Make Sure Chimney Is Ready For Winter

It’s not too early to get your chimney inspected and cleaned, if needed.

Over the summer, birds often build nests in chimneys. These block the updraft and cause chimney fires.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that 32,500 residential chimney fires in 1994 resulting in 220 injuries, 70 deaths and $181.8 million in damage.

The Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), a non-profit educational institution, says all of the fires were preventable.

Information about certified chimney sweeps in the area is available from CSIA by calling (800) 536-0118 or on the Web at www.csia.org.

And while we’re talking winter

The following checklist for fall chores was offered up by ACE Hardware:

Remove dead flowers and vegetables from the garden to check any diseases or insects that might winter over in the organic material.

Prune overgrown shrubs; however, don’t prune spring-flowering shrubs since the flower buds have already set. And don’t prune evergreens late in the season.

Mow lawns as long as they continue to grow. Seed bare spots.

Disconnect hoses and drain. Store indoors.

Clean and oil all garden hand tools and power equipment.

Caulk windows and exterior doors.

Clean debris from rain gutters.

For more info, check out ACE Hardware’s Web site: www.acehardware.com.

Faulty furnaces

Homeowners, Lennox Industries is warning of possible carbon monoxide leaks in its Pulse furnaces installed before 1990. It’s urgent that furnaces be checked before cold weather arrives. Call (800) 537-4341 to schedule an inspection. Lennox will replace faulty heat exchangers at no cost or give the owner a $400 rebate on a new furnace.

You’ll need a wheelbarrow

Garden book fans may want to reinforce their shelves. DK Publishing has issued a single-volume gardening encyclopedia of gargantuan proportion: 1,092 pages, 6,000 color photographs and weighing in at nearly 10 pounds. ($79.95).

“The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants” contains descriptions and cultural advice for 15,000 trees, shrubs, perennials, etc., beginning with Abelia chinensis and ending with a greenhouse orchid named Zygopetalum Perrenoudii.

The chief editors are Christopher Brickell, former director general of Britain’s Royal Horticultural Society, and Judith D. Zuk, president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Talk turns to males

Posters taped to the wall, pillows on the floor, an old couch someone was going to throw away, and a water bed? Forget it! The economy has been so good that many well-to-do bachelors don’t see any reason to live like frat-rats until marriage bells, the Wall Street Journal says. Many are improving their digs. Some common denominators: Two or more bedrooms, exercise gear, home offices, and well-equipped, if underused, kitchens.

Loud neighbors: If someone next door is playing the stereo at ear-splitting volume, chances are it’s a male. Because of peer pressure and a propensity to test limits, college-age males may be more likely than females to play rock music at potentially dangerous volumes, whether they like the music or not, a new Ohio University study suggests.

Men behaving badly: Which is worse - a man who knows how to repair things around the house but doesn’t, or one who can’t repair them but does so anyway? It’s a dead heat, says The Do(o)little Report, a satiric newsletter about men for women.

, DataTimes