[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house. Let's bring it inside a little bit here and talk about some safety stuff as well, and, uh, some, maybe some alternatives to make it a little bit safer for you. Now, one of the ones that always bugs me is we'll talk, you know, Christmas tree safety here in a little bit, but one of the ones that can be troublesome.

[00:00:22] Eric Goranson: Is putting the garland on that stair banister, it can look really cool. It can get in the way of safety. The last thing I want to do is to see grandma going upstairs to use the bathroom over the holidays. She grabs a hold of that, can't get her hand around that railing, and then all of a sudden, She's sliding, slip and falling, and uh, we got a broken hip.

[00:00:44] Eric Goranson: So very careful how you do it when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home. There is a lot to know. No, we got you coming. This is around the house. Welcome to the Around the House Show. This is where we talk everything about your home every [00:01:00] single week. Thanks for joining us. I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving.

[00:01:05] Eric Goranson: Can't believe it's Thanksgiving weekend. Black Friday. Sales are going out there. Everybody's having a crazy good time out there. We are knee deep in the holiday season. And first, if you wanna get ahold of us here at the show, make sure you can head over to around the house online.com. Or if you're listening on the radio, you can always catch us on the podcast or any other social media channel out there.

[00:01:24] Eric Goranson: Just about. Just look for Around the House show. Well, today I wanted to talk about getting ready for the holidays cuz so many people today are out there putting up those holiday lights, Christmas lights, whatever. You're out there celebrating. Doesn't matter to. As long as we're having a good time, that's what counts.

[00:01:42] Eric Goranson: So there's a lot of things when it comes down to putting up, we're just gonna call 'em Christmas lights today cuz that's what they're most generally known as. Not trying to offend anybody out there. And if not, well we're talking Christmas lights. Here's the thing, one of the biggest problems I see and questions that I get this time of [00:02:00] year is I have had the lights plugged in, they're plugged into the wall, and now I have no power.

[00:02:08] Eric Goranson: And there's no power coming to that switch. So here's the thing. Most of the time, and I say most of the time, that g c clicked off in your garage someplace or wherever it is on the exterior. So the first thing to do is see if the breaker's checked, and if it's not okay, then go around your house and start hitting those reset buttons on the gfc.

[00:02:32] Eric Goranson: Now, one thing that I'll tell you, GFCs are a wearable part. Sometimes if it's a cheap one, five years, it's a good one. You can get 15 out of 'em. But many times by the 10 year mark, they trip really easily and it's something to take a look at. Now, if it's a newer home, it could behave an a fault or something like that.

[00:02:50] Eric Goranson: And then, um, you know, take a look and see. Why it tripped? Do you have old lights? Did something get wet? Make sure that you kind of realize what happened there. [00:03:00] So here's the thing, and this is, we're gonna get into the safety first here of just on the Christmas lights itself, cuz I've had some horror stories out there that I want you to be careful with.

[00:03:11] Eric Goranson: One of the biggest ones that I've seen running that extension cord under your garage door, maybe even through a window garage. Guys, I can tell you what it's going to be a problem. I had a family friend felt so bad about it, has his collector cars in the garage. He didn't unfortunately have insurance on these three cars, and he had an extension cord going underneath the garage door.

[00:03:36] Eric Goranson: Didn't take too many times for that to cause a short in the garage door. Under the garage door lit the whole house. They lost half the house. He lost his car collection. Car collection was not insured, even damaged the cars in the driveway. All from the extension cord going under the garage door seal. So be really careful, guys.

[00:03:58] Eric Goranson: That's where you can run into [00:04:00] some serious problems. So let's talk about cords a little bit here too. Now you need to get the right size cord. If you're using L e D lights, it doesn't take much, but that doesn't mean you go out and use those. You know ungrounded lamp cords. Can I tell you how many times I saw people when I was into the big box store this last weekend, getting some Christmas lights, clips from my house?

[00:04:24] Eric Goranson: Cuz yeah, it was a sunny day and I put it up. I'm not gonna put it up in the rain or snow. Here's the thing, grabbing those and putting those outside, dude, that's gonna get somebody hurt. Seriously. So do not use those white lamp cords that don't have the ground. Those are inside only, and quite frankly, I don't use them anymore in my house, period.

[00:04:43] Eric Goranson: You know, if you just gotta extend a lamp out, it's one thing, but that is not meant for an exterior application by any means. That's how somebody gets hurt. So just make sure with that, The right thing here is that when you're looking at these things, get the right [00:05:00] length of exterior cord. And then one of the things that I do before I even get the lights up there is I have a way to switch that off and on.

