Adulting 101
Trent Simmons • December 4, 2025
Home Survival Checklist
🏠 Adulting 101: Home Survival Checklist
Your essential guide to handling common home emergencies and maintenance tasks. Keep this file handy!
🚨 Section 1: Emergency & Safety Essentials
1. Fire Safety & Alarms
- Smoke/CO Alarms: Test monthly. Alarm = danger; a persistent chirp = change the battery NOW.
- Fire Extinguisher: Keep one in the kitchen. Use the P.A.S.S. Method: Pull pin, Aim at base, Squeeze lever, Sweep side-to-side.
2. Utility Shutoffs
- Main Water Shutoff: Know where it is (basement, garage, or outside meter). Turn clockwise to stop a burst pipe immediately.
- Circuit Breaker: Locate the electrical panel. If power cuts, look for the switch that is in the middle or 'tripped' position and flip it firmly back to 'ON'.
⚡ Section 2: Electrical & Maintenance
1. Electrical Safety
- GFCI Outlets: Found near water (bathrooms, kitchen counters). If the power trips, hit the RESET button on the outlet first.
- Breakers: They protect the house (wiring) from overload. Don't constantly reset a breaker; it means you have too many things plugged into that circuit.
2. Airflow & Vents
- Dryer Vent: Clean the lint screen every single time. Clogged vents are a top cause of house fires and waste energy.
- Fans: Use bathroom fans during/after showers (for 15 min) to remove moisture and prevent mold and peeling paint.
3. Fire Starter Skill
- Top-Down Fire: For fireplaces or fire pits, stack logs on the bottom, then place kindling, then tinder (paper) on top. It's cleaner, starts faster, and produces less smoke than traditional bottom-up methods.
💧 Section 3: Plumbing Quick Fixes
1. Local Shutoffs
- Under Sinks/Toilets: Know how to turn the small valves clockwise to stop a leak at that specific fixture (sink, faucet, or toilet).
2. Clogs & Drains
- Toilets: Always use a flange plunger (the one with the rubber flap). Ensure a good seal and plunge vigorously (10-15 pumps).
- Sinks/Showers: Use a hair removal tool or drain snake before trying harsh chemicals.
3. Septic Systems
- The Three P's Rule: If you have a septic system, you can only flush Pee, Poo, and toilet Paper. Everything else goes in the trash!
🧠 Section 4: Pro Tips
- Plunger Type: A cup plunger is for sinks; a flange plunger is for toilets.
- Safety First: When working near water, always shut off the local water line first!
Before you light that first fire! Here are 10 frequently missed issues in new construction fireplaces. Protect your investment and your family's safety with this essential guide.
This blog post from Top Hat Chimney Sweeps advocates for building fires using the top-down (or upside-down) method. It explains that this technique involves layering large logs at the bottom, followed by medium pieces, and topping it off with kindling and a fire starter. The post highlights the numerous benefits of this approach, including a cleaner burn with significantly less smoke and creosote, longer and more consistent heat output, easier ignition, reduced flare-ups, and more efficient fuel use. Top Hat Chimney Sweeps emphasizes that this method contributes to chimney safety and a cleaner environment, encouraging readers to try it and reminding them of their chimney service expertise.
When you have the certified technicians at Top Hat Chimney Sweeps evaluate your chimney system, you can expect us to show you and your home the caring respect. We will arrive ON TIME, in company vehicles, wearing Top Hat attire. (We may even wear our Top Hat if you’re lucky!)
If you are older than 40 years old, a masonry fireplace is probably the type of fireplace you remember from your childhood. A modular masonry fireplace has only been around for about 30 years. Both masonry fireplaces and precast modular masonry fireplaces can be built as vent free fire boxes.
We beat them with technology again! The EPA has upped the ante on how clean wood stoves must burn. There are new stoves out there as of last year that will burn up to 30 hours!
Quality is guaranteed with every feature of the Hipster® 20 stove. The innovative TruHybrid® combustion system provides more heat from less wood.
If you want to help the environment and you live in Alabama, burn the renewable resource known as cord wood. Did you know that when you burn wood in a wood stove it produces the same amount of carbon dioxide as it does when it rots in the forest?
Imagine a gas fireplace that can heat multiple rooms, is very efficient, can look like a wood burning appliance, does not have any odors and can provide the perfect amount of thermostatically controlled heat…
The fact is, what is pictured above, if it has any black metal showing and no fixed glass or heavy cast/steel doors, is what we call, as professionals, an open wood burning or vent free factory built fireplace. It could be wood burning or have gas logs in it. It could even have bifold glass doors.
There are a few reasons why you may want to purchase a fireplace candelabra.
