Here are a few precautions you can take to safeguard your home from potential fire hazards. Practicing these fire safety strategies will help reduce your likelihood of having a to clean up after a fire:
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• Use a smoke alarm that ties into a mobile app: Using a “smart” smoke alarm will alert you to dangers sooner by sending you notifications if dangerous conditions are detected. Often, these fire prevention devices can work with your security system to give you added protection. In the true fashion of the smart home, there are now many options available that will do the trick:
  • Nest Protect: This device is a smoke and carbon monoxide detector. It also ties in with the Nest thermostat and can be controlled via a mobile device.
  • Onelink: This Wi-Fi smoke and carbon monoxide detector works with Apple HomeKit to alert you immediately of any dangers.
  • Halo: Halo’s version of the smart smoke alarm informs you when something is wrong and sends a notification to your phone.
  • Roost Smart Battery: Do these options seem a little unreachable at the moment? You can always retrofit your existing alarms with the Roost Smart Battery. This 9-volt battery fits over the alarms you already have and will notify you via mobile app when an alarm sounds. As a bonus, the Roost Smart Battery will even alert you when battery levels are running low.

 

• Keep your home clear of any outlying debris: Dispose of any combustible debris that surrounds your home. Clear away anything that could cause a house fire. In addition, keep low-hanging foliage trimmed and a safe distance from the outer reaches of your home.

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• Cover all openings with wire mesh: This fire prevention method keeps any blowing embers from entering your home and catching fire.

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• Safeguard your roof with fire-resistant materials: House fires are frequently started by blowing embers alighting on rooftops. FEMA recommends that homes in fire-prone areas take precautions by replacing roofing using fire-resistant materials. In addition, keep your gutters clean of all debris.

 

• Store any combustible materials away from you home: Grills make for a great cookout, but are not wise to have close to your home when a fire is likely to occur.

 

• Install a fire extinguisher in your home: When all else fails and a house fire does catch, having a fire extinguisher on hand can help you prevent the damage from spreading.

If you have fire damage in your home, call us today at (760) 844-2326​ to receive a free estimate. We'll help your family get back in your home quickly and professionally. You can Trust in the King!
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Sprinklers can cause water damage and mold. Many homeowners wonder how can that be especially when sprinklers are just watering their yard. The problem with sprinkler system is that sometimes they don't work properly and are on too long or over-spray. If we still stood outside and watered with a hose we wouldn’t spray the wall for 5 to 10 minutes at a time in the same place, but sometimes our sprinkler systems do that. Many sprinklers systems also run at night and we don’t realize there is a problem until it is too late. Sprinkler systems are a wonderful convenience in our busy lives, but we need to maintain them.

Here are some sprinkler system problems:

• Sprinkler spraying on the walls of the building (sprinkler overspray).
• Plants and grass growing right up against the wall.
• Sprinklers installed too close to the building.
• Broken or leaking sprinkler pipes.

Our walls are like a sandwich. There is the outside wall, the insulating space and then the inside wall. When the outside wall keeps getting wet from a sprinkler system, then the insulation material gets wet, then the inside wall gets wet.  Before you know it, you have a funny smell, then you have a water stain inside, then you see a small spot on the wall, baseboard, or flooring.  You clean off the spot, but the spot keeps coming back.  That spot is probably mold!  Even if you have not noticed a water stain on your interior walls, mold may already be in the inside of your wall.

If your exterior walls look like the one above, you may have a mold problem brewing and you may need a professional mold inspection! Call us today at (760) 844-2326​ to receive a free inspection. You can Trust in the King!

There’s a lot of things that can go wrong if you have a slow leak from your kitchen sink. Let’s run down what can happen and then discuss some things you can do to try and prevent this from happening to you.

Slow leaks are not covered by insurance
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Slow leaks are not usually covered by insurance. This is unfortunate news for homeowners when they discover it. In most cases, If you read the fine print of your insurance policy, you’ll discover a clause that explicitly states your policy only covers sudden water damage losses, not gradual leaks. While you can’t foresee certain accidents happening and protecting against them, your insurer’s position is that you should be able to prevent certain things from happening with regular maintenance. So to them, the fact you never noticed you had a problem is evidence that you were negligent, and any claim would most likely be denied on that basis.

They can cause hidden water damage
​When you have an ongoing leak under your kitchen sink, you can see some discoloration or spotting at the base of the cabinet, what you can’t see is where the water has traveled beyond there until it becomes an even bigger problem. Water can travel through your cabinets and into the flooring below your cabinet. It can then travel up walls that are hidden by the cabinets, saturating both drywall as well as insulation. These can be quite expensive repairs because not only do the cabinets usually need to be replaced, but so does any other areas that got wet. They usually have been wet for too long by the time it’s noticed to be salvaged.

They can cause a lot of mold damage
Mold can make you and your family members very sick. Mold is also very expensive to safely remove. Some homeowners insurance policies do not cover mold removal.

Here's how you can prevent a kitchen sink leak
You can’t totally prevent one. Despite the best preventative measures, sometimes accidents happen. But there are things you can do to both mitigate the risks of it ever happening, and lessen the damage that might occur should a slow leak develop. Here’s some helpful tips:

• Check under your sink every few weeks. Just a quick glance to see if you notice any staining or moisture. You’re probably reaching down there every day to grab soaps or sponges or whatever else you need in your daily life. Every once in a while pull a few things out and just make sure everything is dry.
• Once a year, check the supply lines to your sink to make sure the hoses themselves are in good shape and that the connections are still secure.
• If you’re really concerned about a problem, consider installing a water sensor under your sink. This will alert you to any moisture intrusion so that you can head off any problems at the pass!

If you do have water damage or mold in your home, call us today at (760) 844-2326​ to receive a free estimate. You can Trust in the King!
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