[00:05:07] Eric Goranson: If you are in your house and you've done your remodeling projects, it's really easy to put up a timed, you know, outlet up where you start your Christmas lights. I've done that in previous houses. It works really well. What do I do? I didn't do it on this one cuz that actually carport where it starts out on my house is gonna end up getting torn down.

[00:05:26] Eric Goranson: So I'm not gonna go over and spend the time on that. But what do I do? I have one of those Lutron smart outdoor plugins. It's great. So it looks like a, a little, you know, eight inch plugin that goes right into my outlet Christmas lights plug in the other side. And it is a smart switch, so it goes under my smart home stuff.

[00:05:46] Eric Goranson: So literally I can have it turn on half hour before dus. And it can turn off whenever I want to. It doesn't, I don't turn 'em, I keep 'em on all night, to be honest, because here's the thing, there's not much power getting drawn out. Those things being [00:06:00] e d, it's just not that big a deal to me. Now, if you want to have a shutoff at midnight, you can sure do it.

[00:06:05] Eric Goranson: You can set it up so it shuts off every night. But for me, I can go dust it on and keep it though, so I have a little more light out there. Works out really well and it's automatic, super easy. Set it up once and I could forget. And that makes it really easy. So much better than those regular outdoor timers that you used to have where you had to set the little pins and stuff on 'em.

[00:06:26] Eric Goranson: Ah, no need for that anymore. No need to go old school. You can go with one of these smart home things. And even if it's the only smart thing in your house, trust me, it makes life so much easier. And then, you know, I've been trying some new tools out there. There is a new tool that you can get at the home.

[00:06:42] Eric Goranson: Uh, I saw this one at Home Depot and I wanted to try it out. So it is a pole and a clip that says you don't have to get up on the ladder to hang your Christmas lights. And then, ah, 30 bucks. Let's give it a shot. I'm gonna give it a C because that clip system that [00:07:00] you see, it's a red pole. Not gonna get into brand names cuz it's not a commercial for them.

[00:07:03] Eric Goranson: But you put the poll in and it has a release lever. But the problem is, is. It's hard to do because you almost have to get up on the ladder to put the next clip on and to get it onto the thing, so it's not as easy. It's not as well thought out as I thought it would. It's good for gutters if you're working on a eight foot ceiling there, you know, eight foot gutter off the ground, not a big deal.

[00:07:29] Eric Goranson: I'll tell you what, I would be struggling if I was trying to do my second story gutters in a lot of my area because I only have gutters on certain sides. Only about half of my house has those gutters, and so it worked out pretty well across the front of my garage. But on the rest of the stuff, not a chance.

[00:07:42] Eric Goranson: Didn't work at all. Wrong type of clip, so there is no real foolproof system out there. That tool was cool. Don't get me wrong, did not make it that much easier. By the time I got around messing with it figured out, I probably could have got up in the step ladder and knocked it out. So if you got a lot of [00:08:00] gutters and um, you've got a, you know, a Christmas light that will hang down, okay, that you can put every three or four feet because you think about it, when you hit that hook, that clip up over the top, the next light, you now have to.

[00:08:14] Eric Goranson: Jingle around to get that thing snapped in there. Not as easy. So it's um, there's gotta be a better system out there that is not. That's something to think about, you know? And make sure too, that when you're doing these lights, and we're gonna talk about this more, but this year I put in new Christmas lights because they had about four years on 'em, and for the price of lights out there at four years, I just kind of decided to change 'em out and do an upgrade because, It's cheaper and they end up looking better.

[00:08:42] Eric Goranson: And that way they're always good. The people that run into more problems are the ones that sit there and, uh, put 'em up and leave them up all year round. The only time you could be doing that is if you went and special ordered commercial lights that are meant for year exposure year after year, and they're still only gonna [00:09:00] last a handful of years cuz they're out there in the sun, the wind, the rain, whatever.

[00:09:05] Eric Goranson: So make sure that you don't keep those up. I've seen too many people out there that keep 'em up year after year, and if you didn't go out and spend a thousand bucks on those things and get the commercial ones, that could be a huge problem. I wanna see you burn the house down. This is, uh, the thing that we're not trying to do this year is to do that.

[00:09:21] Eric Goranson: So make sure that they're in good shape, and if they're not working great, get rid of those old, uh, incandescent ones. No need for those. They use so much more power and they're just harder to maintain. When you can put up the L e D ones and they're just durable and they go and they use just a little power, you can put a bunch more of those things together in line to put 'em together, and you have a lot less extension cords that way.

[00:09:43] Eric Goranson: All right, we come back. We'll have more of around the house just as soon as we return. Be loud. Be so hot.[00:10:00]

[00:10:05] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round the House Show. Now if you're catching us on the radio, make sure you follow the podcast cuz there is more information that we do in the middle of each week where we have some new updates and things like that. So you can catch that on any podcast. Blair, we've been talking getting ready for the holidays here now that we're after Thanksgiving and having a great time in the holiday season.

