Bunk bed shopping - 10 point safety checklist to protect your childrenWritten by S.A. Smith
Every year thousands of children are admitted to hospital emergency rooms due to incidents involving bunk beds involving improper use, manufacturing, or set up. If your follow our 10 point safety checklist, bunk beds can still be a great bedding solution for your children: Reputable manufacturer Look for manufacturers that are established, and have a long history of manufacturing bunk beds. A good manufacturer will also stand behind their product by providing a lifetime warranty. ASTM and CPSC guidelines Ask retailer if it meets voluntary safety guidelines of American Standards of Testing and Materials and minimum safety standards of Consumer Product Safety Commission. If it does, you'll know that bed meets all current and reasonable safety standards. Strong frame construction Examine and test durability and strength of bunk bed frame. It should easily hold a parents weight - climb on it and wiggle frame a bit. A good bunk bed with remain firmly grounded without movement or noise. Only rounded edges Check entire bed construction for smoothness of materials and fasteners. There should be no sharp edges or protruding points anywhere in construction. Measure safety rails Safety rails should run on both sides of top bunk, and lower rail should be no higher than 3 1/2 inches above top of mattress height - any higher and your children could slip underneath it. Also make sure top rail is at least 5 inches above mattress top to prevent your child from rolling over safety rails. Ensure proper mattress fit Strangulation deaths have occurred in US when children fall through openings between mattress and frame during night. Make sure mattress opening snugly fits mattress without a lot adjustment room. If mattress has a gap greater than 3 inches from any side of mattress to bed frame, headboard or footboard - it does not fit properly.
| | SLIDING GLASS DOOR REPLACEMENT Written by John Rocco
This article is going to be about replacing an old sliding glass door with a modern Vinyl frame sliding glass door. If you currently have french doors and you want to replace them with sliding doors, or vise versa, future articles will cover that topic.The first thing we have to do is measure for replacement door. You want to measure across bottom, center, and top of existing door frame to find narrowest dimension. Start outside and measure at point where old door frame stops and exterior material starts. That material can be stucco, siding, or brick. Measure across in 3 places: bottom, center, and top. Record smallest dimension. Then go inside and do same thing. You want to measure where frame ends and drywall, plaster, or sheetrock begins. Take all six measurements, find narrowest one, and deduct 3/4". That is width of new door. Now, when you measure height, you can do it just on outside. Measure left, center, and right side from ground where bottom track sits, up to top where old frame ends and exterior material begins. Take narrowest dimension and deduct 1/2". That is your height of new door. Then, determine which side sliding panel should be on. The fixed panel is designated by letter "O", and slider is an "X". In most areas of country, you call it out by looking at door from outside and reading left to right. So, if you were outside looking at your door, and you want sliding panel to close to right wall, you would ask for an "OX". However, because i have recently discovered that not all parts of country do it this way, my suggestion is to ask dealer how they read opening before placing your order. Next, you have to decide whether you want a retrofit frame or a replacement frame. If old frame
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