DIY Life

Next week is Fire Prevention Week (FPW), so it's a great time to stock up on fire safety essentials like smoke alarms and fire extinguishers. Hardware stores will be well-stocked with these and other fire safety-related products this coming weekend, and there will likely be some good deals to be had.

FPW is organized by the National Fire Protection Association. The NFPA has an excellent website if you want to read up on fire-proofing. It also has another site that's just for kids, hosted by cartoon character, Sparky the Fire Dog. Woof woof! The US Fire Administration has tips on its site, too. Click here to view that.

If you do nothing else to fire-proof your house, at the very least make sure you have working smoke alarms.

Few things are more annoying than a noisy ceiling fan, especially if it's in your bedroom. More often than not, the root of the problem can be traced to an imbalance in one of the fan blades, which is a relatively easy fix (once your find the culprit blade, that is).

Ceiling fan blades are not always identical. During the manufacturing process, small imperfections and differences can appear within the four or five blades that will later be installed on the same fan. Likewise, one or more of the arms attached to the motor can be bent during shipping, which can cause problems once the blades are attached. It's also not uncommon for a properly-balanced fan to slowly work up a wobble over time as the blades naturally loosen themselves. All of these scenarios can cause your fan to wobble, and inevitably create all sorts of noise when you're trying to get a good night's sleep.