[00:10:24] Eric Goranson: I wanted to talk this segment about ladder safety cuz it's an important one and. There's some cool applications out there now. I really like using the right ladder for the job. What I mean by that is not standing on the place that says do not step. I know I'm done it myself. Guilty is charged, but it's something you gotta be really careful with because I know people, heck, I had a buddy, I was over helping him in his, uh, his house, sitting there trimming some bushes, and, uh, he's about 10 years older than me.

[00:10:52] Eric Goranson: I was helping out with him and his wife and, and, um, he goes, Hey, be careful in that ladder. I'm like, He goes, yeah, somebody already died on that thing. [00:11:00] Falling off of it. I'm like, why do you even have this in your house pretty dark when you're standing in that same ladder? But here's the thing, a little ladder safety goes a long way.

[00:11:09] Eric Goranson: And if you've got that big extension ladder out, there's some easy answers that really make it easy and it's awesome. There is an app for your phone. Ladder safety. It's the NAO N I O S H, ladder Safety app. And here's what's cool that it gives you tips on the ladder. You can actually set your phone on the rung of the ladder and it's going to tell you if you have it at the right angle or not.

[00:11:33] Eric Goranson: Cause nobody wants to be the $10,000 video falling off and landing in the bushes, the car, anywhere else, or getting yourself hurt or worse. So make sure that you follow those, you know those rules to get the ladder put in the right place. And here's the thing, if you are going up and doing this year after year, after.

[00:11:52] Eric Goranson: And you've got some sketchy places to do it. There's kind of three ways that'll help you do that one well, that's the easy one. Hire [00:12:00] somebody to come do it, let them deal with it. Number two is I have gone over to my local tool, rental place and rented one of the, um, lifts and I've actually lifted the lift up and put up there and rode the lift up and put 'em up.

[00:12:12] Eric Goranson: That was easy. Put some plywood down on the grass, off I. Little, little challenging because I had a, I had a roof that I couldn't get up to very easily with the ladder without having to go up the back, and it was just a, a really goofy situation. So that's one. That's the other one actually. And then the other way is, is to go up there, and it could be a combination doing this too.

[00:12:34] Eric Goranson: It's a pretty smart way to go, is to sit there when you're getting that roof put on or, and do it even after the fact. Put in some fall protection device hooks. Get those dialed in, get that ready to go. Because here's the cool thing with that. If you go in there and put those safety hooks in, and they're pretty easy to get, you can buy 'em as one big.

[00:12:52] Eric Goranson: Put those in up there. You can use 'em all year round. If you have to go up and clean the roof off, clean the gutters, you can tie off. And guess what? It's gonna keep you from falling [00:13:00] off that roof. Or if you do, you're not gonna go bounce and it's gonna catch you and do the right stuff. So something to think about.

[00:13:06] Eric Goranson: Uh, it's something I'm gonna do mine one of these days because it's just easy. And uh, when I put the new roof on, it's gonna be one of those things. I'm gonna throw those up to those guys and say, while you're at it, put it in and that way it's gonna keep. Save when I'm up on that roof cuz the last thing I need to do is get hurt, then I can't be doing this show.

[00:13:23] Eric Goranson: So that's one of the things right there. Now here's the other thing is when you're going up on that roof, and this is a, a rule that I follow, I always make sure somebody's around the house, you know, wife Julie's around here, neighbor's over there working out in the yard. I do it so that way if I get, who knows, maybe the ladder falls off, right?

[00:13:41] Eric Goranson: If something stupid happened, wind blows the ladder over. Something goofy happens. You have somebody to assist. Or worse, if you get yourself in a bad situation or hurt, they can actually call the ambulance, call nine one one for you in case something bad happens. Now, there are some other cool little things out there when you're working on stuff, and I [00:14:00] like this, like my Apple Watch for instance.

[00:14:02] Eric Goranson: It has a fall protection thing on it. So if I fall and it notices that shock of. Impacting terrain that will actually sit there and buzz and say, wow, we just noticed it looked like you fell. Are you okay? And it'll give you so many seconds to respond. If you don't, it calls your emergency contact, and that's another good way to do it.

[00:14:27] Eric Goranson: Again, stupid stuff happens. I've fallen off six foot step ladders before shouldn't happen, but it happens. So just make sure that you're doing it correctly and that's gonna keep you safe. That's gonna be one of those things you can do and make sure out there that it's that grass. It's having a good ladder, and make sure that you're on up that ladder, that you're not overloading that ladder.

