I spoke recently at the National Healthy Homes conference. It's an annual meeting of government, builders and groups concerned with safe, healthy and sustainable housing.
They promote seven principles of healthy homes. They're common-sense principles that are all interconnected, and I think everyone needs to know them and keep them in mind to make sure your home is the healthiest it can be for your family's sake.
Safe: A healthy home is safe, in terms of accident prevention. Most accidents in the home are a result of falls and burns. Your home has to be safe in the most basic ways-- so make sure all railings, handrails and stairs are at least up to code.
Clean: In order to have a healthy home, you need to keep a clean home. Dirt and poor hygiene encourages pests and mould.
Pest-free: Rodents, roaches and other insects indicate the level of care and cleanliness in your home and tell me there is food debris present. Vermin carry disease and there is evidence that connects asthma in children to exposure to mice and cockroaches.
Finding other bugs -- such as carpenter ants, mealy bugs, spiders and silverfish -- also tells me there may be other problems with your home. Since they are attracted to moisture and ants nest in rotten wood, you need to find the source of water that's getting in and contributing to wood rot.
Contaminant-free: It's obvious to say that toxins such as lead and asbestos affect health. It's not so obvious to most people that exposure to asbestos particles, radon gas, carbon monoxide and second-hand tobacco smoke are higher indoors than outside.
In many houses, lead is still found in the drinking water, since lead was used in plumbing supply lines, or in the solder used to connect copper pipes. Asbestos can be found in older homes in many places: around pipes and furnaces; in some vinyl flooring; ceiling tiles; exterior roofing; shingles; siding; some wallboards; and even drywall compound. Formaldehyde can be "off-gassed" by building materials and new furniture and furnishings.
Dry: I've always said water is the enemy of every house. It must be kept out -- by your roof, walls and below grade in your basement. It accelerates decay in structure, which of course affects safety. Moisture and damp houses provide a good environment for mites, roaches, rodents and moulds, all of which lead to unhealthy homes.
Ventilated: A healthy home has to have good indoor air quality. The air inside your home is more polluted than the air outside -- in some cases 100 times dirtier -- and new homes usually have poorer indoor air quality than older homes because they are designed and built tighter to reduce air leakage. That's great in terms of saving money, but we also trap everything in the air, like VOCs, mould, allergens, pet dander, dust mites and the residual odours from cooking and pets. And that bad air can lead to allergic reactions and health concerns.
We need to ventilate to bring in fresh air to reduce contaminants, but also to reduce moisture -- because as you see from above, a healthy house is dry.
Most moisture is created by us, and by our living in the home. We shower, do laundry and run dishwashers -- all of which put moisture into the air. We also breathe. All that moisture needs to escape. If it doesn't, we'll have poor indoor air quality, which leads to poor health for both your home and the people who live in it.
Maintained: To my mind, this is the umbrella for all the others in the list. If you don't look after your home -- either on a daily basis by cleaning it, or a seasonal basis by cleaning the eavestroughs and caulking the windows -- it will deteriorate. Poorly maintained homes are at risk for moisture and pest problems.
What do I mean by maintaining? Check it. Fix the roof if it leaks -- don't put it off. Check the flashing and the gutters. Keep an eye on your grading and surface drainage. Caulk and seal shower fixtures and minimize air leakage into your attic. All these small maintenance chores will go a long way toward keeping your house dry and free of pests and insects.
-- Postmedia News
Catch Mike in his new series, Holmes Inspection, airing Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV. For more information, visit www.hgtv.ca. For more information on home renovations, visit makeitright.ca.
