This home maintenance checklist can lead to better health

From greater incident hazard to lousy air quality, an improperly taken care of
house can pose a extensive assortment of well being dangers.

The good thing is, there are proactive actions you can choose to ensure your residing
space will enrich your health and fitness and properly-getting.

Healthier Residences

Many government organizations and nonprofits offer you guides for preserving your
property healthful, such as the

Centers for Illness Handle and Avoidance, the

Office of Health and Human Solutions, the

Countrywide Centre for Wholesome Housing, and the

Environmental Safety Company.

The recommendations stick to the principles of Healthier Houses, a
notion that the

Section of Housing and Urban Development

defines as an atmosphere that is dry, thoroughly clean, protected, nicely-ventilated,
pest-cost-free, contaminant-free, properly-maintained, and thermally managed.

Below are some highlights from these guides.

Outside the house

To continue to keep drinking water from acquiring into your home, keep your gutters and downspouts
thoroughly clean. If you have a chimney, check out around the flashing for symptoms of leaks.
In the tumble, transform off your outdoors faucets and leave them open to avert
the pipes to them from freezing and bursting.

For basic safety, make absolutely sure the surfaces of your driveway and sidewalks are even
and unbroken. If you have a pool, make absolutely sure it’s appropriately fenced.

To support keep pests out of your residence, make the location near your house
inhospitable to them. Make sure there is no spot h2o can accumulate, and
retain your trash cans tightly sealed. Also look at your foundation and doors
for locations where by rodents can get into your dwelling, and make confident your screens
have no holes in them.

Indoors

Inside of, your house really should have smoke and

carbon monoxide detectors

on each individual floor, in the kitchen, and in the vicinity of bedrooms. Examination them consistently and
transform the batteries every year.

You really should also maintain your residence free of charge of clutter, which can provide areas
for bugs and rodents to nest, as effectively as for dust to accumulate. If it is
on the floor, it can also be a tripping hazard, as can electrical cords and
rugs that aren’t skidproof.

Look at your home windows for proof of leaks, this sort of as water stains around the
frames or hurt to the frames and sills. Leaks may possibly also lead to chipping
paint or ceiling stains.

If your paint is chipping and you believe it may possibly date back again to the 1970s, you
may well require to have your household tested for

direct-centered paint. Young children ages 6 and youthful who are exposed to the dust introduced by
chipping guide-primarily based paint are at superior hazard for

lead poisoning, which has major very long-phrase outcomes on bodily and psychological development.

Basement

If you have a basement, test it for symptoms of dampness, this sort of as a musty
odor, discoloration, and mould. Waterproofing a basement can be a elaborate
occupation that may contain placing in a sump pump, but it may be important if
h2o is receiving inside.

You need to also check your pipes for leaks and make absolutely sure your furnace is
venting effectively. If your dryer is also positioned in the basement, you should really
test that vent as nicely.

Your kitchen area and bathrooms

In your kitchen, it’s important to have a lover about your stove that vents to
the outside the house. To retain out pests, seal any holes in the exterior partitions and
seal any holes all over your pipes so pests simply cannot come up from the basement.
Keep your trash can coated and make guaranteed your pipes are not leaking so
pests that do get in just can’t get food and drinking water.

Your bogs really should have a fan or window that vents to the outdoor. Any
rugs should really be non-skid. There also need to be seize bars up coming to bathtubs
and showers.

Stairs and attic

Your stairs must have handrails on both sides, and operating lights above or
by their landings, so you are not climbing or descending in the dim.

If you have an attic, look at it for proof of leaks from your roof and
make guaranteed it is properly vented to keep away from mold expansion. Seal any gaps around
vents and other openings to preserve out birds and pests.

If you are like most Us residents these days, you almost certainly

expend most of your time at household. Subsequent these pointers can help assure that it is a nutritious and safe
location for you and your family to are living and thrive.