[00:14:49] Eric Goranson: If you have a cheap ladder that's weighed, that's rated for 200 pounds, you're 300 pounds and you've got another 50 pounds with the stuff that you're taking up there, be careful. [00:15:00] That's where you can get yourself in trouble because all of a sudden you have exceeded that ladder capacity. So check the sticker on the side and uh, you know, those wood ladders and stuff, or even some of the fiberglass ones that are set out in the weather too long, they do have a lifespan.

[00:15:15] Eric Goranson: So they can sit there and get to the point where they're gonna fail prematurely beyond their rating. That's why a lot of companies you see, I mean, I've got a really nice ladder here that. I think it was Verizon or one of those guys, they, every couple, two or three years, they swapped their ladders out and put new ones in, get new safety stuff for 'em.

[00:15:34] Eric Goranson: I got one of 'em for freaks. My buddy worked for him at the time and he goes, Hey, need a ladder? I'm like, yeah, I need a ladder. Beautiful commercial grade ladder. But uh, for them, Instead of getting 'em re-certified, it was just cheaper to get new ones. And, um, they would turn around and throw new ones up on their truck.

[00:15:49] Eric Goranson: And it was good for me cuz I got a great super heavy duty ladder with all the cool accessories on it and it was a great way to go. But other than that I do not like to buy ladders off of, used off of [00:16:00] other places. I know this one was in good shape cuz it was on my buddy's truck and I know he took care of it.

[00:16:04] Eric Goranson: But, uh, good ladders are great. Some of those multi-use ladders can be amazing if you get a good one. And the secret is, is to make sure you got them adjusted correct and you've got 'em locked in and you're safe with that. And, uh, you know, the one thing I don't like about those is when you get up high and you're using it like an extension ladder would be when you've got 'em straight out stretched, they do get a little bouncy.

[00:16:26] Eric Goranson: And so as you're walking up, if you're not careful in how you walk, it's gonna feel like it's, uh, you're walking up a wet noodle up there and it's not as comfortable as a regular extension ladder. So just make sure you're good on that. It'll keep you. A lot safer actually. So here's a couple things too that I want to talk about with this, and it's gonna come back to, we've talked about ladder safety here, and it's gonna come down to cord safety as well.

[00:16:51] Eric Goranson: I want you to be really careful where these cords go, because. I can't tell you how many times and I live in a more rainy climate than so, and if you're in the [00:17:00] snow, it could be the same way. You don't wanna have these things standing in water. So I want you to see they make some really cool spikes that you could actually put down in the ground to keep those cords up off the ground.

[00:17:12] Eric Goranson: And that's the cool part about that, is that we'll actually work out really well and it keeps it outta the water. So if you don't have a plug that's sitting. In a puddle of water. If you get that rain or that quick melting snow, it's gonna be a safe way as well. So keep all those cords and lights off the grass or off the landscaping and it's gonna help you there as well.

[00:17:30] Eric Goranson: And here's one thing to keep an eye on too, and uh, think about this. If you're in an area, we got a lot of snow. You get it snow, where it's gonna come off the roof, like on a metal roof or something like that. Maybe rethink about how you attach those to the gutters for your Christmas lights, because those can easily get knocked off.

[00:17:48] Eric Goranson: I've seen, uh, snow come down like that and all of a sudden it slides off the roof and guess what? It takes? The, the lights off with it or even the gutters because now it's got teeth sticking up and if you put [00:18:00] really good clips, I've seen it loosen the gutters up and that's a big hot mess. And then the other problem you run into too is some of the gutter covers make it very hard to use some of these clips with.

[00:18:10] Eric Goranson: So again, something to think about when you're out there doing this stuff. Those clips can be awesome. It could also be a pain in the butt, especially with those gutter covers and some of those rain guard kind of systems. All right, everybody, when we come back, we're gonna talk about, uh, what lights to look for when you're out there doing the Christmas lights.

[00:18:27] Eric Goranson: We'll do that just as soon as the.[00:19:00]

[00:19:03] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round the House Show. Now we've been talking holiday Christmas lights, getting that house all decorated. And ready to go. Now, I wanted to talk on, give you guys actually a little bit of a secret here going on. I'm gonna give you guys just an insider track coming up here in January and we'll start airing in February is gonna be around the house television.

[00:19:25] Eric Goranson: So we're gonna talk more about this in the future. But, uh, you're gonna see so much more information coming out. It's gonna be really exciting. We're gonna have a one hour TV show each and every week. It'll air starting out here in Portland, Oregon, and it's gonna be stream. And we'll have all these different segments from new products.

