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Clear Water Michigan

Livonia, MI

Call: (734) 502-5060
  • Home
  • About
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      • Inground Pools
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  • Commercial Services
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safety

Holiday Safety Tips: or Don’t Ask Clark Griswold to Decorate Your Home

December 6, 2016

Skating

 

December is here! Christmas and Hannukah are overlapping in their celebration this year (Note: Christmas lasts from December 25 to January 6th). Many moving parts add up to a well-celebrated holiday and one of those moving parts is safety. An unsafe holiday is no fun at all. Take a look at the following tips to keep you healthy, hearty, and hale into the new year.

Do NOT ask him to help you decorate your home!

Do NOT ask him to help you decorate your home!

Lights

The holidays would certainly be lacking if we didn’t have lights (electric and flame) inside and outside our homes as part of the ritual. There is a right way and and wrong way to use lights though.

  • Make sure your outlets are GFCI. Designed to prevent electrical shocks, they will protect you with lights you may hang in your kitchen or bathroom(?) or outside.
  • Don’t overload your outlets like Ralphie’s Dad in A Christmas Story. That can lead to a fire.
    Is this your house?

    Is this your house?

     

     

  • If you are going to hang lights out of a safe reach, then please use caution with ladders and step-stools. Be sure they are level and all legs are fully extended.

 

Fire

According to the American Fire Administration over 156,000 fires occur during the winter holiday season. Taking care here will prevent Christmas tree fires, electrical fires, and cooking fires which can lead to total property loss and fatalities. The holidays should not be spent in the hospital.

Christmas-Tree-Fire-Safety

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Water your “live” tree. Nearly everyone agrees, a well-watered tree is hard to burn.
  • To ensure proper watering, give your tree a fresh cut before bringing it into your house. Slice a half-inch or so off the bottom of the trunk to aid water circulation in the tree.
  • Keep your tree away from heat sources and make sure it’s level.
  • Never EVER put actual lit candles on or near your tree!
  • Be sure you have smoke detectors (with charged batteries) and a fire extinguisher in your home.
  • For homes with fireplaces, when was the last time the chimney was cleaned? (The National Fire Protection Association says, “Once a year.”)
  • Be careful with space heaters. They account for 40% of all home heating fires (source: NFPA).
  • Don’t deep fry your frozen turkey. Thaw it first.

And don’t forget…

  • Poinsettias (or poinsettas) are poisonous to both humans and household pets.
  • Keep breakable ornaments out of the reach of young children and cats.

Clearwater Construction hopes that you and your family and friends have a safe and Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and a prosperous and healthy New Year!

giphy

We mean it! Don’t ask for his help.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Electrical, Uncategorized Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas lights, Christmas tree, fire, Hannukah, safety

Farewell to Summer (Pool Closing 101)

October 7, 2016

Madison Avenue likes to tell us that Labor Day is the last day of summer, when in reality, we have around two weeks left. The Autumnal Equinox marks the change in the earth’s tilt that shortens the daylight in the northern hemisphere.

TL;DR=Summer goes until late September.

The end of summer usually means children back in school, more focus at work, and generally less leisure hours. Which translates into “It’s time to close the swimming pool.”

What happens in a pool closing? If you do it yourself, you know. But if you hire it out, you may not even be around when it occurs.

Fear not, good reader. Clearwater explains it all in this POOL CLOSING 101.

The "Before."

The “Before.”

For handy reference you may want to refer to our article on swimming pool openings, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step #1 Draining the pool

It's going to take a long time to drain your pool by suction and gravity. Perhaps you ought to let the professionals try.

It’s going to take a long time to drain your pool by suction and/or gravity. Perhaps you ought to let the professionals try.

Yes, we need to drain the precious summer’s life blood of pool water in order to blow out all the lines. You wouldn’t want pipes bursting in January, would you? Drain it below the returns for the maximum clean out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step #2 Remove the rails 

This is straightforward enough. They’ve done their duty for the season, send them off to their long winter’s nap. The cover fits better when you don’t have to stretch it over hand rails, too.

IMG_3940 IMG_3943

 

Step #3 Fill the skimmer with anti-freeze.

Water will find a way into your skimmer one way or another. Better fill the lines with anti-freeze for protection against the ice of winter.

IMG_3947

Shane endorses this brand of anti-freeze!

Shane endorses this brand of anti-freeze!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step # 4 Check the filter and blow out the lines

Sometimes the filter needs cleaning, sometimes not, but it should always be checked. After that, blow the remaining water out of all the lines and add anti-freeze. Consider it winterized.

IMG_3949

IMG_3950

Thar she blows!

IMG_3956

IMG_3960

After checking for successful flow of anti-freeze, the lines are capped for the season.

Step #5 A Final Cleaning

If you slowed down on the clean-up of your swimming pool because you knew someone was coming to close it, we understand. Clearwater Pools and Spas (or hopefully the company you hired) will be glad to complete a final cleaning before your pool is put to bed for the winter.

IMG_3964

 

Step #6 Adding Chlorine

The chlorine will lose its efficacy long before winter starts, but it does help keep down any algal growth for a couple of weeks. The upside is your pool will be covered and that will also inhibit the growth of plants that love to colonize your pool. Call it a courtesy.

IMG_3962

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step #7 Covering the Pool

Essentially, the last step is to cover the swimming pool (preferably with a safety cover and not a tarp). This is done for several reasons. 1) It keeps the leaf litter out. 2) It adds a measure of safety to the pool. 3) It limits evaporation that might occur on (relatively) warm and sunny winter days. This reduces your water bill in the spring.IMG_3966

IMG_3971

Securing the cover to the anchors

Securing the cover to the anchors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you walk on your cover?

Can you walk on your cover?

Step#8 Farewell to Summer

You probably had many good times in your pool, but if you live in a temperate zone, you simply can’t use your pool year-round.

It’s October, it’s time to pull out the Autumn/harvest/Halloween decorations. It’s time to close your pool (perhaps by hiring it out). It’s time to say good-bye to summer and embrace the next season.

See you in the spring!

IMG_3974

The “after”

Contact ClearWater today
for a FREE estimate!
734.502.5060
info@ClearWaterMichigan.com

Emergency Service
Call: (734) 502-5060

 

 

Filed Under: Pools and Spas Tagged With: chlorine, Closing, fall, filter, pool closing, safety, safety cover, skimmer, swimming pool, winter, winterize

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Location & Hours

ClearWater Michigan
12351 Stark Rd
Livonia, MI 48150

Phone:
734-502-5060

Hours:
Monday-Friday: 8am-5pm

Specialties: Heating and Cooling, Furnace Repair, AC Repair, Air Conditioning, Plumbing, Plumber, Electrician, Electrician Services, Swimming Pools
Areas: Livonia MI, Farmington Hills MI, Novi MI, Northville MI, Plymouth MI, Westland MI, Dearborn Heights MI, Dearborn MI, Redford MI

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