny spores; the spores are invisible to the naked eye and float through outdoor and indoor air. Mold may begin growing indoors when mold spores land on surfaces that are wet. There are many types of mold, and none of them will grow without water or moisture.

Can mold cause health problems?

Molds are usually not a problem indoors, unless mold spores land on a wet or damp spot and begin growing. Molds have the potential to cause health problems. Molds produce allergens (substances that can cause allergic reactions), irritants, and in some cases, potentially toxic substances (mycotoxins). Inhaling or touching mold or mold spores may cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Allergic responses include hay fever-type symptoms, such as sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, and skin rash (dermatitis). Allergic reactions to mold are common. They can be immediate or delayed. Molds can also cause asthma attacks in people with asthma who are allergic to mold. In addition, mold exposure can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs of both mold-allergic and non-allergic people. Symptoms other than the allergic and irritant types are not commonly reported as a result of inhaling mold. Research on mold and health effects is ongoing. This brochure provides a brief overview; it does not describe all potential health effects related to mold exposure. For more detailed information consult a health professional. You may also wish to consult your state or local health department.

How do I get rid of mold?

It is impossible to get rid of all mold and mold spores indoors; some mold spores will be found floating through the air and in house dust. The mold spores will not grow if moisture is not present. Indoor mold growth can and should be prevented or controlled by controlling moisture indoors. If there is mold growth in your home, you must clean up the mold and fix the water problem. If you clean up the mold, but don’t fix the water problem, then, most likely, the mold problem will come back.

Who should do the cleanup?

Who should do the cleanup depends on a number of factors. One consideration is the size of the mold problem. If the moldy area is less than about 10 square feet (less than roughly a 3 ft. by 3 ft. patch), in most cases, you can handle the job yourself

Tips for Proper Mold Remediation

WRITTEN DISCLOSURE: Remediation professionals must disclose, in writing, that they are deviating from the standard.  This includes if they do both testing and remediation, as that is considered a conflict of interest. (What is their incentive to tell you that they did a bad job and the mold isn’t actually gone or worse?)

NO COATINGS IN LIEU OF MOLD REMOVAL: All testing must be done before any coatings are applied. Coatings do NOT provide a barrier to mold spores or their very toxic by-product, called ‘mycotoxins’.

NO FOGGING IN LIEU OF MOLD REMOVAL: Also, remediators should NOT mist or fog in an attempt to kill mold, in lieu of source removal.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE IN WRITING: Remediation and testing done by the same company presents a ‘complexity,’ which is required to be disclosed in writing per the ANSI/IICRC S520 Standard.  This is mentioned in the ANSI/IICRC webinar, as a ‘conflict of interest’.  The person or company that does the testing should not be the same as the one who does the work, without proper disclosure. An unbiased confirmation of air quality status and successful remediation is always preferred and required by the ANSI, unless otherwise disclosed in writing.

The EPA recommends full containment is recommended for the cleanup of mold contaminated surface areas greater than 100 square feet or in any situation in which occupants have reported health symptoms and it appears likely that the occupant space would be further contaminated without full containment.

How to Clean or Remove Toxic Mold in buildings

This article describes how toxic or allergenic mold is removed from buildings – mold cleanup, or mold remediation. We discuss how to physically remove problem mold (don’t just spray over it), what cleaners can be used for mold removal, and use of bleach in mold cleanup and removal jobs.

We also list related mold cleanup or remediation articles that address special problems such as mold odors, mold removal from irregular surfaces, and stains or odors on roofs or in cars. The steps in this document will be sufficient for many building owners who want to do their own mold investigation, mold testing, mold cleanup, and mold prevention in their home or office. The photos at the top of this page show the results of media blasting moldy wood surfaces.

Protect the occupants and yourself from mold, demolition dust, debris, cleaning chemicals, etc. Where a large area of cleanup is involved (more than 30 sq.ft.) a professional is usually called to establish negative air in the work area and to install containment barriers of plastic or other material to protect cleaner areas of the building from cross-contamination during the cleanup.

If you used a building environmental specialist to inspect and define the scope of work, you should have baseline mold test samples of both the work area and other building areas which will permit you to state definitively, at the end of the cleanup, whether or not the cleanup has caused cross-contamination of other building areas. The spotless cleaning produced for the second photo above was obtained by using a professional who used

Clean or remove mold and moldy debris: The most succinct Mold Remediation or Mold Cleanup Guidelines one could state would be this: the objective is not to sterilize your environment or “kill” mold, steps which are ineffective anyway – the operative words are “clean” or “remove” problem mold and then to correct its cause.

Quick Guide Safety Gear Used During Mold Remediation

Calling a professional mold remediation team should be your first step. You may be tempted to take care of the issue yourself, but there are a lot of rules you need to follow. For example, you need to get rid of the entire problem and not just wipe away the surface mold. Experts in mold damage know exactly how to address fungus-related problems. Professionals also have access to the safety gear needed to tackle this big project

• Face Masks: Safety masks play a major role in mold cleanup. These devices help keep mold spores from entering a person’s lungs. Depending on the job at hand, remediation teams may use full-face or half-face respirators.

• Gloves: Mold can cling to the hands of those who touch it. Workers need to wear gloves to ensure they do not spread the spores to other areas of your home or other customer’s homes.

• Eye Protection: This protective equipment is only needed if the crew uses face masks that don’t cover the eyes. Goggles can protect the eyes from debris related to mold removal.

• Coveralls: Fungus can also cling to clothing, which is how it travels from location to location. Many professionals choose to use special coveralls that are washed after each job to limit the spread of mold.

• Shoe Coverings: Some coveralls may come with attached boots, but when this is not the case shoe coverings are needed. This equipment acts as a barrier between the workers and the rest of your home because they are removed before leaving the infested area.

