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Electrical
Shock Safety
April
showers may bring May flowers, but
they also bring wet basements and crawl spaces.
When these conditions exist, the risk of
electrical shock is high because electrically powered
tools such as shop-vacs and portable pumps,
are sometimes used to clean up. The
combination of electricity and damp
surroundings can be fatal if a
defect in a tool or its
wiring caused electricity to flow into
the user’s body.
To protect yourself from possible electrocution,
make sure all power tools are plugged
into a working ground fault circuit interrupter
(GFCI). A GFCI is a sensitive switching
device that monitors current flowing
in an electrical circuit. If the GFCI detects
a current leak that could cause a shock,
it instantly interrupts or shuts off the electrical
current to tools or other devices plugged
into it.
For more information about GFCIs, check with your local
home-improvement center or contact a qualified electrician.
If you’re having electrical work done, it’s in the
homeowner’s best interest to have electrical
work inspected by an accredited electrician.
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continued
from front page...
10.
Chimney Liner. A
chimney without a
clay flue tile liner was probably built prior
to 1945.
11.
Galvanized Water Supply Pipe. These
pipes were replaced in most
locations with copper
between 1965 and 1975.
12. Cast Iron Waste Pipe. These
pipes were
replaced in most locales with ABS between 1970
and 1975.
13. Garage Clues.
Look on garage walls for
old permit tags, which indicate the date of
the
original construction or remodeling.
Obviously each one of these items must be
used
with some common sense. For
example, if the water heater appears new in
an old
home you could not use the dates
from that item to date the house. Also
customary
usages of various
components
began and ended at different times in each
region of the country, so local custom could modify the stated parameters.
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