You may have nothing but love for your home in Florida, but you may feel as if you are always suffering from one sickness or another whenever you spend time indoors. It’s important to make sure that it’s not your old home that’s making you sick by ruling out all the risk factors. This will be beneficial not just for you, but for your entire family as well. Here are four things that you should look out for to make sure that your Florida house doesn’t end up in a news report as the poster child for unsafe homes.
1. Asbestos
This silent and odorless criminal is present in many homes that were constructed in the 1980s. If your home was built around this period, it’s a good idea to have a hard look at it to make sure that it’s free of asbestos. In 2019, about 12% of homes in the United States were constructed before 1940. Over half of these houses were constructed before 1980, which is the unofficial line of demarcation that separates the peak usage of asbestos and its phasing out. For this reason, make sure to do an asbestos test to see if there is any present in your home.
2. Broken Air Conditioner
Another thing in your house that may put your health at risk is your air conditioning unit. If the one that you have is old and does not work as it should, then you should make arrangements to have it fixed right away. An old air conditioning unit will leave you breathing in air that’s not properly filtered. This puts you at risk of allergic reactions and similar complications. You may find that people frequently sneeze, cough, and experience similar issues when they are in your home. Call an air conditioner technician to have a look at your unit and service it. Get into the habit of servicing all your appliances on a regular basis after this. Doing this will not only save you money by being more energy efficient, but it’ll also improve your health in the long term.
3. Mold
Mold, which thrives in warm, moist conditions, can present you and your family with a number of lung-based complications. This is a result of the spores flying freely throughout your house from one room to the next and potentially spreading around to start new colonies throughout your house. The main places to inspect for mold are areas like the kitchen, bathroom, and basement. A whopping 60% of homes in the United States have wet basements. Among these, 38% of them run the risk of developing mold in the basement. Make sure that your home is free of this possibility by keeping it dry. This can be done by sealing the basement and running a dehumidifier whenever the conditions become conducive to mold.
4. Combustion Gases
Finally, combustion gases pose a potentially serious risk to you and your family at home. This is because cooking and heating are done inside the home in different seasons. You may have a leak of combustion gas if you are not careful. This is why you have to perform regular inspections. Be sure to set up the relevant appliances that will check and notify you of any gas leaks. While installing these devices, remember to also install or service your fire alarm system and make sure that it works as it should. If you have fire sprinklers in your home, you reduce the risk of fatalities as a result of fire by over 60%.
Eliminate the issues outlined above and make sure that they are not waiting to act up. This will make it even easier to cherish your home in the long run and avoid headlining a news report for the wrong reasons.