Protective equipment, like face masks and body coverings, are used to not only protect the person handling the mold but also to protect the rest of your home. If you want mold removed removed properly, you need to work with a team that uses proper safety gear.

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When Start Ups Need A Payroll Service Company

Common Payroll Issues

Every business requires efficient payroll functions as malfunctions in it will only create havoc and misunderstanding in the workplace. Small business still have a manual pay roll system while big business invest in software packages that run their payroll automatically.

Whether it is manual or automated, there are hitches in the whole payroll function that is sometimes quite challenging and complicated and also you need to remember that even if you are using top of the line payroll software’s, common payroll problems still exist that need to be fixed.

Payroll can be biggest expense for a company, however, it’s complicated and error-prone. This lesson reviews the most common issues in payroll and explains how they can affect an employee’s pay.

Payroll Defined

While getting paid may seem straightforward, in reality, it’s complex and requires great attention to detail. Payroll may be defined as the list of employees a company provides wages to. Although, it may also be defined as the total sum of wages a company pays to its employees. In either case, when people talk about processing payroll, they are referring to calculating the payments for employees.

Payroll Issues

Since employee payments is often the biggest expense for a companies, processing payroll needs to be done with pinpoint accuracy. Even the smallest mistakes can be costly and take time to fix. In this lesson, we’ll go over the most common payroll issues and explain how each one can impact employee pay.

Processing Incorrect Information

One of the most common payroll issues involves processing inaccurate information. This can result in paying an employee the wrong amount. While we personally won’t complain about being paid a little extra, this is actually not good for the company as a whole because it results in financial losses that negatively affect the company’s bottom line. On the flip side, if employees are paid less than what they should be, it can cause employee dissatisfaction. Correcting these errors sometimes requires a lot rework and time.

Late Payments

Employees need to be paid on time. Period. When payroll is processed late it causes delays in employees getting paid. As you can imagine, this can be frustrating and as a result, could dampen morale and productivity.

Misclassifying Employees

There are many types of workers, including full-time employees, part-time employees, and independent contractors. Getting these classifications right is very important as they each have different tax requirements and are reported to the regulatory tax agency differently. If a full-time employee is misclassified as a contractor, for example, that employee may be denied certain company benefits, such as overtime, vacation pay, or company sponsored pension.

Regulatory Changes

There are a number of laws and regulations that affect how payroll must be processed. For instance, companies may need to follow certain tax, payment schedule, and record keeping requirements. When they fail to keep abreast about changing regulations, they risk not only noncompliance with the regulatory tax agency (which is serious), but they will also risk underpaying or overpaying the employees. As an example, say a law came into effect that cuts income tax by 5% for everyone. If the payroll team is not aware, employees will see no changes in their next paycheck even though the final amount should be higher.

Tracking Overtime

Another common issue in payroll is not accurately reporting or calculating overtime. Firstly, there are laws that usually require companies to pay its employees premium wages for overtime. Specific laws depend on where you live, how overtime is defined, and what the premium wages are (time-and-a-half, double-time, etc.). For instance, say an employee worked a total of 10 hours in overtime. This means that he may get paid 1.5 times his normal wage for the first 5 hours, and then get paid 2 times his normal wage for the next 5 hours. As you can see, it’s not easy! This leads us to the second problem, which is when overtime hours are not tracked and reported accurately. This results in employees either being underpaid or overpaid.

Managing absence:

Tracking an employee’s absence and sick leave is quite a challenging and ardent task. It is very important for employer to manage the resource wherever needed in case of long term or short term absence of employees.

This directly impacts the productivity and profits of the company or organization. Hence, it is advisable to have tracking system like punching system for example individual employee cards or finger prints of employees that stores information of the employees.

The most reliable is the latter one as no one except the employee will have to register their presence or absence for the day!

Avoiding errors and fraud:

Most of the employees are paid through their bank accounts. Hence, an error could cost the company dearly.

The payroll software needs to be linked with the banks that are operating or functioning appropriately.

In case the employee does not have account then advice the employee to open an account in bank that company has transactions regularly and it will help to transfer on timely manner. Also it will avoid gaps in the system.

Not withholding and paying taxes

I didn’t withhold payroll taxes for my first few employees. I didn’t have the knowledge to do it, nor did I have a system set up to do it for me. I would write checks, hand them out to my employees, and that was it. I was essentially paying my employees under the table.

That quickly changed when the father of one of my workers wanted to see his son’s pay stub. Well, there wasn’t a pay stub to show. I didn’t need to give employees a log of their pay and deductions because I wasn’t withholding payroll taxes.

When you pay employees, you must withhold, file, and remit taxes—it’s serious if you don’t. If you don’t pay payroll taxes, you may face IRS payroll tax penalties, criminal penalties, and imprisonment. The IRS can shut your business down.

Since my early days as an employer, I have learned a lot about running payroll. I fixed my early mistakes and found a way to run payroll legally. My early days even inspired me to found Patriot Software, which provides payroll software for small businesses.

Even though payroll taxes can be difficult to understand, entrepreneurs must find a way to handle them and avoid common payroll problems. The consequences are too great to ignore the taxes.

Classifying workers improperly

Some workers are independent contractors while others are employees. Mixing up the two types of workers can be a costly mistake.

You don’t have to pay a contractor minimum wage or overtime wages. Also, you don’t withhold employment taxes from their wages. If you misclassify an employee as a contractor, they might miss out on wages and governments miss out on tax revenues.

If you do misclassify a worker, you will have to pay both the employee and employer’s share of taxes, plus penalties and interest. You might also owe back wages to the employee.

How can you know if a worker is an independent contractor or an employee? The U.S. Department of Labor recommends using the six-part economic realities test.

If you aren’t sure how to classify a worker, you can file Form SS-8 to avoid misclassification payroll issues. When you file this form, you request an IRS determination of the worker’s status.

