Categories Home Maintenance, Home safety

Is Your Garage Making You Sick?

An attached garage undoubtedly has many benefits: your car is protected, you have more storage space, and you can easily access it from your home. However, many homeowners with attached garages don’t realize that their air quality could be suffering due to their garage.

An attached garage may not feel like it is part of your home, but if the right measures aren’t taken in construction, it is essentially just another room and the air can easily seep into your main spaces.

Think about it, what are the common items stored in garages?

  • Chemical cleaners
  • Gardening supplies
  • Automotive equipment
  • Paint

All of these things can be contributing factors to poor air quality and worst of all, to poor health within your family.

 

Why Does This Happen?

One cause is due to unfinished floors.

These floors are made of concrete, which is porous and becomes homes to all of the foreign objects that are brought into the garage. Every single particle of dirt that comes in from a shoe or tire is just trapped inside the floor.

Other causes of poor air quality are due to improperly sealed walls. Have a professional seal the wall between the garage and your house to get rid of any cracks or holes.

Bonus: this can also help with energy loss!

If you’re concerned about your garage, follow these tips to make sure your home, and your loved ones, aren’t in danger!

 

What You Can Do

1. Ventilate the garage:

By installing an exhaust fan, you can lower pressure in the garage and prevent carbon monoxide from entering the house.

 

2. Never run your car inside:

Never ever warm up your car inside the garage, even just a few minutes can raise the carbon monoxide to dangerous levels.

 

3. Ditch the chemicals:

For certain chemicals like paints and automotive oils, you should store them in a sealed container.

As for harsher chemicals like some insecticides and herbicides, consider getting rid of them as they use organophosphates, which have been linked with cancer and fertility issues.

However, you should get in touch with your local waste management to dispose of them responsibly.

Look for more organic ways to get rid of pests and weeds, for the health of your yard and your family.

 

 

4. Finish walls and ceilings:

We already talked about how unfinished floors can trap harmful bacteria; the same goes for your walls and ceilings. If not already done, make sure to cover them in drywall, properly sealing the joints, and prime and paint all the surfaces. This way, they are less likely to leak.

 

5. Close the door:

Even if you’re just carrying in a few groceries you should keep your door shut. Installing a self-closing door can help a lot with keeping nasty fumes out!

 

Having an attached garage can have many benefits, but you must be conscientious and take the proper measures to make it a safe space.

 

We Can Help

 

If you think your home could benefit from an air quality inspection, give us a call or schedule your inspection with our easy online tool.

 

 

Image attribution

Categories Home Maintenance, Home safety

Common Issues with Hardwood Floors

Hardwood floors are an elegant feature that many homeowners jump at the chance to incorporate into their space. They add a touch of coziness to any home and the variety of grains and colors ensure there’s something everyone will love.

Unfortunately, all of the qualities that make it a homeowner favorite can also be the causes of various problems leading to a headache, or worse: spending tons of money on maintenance and repair in the future.

Considering installing hardwood floors or buying a home with these features?

You should keep these common problems at the forefront of your mind to save yourself from any trouble in the future.

 

Common Issues with Hardwood Floors

Wood is naturally susceptible to “movement”. So when seasons change, it will expand and contract.

But there are certain times when serious problems can arise. While not all issues are related to moisture, quite a few are.

Take a look at our list of typical problems:

Cracks and spaces between boards

Heated homes in the winter and the relatively low humidity levels in the wood will sink it, leading to the eventual shrinkage of boards.

Sometimes these spaces will close up on their own throughout the season. But you can limit these seasonal shifts by adding moisture to the air with a humidifier.

 

Crowning

This occurs when your boards are higher in the center than around the edges due to an imbalance or exposure of excess moisture being left and not dried soon after.

 

Cupping

It’s the opposite of crowning, when the center of your boards seems to sink in below the sides. This is typical after accidents like spilling liquid on the floor or soon after installation.

 

Squeaky floors

During installation, it’s possible that an incorrect amount of space was left between the floorboards or sub-flooring panels and the constant expansion can loosen nails.

When someone steps on the floorboards, they will scratch the nails causing a squeaky sound.

 

Buckling

Perhaps the most severe side effect of moisture issues, buckling is an extreme case of crowning and usually occurs after flooding.

 

Peeling finish

Whenever a floor is contaminated or improperly prepped before applying the finish, it can lead to problems down the road. Additionally, failing to clean stain residue from the floor before applying finish can also cause this issue.

 

Debris in the finish

Fortunately, this is an easy problem to avoid.

If you’re preparing to apply finish to your floors, go through the whole house and vacuum and dust — everything! Little particles of dust can go from your light fixtures onto the wet floor finish.

 

While this list may seem overwhelming, they’re all are possible, preventable, or even manageable for those with hardwood floors. If you’re concerned that your home may be suffering from these issues, give us a call!

Our team of experienced professionals at EIG are ready to put your mind at ease with one of our thorough home inspections. Schedule yours here with our easy online scheduling tool!

 

Image attribution