[00:19:42] Eric Goranson: Don't worry, this show's not going anywhere. We're just gonna have more content on the TV side. So it'll be a different show, and you'll be able to catch that every single week. And it's gonna be different than any other home improvement show out there. So we're gonna have all in one one hour episode, we're gonna have home improvement topics, uh, [00:20:00] diy.

[00:20:00] Eric Goranson: We're gonna have, uh, where you, if you want to, can actually send a video. And, uh, show me what you got and we'll be able to answer those questions. So as soon as we get a little closer here, we will open that up first of the year, so you can maybe even next month here, let's see what happens. We'll get that set up so you can sit there and submit those questions and I'm gonna answer 'em.

[00:20:19] Eric Goranson: On the TV for you or video, you'll be able to watch it on YouTube as well. So we're gonna create this huge library of tips for you, new products and a lot of stuff. So it's gonna be really exciting. Well, let's get back to decorating here. And one little tip too that's outside of the Christmas lights, and I want you to be very careful with not to use any nails or staples or things like that for putting the lights up.

[00:20:43] Eric Goranson: But also be careful with some finishes with tapes and adhesive. You know, putting something on a cabinet, putting something on a piece of furniture, put something on some paint someplace, it can do some damage. So be very careful. What you're doing and where you're doing it, they do [00:21:00] make clips for a lot of this stuff and just make sure that you're not kinking stuff or damaging that surface that you're working on.

[00:21:07] Eric Goranson: And that's something to be very, very careful with. Now, one of the other things too that I want you to be really careful with is, is proper support for these, because many times if you've got heavy stuff, I don't wanna see you just, you know, hanging it from the wire, make sure that you're using the clip part, if it's.

[00:21:26] Eric Goranson: So support it, hang it, do the right stuff with that, because, uh, if you, you know, it's still a light. If you sit there and pinch that light, that, uh, wire, you can still damage it. So be very, very careful with it. And there's ways too, if you're worried about those plugins getting wet, you can sit there. I've seen people, uh, get pretty creative with, uh, putting in.

[00:21:50] Eric Goranson: You know, weatherproof containers and stuff, and you can buy some containers to put those, those extensions in so when they're sitting on the ground that you can keep things from getting too wet and having [00:22:00] some kind of a short. So it's just one of those things to be very careful with. And by the way, guys, be very careful this time of year.

[00:22:06] Eric Goranson: I tell you what, more homes get burned down from people way overloading those plug extensions where you got like three into one or even worse. Loading way too much stuff up on a power strip. So I've seen some people burn their house down because they were using an old power strip or didn't use, you know, they put just.

[00:22:28] Eric Goranson: Too much into it, especially space heaters, things like that. Oh my gosh. Space heaters and power strips are how you burn the house down every single time. I've seen way too many people do it, and I just want you to be really careful with that. Now, one of the other things that I see out there too is, uh, it's harder to overload those lights, but, you know, read the directions on, see what you can do with those to make sure you don't overload 'em.

[00:22:50] Eric Goranson: Now, one of the things too, as I want you to be careful with is be careful what you are Decorat. Moving parts, stringing up things. [00:23:00] Be very careful. I don't wanna see stuff. If you're getting out there really crazy with stuff, you know, national Lampoons vacation, I know people that have done the Christmas vacation homes and this is where you really gotta be careful cuz I've seen people have to bring in a separate 200 amp service so they could do their Christmas.

[00:23:24] Eric Goranson: And, uh, again, they did that so they didn't overpower or overload their electrical system. LEDs, it's a lot harder, but still, if you're putting millions of lights, That's one of those things that get pretty careful. Just crazy. So just be careful with it. I know people in my neighborhood here, there's somebody about a mile away from my house that literally, you could probably see this dang place from space cuz it's that crazy.

[00:23:47] Eric Goranson: I'm not gonna do that to my neighbors, even though I've kind of done some stuff in the past. Not that crazy, but be very careful. And then here's the other thing. I see some people out there decorating their [00:24:00] vehicles. For Christmas and the holidays, you know, and I think it's adorable. It's one thing if you're doing a holiday parade, right?

[00:24:07] Eric Goranson: That's one thing. And many cars and trucks now have that one 10 outlet you can plug into. And it's not that big a deal. But it's also not meant for something to be driving on the road with. And all it takes is that one police officer that says, Hey, you're not allowed to have a red or blue light on the side of the front of your car.

[00:24:29] Eric Goranson: No need getting pulled over for having the wrong color lights on your car. They can get you on that. So be very, very careful with what you're doing there. And it's one thing for a parade, but if you're out cruising around and you got literally have Christmas lights bouncing around, it can be a problem.

[00:24:45] Eric Goranson: So just make sure you're doing good. And then the other part is too, make sure you're not scratching up the paint, the finishes on it. A lot of the chrome pieces on cars today is plastic that's got some chrome over it in the grill and stuff. You could do hundreds to thousands of dollars of damage if you're not careful.