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Carpet Cleaning Practical Tips

The Complete Beginners Guide to Carpet Cleaning

Today I will give you the complete beginners guide to carpet cleaning. This guide will give you the tools and knowledge you need to be an expert, without having to pay LARGE amounts of money. 

Carpet cleaning can be broken down into 4 simple steps:

How to combat stains

What chemicals to use

How frequent must carpet be cleaned

General maintenance and upkeep

How Do I Combat Carpet Stains?

I think you would agree with me when I say that carpet stains can be frustrating and extremely difficult to clean. However; knowing the basic rules when it comes to carpet stains can be helpful, and in some cases save the carpet from being stained permanently.

Here are the basic guidelines for cleaning carpet stains:

Always dab the stains with a towel, never rub, this could worsen the stain

Try to remove as quickly as possible, allowing the stain to sit will make it worse

If you do not have a special cleaning product, try using ¼ cup white vinegar and 1 tbsp. of dawn dish soap, then mix it with water

While most stains can be removed, some require expert technical skill and products

What Chemicals Should I Use?

With so many different options, it can difficult to know which chemicals/products to use for your carpet. Knowing which chemicals work best on your carpet, can save you time and money. 

Here are some basic guidelines when it comes to carpet cleaning chemicals:

Most carpet stains are acidic: food, beverages, and body fluids, therefore; they require a neutral solution (pH of 7 or above) to remove

Most common household cleaners including: borax, baking soda, and mild dish soap have a pH of 7 or above and work well with removing stains

Make sure carpet cleaning chemicals are SAFE for kids and pets

Consider investing in a small stain removal machine, which can be efficient in removing stains from your carpet

The Ultimate Carpet Cleaning Guide

Carpet cleaning was my obsession. Once upon a time carpets ruled my home. Only the kitchen and the bathroom escaped my carpet frenzy. I loved the way they the carpet felt under my bare feet

I loved the way they looked (when they were stain free and freshly vacuumed). Now my love has waned. Maybe I just need a change. or maybe I’m tired of being nervous when someone is over for coffee. or maybe I just need new carpets.

“Cleaning this carpet should be a part time job all on its own”, I would say loudly in the hopes that a certain person would take a hint and maybe hire someone to do the dreaded task for me. Alas, my wailing has fallen on deaf ears. So I continue my carpet maintenance regime to keep my carpet looking presentable and help it to last longer.

Maybe you’re not like me. Maybe you still totally love your carpets. Or maybe you are like me and your love has waned. Either way, as long as you have carpets adorning the floors of your home there are some cleaning duties that you can do on a regular basis to keep your carpet looking good.

Carpet Cleaning Tips – Create a carpet cleaning schedule.

Your carpet cleaning schedule should include, how often you intend to vacuum, what is your carpet cleaning system and when and who will implement your system. Dust accumulation is your carpet’s enemy. Regular vacuuming will reduce the dust level in your carpet. Two of the most popular carpet cleaning systems are carpet steam cleaning (hot water extraction), and dry carpet cleaning. The use of either of these methods when done properly will remove oils, greases and whatever stains that find themselves on your carpet.

Carpet care guide

You’ve invested in a brand new carpet, and now it’s time to look after it to keep it looking its best for years to come. Cleaning your carpet regularly will help to keep it in a good condition, saving you money in the long run, as well as preventing any nasty smells, allergens or bacteria.

Top Tips for a new Carpet

Placing doormats at all of the entrances to a home will help to trap dirt and moisture.

Vacuum daily if possible during the first few weeks. Loose fibres can work their way to the surface, and these will be removed by vacuuming

If a piece of the carpet fibre stands proud above the surface, it should be trimmed to the level of the other tufts. Never pull it out.

Routinely vacuuming will help to prevent dirt and grit from getting into the carpet fibres and also helps to keep the tufts upright.

There may be a slight odour after a new carpet is fitted. This may be caused by the carpet, the underlay or any adhesives which have been used. Ideally, the room should be ventilated by opening windows and doors and the odour will normally disappear within a few days.

A vacuum cleaner fitted with a beater bar and/or brushes is recommended for cut pile carpets. A vacuum cleaner without a beater bar or brushes is best for loop pile carpets.

How to clean Polypropylene Carpets with a bleach mix

Important: The only carpet that is safe to use a bleach mix on is a 100% polypropylene carpet. Always check with your Carpetright store if you are not sure of your carpets make up. Bleach will lift colour from wool, cord or any other carpet type so it’s really important to make sure your carpet is definitely made only from polypropylene if you don’t want patches

For particularly stubborn stains like ink, red wine and ground-in mud on polypropylene:

1. Always wear rubber gloves when working with bleach and a mask to protect your respiratory system from the caustic fumes. If possible open a window.

2. Use a solution of 50% thin domestic bleach/50% tap water in a spray bottle.

3. Evenly cover the stain and leave for 30 – 60 minutes.

4. Rinse thoroughly with water.

5. Use a brush if needed to remove any stubborn dirt.

How to clean a pet stained carpet

1. Look for an enzyme-based solution suitable for your carpet’s fibre type.

2. Test the product on a small patch of your carpet to make sure that the colour isn’t affected. If all is well, apply to the damaged area.

3. Once the solution has worked its magic you can either have your carpet commercially cleaned or rinse with water.

4. There are domestic carpet washers which you can buy or hire to tackle small stains, as well as vacuums for pet hair which are specifically designed to pick up animal hairs.

Carpet cleaning buying guide

Carpet cleaning goes one step further that vacuuming alone to wash your carpet fibres and remove ground-in dirt and stains. Vacuums, even the best ones only get some of the dirt is deep in your carpets. The carpet cleaning process is engineered to reach the dirt vacuums leave behind, with some carpet cleaners leaning carpets up to 10 times cleaner than vacuuming alone*. Although deep cleaning does so much more than vacuuming, the actual effort needed is about as easy as vacuuming.

