33 home repairs you need to make before someone gets hurt

You’re likely familiar with the steam the escapes from a dishwasher after a drying cycle so if you’ve got a loose latch, tighten it up to prevent any kind of steam burns or any injury that could occur by running into the open door.

Every year, thousands of children are injured by furniture tipping over and sadly, some also lose their lives. Dresser tip-overs are the biggest culprit, with children pulling out dresser drawers to climb on them. Even the sturdiest dressers can fall forward, so consider securing your furniture to the walls.

There shouldn’t be peaks and valleys in your carpet. Just think: one false move and you’re flat on your face. Take the time and see how you can stretch your carpet out to eliminate any potential injury risk.

Broken tile can have jagged edges which will make walking around precarious.

GFCI outlets reduce the danger of deadly shock from faulty plug-in cords and devices. A GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) is a special type of outlet that detects dangerous ground faults and immediately turns off the power to stop shocks. You can replace almost any electrical outlet with a GFCI outlet. Correctly wired GFCIs will also protect other outlets on the same circuit.

A hot water issue can sneak up on you in a bad way so it’s important to nip the issue in the bud. Here’s how to set your water heater at the proper temperature.

If your stove is covered with grease and other flammable grime, a small kitchen fire can get out of hand quickly. Clean and clear the area around the stove before turning on the heat.

The constant movement of loose electrical outlets can loosen the wires connected to the outlet and create dangerous arcing.

There’s a super important reason why dusting is a vital chore at home. Those dust bunnies, when near a spark, will ignite and spread a fire quickly. Dust bunnies near a space heater and electrical sockets are a huge fire hazard.

Those closet lights that don’t have an enclosure around them pose a fire and safety risk in the home. According to Buell Inspections, under normal circumstances a 60-watt light bulb will not get hotter than 80 degrees Celsius but under some conditions it could reach close to between 145-260 degrees, high enough to ignite things like table tennis balls, which begin to melt around 55-65 degrees, according to Nittaku, a table tennis equipment manufacturer.