[00:24:59] Eric Goranson: So be [00:25:00] very careful. So make sure that you've got things protected and you're not damaging stuff. And then of course with that, you have to keep everything dry so you don't have a serious problem because, uh, heavy, heavy rain in the car, you could have some problems there. We don't wanna see you shorten things out in the car, kicking off that outlet and causing other problems as you're running around.

[00:25:21] Eric Goranson: Now I know we're bouncing around a little bit here and uh, this is one thing that just came to mind as we're sitting here talking. Also, be careful with pets. If you have a brand new puppy or a dog that's a couple years old, sometimes those Christmas lights on the tree can be a chew hazard where they come up and want to chew, bite teeth, whatever.

[00:25:44] Eric Goranson: Be very, very careful with that and maybe like children. Need to keep those lights up off it. So maybe that pre-coated tree isn't the best. And you're right, I have a tree that I'm gonna get rid of this year because of a puppy over the last couple years that's been sitting out there. [00:26:00] We got a new tree sitting in a box here.

[00:26:02] Eric Goranson: And uh, I love my natural trees. However, when you have people in your family that are allergic to those trees, you are limited in what you can do. Just be very careful with that and make sure that you've got children. All those kind of things. This is where accidents happen and we don't need to see your favorite pet or your child getting hurt from that.

[00:26:24] Eric Goranson: So this is one of those really cool things and I don't wanna see anybody getting shocked out there, cuz that can end up being a big deal. Now one of the other tips that I do, When we're doing lights like this, and maybe this is something you do or, or it's just a thing that I do is as I'm putting the lights out, I go out there and I plug 'em in first.

[00:26:43] Eric Goranson: I test them. I make sure I inspect every single light strand as I'm going because those things I can take a look at and I wanna make sure that I don't have anything that maybe a tore coming down or something got damaged or there's a light loose or broken or [00:27:00] missing. You know, um, burned out bulbs usually means it's damaged.

[00:27:03] Eric Goranson: With LEDs, it's not like something's gonna be burned out. Usually with an LED it usually means it got damaged. And so that's the time that if I don't have an extra one of those, guess what, that's when those things get tossed because it's just time to let 'em go. And, uh, it was funny when I was in, uh, uh, I think it was in Home Depot buying lights the other day, they wanted me to buy.

[00:27:21] Eric Goranson: For like $4, the extended warranty on the lights. And I'm like, not a chance. I'm just gonna throw these things away in a few years when they look worn anyway, I'm not gonna go through the whole return process. It's just not worth it for me. And, uh, by the time I think they're ready, they're probably not returnable cuz they're gonna sit there and say that they're good.

[00:27:38] Eric Goranson: Anyways, just be careful on that stuff. But again, make sure those extension cords are good. Make sure that you've got things plugged in and make sure that they're in good condition because I wanna fix 'em when they're on the. Not when they're up. And then when I'm putting 'em up, it's maybe not the safest, but I always put 'em up when they're, when the power's on.

[00:27:56] Eric Goranson: So if I do damage something, especially with LEDs, [00:28:00] that I know I'm gonna be good and I don't have to hurt. You know, if I damage one of those, I know where I damaged it. Versus you get it all up there, you get down, you plug it in, and it's like Christmas vacation. You're like, I have no idea what just happened, because something's.

[00:28:13] Eric Goranson: So be very careful. And again, I didn't do my Christmas lights the week before because it was too windy out there. It was way too windy. I wasn't getting on that roof for the 25 mile an hour wind because the last thing I wanna do is become a sale. All right around the house. We'll be back to wrap up this segment just as soon as around the house returns.

[00:28:46] Eric Goranson: T[00:29:00]

[00:29:00] Eric Goranson: welcome back to the Round the House Show. Now we've been talking Decorat. Christmas, let's bring it inside a little bit here and talk about some safety stuff as well and, uh, some, maybe some alternatives to make it a little bit safer for you. Now, one of the ones that always bugs me is we'll talk, you know, Christmas tree safety here in a little bit.

[00:29:18] Eric Goranson: But one of the ones that can be troublesome is putting the garland on that stair banister. It can look really cool. It can get in the way of safety. The last thing I wanna do is to see grandma going upstairs to use the bathroom over the holidays. She grabs a hold of that, can't get her hand around that railing, and then all of a sudden she's sliding, slip and falling and, uh, we got a broken hip.

[00:29:44] Eric Goranson: So be very careful how you do it. I don't like to really wrap it around the top of what the handrail would be. I'd much rather attach it kind of on the bottom of that and go on the outside of it. So it looks really good that way. But just be very careful. That [00:30:00] old school way of doing it was great, but it can also get in the way of safety.