How does it work?

Carpet cleaners use a combination of clean solution, powerful scrubbing brushes and vacuum suction. Carpet cleaners inject a mixture of cleaning solution and water deep into your carpet fibres. Brushes then agitate, scrub and loosen the dirt and/or stain and then the powerful vacuum suction lifts it away.

What is deep down dirt or ground-in dirt?

Deep down dirt and ground in dirt isn’t just the dirt from your shoes or the dirt that you see when you vacuum. What you don’t see are the invisible particles like skin cells, pollen and food particles that are left behind by vacuuming.

Your carpets can hold as much as one pound of soil per square foot before it is even noticeable! Regular carpet washing reduces the wear by removing fine debris and large dirt particles that scratch and dull your carpeting, which can accelerate wear and tear. Plus, you not only save money & time by doing it yourself but also protect the investment you have made in your home, keeping your carpets looking newer for longer!

How often should I deep clean?

It is recommended that carpets should be deep cleaned at regular intervals to maintain good indoor air quality. Carpet cleaner manufacturers recommend you deep clean your carpets at least 2 times a year. If you have children, pets, allergies or smoke, you should wash your carpets with a carpet cleaner at least 4 times a year with continuous spot cleaning in between.

The Consumer’s Guide To Effective Carpet Cleaning

Firing up our petrol powered, van mounted machine, it’s easy to take for granted the sheer power, heat and reliability we have on tap these days.

Step back a century and carpet cleaning and stain removal methods appeared crude and, at first glance, somewhat comical (think brushing carpets with tea leaves and freshly cut grass and mopping up stains with beef gall and split loaves of hot bread!)

Nevertheless, carpets and rugs were always fastidiously and proudly maintained and any spillages and stains quickly treated. And besides, isn’t there something inherently satisfying about restoring (and preferably maintaining) a quality rug or carpet, rather than casually discarding and replacing it?

It is thought that the first truly “on-location” carpet cleaning companies emerged in the mid 1930’s as fitted wall to wall carpets gained in popularity. But it was perhaps with the advent of hot water extraction cleaning machines in the 1960’s when carpet cleaning became more sophisticated, effective and reliable.

So, here’s what we believe to be the most effective and thorough method of delivering the hot water extraction method when cleaning wall to wall carpets, and the equipment options available and employed by modern-day carpet cleaning companies.

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Life Changing Plastic Surgery

How Long Do You Have to Wait Between Plastic Surgeries?

It’s quite common for one person to undergo more than one plastic surgery. In fact, the trend in having multiple procedures at the same time has increased in recent years, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. However, there’s no reason to rush things. For elective surgeries like cosmetic enhancements, it’s safest and healthiest to allow for a full recovery between two different procedures. You can talk to a board-certified plastic surgeon for personalized guidance.

Wait time between plastic surgeries

The wait time between plastic surgeries is largely dependent on how long it takes you to recover. Healing time will vary from one patient to the next, depending on issues like your overall health and your adherence to the surgeon’s post-operative care instructions. It also depends on the specific type of surgery. As a general rule of thumb, it may take up to six weeks for a full recovery from breast augmentation surgery, although you’ll likely return to light activities in about a week. A full recovery for liposuction might take a few weeks. It’s likely that your plastic surgeon will recommend that you wait until you’re fully recovered before having another surgery.

Combining multiple procedures

In many cases, patients who want to have multiple procedures will combine them into the same appointment. For instance, if you want to have a breast augmentation and a lift, you could get them done at the same time. If you’d like to have a facelift and a rhinoplasty, your surgeon may feel comfortable doing both in the same session.

The combination approach is particularly common among women interested in a mommy makeover. “Many women decide to combine a tummy tuck with a breast lift, or a breast augmentation with a lift.”

However, if you want to have more than two or three procedures performed, you may need to go into surgery on multiple occasions. There is always the potential for adverse reactions to the anesthesia, and the risk can be amplified the longer a patient is under anesthesia.

Signs You May Want to Wait on a Cosmetic Procedure

After you’ve decided you’re interested in a particular cosmetic procedure, the next thing to decide is when you should have it done. This decision involves everything from lifestyle factors, to financial considerations, to other reasons that may be unique to your case. Be very, very skeptical of a cosmetic surgeon who tries to encourage you to get a procedure done as soon as possible. Here are four scenarios in which the right decision may be to wait:

  • You’re planning to have kids in the next couple of years. Pregnancy and breastfeeding frequently cause dramatic changes to your body. It’s typical to gain weight during the pregnancy but then lose it when your body is actively producing nutrients for the breastfeeding process. Many women also report that even after returning to their pre-pregnancy weight, the distribution of weight around their body is a little different after the pregnancy. For these reasons, if you’ve been thinking about a liposuction or tummy tuck procedure but think you may be having a child in the next couple of years, you may be better off waiting until after the pregnancy and breastfeeding to get these procedures done.
  • You’re experiencing weight loss or weight gain. To look its best, a cosmetic procedure should be done on a body that’s fairly stable. So, if your weight is currently fluctuating, you may want to wait for it to stabilize before going in for the procedure. As an aside, if you’re having trouble with weight fluctuation, our on-staff registered dietician may be able to help you figure out a diet and exercise plan that works for you.
  • Your body part has not fully developed. We’ve heard some inquiries from parents whose teens may be interested in a particular procedure. As a general rule, we discourage cosmetic surgery, because a teenager’s body is still changing—it makes the most sense to wait until the body has fully developed before moving forward with a procedure.
  • When the procedure is new, or you’re new to the procedure. We tend to be inherently excitable creatures. If you hear about a brand new type of procedure, you may be excited to jump on the bandwagon and get it done. Or, maybe it’s a well-established procedure, but you’ve only really been thinking about getting it done over the past couple of weeks. In either case, you owe it to yourself to slow down and carefully consider whether your desire for the procedure is a rational, long-term decision (as it should be) or just some short-term excitement. Use your plastic surgeon as a sounding board if you’re not sure about something. He or she should be able to give you an experienced take on why you should proceed or wait.

