A remodeling project involves considerable decision-making and planning, so it’s easy to overlook one important factor: your home’s air quality. Taking measures to maintain indoor air quality while remodeling is vital to protect everyone in the household from potentially harmful substances already in the home, as well as those introduced through new products and building materials.
What Can Affect Your Home’s Air Quality?
The pollutants and contaminants that may enter your air supply during the demolition and renovation process can include:
- Asbestos fibers from various types of insulation, floor or acoustic tiles, plaster, glue, caulking, linoleum and other materials used in home construction until the 1970s
- Lead dust and particles from paints manufactured before 1978
- Formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) used in new building products such as adhesives, sealants, finishes, plywood and flooring
- Biological contaminants, allergens and mold growth existing in ceilings, wall cavities, floors and unfinished areas
How to Maintain Healthy Indoor Air Quality
Taking these steps before and during a remodel can safeguard your home against air quality problems:
- Before work begins, test for existing issues like toxic mold, asbestos-containing products and lead paint. Take appropriate measures to remove or contain any harmful substances you identify.
- Have the registers properly sealed to keep the ducts and HVAC system free of contaminants and construction debris.
- Get a professional evaluation to ensure your home has adequate ventilation. Even after the remodel is finished, having ample ventilation is critical to maintain good indoor air quality.
- Choose low-VOC and environmentally-friendly products and materials whenever possible.
- Have paints containing VOCs, sealants and finishes applied outdoors if at all possible, or at least in a well-ventilated area.
- Seal off the construction zone by creating barriers with plastic sheeting at every entry point.
- Open the windows in the work area and put fans in place to push airborne construction debris outdoors.
- Make sure your contractor and his crew keep the work area as clean and free of debris as possible.
For more information on how to maintain indoor air quality while remodeling, contact the Indianapolis home comfort experts at Mowery Heating, Cooling and Plumbing.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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