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How to Create a Healthier Family Home

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When you have kids, you want to do the best for them and ensure they get off to the best start in life. Keeping your kids as healthy as possible is crucial to help them thrive and gain the most from childhood. Keeping your kids healthy begins at home, as your living environment plays a vital role in the whole family’s health. Everyone knows the benefits of getting the kids to eat a balanced diet and stay physically active, but there may be some things you have not considered that could impact the health of your home. Here are some of the factors you may want to consider when making your home as healthy as possible for your family:

Be Carbon Monoxide Aware

Carbon monoxide is a very real concern in people’s homes, and the bad news is it is often not detected before it becomes an issue. Carbon monoxide poisoning is potentially fatal, so being aware of it is incredibly important. Carbon monoxide is generated by fuel-burning appliances and equipment, such as stoves, fireplaces, furnaces, car engines, and charcoal grills, to name a few. When these items are in an enclosed or semi-enclosed space, carbon monoxide can build up with dangerous consequences. 

To help protect your family from the hidden dangers of carbon monoxide, it is wise to get carbon monoxide detectors fitted in your home so you can be alerted to its presence. Ensuring your appliances are all professionally serviced, and chimneys are cleaned will help to reduce the risk and never have carbon monoxide-producing items in an enclosed or partially enclosed space.

Maintain Your Water Quality

Water is something that is frequently taken for granted. As water is used so widely, many people assume it is safe to eat with, cook with, wash with, and drink. However, water can become contaminated, so it is worth being aware of this so you can ensure your home’s water supply is healthy. Many parts of the US have water supplies that have been enriched with fluoride. While some people are happy with this, it is a cause for concern for others, and they are keen to remove fluoride from their tap water. If you want to try and remove fluoride from your tap water before using it, you could take a look at the suggestions contained here https://truthaboutfluoride.com/does-boiling-water-remove-fluoride/. 

If you are curious to find out more about your home’s water quality, you can request an annual water quality report. The report will provide you with plenty of details about any contaminants and where your water is sourced, which you may find helpful.

Improve Indoor Air Quality

When many people think about air quality, they immediately picture highways being heavily polluted with exhaust fumes or factories pumping grey smoke through their chimneys into the sky. But, did you know the indoor air in your home could also be polluted?

Many factors can impact the indoor air quality of your home. Moisture levels, the presence of asbestos, pollen levels, and dust can affect the air quality within your home. The impact these factors have on your family’s health will depend on their pre-existing health conditions and sensitivity to these substances. While asbestos is unhealthy for everyone, dust and pollen may only affect people in your home that are allergic to these. But, thankfully there is lots you can do to help improve your indoor air quality to keep your home as healthy as possible for your family. 

If you suspect you have harmful substances such as asbestos or growths of mold anywhere on your property, you should always seek professional assistance to handle their removal, as these can be incredibly harmful to your and your family’s health. In either of these cases, finding a good service that offers mold inspection in Stamford, CT can be vital to ensuring a healthy home environment.

If yourself or anyone in your family is an allergy sufferer, you will know how much discomfort this can cause, especially if they also have another condition such as asthma. To control the amount of pollen that is able to enter your home, there are several things you can do to help. Keeping flowers and plants out of your home that may trigger an allergy is a crucial first step. It is also helpful to get your HVAC system cleaned and serviced regularly; otherwise, the system’s dust and pollen can be spread throughout your home. Highlands Ranch HVAC offers a full range of heating, cooling, and ventilation services to keep your indoor environment in optimal condition. Removing your shoes before walking around the house is also helpful to prevent you from spreading pollen and dust across your home from the bottom of your shoes. 

Making your living environment a healthier place for your family does take effort, but the benefits make it worth the work.

Life, Lifestyle, Tips

Design Ideas for the Perfect Bathroom

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Creating the perfect bathroom draws on creativity and technical know-how in terms of its construction. Companies such as Concord Remodeling can help you with all of this, from the design to finding someone to fit it for you. They will come up with designs based on your ideas, or take over the whole design process if you lack ideas, or designing is just not your thing. You do not have to be flush with cash because they offer competitive rates.

In this article, we will therefore consider just what makes the perfect bathroom. This should help you come up with some ideas of your own.

Bath or Shower?

When it comes to luxury bathrooms we have spacious baths and walk-in showers to choose from. In terms of which is better, well, a bath will allow you to relax more. With this in mind, you can ease any fatigue and have something that will also assist in treating conditions such as chronic pain. So, in that respect, baths can be seen as medicinal. They are also for people with time on their hands. But then, we should make time for something that we enjoy because we find it relaxing. In terms of relaxing tense muscles, power showers provide a space-saving solution.

There is a school of thought that says removing a bath may devalue a home. It has been done in many homes to save on space and because of the efficiency and speed the activity of showering has to offer. However, many house buyers will consider a bath an essential part of a house and so almost expect to see it there. So, we should think carefully before removing a bath completely. There is no harm in renewing our bath by replacing it with a more luxurious one, however.

If we want to go ultra-luxurious with our bathroom, then we have some way to compete with the underwater bathroom that was created on the manmade island of Palm Jumeriah in Dubai. That cost $2.3 million, and according to Guinness, is the world’s most expensive bathroom.

Sinks

In terms of your sink, you have a choice of wall-hung or pedestal. It all depends on how much space you want, or need, to save. Either one can be designed for the correct height to suit your needs. Then, you have to think of children and adults using them. This is one of the advantages of having someone design your bathroom rather than choosing a bog-standard sink from a DIY store or similar outlet. Then, that goes for your toilet, too.