How to prepare for your cosmetic surgery consult

A successful consultation with a board certified cosmetic surgeon will educate you about your options and put your mind at ease before scheduling surgery. Getting the most out of your consultation can be as simple as being prepared and knowing the right questions to ask.

The following checklist can help guide you through the process and ensure you take full advantage of your face-to-face time with potential surgeons.

Important questions to ask your surgeon:

  • Am I a good candidate for my procedure of interest? If not, what is keeping me from being a candidate?
  • How many times have you performed this procedure?
  • What are the benefits?
  • What are the risks?
  • What board certification(s) do you hold?
  • Where will the surgery take place?
  • Is the surgical facility accredited?

During the physical exam, make mental notes:

  • Is the doctor courteous and professional?
  • Did the doctor seem to understand your areas of concern?
  • Has the doctor informed you of the available options for meeting your goals?
  • Did the doctor describe how they would specifically tailor the procedure(s) for you?
  • Has the doctor helped you understand what to expect?

When and how much exercise after plastic surgery

As a general rule of thumb, patients should remain as inactive as possible for about 48 hours following any type of plastic surgery. After that, for the next 1 to 2 weeks, you must proceed very carefully regardless of the procedure you had. Your surgeon will probably recommend either no activity/exercise at all or you might get the go-ahead to do some very light activity such as walking around the neighborhood or walking very slowing on a treadmill.

Depending on how well you’re healing, a “light duty” routine can be undertaken so long as care is given with regards to things like heavy lifting or extreme exertion. Depending on the type of surgery, it may be a week or two before you have the energy to re-engage in any kind of exercise regimen. The initial efforts here should be around enjoying the psychological benefits of exercise rather than the physical – think more along the lines of feeling good rather than raising your heart rate too much. Light cardio activities such as neighborhood walks, slow treadmills, slow cycling (on a stationary bike) are good examples of how you should ease into a exercise after plastic surgery. Your surgeon will certainly have more specific advice on this but again, a general rule is no activity for 48 hours and then extremely light activity when you feel your energy returning.

Remember that your body is an interconnected system and you cannot exercise any one area without affecting the others. Sure, bench presses don’t work your nose muscles (!!), but they do raise your heart rate and increase your rate of breathing, both of which can adversely affect the healing of your rhinoplasty. Yes, doing squats works your legs and backside but it also raises your heart rate, raises your breathing and stresses your entire body so they are not a good idea immediately following your breast lift procedure.

More rules of thumb to go by:

  • If you have any bruising at all, do not exercise (you may need to talk to your surgeon as well, if bruising persists too long)
  • If you have any swelling, do not exercise
  • If areas are still hurting or are overly sore, do not exercise
  • A schedule for the first few weeks could be something like this:
  • First week: Enjoy three 5-minute walks each day
  • Second week: Enjoy three 10-minute walks each day
  • Third week: Enjoy three 15-minute walks each day
  • Fourth week: Enjoy four 15-minute walks each day. Talk with your surgeon at around this point to see if you can increase your level of activity
  • Fifth week: Based on your surgeon’s advice, you may be able to ease back into an exercise regimen

Most Popular Plastic Surgery Procedures

Plastic surgery has become increasingly popular among both men and women. Part of this is due to the fact that more and more emphasis is being placed on looking and staying young. However, part of it is simply due to the fact that the cost of most surgical procedures of this nature have come down considerably from past decades, making it more affordable for people to have plastic surgery.

While plastic surgery in general has become more common place, certain types of cosmetic surgery are more popular than others. The most popular surgeries performed are rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, liposuction, blepharoplasty, and face lifts. Each of these surgeries comes with its own risks and benefits, and each has its own unique recovery time and process.

Rhinoplasty is the type of plastic surgery where the nose is reshaped. It may need to be elongated, shortened, have a hump on the bridge removed, or change the shape and size of nostrils. The idea is to make your nose look like it belongs on your face naturally, and improve appearance. In the case of a hump on the bridge of the nose, the surgery may be undergone to improve comfort as well. It takes several weeks to recover from rhinoplasty, and during that time you will experience mild pain and swelling.

Another type of popular surgery is breast augmentation or reduction. Reductions are becoming as popular as augmentation procedures, because more and more women are turning to this solution to relieve back problems. In an augmentation, an incision is made into which a silicone bag filled with silicone or saline is inserted behind the muscle. The recovery time for breast augmentation is a total of a few months, although your comfort level will increase and you will be able to get rid of the surgical bra within a few weeks. There is generally more pain involved with this procedure than with rhinoplasty.

Liposuction, however, is possibly the most painful of all plastic surgeries. However, if you have been unsuccessful at losing weight while you have been dieting and exercising in a healthy manner, liposuction can give you new hope for a healthier and more attractive you. In these cases, the benefits far outweigh the risks and the pain associated with the procedure. Recovery time is up to two months, with the first two weeks being the most uncomfortable. Your first three to ten days will be the most painful, and you will be given pain medications to manage that trying time. However, once that part is out of the way, the worst you will have to deal with is some swelling.

Blepharoplasty is a less painful procedure that is a bit scarier but does not need to be, as the risks are surprisingly low. In blepharoplasty, fat and excess skin is removed from the eye lids, making you look younger. This procedure is not very invasive, and is no worse than a face lift, which is a similar procedure. Recovery time is a few weeks to two months.

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Bed Bugs As Carriers of Various Diseases

The essential guide to bed bugs

Bed bugs: two words that can create psychological havoc with most people. Although bed bugs were nearly wiped out in the developed world by the 1950’s, these tiny parasitic insects have made a tremendous comeback in recent years.

