The HTRC

The Homeowners & Trades Resource Center

Safety Sunday: Respirators vs. Masks V.3 – The COVID19 Edition

What a crazy time we live in… The good news, there is a ton of good advice out there on avoiding COVID 19 aka Corona Virus aka the Chinese Pandemic. Unfortunately, the flip side is also true, and while one would expect that from those looking to make a quick buck or just don’t know […]

Guest Post: OSHA’s Updated Silica Dust Standard…

Curious about the newly updated OSHA Silica Dust Standard that has some in an uproar, well so was JB at Building Moxie. In short §1926.1153 aka the  Respirable Crystalline Silica Standard will start being enforced starting September 23rd for contractors. As most visitor’s to his site are not contractors & are DIYers, I did a brief […]

Safety Sunday: Protect those feet – work boot options

In the Army there is a saying – you take care of your feet & they will take care of you. In construction this is well worth remembering and for most it starts with what boots you wear & when. In that vein we have a guest post from Michael Pierce. Michael describes himself as an […]

Safety Sunday: Raised Fireplace Hearth & Kids

A few weeks ago we talked about kid proofing a home & one item I spaced was a trick we used for our raised fireplace hearth. As most know, when your kid starts trying to learn to walk they aren’t the most graceful so hard sharp edges are not something most parents like to see […]

Safety Sunday: Window Blinds & Cords – a simple how to

First a quick note & warning – some may consider the advice in here as something one should never do. Why, well because they are worried that having all the cords tied together could equate to a chocking / hanging hazard. From what I have seen, just a simple string that is long enough, is enough […]

Essential Security Tips for Home Based Businesses

This week we have a guest post from Cassie Phillips of Secure Thoughts. Secure Thoughts is based on helping everyday people make sure their information and loved ones are protected online. Cassie is a writer and blogger who likes to focus on internet security issues, technological solutions, travel, and business security. She particularly enjoys writing for small businesses […]

The problem with NEST Protect & other Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Recently NEST released a combination Fire / Smoke & CO Detector called the “Protect.” As many of you may recall NEST set many an “energy geeks” hearts & their associated blogs a flutter with their new programmable thermostat over a year ago. Personally I thought they were all a little nuts (about the thermostat) but […]

Turkeys, Pies, & Carbon Monoxide (CO)?

Wow how quickly this year has passed; with most of us getting ready to sit down and enjoy a great Thanksgiving dinner next week followed up by the Christmas Baking season. With that we would like to remind everyone with a gas stove to please use the exhaust vent (or open a window if it […]

Safety Sunday: Reminder, it only takes a split second

One split second of inattention is all it takes… Just as a friendly reminder, it doesn’t matter how much you know, how safe you normally are, all it takes is one bad call or a split second of inattention & you can find yourself injured. For me I got this nice little reminder on Memorial […]