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It's Good to
Know: The Safest Place
for Your Home Office
By Steven Standeven
Those of us who work at home often have no choice as to where we set
up our home office, but if you do, pay attention to where you locate
your office. Caution can save your computer ... and your hard work.
I came home one day to find water pouring through the ceiling of our
spare bedroom. A hose connector in an upstairs bathroom had worked
loose, and an hour's worth of water had destroyed the ceiling.
Fortunately, there wasn’t a lot of serious damage, but it was a
warning for me (and you), because I was planning on moving my office
into that room.
Here are some things to think about when deciding where to set up
your home office:
-
In most houses, the plumbing is in the
walls on one or two sides. If you can, locate your office on a
different side of the house.
-
Pay attention to the location of plumbing
fixtures on the floor above your office. If you must place your
office in a room under plumbing fixtures, locate your desk and
computer equipment as far as possible from them.
-
Use a desk that has some sort of cover you
can put your computer under.
-
If your CPU sits on the floor, put it
under your desk, but elevate it an inch or so off the carpet.
Even if a leak is on the other side of the room, the entire
carpet will quickly get wet.
-
Back up your most current or important
projects with a flash drive. Keep the flash drive in a
well-sealed plastic bag or jar.
If
you have an office outside your home, the same caution applies.
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