FOTOFAX Summer, 1985
A Fall Safety Checkup For Your Home
Home-inspection experts recom
mend a house checkup each spring
and fall. Here’s what to look for:
Roofs and Gutters. A clogged
gutter or downspout can cause water
to back up under the roof shingles. Or
the water will slosh down the side of
the house, damaging the walls. When
it reaches the ground, it can erode the
foundation and seep into the base
ment.
Check the roof for shingles that are
cracked (in the case of slate), or curled
(in the case of asphalt), and replace
any that are not in good condition.
Examine the aluminum or steel sheet
that covers seams between the roof
and anything that pokes through it,
such as chimneys. Wherever you see
cracks, apply a generous coat of roof
ing cement.
Siding and Windows. Check the
seal around windows and doors and
the junctions between the foundation
and patios, porches and walks. Use
latex caulking compound to fill any
gaps.
If the siding is wood or shingles,
paint the south side, which usually
takes the most beating from the sun,
every three to six years. Paint the rest
every eight to ten years. To help pre
serve aluminum siding, wash with
mild detergent each year.
Chimneys and Walks. Don’t
under-estimate the damage that can
be done by water freezing in brick,
concrete and asphalt masonry cracks.
Mortar between the bricks of chimneys
is especially vulnerable. Decaying sec
tions should be restored promptly.
Plumbing. Dampness around the
base of a toilet may be an indication of
leakage. The seal between the toilet
and drainpipe may be worn out. Ex
perts suggest you test the drainage of
sinks by filling with water. Bathroom
sinks should drain in 20 seconds, a
kitchen sink in 45 seconds, and a
bathtub with six inches of water in
three minutes. If they are slower than
that, try a plunger or a chemical clean
er to clean out the trap in the drain
pipe.
Heating and Air Conditioning.
Preventive maintenance is most often
changing of filters. Clogged filters can
reduce efficiency up to 30 percent.
Replace them three times a year.
Check for rust in a hot-air system. A
central humidifier attached to the furn
ace may be the culprit. Lime and
other deposits may keep it from work
ing. The humidifier should be cleaned
once a year with a strong vinegar-and-
water solution.
Oil furnaces should be professional
ly cleaned and serviced yearly.
Electrical cords and outlets
should be checked for frayed wires
and overloaded wall outlets — a
serious fire hazard. Turn the main
power switch and all circuit breakers
on and off to make sure thay haven’t
become stuck.
Wood-burning stoves should be
checked by a professional for creosote
buildup once a year.
Test fire extinguishers and smoke
detectors frequently to see that they
are in operating order.
How To Sell Stock
Several people have been interest
ed in the procedure used to sell Du
Pont stock on their own, without go
ing through a broker.
Here’s how:
1. Find a buyer and agree on a
price.
2. Complete the required informa
tion on the back of the stock certifi
cate.
3. Have your signature guaranteed
by a bank.
4. Mail the completed stock certifi
cate along with transfer instructions.
Mail registered and insured to:
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc.
Stockholder Relations Section
10007 Market Street
Wilmington, DE 19898
It’s probably a good idea to make a
note of the certificate’s number, etc.,
just in case there is a problem in the
mail.
a
“/ think the area engineer is a little hot
about something. ”
M
J
The seat belt surue^i teams have two types of hand-outs
win a prize!!
if \)ou’re buckled up, you could
Seat Belt Survey “A Good Deal.”
You can win a prize by wearing
seatbelts. The Off-The-Job safety
committee is conducting a survey of
vehicles entering the plant parking lot,
and if you’re buckled up, you receive
an entry card for a drawing October
first. Prizes are: a color TV, a video re
corder, a portable TV/radio combina
tion, 2 cameras, 2 cordless phones,
10 coolers, 20 picnic jugs and 10 large
umbrellas — 47 prizes in all. If you re
ceive duplicate cards, your chances of
winning a prize are increased, but no
multiple winners are allowed.
The give-away is the Committee’s
way of introducing North Carolina’s
mandatory seat-belt law, effective Oc
tober 1, which requires the use of belts
by front seat occupants. For a period
of time violators will be warned, with
stiffer penalties to come later.
“We’re conducting the surveys be
cause we think the new law is a good
step in the right direction”, says com
mitteeman Dave Miller, “and because
we want everyone to be aware of the
new law and to be safer DuPont em
ployees off the job.”
“Although you can figure some em
ployees’ belts got put on at the last
minute, it’s encouraging that over
80% of those surveyed were using
them the last time we surveyed. We
hope this campaign helps encourage
others. If you’re wearing them when
we survey, you have a fair chance at a
nice prize, and if you wear them the
rest of the time, you have a whale of a
lot better chance of staying alive.
“Seems like a good deal to me!”
Where Does Your
Money Go?
The typical American worker will
toil 20 days this year to pay for Social
Security, welfare and other social pro
grams and another 18 days to finance
the national defense.
The Tax Foundation estimates that
a four-member, one-earner family
making $26,000 a year will pay
$2,055 in taxes this year for income
security, which also includes food
stamp and federal retirement costs,
and $1,775 — about $7.40 a day —
for the Pentagon.
Each worker will work one week
and three days simply to pay his or her
share of interest on the national debt.
The foundation, a non-profit Wash
ington research organization, bases
the calculation on the assumption that
all taxes are paid by individuals. The
$26,000-a-year, $500-a-week) work
er would pay $2,227 individual in
come tax, $1,742 Social Security tax
and $2,540 in other taxes, including
those on corporations, liquor, gaso
line, tobacco, air travel, and import
tariffs.
Even that tax burden is not the
whole story, the foundation said.
The four biggest government pro
grams — income security, national
defense, interest and health, costs the
average worker $685 in taxes a year.
Here is what other major govern
ment programs will cost the typical
worker this year: Education, job train
ing and the like, $214; government
transportation programs, $195; veter
ans’ benefits, $193; international af
fairs, including foreign aid, $101; na
tural resources and the environment,
$92; agriculture, $80; space and tech
nology, $62; community develop
ment, $57; aid to state and local gov
ernment, $45; the justice system,
$45; general government, $42; com
merce and housing credits, $28; and
energy, $26.