How about gold-plated taps to add that finishing touch to your sink, bath, or shower? This is something about the colour gold that just puts luxury into our minds. These accessories might be a little more expensive but not as much as gold itself. We are, after all, only creating a luxurious colour.

Tiles

Tiles are a very important part of a bathroom because we need something waterproof in all those areas that water comes into contact with. Not only that, steam is produced in a bathroom which is not exactly suited to wallpaper and likely to result in it peeling off the wall.

So, let us consider some tile options. The most popular ones include porcelain, marble, ceramic, mosaic, slate, limestone, pebble, and vinyl.

Porcelain tiles are a popular option because they last a long time and are an ideal material for a bathroom. This is because they are durable, water-resistant, and will not stain or scratch easily. The tiles can come in a matt or high-gloss finish.

Ceramic tiles have similar properties to porcelain tiles and will create a seamless look. Marble is aesthetically pleasing to look at with the veins of colour that run through the material. Slate and limestone provide a natural look.

So, there is much to consider when designing a bathroom, from whether we want a bath or shower, whether our sink should hang off the wall or be free-standing, and in our choice of tiles. There are design companies online that can remodel your bathroom to a high standard.

Lifestyle, Tips

Still on the Edge? Here Are 4 Reasons Your Roof Needs a Makeover

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It is important for every homeowner to understand the importance of their roof and how it protects the home. It is also important to understand when the roof needs maintenance and proper repair to ensure it continues providing the intended benefits to the home. Find a roofing specialist in your area with simple search terms like re roofing brisbane or somewhere local to you to learn what maintenance your roof may need.

Even with the proper understanding of a home’s roof, it can be difficult knowing when a new roof might be necessary. It’s advisable to have a trustworthy business like a roofing contractor in Denver give you professional advice along with a reasonable quote. These four topics can help provide insight into the main reasons homeowners may want to give their roof a makeover and some of the benefits a makeover can provide.

Selling the Home

If planning to sell the home within the next couple of years, it may be a good idea to have the roof replaced. There are roofing contractors available that can help homeowners replace the roof on their home to get the home ready to sell.

Even if the roof is in relatively good shape, having it replaced before putting the house on the market can make it easier to sell. Potential buyers will be more confident in purchasing a house that does not need a new roof for the next 15-20 years or more.

Replacing the roof, especially if that replacement is tied with other updates around the home, such as new siding or gutters, can show potential buyers that the home was properly maintained. It can even help sellers get a better price from buyers looking for a home that does not need much work.

Remodeling the Home

Home remodeling can require various changes to the roof of the home. This is especially true if additions were made to the home. Extending a kitchen or adding a nursery may require expanding the roof. Many homeowners choose to simply roof the new area while leaving the old roof as it is.

This can look very strange, especially if the old part of the roof has become worn. The addition may even put extra strain on the old roofing materials. At this time, it may be a good idea to have the entire roof replaced. It can provide many benefits besides just helping the roof look uniform.

It never hurts to have a newer roof on the home. Replacing the entire roof ensures the whole area, and not just the new part, will last longer. It can provide continuity and easy scheduling of various repairs and replacements in the future.

Storm Damage

Storm damage is a major cause of the need for roof replacement. Whether it is a tree branch that has fallen through the roof or many shingles and roofing materials have blown away, replacement may be the best option.

Some homeowners may choose to patch the area that has been damaged by a storm. However, there could be areas that were affected by the storm but not noticed. A patch is often not as secure and protective as having a new roof installed. It may even leave the home vulnerable to further damage in the next storm.

In cases where a storm has caused damage to the roof, homeowner’s insurance may help to cover the costs of this replacement. There are often deductibles and limits as to what the insurance company will cover, but storm damage to a roof is usually a covered item.

With homeowner’s insurance assisting with the costs of the storm damage to the roof, it might be a good idea to take this opportunity to replace the entire roof. This can ensure the roof is providing complete protection when the next storm hits.

End of the Life of the Roof

A typical roof usually lasts at 15 to 20 years. No matter how well a homeowner cares for their roof, eventually, the materials will wear out and leave the home vulnerable to problems. When this occurs, it is important to have the roof replaced. However, it can be difficult to know when it is the right time.

One of the ways to check to see if it is time for a roof replacement is to inspect it from the inside. Taking a trip into the attic with a flashlight. The eaves and beams should all be inspected for any streaks or stains that could be a sign of a water leak. If the light is coming through, the roof definitely needs to be replaced.

Checking the shingles is another method for determining if it is time to replace the roof. Shingles should lie flat against the roof and still have the majority of their granules to provide the best protection for the home. If it seems that some of the shingles are bare, cracked, damaged, or pulling away from the roof, it may be a good idea to look into replacement.

Some early signs of issues with the shingles may even be found in the gutters or downspouts. Worn-out shingles will lose their granules. If there seem to be a lot of these granules in the gutters or regularly pouring out of the downspout, the shingles may have come to the end of their life.

Some other things homeowners can inspect to see how well their roof is doing is the flashing. The little areas around the vents, skylights, and chimneys are protected by flashing. If this flashing seems to be cracking or breaking, some roof repair or even replacement may be necessary.

Some major signs of a problem can include a drooping or sagging area of the roof. This is often due to moisture getting into the materials of the roof and causing them to rot. This rot created weaknesses that caused the roof to buckle under its own weight. Replacement is necessary and should be done soon to prevent further damage to the home.

Homeowners who are unable to perform these inspections themselves or are still unsure if they need a new roof can contact a professional roofer. These contractors have many years of experience and can quickly identify problems with a roof. The roofer will help homeowners determine if repairs or replacement is the best option for their home.