Bed bugs are insects in the family Cimicidae. The most common species of bed bug is cimex lectularius. They feed entirely on the blood of vertebrates, however, they have a preference for human blood. Bed bugs are sneaky, hiding in places where they can have rapid access to a blood meal and with as little disturbance as possible. Once they have fed, bed bugs will quickly abandon their host and hide.

Potential hiding spots include beds, sofas, chairs and near any other location where humans are sedentary for extended periods of time. You should learn how to find bed bugs in your home or how to check for them in a hotel room.

Bed bugs are found almost everywhere humans inhabit, and according to the National Pest Management Association and the University

almost 100% of pest management professionals have treated for bed bugs in the past year. Bed bugs are regularly found in places such as single family homes, condos, apartments, hotels and motels. Additionally, there are increasing incidents of bed bugs infesting places such as retail stores, movie theaters, public transportation and restaurant

The Ultimate Guide to Bed Bug DIY Treatments (Do’s & Don’ts)

Bed Bug infestations can cause constant suffering for you and your loved ones, so it’s understandable to want to explore all options to remove an infestation. While bed bug treatments require the help of a bed bug professional, there are some DIY solutions that could help reduce the infestation.

The frightening truth about bed bugs is most people aren’t aware that they have a problem until days after they have been bitten. Once you see the first signs of an infestation it’s important to act quickly.

Wash and Seal Bedding

After you noticed bed bugs did you see any bedding dotted with reddish or brown spots? Does your bedding have a slightly musty odor to it? If the answer is yes to either of the above questions, it’s important to properly wash your bedding. This should be washed in soapy water at a temperature of at least 120 degrees (The hot water setting on your washing machine should be enough).

The dryer settings of a normal household are typically hot enough to kill bed bugs, and they typically cannot survive a hot dryer for longer than 20 – 30 minutes. Be sure to check the washing instructions of your items first, and keep in mind that high heat can damage or shrink certain fabrics. You should move your bedding straight to the laundry room using sealed hamper bags to prevent any cross-contamination.

Vacuum Your Bedding

Take a handheld vacuum and run it across your mattress, inside the bed frame, along baseboards, and even across your headboard. It’s important to be thorough in all cracks and crevices where bed bugs or their eggs could potentially be hiding. You can see certain bed bugs with the naked eye, so make sure to run the vacuum over any visible bugs.

Bed Bugs And Why Do You Need To Get Rid Of Them

Why do you need the bed bug treatment?

1. They bite! : One of the major issues you must get rid of bed bugs and their infestation are the bites. You are the source of nutrition for bed bugs – the more they feed on you, the more they will breed.

2. Itchy rashes: Bites from bed bugs often leave rashes that makes you itch every now and then. Often, the urge to scratch is so strong that you are unable to restrict yourself, wherever you may be. These rashes also might leave nasty marks on your skin. This is a very important reason to get rid of bed bugs.

3. Transferability and portability: Another reason to get rid of bed bugs is that they easily travel from one bed to another through many sources like pillows, bed sheets, and people as well. So once these bugs are in your house, it is likely that they will continue to spread everywhere.

What is the treatment all about?

You need to get rid of bed bugs and stop them from infesting your house. The basic information about bed-bug removal is available everywhere, but this procedure involves microscopic details. And if the steps are not followed properly, the bed bugs are likely to come back.

Step 1: A thorough inspection of all the possible places bed bugs might reside in is required, starting from the corners of your room to the furniture and mattresses. The extent of the bug infestation determines the kind of treatment that will be required in your house.

Step 2: After determining the depth of the situation, it becomes easy to figure out whether you require a change of mattresses, a bed bug spray or heat and steam treatment. You may also need to move out of the house for a specific time period. In any case, chemical application is almost unavoidable.

Step 3: The process of bed-bug control is not limited to the treatment. Once the treatment is done, regular house cleaning is advisable to avoid future trouble. Even after the process is finished, the tiny bed bugs may be hidden in nooks and crannies as it is not possible to spray the chemicals on every single surface. So deep clean the house with hot water and vacuum the carpets every now and then.

Bed Bugs: The Ultimate Guide

Bed bugs have been bothering humans for thousands of years. Researchers have found evidence of these pests dating back to ancient Rome, Greece, and Egypt. Despite their long existence alongside humans, during the 1950’s bed bugs were nearly completely eradicated in the developed world. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that the United States saw a major resurgence in bed bugs . This could be due to increased international travel, use of targeted pesticides, growing bed bug resistance to pest control products, or a lack of prevention understanding among the general public. Whatever the reasons may be, bed bugs have become a major problem, and residents across the U.S. are scrambling to know how to get rid of them.

Professional bed bug control has become big business for pest control companies. These treatments can be very expensive, so many frustrated people have started tackling the problem on their own. It can be tricky, but it can definitely be accomplished. Bed bugs are one of the most difficult pests to eliminate, so it is widely recommended that control methods involve many different approaches, both non-chemical and chemical. With a well thought-out plan, effective bed bug treatment products, and continued use of bed bug prevention methods, do-it-yourself bed bug control can be achieved.

Bed Bug Identification

If you are concerned about a possible bed bug infestation, proper identification is the first important step. There are many different bugs that are often mistaken for bed bugs including: fleas, carpet beetles, ticks, booklice, spider beetles, and cockroach nymphs. Before you waste a lot of time and money, make sure that you are really dealing with bed bugs.