[00:30:03] Eric Goranson: So just be careful. I don't wanna see somebody's elderly relative get hurt, because that can be a totally huge issue just from doing that. Especially then if you've got, you know, lighting up there and you're grabbing lights on the way down. You know, that's, that's where multiple problems can happen. So we just wanna be very careful with any of that lighted stuff like that.

[00:30:24] Eric Goranson: Attach it carefully, you know, with some clips or some, uh, wire. Do not, um, do not use staples. Do not use any of that other stuff and just be very careful. Sometimes zip ties can do it where you're not hurting the wood or the garland and that stuff, but that's one way to do it. Be very careful with that.

[00:30:43] Eric Goranson: Now the other one that gets really, it gets. Troublesome that you need to be careful with is, uh, really think about what you're putting over that fireplace mantle. You know, if you got the stockings hung up there and it's Christmas, make sure if you're lighting that fire that you're pulling 'em down because you don't wanna have anything flammable [00:31:00] within, you know, 12 or 18 inches of that fire box.

[00:31:03] Eric Goranson: And if that is hanging down, you could have a fire there, let alone, if you're putting across the top of that, maybe some. If it's a wood burning fireplace, if you've got, uh, real garland up there or you've got something made out of pine trees, that can be a big problem as well. So nothing flammable over there.

[00:31:21] Eric Goranson: And just watch the heat with that because that can be something there as well. I don't wanna see anybody get their house on fire because that, and the same thing goes for your Christmas lights on that Christmas tree. Make sure that they're in good shape if you've got a natural tree. I always want to have a fire extinguisher.

[00:31:37] Eric Goranson: You know, by the exits of the room there. We've talked about that in previous episodes. Make sure you got that as well as the Christmas tree itself, making sure that you come in. I just saw last week somebody cruising around the tree on top and it was way too warm. And I'm like, man, that is going to be a fire hazard.

[00:31:54] Eric Goranson: If you're gonna put your your tree up in November, be very careful. Because by [00:32:00] the time Christmas comes, even the healthiest, freshest tree, it's pretty dry by that time of year. And the last thing I wanna do is see some kind of a little short or some kind of a problem. Keep it away from the heat ducts, keep it away from the fireplace.

[00:32:12] Eric Goranson: Make sure that stuff, if you gotta block off the heat duct, block it off. But just realize it's gonna change how that room heats by doing that. And again, just make sure we've got that stuff dialed in. That's a big deal when it comes to that. So I wanna make sure that we've got that in a. And happy place for it, because this is supposed to be a great time of year, not one that you're firing that insurance claim with.

[00:32:34] Eric Goranson: Now, there's a bunch of us out there, including me in the past, I've done this, we go out and get the inflatables, the, uh, you know, the, the reindeer, the nativity scene or whatever. And the problem that we're having in some metropolitan areas is those things get stolen. They show up in somebody else's yard or anything else.

[00:32:53] Eric Goranson: One way I've done that's made that a lot harder to do. Is I have gone through in [00:33:00] the past and gotten some nice metal cable with a lock green. If you can find it, black works too, and you can tie all those things together where you run it through it so it's hard to run off with it. And then I attach 'em all together.

[00:33:17] Eric Goranson: You just make sure it's in the back so you don't see it, and then run it around a, a post. Maybe it's a front porch post, maybe it's a tree. Because tell you what, some kid coming up there and going to steal it, be in the porch pirate, running up to do it, grabbing it. If that's connected to the other ones, they're not hauling 10 of those things off easily without making a heck of a commotion.

[00:33:41] Eric Goranson: And they'll probably, as they go, run it off. When that thing catches on the tree or the fence post or whatever, it's gonna grab their attention cuz it's probably gonna drop 'em cuz they got their arms. So make sure you got a video camera on that too, that could be worth 10,000 bucks on America's Funniest Home Video.

[00:33:57] Eric Goranson: Now, let's talk about some security tips here as well, [00:34:00] as well as the Port Pirate thing. Now I have, you've heard the ads here in the podcast. I use deep setting on my house. So I get notified every time a package shows up. And I also get, uh, I have a guard looking at that in case somebody comes up to do it.

[00:34:14] Eric Goranson: So porch pirates at my house aren't an issue. But, um, make sure there's, there's a couple different options for you. Like, for instance, if you've got a Chamberlain garage door opener, one of the new smart ones over the last few years, the cool thing you can do with that is you can set it up where Amazon can actually open up via their app and, and through another app to, they can open the garage door and slide packages underneath it, which is really cool.

