After you purchase a condo, it may seem like the hard work is over: not quite. You have a lot of hard work ahead of you to ensure that your condo is safe and secure going forward. To ensure this, it’s important to be forward-thinking and take precautions to properly protect you and one of the most important investments of your life (your home). Below are a few things you need to do in order to make certain that your condo is properly safe before moving day.
Be prepared for emergencies
While you may think that your home isn’t going to be facing an emergency anytime soon, you don’t know for sure. To ensure that you are ready for the very worst, put together an emergency kit that you can easily access. Place a fire extinguisher in a place where you can get to it in the event there is a fire in the home. Place it in an open area rather than another room like a bedroom; if a fire starts in a closed room, the heat will make it impossible to open the door.
Also be sure to have a first aid kit on-hand: plasters, gauze dressings of different sizes, sterile gloves, tweezers, rolled/triangular bandages, and disinfectant just to name a few. This resource provides even more suggestions.
Test detectors
The next time your smoke detector starts chirping at you, don’t take the batteries out (seriously, never do this): instead, change the batteries to ensure your condo is safe. A good habit to get into is to change your detector’s batteries – smoke and carbon monoxide – every time your clocks change for Daylight Savings Time. That way, you can have peace of mind of knowing that your detectors always have fresh batteries.
Locate your breaker box
Don’t be afraid of the breaker box – get acquainted with it. You don’t have to know how it works, just know which breakers control the flow of electricity to which areas of the condo. The breakers will be labeled (in the event they are not, contact management immediately) so there shouldn’t be any confusion. When you notice that your electricity is out (especially in one part of the home but not the ever), flick the appropriate breaker: a lot of the time, a breaker flipped and this will reset it. If flipping the breaker does not fix the issue, it’s time to contact maintenance.
Have children? Child-proof it.
It’s amazing how many safety hazards you spot for the first time after having children. If you have children or are expecting, it’s a good idea to child-proof every aspect of the condo before even moving in. If you’re a parent you already know what to do, but just in case here’s a refresher. Be sure to lock cabinets you don’t want you child exploring (you can buy child-proof locks that allow you to use the cabinets but not children), eliminating cord clutter (you don’t want your little one teething on a live cord), safety outlet inserts to eliminate children sticking their little fingers or sharp objects into outlets, and keeping dangerous items out of their reach altogether. Ensure that heavy furniture such as bookshelves and armoires are sturdy enough so that if your child moves it or even tries to climb on it, it won’t fall on top of them. WebMD has a great section on baby-proofing the home.
Know the details of your insurance policy
Finally, know exactly the details of your insurance policy. As boring as it may be, read the policy from front-to-back (and maybe once more for good measure). This will ensure that in the event something terrible happens to your condo, you can know exactly what is covered and what you are going to have to pay out-of-pocket (if anything). Knowing the details of how properly protected you truly are will help you to sleep soundly at night – and that in itself is worth all of the effort of reading your policy and learning the scope of your coverage.
Are you ready to move into a Hamilton condo that wants you to live your best life yet? Contact LJM Tower today and let’s start the process of moving you into your next home!
