Welcome back to Gear daddy I am you r host Daddy Troy. Now while useful, dressers and bookshelves can also be really, really dangerous. A kid starts to climb up the bookshelf or dresser, he or she pulls out the drawers, puts their hand on the drawer and all of a sudden the whole thing starts to tip over onto the kid. This can be really dangerous, possibly even fatal. So you need to attach a dresser to the wall. Today, I am going to show you how to use a furniture strap, this one is by KidCo and you can get it at One Step Ahead, which is our sponsor this week. One Step Ahead is your online destination for all your baby-proofing needs. And I am also giving away gift certificate to One Step Ahead this week, so stick around to the end of the program, and I will tell you how to get one.
First things first, if you are uncomfortable of doing this or you’re confused by something I say, make sure you hire a professional; your child’s safety shouldn’t be compromised in this whole process. What I am going to do first is I am going to take a pencil and I am going to mark on the top of the dresser where it is so then I can move the dresser away and begin to find the studs. The way you find studs is to use a stud finder like this one, don’t compromise on this, don’t buy a cheap one you’re only going to be finding studs the rest of your life so buy a decent one because it can be pretty frustrating when you can’t find a stud. You place your stud finder against the wall, you press the button they move at left and right and it will beep when it finds the edge of a stud. Studs will usually be, not always but will usually be an inch and a half wide so that it is also a good indicator that you found one.
There are other places where you can find studs, right along windows and in corners often are really good places to find rock solid studs because they are supporting those areas. Once you found a stud, you’re going to grab a drill a bit that is smaller than the actual screw that you’re putting in and you are going to pre-drill a hole. This will allow the screw to go in without splitting the wood, then you’ll take a strap, there is a side that says wall on it and you want to point that downward and you put in a minimum of at least two screws into the wall, more if you can.
The next thing we’re going to do is attach the strap to the furniture. Again you drill pilot holes and go to the same procedures you did to attach the strap to the wall. Remember that you have to find a solid top to drill into or some sort of bracing on the back to make it secure. Once you’ve done that, you do the same thing for another strap, this particular system requires two sets of straps. Finally what I really like about this product from KidCo is that it has a sensing mechanism. Once you have it fully attached, you can actually just pull up on it and tighten it down, really great. You can also pull off with adult hands, you can pull off the strap and leave it there, so you can actually move the furniture away in case you needed to clean or something like that.
Well that is all this week from Gear Daddy. Remember these directions may change depending on what product you buy. So you always want to consult those directions or if you’re not sure, consult a professional. This whole week at DadLabs has been about baby proofing your home and it has been sponsored by One Step Ahead your online source for baby-proofing needs. We’re giving away a gift certificate to One Step Ahead this week, so come on over to dadlabs.com, leave a comment on any of the four episodes of this week and you will be in the drawing to win. We’ll see you next week on Gear Daddy.
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