[00:34:38] Eric Goranson: They can slide 'em underneath there and then, uh, that's kept inside. I've seen people come up with different boxes. I saw a guy that. Developed something cool. It was up on his porch. He put a mirror in, so it took a, a picture of the siding on the side, so it was like at a 45 degree angle. So when you went by, it made the box disappear.

[00:34:58] Eric Goranson: It looked like it was underneath a, uh, [00:35:00] a little table thing. And actually it wasn't the table, it was just a mirror that was grabbing the wall next to it, but it looked like it was just a table, that it was actually a box you could put the package in there. So that worked out really well. And there's a lot of different ways to.

[00:35:16] Eric Goranson: And if you wanna have fun, there are a lot of different police departments out there that are doing. I just got one here that, uh, if they, they're trying to do some bait things for people that are out there being porch pirates. So check with your local police department if you want to ask some fun and you got a ring doorbell camera on one of those, you could put one of those bait packages out there and, uh, that can be interesting because if somebody comes to grab that cuz it's sitting out in your porch.

[00:35:41] Eric Goranson: Then, uh, could be kinda interesting. You could be catching somebody that's out there stealing from your neighborhood and that's always a good thing. And then, uh, security wise, couple things. We've talked about this in the past, but I wanna make sure we touch on it again in this last segment. Make sure that you got those lights on late so when you come home for maybe that Christmas party or anything else, [00:36:00] you're in the door safe.

[00:36:01] Eric Goranson: Make sure that you have all the bushes, trim back. I don't like to see places where somebody can hide by your house. And always the the best lit house words. Less safe for people to show up. That's a key right there because they will go down to the house. It's not well lit. Um, especially if there's some traffic on the street, people poking around, look like people poking around, and that's where that gets to be an issue.

[00:36:23] Eric Goranson: So I just want you to be careful and make sure you got that dialed in. There's a lot of great security systems out there and it always seems like people are getting theft. Around the holidays, but you know, it's, it's on average typically that, it's not like more during this time of year. But the fun part is, is that, uh, we get those crazy people out there that are trying to raise a little bit more money for the holidays or it's cold, or they're, you know, they're, they're using more heat and, uh, you know, there's a lot of people out there that are, that are ripping people off.

[00:36:53] Eric Goranson: So make sure that, uh, you're not one of. By doing that, you can have some lights, fences, make sure that you've got a good [00:37:00] door, lock your doors and you're gonna be much better off on that. Now this weekend here as well, I talked about in our midweek special, one other thing I wanted to touch on here before we go out to break at the end of the segment, there are a ton of Black Friday deals going this weekend and whether or not you're looking at, um, whether or not you're looking at appliances or you're looking at power tools, those deals are to be.

[00:37:25] Eric Goranson: If you're thinking about your dishwashers barely going, guess what? That's a great place to go get those new Block Friday deals because, uh, dishwashers. Power tools. I mean, uh, home Depot is blowing out some big kits over there, the Ryobi, uh, whether it's uh, outdoor power equipment or tool sets. There's a lot of that.

[00:37:47] Eric Goranson: There's a lot of special buys out there you're seeing that are really cool cuz I, I quite, I quite frankly, this is the time to get those special buys out there. And, uh, if you need another set of mechanics tool set as well, there's [00:38:00] always a really good set. This is a great gift for people that hus. 270 piece mechanics tool set that's got all the quarter and three eights, ratchets.

[00:38:11] Eric Goranson: I tell you what those are the deals out there cuz you can get a set of that, a nice tool set for a hundred bucks and it's a sweet heart deal as well as in stock appliances cuz I tell you what, there is a ton of that out there, so make sure you grab the right stuff. And there's also, uh, everything from security lights to uh, ladders.

[00:38:30] Eric Goranson: This is that time of year. When you can get all those special little buys and, um, you usually see these companies too, that are starting to blow out the Christmas stuff at this time as well. So make sure you take a look out there. But, uh, a lot of cool stuff out there that it's, uh, that time of year where these, uh, once they're out there out, so make sure you're out there doing it.

[00:38:49] Eric Goranson: Uh, I think even Home Depot's got a, uh, buy, get two free select power tools when you buy one kind of thing. So there's a lot of great deals out there. For five, 600 bucks you can load [00:39:00] yourself. Some power tools. Same thing goes for, um, our DeWalt fans out there as well. There's a lot of great deals out there, especially storage stuff, so keep your eye out on the tools guys.

[00:39:10] Eric Goranson: There's a lot of great deals out there for you to be had, as well as a lot of TRO keys that you typically don't see in the home centers. They've got 'em all dialed in there. All right, everybody, we got a great show ahead. Don't go anywhere around the house. We'll be right back. Make sure you catch the next show.

[00:39:24] Eric Goranson: Thanks for listening to About the House.