Ask any homeowner about home renovations and one of the most common complaints is dust and compromised air quality. Whether your project is a small or large renovation, it is likely to generate dust and debris that can significantly impact your air quality. Fortunately, you can take steps to protect your home from these pollutants and maintain your air quality during the renovations.
Have Your Home Tested:
Before you begin your renovation project, it is important that a licensed and certified contractor tests your home to check for any dangerous substances that could compromise your air. This could include harmful insulation materials or other particles that could enter the air. The findings of the contractor will be needed to determine the best construction techniques to avoid indoor air problems.
Seal the Ducts:
Any dust and debris from the renovations can enter your HVAC system and be circulated around your home. These particles can not only compromise your air quality, but can clog up the air filters and impact the efficiency of your system. Fortunately, this scenario is easy to avoid by sealing up all the vents and air intakes of the ducts using heavy duty plastic. You should take steps to ensure that all the ducts in the work areas are well sealed, and you should be prepared to change your air filters regularly during the renovation.
Isolate and Ventilate the Renovation Area:
To minimize dust and debris entering the rest of your home, you should isolate the renovation area by sealing off the room with heavy plastic sheeting. This sheeting should be placed over any doors or openings into the area. You will also need to make some form of provision to ventilate the renovation area. During your renovation, the contractor is likely to be using varnishes, paints, flooring, wall coverings, pressed wood products or other coatings that may contain volatile organic compounds. VOCs emit gas over time that can trigger symptoms such as headaches, eye, throat and nose irritation or drowsiness. To avoid these problems, you will need to ensure that any dust, VOCs or other contaminants are expelled from the home. This can be accomplished using a box fan set in a window to pull contaminated air from the area, creating a pressure barrier to prevent potentially contaminated air moving into the rest of your home.
Store Work Materials Appropriately:
Renovation materials should be stored in a well ventilated area away from your HVAC equipment. Your HVAC system can circulate any vapor or odors released from these materials around your home. Even sealed cans of paint, varnish, and other products can still emit gas, so you should ensure that they are kept in a safe, well ventilated area.
Home renovations can be stressful and inconvenient, but this can be exacerbated by compromised air quality. Your stress levels are sure to increase if you start feeling headaches, eye, nose and throat irritation or allergic attacks from poor quality indoor air. Fortunately, these simple tips can help you to keep any pollutants minimum, maintaining your air quality during the renovation.