You may have waited years for this. You saved up the money, took out a home equity loan, or even a mortgage and now you’re ready.
You’re either about to remodel the home you live in, or you’ve just bought a home, but it needs some remodeling work so you can move into a space that’s exactly what you need.
But before you get into the heavy lifting of this work, have you given any thought to making sure the air quality remains safe? We have, and we’ve got some tips.
Get Asbestos Dealt With By Professionals
If the remodeling you’re going to be doing involves tearing down walls, ceilings, or floors for pipe or wiring purposes, and not just a new paint job in different rooms, think about asbestos.
Prior to the 1980s, this was a material that was generously used in building a lot of homes and commercial spaces, thanks to its flameproof properties.
Unfortunately, it was later discovered that those flameproof properties also came with carcinogenic characteristics, which is when it was banned for construction use.
While it is still relatively harmless when it is left undisturbed in walls, if it gets broken up into dust and inhaled, its cancer-causing properties manifest. If you suspect asbestos may be in your home, get inspectors to confirm this. If they do confirm it, have a professional team remove it to make your home safe for everyone again.
Control Your Basement Moisture
One very popular remodeling choice is taking an unfinished basement and finally “finishing the job,” adding in drywall, carpeting, and furnishings to create a home office, extra room for the family, a home theater, or other hobby space.
However, if you’ve previously only spent time in the basement to do laundry, now is a good time to get the foundation checked for moisture penetration. A leaky basement may not bother you when it’s all unfinished walls and concrete floor, but if water regularly gets in, this means that drywall and carpet will eventually get damaged by water.
Unless you’re fine with that degradation, you’ll have to pay for possible drywall and carpeting repair and replacement. Worse yet, however, moisture can lead to mold, which presents a health hazard to everyone in the home once people start breathing the spores in on a daily basis.
Get a Fresh, Unused Filter
It may take some time, but when the work is finally done, there’s only one, small housekeeping task left to do for the sake of air quality.
In the normal course of things, you only need to change out the filter in your HVAC system every three months. After a home remodeling, do it once the work is done.
All that extra work has ejected a lot of extra dust and dirt into the air, which your filter has caught and trapped.
However, a dirty filter doesn’t clean the air as effectively as it could. It also impacts the performance of your HVAC system, causing your energy bills to go up until you regain your efficiency.
It’s never a bad idea to remodel your home, especially in a great place like Ontario, CA. Making your home feel more like yours is always a good feeling, and if you can increase your property value as well as your air quality, so much the better