Adult Bed Bug Characteristics

The common bed bug (cimex lectularius) is brown or reddish-brown in color and typically 5-7 mm long, which is roughly the size of an apple seed. Bed bugs feed exclusively on blood, so their looks can change depending on how recently they have eaten. Blood-filled bed bugs appear elongated and balloon-like, while unfed bed bugs are long and flat with an oval-shaped body. Sometimes they may appear slightly striped because of their hair growth patterns. Bed bugs have 6 legs, 3 body parts, 2 antennae, and residual wing pads, but no actual wings. Bed bugs do not jump or fly, but instead crawl to their food source. They also have a sucking mouth part that can pierce the skin of their blood source. They will then inject an anticoagulant and an anesthetic to aid in getting their blood meal.

Bed Bug Nymph Characteristics

Immature bed bugs are called nymphs and differ in appearance from adults. Nymphs are smaller, and some can be nearly translucent in color. Others may appear to be whitish-yellow. Red coloring may be noticeable in bed bug nymphs that have recently fed, but immature bed bugs that have not eaten recently can be nearly invisible.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs, Cimex lectularius, are a fast-growing pest of public health importance in the United States. In multi-family housing units, bed bugs spread by moving from one apartment to another, by bed bug-infested furniture being brought into the building, by travel, resident turnover, and by visits from friends and family of residents.

Research has found that 53% of apartments that were adjacent to infested apartments were also infested. In addition, 50% of the interviewed residents who had infestations were unaware of the bed bug problem in their own apartments. Clearly, there is an urgent need for public education, catching the problem early, and adoption of more effective bed bug monitoring and intervention programs to curb the exploding problem of bed bug infestations.

The health department responds to bed bug complaints from residents at rental properties and multi-unit housing situations such as apartments, boarding homes, hotels, nursing homes, etc. If you suspect a bed bug infestation, save the insect in a vial or sealable bag so that it can be positively identified.

Practical “Do It Yourself” Steps for Dealing with Bed Bugs

It takes a lot of time and persistent effort to get rid of bed bugs. They can hide inside of anything and may survive without feeding for one year. Do not assume that they are gone until eight weeks have passed since the last bite. The following steps are practical suggestions compiled from published research on dealing with bed bugs. These do-it-yourself steps can be paired up with a comprehensive bed bug control program that includes residents, landlord, and a commercial pest control contractor.

As 70% of bed bugs are in the bed or where you sleep, start work there. Take the bed completely apart. Clean and vacuum all folds of the mattress and box spring with a stiff furniture brush and crack and crevice tool. Treat the bed with a pesticide labeled for bed bugs (always follow the label). After cleaning and treatment, cover the mattress and box spring with bed bug proof encasements sold at retail stores and online.

Move the bed away from the wall, other bedroom furniture, and household items where the remaining 30% of bed bugs are hiding. Make sure that nothing on the bed is touching the floor (e.g. blankets, bed skirts, etc.) besides the legs of the frame. Install sticky traps or insect interceptor traps under each leg of the bed. The traps will collect bed bugs for identification and keep them from climbing back on the bed.  Traps will also help you judge how well the control effort is working.

Clean and treat the remaining furniture by the bed and in other rooms where people rest and sleep. Female bed bugs glue their eggs in hidden areas, making it difficult to remove 100% of them with a vacuum cleaner. Move and scrape the crevice tool along seams, folds and along the edge of wall-to-wall carpet. Heavily upholstered furniture that has a lot of folds, ruffles, buttons, etc. can provide many hiding places for bedbugs. This type of furniture may need to be discarded. Remove clutter to eliminate bed bug hiding spots and follow all sanitary recommendations made by your landlord and the commercial pest control company.

Pesticide products labeled for bed bugs will kill bugs on contact, but their residual effect is limited, meaning that the chemicals don’t stick around for long on the surface they are applied to. Rubbing alcohol will kill bugs on contact, but it is flammable, dangerous and has no residual effect. Essential plant oil pesticides with clove, peppermint, cedar, and geraniol have proven almost as effective as commercial grade pesticides. They work slower but kill all stages, including eggs, and provide residual effect on cotton for several days. To date, they are only sold by retail outlets on the internet.

Bed bugs survive cold temperatures well, but do succumb to heat. For items that can be laundered, use water at least 160°F to be effective on all life stages and tumble dry on hot cycle (120°F) for at least 30 minutes. Un-washable items may be treated with a heat gun, hair dryer, or commercial grade steam cleaner. Dry cleaning chemicals also kill bed bugs.

Mattresses, box springs, luggage and small furniture may be treated with a Mattress & Luggage Treatment Kit available online and in hardware stores. The kit contains a pesticide strip and a large sealable plastic bag. Items sealed inside the plastic bag are exposed for 7 days to a controlled-release vapor of an organophosphate pesticide called Vapona (also known as Dichlorvos or DDVP). It kills all stages of bed bugs. Be sure to wear gloves when using pesticide and always follow the directions for use on the label.

For people who must remain in an infested home until a more comprehensive control effort is conducted, a portable cot with bed bug traps set under each leg will help to prevent bites. A mosquito bed net or a small, finely screened tent set on top of a cleaned and treated bed (with traps under each leg) may also alleviate bites. According to a 2013 study, DEET, the most commonly used insect repellent applied to the skin, provided a high level of repellency against bed bugs. The label on repellents should always be read thoroughly before use

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There’s More To Getting An Auto Repair Estimate Than Meets The Eye

How do I not get scammed by mechanics?

Auto mechanics provide a very important and necessary service. A good mechanic will give your car the service it needs at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, some mechanics are less than honest. They rely on the average consumer’s ignorance about many types of car repairs, and attempt to charge you for products and services you don’t need and may not even receive once you’ve paid for them.

Protect your investment and your car. Make sure you know how to keep an eye out for auto repair shop scams. These smart tactics will help you spot fraudulent claims before you’re taken in, so you can get your car out of the shop unscathed and take it on to a mechanic who deserves your patronage.

Reference Your Car’s Maintenance Manual

Your vehicle’s maintenance manual is an invaluable resource when you’re dealing with car mechanics. It has all the essential information you need to understand your car’s basic needs. While your car manual can’t tell you how to fix everything that might go wrong, it will clue you in to some crucial details in regards to standard maintenance and upkeep. There are many common scams that a mechanic might try to pull off that you could catch with a simple look at your maintenance manual.

One of the more common scams that you’ll run into at the shop is the dirty air filter claim. Shady mechanics love to tell customers that their air filters are dirty, when this is rarely true. There are even reports of shops keeping a dirty filter on hand to show off to customers for effect.

What car owners don’t typically realize is that this isn’t even the filter from their car. Your maintenance manual will tell you how often you should have the air filter changed – typically every 15,000 to 20,000 miles. If you’re well under this milestone, don’t trust a mechanic who claims you need the change.

Mechanics may also try to up-sell you on your oil change. They’ll claim that you need a special synthetic or premium oil that’s more expensive than what you came in for. This is another instance where you can turn to your vehicle’s manual to get the real scoop on what you need, so you’re not investing in unnecessary upgrades.

Decode Mechanic Speak

If you’re not familiar with cars and car repairs, a mechanic’s explanation of what’s wrong with your vehicle can sound like a foreign language. If you don’t understand what your mechanic is telling you, ask for a written estimate of the work, take notes on everything he’s telling you, and let him know that you’ll come back or call back later. Don’t agree to any work that you don’t understand.

The internet is a valuable resource for learning more about different car problems. Get to know the parts of your vehicle that purportedly need repairs. Find out what the symptoms are for the quoted problem. If you see anything that looks suspicious or doesn’t line up, you may want to decline service at that particular shop.

Ask to See the Issues

Ask your mechanic to show you exactly what’s wrong with the vehicle. Some mechanics aren’t accustomed to this approach, and may balk at the suggestion. They’ll seem particularly uncomfortable if they’re making claims that are untrue. This is where your previous research comes in handy. If you’re not well-acquainted with the parts in question, take a look online before you request your tour of your car’s problems. You should find some pictures of what different issues look like so you can recognize them when you’re shown.

If your mechanic refuses to show you what’s wrong with the car, you should take your business elsewhere. You should also be very skeptical if the problem doesn’t look as it should. You may want to take a photo to show to a more car-savvy friend if you’re still not sure what you’re looking at. A reliable mechanic will be happy to explain the problem in more detail and demonstrate what’s going on before you commit to the repair.

Be Wary of Unrelated Issues

You head in to your local shop for an oil change because you found an unbeatable deal in the paper. You’re expecting to walk out with a tiny bill for a basic service, but before you can pick up your car, you’re informed of several other issues you never suspected. This is a common tactic that unscrupulous mechanics will use to try to get more money out of customers. You’re lured in by the too-good-to-be-true deal because it really is too good.

Don’t agree to any repair for an issue that your car showed no signs of, particularly when you took the car in for a special or coupon offer. Get only the service you scheduled. You can always bring your car back later if you determine that it has a genuine problem.

Don’t Pay for Unauthorized Fixes

A good mechanic will always give you a quote and get your permission before fixing anything. If your car repair shop goes ahead and fixes parts that you didn’t authorize them to handle, don’t pay for the service. You can contact the police if the shop refuses to return your car to you, and report the business for fraud if they continue to try to collect on the bill.

Too many drivers simply pay the bill for this kind of service, which encourages the mechanics to perpetuate these unfair practices. Even if you believe that your car does need the service, and you would have elected to go ahead with it under ordinary circumstances, you should withhold your payment in the case of unauthorized repairs.

Get Another Opinion

If anything seems shady about your shop at all, don’t hesitate to take your vehicle to another shop for a second opinion. Don’t tell the second mechanic what the first one said. This could provide too much leading information and tempt the second mechanic to throw out a similar diagnosis if it will give them a high profit.

If the two come back with drastically different diagnoses, you’ll know that one of them isn’t giving you an accurate report. Never let a shop pressure you into leaving your car there if you want to take it somewhere else. This is your right. Shop around your area until you find a service that you’re comfortable with.

Compare Prices

Any time a mechanic tells you that you need an extensive and pricy repair, you should call around before you commit to the job. Ask a few other shops in the area what they’ll charge for the same service. Gather as much information as you can from the original mechanic so you’re equipped to get an accurate price quote from someone else.

Shop around and take your vehicle to the shop that offers you the best deal for the service. Make sure you have a written quote for the price before you commit to the service, so you’re sure you can get the deal you were originally offered.

Go to Well-Recommended Shops

Before you take your vehicle to a repair shop, ask around for recommendations. It’s difficult to choose a new shop at random, and it’s this tactic that often leads to trouble. Talk to friends and family. Consult online review sites for local car services. Go to a reputable shop that you’ve heard good things about.

Don’t trust reviews posted on the mechanic’s own site. These are too easy to fake and are often fraudulent, particularly among shops that are willing to scam you in other ways anyway. As you’re perusing others’ reviews, however, you should keep in mind that it’s unlikely any shop will have completely positive reports. People are more likely to write a negative review because they’re upset, and will often neglect to report their positive experiences.

Don’t Waive the Deductible

There’s one fraudulent scam that can seem very tempting to the customer, and in fact seems to offer upfront benefits. This is the waived deductible scam. The mechanic will offer to waive the insurance deductible for your repair, bill the insurance company for more than what the service cost, and pass the savings on to you. For example, he might suggest installing a used part instead of a new one, then writing a receipt for a new part that you can submit to your insurance company.

No matter how good this offer sounds, you should always decline. This is an illegal act known as insurance fraud. If you’re found out, you could be subject to criminal charges. Don’t put yourself and your family at risk just for the sake of a small discount. You should probably take your vehicle elsewhere as well, since this is a good sign of a mechanic who is up to no good.